It is a classic plot but I love the system of magic. The trials for every type of magic is awesome. The world building is well developed and well written. It is fast-paced bad intriguing. A good start to a new saga.

This is my first book by Sarah Hawley, though her other titles have caught my eye.
I very much enjoyed this one. So much so I'll be putting her other books higher up on my tbr.
The perfect dark fantasy read for this time of year!

I want to start this review by saying that I have read some of Sarah’s previous books and this one is so so much different that I was delighted to see her thrive with a slight different fantasy sub-genre! Let me put it this way: Servant of Earth has everything I love in fantasies and I felt that Sarah knows exactly who her audience is and how to get them to devour this book. This was a job very well done and I couldn’t be happier to be on the receiving end of reading this book!

We follow Kenna, a young human woman, as she goes from her miserable human village through the dangerous bog (so she make sure her friend makes it ok to the faerie realm) to the cutthroat court of the kingdom of Mistei. There we’ll learn about the faerie realm alongside Kenna, its secrets and mysteries; all the six faerie houses and just how cruel faeries can be! You have all sort of faeries and their history is quite reach and interesting. Kenna ends up being a handmaid to the heir of House of Earth and must help her succeed all six trials to assure her mistress will regain her immortality and house powers.

Kenna is quite relatable and you can’t avoid falling for her curiosity, her determination and loyalty. You want to see her thrive, you want her to achieve her goals and you’ll be happy when she’s happy and sad when she’s sad. The friendships she makes with Nobel Fae - like her mistress -, lower Fae, humans and nasties slowly feels like a found family she gathers as she unravels all the secrets in the kingdom; and yes, there is a certain Prince or two that will capture Kenna’s - and yours - attention.

I quite enjoyed the kingdom world itself, how detailed Sarah made it to be and the characteristics of the different houses in their domain were quite charming. The plot itself could be predictