Firstly why say a book is like another book? This is NOTHING like A Cruel Prince and shouldn't be referred as like it. It's very much similar the The Iron Fey world but with smut.

Secondly why the hell is a YA book full of sexual references thoughts and action? YOUNG adult, they start at 13, I'm sick of authors bringing romance smut to fantasy. I've stopped reading romance lately because it's hellishly boring with endless pages of smut, bores me to tears, so I moved to fantasy and have been loving what I'm reading so far and although I did mostly enjoy These Hollow Vows, you could absolutely tell the author is an erotic romance writer and had to bring the smut with her in the crossover to fantasy. It was dirty minds led rather than plot led. Disappointing. Why should a 13 year old read of a woman being drugged and then very sexual, jeez let kids be kids instead of shoving sex at them in YA reads. This book should be sold as adult, pure and simple.

But I digress. As to the characters, I didn't like Abriella as much as I should, I didn't dislike her, I just didn't care if she got the right man or not, to be honest she was highly sexed up towards both, and let both manipulate her, and then regarding Jas, jeez!

I did like the backstory of her mother as it came to light, I enjoyed the 'silence' and why it was there. I enjoyed Pretha and Finn and little Lark with her sight. I don't think her power was built on enough and to be fair all I could picture was Grisha when reading about the shadows, so it crossed over to feel like I was reading elements of Shadow and Bone.

I think this must be the first Fae book I've read where the Fae are too similar to humans and use the F bomb and swear a fair bit. I wish they had been more other wordly creatures. The world building was okay, it could have been a lot deeper and transport the reader more to that realm and the courts.

To sum it up, These Hollow Vows is okay. and often in places very good. It was the romance smut that let it down for me and the triangle. For die hard fantasy readers it will be okay, for romance smut readers it will be excellent I would think. That's my take on it.

Will I read book 2? Absolutely, because I didn't hate this book, it is easy reading, and I'd love to know the outcome. It's a cross between a 2 and 3 star read, maybe bordering a 4 in some places. Will I be disappointed if it's the tingle between her legs driving it again, and the drool over a male's body, then yes I will be.

Firstly, thank you to both Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the e-arc if These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I’ve heard this book described as “Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses“ which is always a worry, they are damned good books that take a lot to live up to!

But, Lexi Ryan delivers (at YA level,) think feisty, take no crap female protagonist, fae world, lots of fae princes, an evil unseelie king and a golden queen - all boxes ticked there. The fae world also fits with both Seelie and Unseelie Courts, and if I’m honest I definitely got Deal with an Elf King vibes, albeit far tamer as this is a YA not adult book.

The main protagonist is very likeable and it isn’t hard to get into her skin, she definitely goes on a development arc throughout this book, but it was pleasing to see there wasn’t a sudden short practice and alakazam she has all the skills!

I’m definitely interested to see where she goes in the next book, especially following the almighty cliffhanger at the end of this one!

Yes, there’s a love triangle, but it’s not all instalove, there is background and previous development with at least one character and yes, I do have a preference!

The world building is great, no major infodumps or lectures and the writing style is so easy to read. I didn’t want to put this book down and found myself picking it up, even if I only had a few minutes! I’m definitely hooked, and looking forward to book 2 - a solid 4 star read for me.

I really really loved 'These Hollow Vows', the author has created such a beautiful yet complex faerie world which although is full of monsters and deceit, I somehow still want to be there right now. Even though there are very few wholly good characters within this story I somehow still adore them all, especially Sebastian and Finn, usually in a love triangle there's a clear winner for me, but I just couldn't choose in this case!
I will recommend this book to everyone I love it so much, if you love faerie stories then 100% you should give this a go!!

This book gripped me from the first page. I thoroughly enjoyed this, It reminded me of SJM and it felt like a classic ya book. The characters were lovable and you never knew who to trust which I loved and the entire book carried a great sense of urgency that spurred the story on. I would highly picking this book up as I devoured it in a couple of sittings. The world was extremely well built as was the magic system and the politics and deception's of the other courts just added another layer of story building that was fascinating.

In this book, we follow a human thief, Brie who gets mixed up in the world of Faerie on account of her sister being kidnapped by the Unseelie king and now Brie has to steal 3 artifacts from the rival Seelie court if she wants to save her sister. But, to do so, she will have to win the heart of the Seelie Prince, who is looking for a wife. So naturally, a lot of the usual stuff happens, there's drama, and betrayals, and friendships and love etc. etc. which all wraps up in an amazing cliffhanger.

The writing and the world-building in the book is decent. The author tried to include some real world and prevailing issues in the narrative such as separation of immigrant children from their parents and in general, the plight of immigrants which was much appreciated. I also really liked the little crew of misfit from the Unseelie court, they were definitely the highlight for me.

However, the biggest complain I had was with the three main characters. Firstly, Brie is dumb, she was great in the human world but as soon as she arrives in Faerie, she becomes this damsel in distress, who needs rescuing all the time, trusts too easily when she should be asking questions and never thinks from her brain. Sebastian is the worst, he manipulates Brie at every turn and she just shrugs it off.. all because she has this crush on him and had known him back in the human world but if we are being honest, did she really knew him that well, when he was hiding such a huge part of his life from her.. oh well! Finn, on the other hand, I definitely liked him better than Brie and Sebastian, but I felt there wasn't much page time dedicated to him and his character suffered because of that.

Also, this might be a little thing but there wasn't a lot of court intrigue involve in the story like there generally are in fae books. We rarely ever got to see Brie interact with members of the Seelie court. Idk, it just felt a little flat in terms of viciousness. I mean its been compared too The Cruel Prince, so I expected more ruthlessness from characters. This book however, leaned more on to clever manipulation, which I enjoyed at times but I also just needed more, I guess.

I am pretty sure, I know how the triangle will get resolved and in whose favour so I think I'll read the next book just for that. Overall, this wasn't bad but it wasn't very remarkable either.

This book started off strong and I was really enjoying it but once I got into the plot I started getting a little bit bored. However, the world-building was really good and I really liked Finn. I hope Abriella ends up with him. I didn't like Sebastian and I hate love triangles.

This book was enjoyable. Was I obsessed with it, not wanting to put it down or wanting to read throughout the night just to find out what happens next? No. But, it was okay.

i enjoyed the opening of the book, with Ryan immediately drawing us into Abriella's thievery, however, it felt as though those high stakes and adrenaline vanished as soon as we entered the Fae realm, despite the her still having to sneak around and steal.

I liked the family relationship that is explored through Brie and Jas but but arguably, it felt as though there were times where that was forgotten as well.

the world building was ok, most of the action was done in the palace so there were often times that it fell flat. similarly, it was quite predictable, with some of the tropes being quite obvious, yet the reader is stuck seeing the world through Brie's eyes and for me this hindered the book somewhat because the reader is subjected to info dumping rather than show not tell.

that being said, i did enjoy the writing style, i though Ryan expertly immersed the reader in Brie's plight, with the end of the book (around the last 10%) being a particular highlight, and the final pages leaving me arguably more excited than the whole book did.

finally the romance; once again this was very predictable and personally i think she chose the wrong boy in the end but i enjoyed the betrayals and the twists that Ryan interspersed throughout.

i'd give this book a 3.5, i would recommend it, but personally it wasn't to my taste because it fell flat sometimes.

i'm a bit ambivalent on this book. i did like it, i enjoyed the setting and the way the magic worked, but the pace of the events was too fast and simple, and the storyline a little too predictable to read. the plot twits were easily guessed in the early chapters, and nothing in the story makes you think otherwise. it has potential, yes, and i'll probably read the second book, i want to know how the story ends

Very imaginative and enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed the time with the faeries, There were a few familiar tropes that potentially can make your eyes roll but it all contributed into the plot and setting. Really good.

I binge read this in less than 24 hours because even tho it wasn’t amazing, it was addictive as fuck!

I don’t care for love triangles but I don’t hate them either when they’re done well. Although I’m pretty sure I know the outcome of this one, I’m still intrigued and invested enough to continue with the series.

Brie was not the brightest and was, occasionally, pretty dumb but I sympathised with her plight enough to care about what would happen to her and her sister Jas.

Pethra and Finn were my faves. I loved their relationship and how they cared for each other’s well-being like family. Finn reminded me only a tiny bit of Cardan which is probably why I liked him better than Bash. I just wish he hated Brie more cause I am a sucker for enemies to lovers.

Sebastian on the other hand... I didn’t hate him. But I never trusted him (Tamlin is it you? Jk not exactly) I found it odd how he forgave her for everything...

The comparison to ACOTAR put me off a little (and I think the similarities are pretty clear) but the Cruel Prince comparison compelled me to request this e-arc. In the end, there were very little similarities with the latter but it was still a very enjoyable read and I’ll continue with the series.

This story follows Brie, who lives in a fantasy world whereby there is a division between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. After her sister is taken by the Unseelie King, she ventures into the Seelie court to manipulate and deceive her way back to her. This book is full of mystery, faeries, romance, and intrigue, and definitely matches its marketing tag line as being perfect for The Cruel Prince and ACOTAR fans. I’d also recommend it for people who enjoyed Mark Blackthorn’s storyline from The Dark Artifices.

Brie was a very determined, and strong main character to follow. She was constantly deceiving those around her, which really emphasised her loyalty towards her sister. I could definitely relate to how protective she was over her younger sister, and I always love reading about those types of sibling relationships in fantasy books. I was really invested in the love triangle between her, Sebastian, and Finn. It added so much drama to the plot as well as the other high-stakes fantasy elements, which I am a sucker for! I could really feel the chemistry and tension between her and the two boys, so the love triangle felt very believable, which often love triangles are not.

The fantasy elements were really well written. The world was so well constructed, and it was clear that the author had spent a significant amount of time plotting everything out. In particular, I loved learning about the myths and backstories behind why there was a conflict between the Seelie and Unseelie people, and would love to know more about this in the sequels. The plot never had a dull moment, and I could rarely predict what sort of twists and turns would arise next and make the stakes even higher for Brie. Overall, I highly enjoyed this and would definitely recommend to all YA fantasy fans!

The beginning feels like a Cinderella retelling, with fairies. The twist! That was right at the end. I admit, I didn't like Brie at the beginning, or the middle, but I started to like her towards the end. I felt that this was very much a second part read, where all the good stuff happens. This beginning was a bit of a slog to move through but once you got past that, its a very enjoyable read. I loved the last part and am really, really looking forward to the second.

Massive thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow this book was addicting.

Was the start a bit slow? Yes. It took me a little while to get invested.
But about halfway through? I physically couldn’t put it down. I absolutely devoured the last half.

Now I know a lot of people hate love triangles (I personally don’t mind them). But this was a love triangle done right.
There was no obvious correct choice, since there’s so many betrayals and reveals, which leaves the reader to constantly rethink and reflect on who they prefer (though I always had my personal favourite), which I absolutely loved.

Though in my opinion some parts of the romance could’ve been fleshed out a little better, to allow the reader to fully invest themselves, by the end I was definitely hooked.

The fae & magic isn’t exactly a new concept in ya, but I think the author did a wonderful job of creating a new and enticing world and magic system that still felt fresh, especially when delving into the social structure & political aspects.

Overall this was definitely a fun read and I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series!

What can I say? I loved this book. This is definitely a must read book if you enjoy YA faerie novels - definitely for fans of SJM and Holly Black. Although this faerie idea nothing new, I love the way that Lexi Ryan built the world and really stuck to the rules of faerie as well as sprinkling in interesting facts about both the Seelie and Unseelie Court, which really engaged me and kept me interested, as well as that dash of heart melting romance which I am a HUGE SUCKER for.

I really loved all three characters, and I'm excited for the next part of the story!

As soon as I saw “Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses” I knew I had to get my grubby little hands on this book (and it did also say “sexy” soo… count me in!)

Abriella (Brie) absolutely hates the Fae. After her mother runs away to Faerie, Brie becomes a thief in order to pay for the roof over her and her sister’s heads. But when her sister is sold to the cruel Unseelie king, Brie will do whatever it takes to get her back, even if that means making a deal with the king himself.

This book had me hooked straight away! The writing is so engaging, the characters *chefs kiss*, and the world building was so so good - the different courts, the human world, the creatures… I loved it all!

Plenty of twist and turns, magic, fae, romance, and broody hot males… need I say more??

Brie finds herself torn between two hot AF fae princes, each with their own agenda. Can she trust either of them?
Now, I’m not usually a “love triangle” kind of gal, but listen, I didn’t mind it. Even if I KNOW who she should end up with, I still love the dynamics of each relationship as we go.

Just saying, my book bf cart has a new addition *I see you Finn*.

I’m still not over how much I liked this book!

UUUGHFFF THE ENDING!!! How am I going to manage waiting a WHOLE YEAR for book 2?!

So, incase you can’t tell, I really really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for all you fae lovers out there!

This book surprised me. In a good way. It didn't blow my mind, but I did really enjoy reading this. Quality wise I can only give it three stars, but my oh my, I can't wait for book two! THAT ENDING!!

Writing style: There's nothing special about the writing. I would have preferred less info dumping, but we find out about things when Brie does and she finds out all at once so I guess it worked well enough for this story.

Characters: The characters felt very flat to me. They could honestly have any name, look any way and it would just work. I barely noticed personalities and that was very disappointing.

Story: This was definitely a plot driven book. The story is really fun, and at times quite intriguing, but it dragged a lot. It started off on a good pace and then it became stagnant, only for the last 50 or 100 pages to pass in a blur.
I really thought I'd like the two princes vying for Brie's attention, but it was obvious from the start who she'd end up with. I was definitely rooting for Finn...maybe in book two?

The ending was absolutely badass and the only reason I'll pick up book two, so bravo for that 😂 These Hollow Vows gets three stars from me.

OH MY.

I knew I'd enjoy this book just from it being sold as "steamy fae romance" and it certainly didn't disappoint...although, we're not talking Sarah J Maas level of steam so it is a bit more of a stepping stone up to New Adult from YA rather than full blown make younger readers aware of the content! Nevertheless, I absolutely loved These Hollow Vows and was kept wanting more every time I paused reading, and by the end I was left desperate for more!

I found this book so easy to get into; the writing is really engaging but not too complex with world and character building; there's just enough information to create a really gripping story and image in your mind. The twists and turns throughout also helped; nothing is as you'd expect it to be and right up to the end I was kept second guessing all my assumptions!

I also liked how real Brie was as a character; the conflict between wanting to save her sister and that sisterly bond and her own needs and wants with her romantic interests made for a really believable character because she isn't perfect. The characters met throughout the story were also a really interesting bunch! Part of me would've liked the book to have a bit more content in terms of being able to explore these characters a bit more, but on the other hand it was so nice to have a really good fantasy that wasn't a daunting size!

I really hope that there is more to come after that ending! I'd love to revisit these characters and know what happens next.

Ryan really pulled me in with this book where I didn't want to come back. The storytelling was immaculately weaved and the seamless and intricacy was an all read one more chapter kind of book. The love triangle is one for those who love the genre and anybody who think they'll like the concept this is the book for you. Overall the book takes a few chapters to get into but once it gets going there's no stopping the fantasy with a side of romance leaving you wanting more till the very last page.

So when I first saw that this book was described as ‘The Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses’ I was straight away like SIGN ME UP!

I regret.

I’m going to start off by mentioning some of the things I liked about this book:

- The ‘Cinderella’ vibes are something I can completely get on board with.
- The premise is interesting, the first few chapters were quite gripping.
- The world building was quite good, it was quite easy to feel immersed in the world.
- The end twist wasn’t something I predicted, it was quite intriguing.

And, well that’s about it unfortunately...

Now for the things I wasn’t overly fond of:

- The love triangle? Those love interests are boring. It’s the only way to describe it. And we all know she loves bash so was it even really a love triangle? Poor Finn never stood a chance.
- Brie. I actually hated her. And that’s not great with her being the main character and all. I honestly couldn’t have cared if she’d lived or died. She just felt fake with all of her interactions.
- The fairy date rape drug scene. Why? Why was this even necessary. I really, really cannot get on board with this.
- And the thing that annoyed me the most, we spent 80% of the book trying to save the sister. She saves the sister. We speak to said sister for not even 2 minutes before she buggers off again? Just no.

I’m giving this a 2 star, I wouldn’t go out of my way to read anything more in this world, but I didn’t hate it.

TRIGGER WARNINGS-
Abandonment
Mention of forced sex
Non-consensual drugging
Kidnap
Blackmail

At the end of the day I am basic. Give me a love triangle, fae or a dark brooding prince and you can have my money.
These Hollow Vows gave me all of the above and overall I’m a very happy customer.

The plot:
Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she'll do whatever it takes to get her back—including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the Seelie. Brie's only choice is to pose as a potential bride for Prince Ronan, and she soon finds herself falling for him. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. As Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she struggles to resist his seductive charm.
Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty. And with her heart.

My thoughts: I was well and truly surprised by some of the plot twists, especially at the end. THV was one of the weirdest reading experiences I’ve had in awhile. At first it seemed basic, very basic. However, as the plot progressed more and more I found it original. Is that even possible in YA fantasy today? While I can see why they call it ACOTAR meets TCP, but it managed to take similar points and make it it’s own. While I was like oh this happened in ACOTAR it never felt like a rip off (aka when every dystopian was a carbon copy of THG). There were a lot of directions I thought it would go in at first which initially put me off. However, as the book progressed a lot of negatives I’d picked up were explained at about 30% so I’m glad I stuck with it.


Characters:
Brie - I’ll make a disclaimer here - I rarely like main characters. I don’t know if it’s because we’re in their heads I can’t connect with them. I prefer the side characters and watching them through the eyes of the protagonist. So my thoughts on Brie are those I have of most MCs, she’s okay? However, the one thing that made me want to throw the kindle across the room was the “I don’t wear stupid restrictive dresses” trope coming out in full force. What is it with new YA fantasy that does this. Yes we get it you like pants when all girls normally wear dresses. It’s always put across as a more movement thing but a flowy skirt will give you more movement than tight pants. But of course authors ignore this in an attempt at “look at my different feminist character she wears pants!!!” I’m side eying The Shadows Between Us right now. Luckily this book did not fall into the feminist issues that book had.

Finn - look, gimme a dark broody smirking prince and I’m happy. I liked his character. Personally I think he had more to him than just the dark-forbidden-romance-choice-for-the-main-character. But even if he’s just that the author did a good job of writing it

Sebastian - when I started reading and I thought I knew where this book was going I was very meh about this dude. For every broody darkling character you need standard-blond-American-high-school-jock-character (Mal, Tamlin etc don’t try and deny it you know I’m right). When we progress in the book and certain plot points develop I was pleasantly surprised at the character development and found him interesting

Side characters- there aren’t actually a huge amount that really stand out. For those that were there the main ones that I can remember were Finn’s little rebel group. I must admit though I do have a soft spot for Kane

This isn’t a spoiler as it’s in the description. There are two princes and it’s obvious the first is Finn and then there’s the Prince of the Seelie. WHY YALL IN THE GOODREADS REVIEWS LOVE THIS DUDE I DO NOT KNOW. Like why. After that ending he has your heart?? I fell like when I read ACOTAR was first released and I was the only one in my friend group yelling about Rhys and booing Tamlin (feelings on the first changed later lol).

The negativeish points:
1. When I did the first few chapters I started taking notes on what I didn’t like. As I got further into the book I had to delete them all as all the plot conveniences I’d found frustrating were explained perfectly. So for anyone thinking of DNFing early cause you think you know where it’s going and presume it’s another carbon copy fantasy just stick with it.
2. I will start this by saying this was an ARC provided by NetGalley so I do think this may be the issue with the following. There were a couple scenes that were set up incredibly confusing. I wasn’t sure if we were in a dream, but we’d actually changed settings. As mentioned this is likely an ARC issue as there were some typos and the formatting was a bit skewed.

Positives:
1. I loved the world Lexi Ryan created. I really liked the different creatures and how the society works as a whole.
2. Finn. That is all for point 2.
3. The plot twists and turns.

Final thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. The plot felt different and took me on twists I did not see coming (honestly some of them I’m kicking myself I didn’t see). The world was well fleshed out and I enjoyed reading all the different characters. Overall a really fun reading experience and would recommend. 4.5/5 stars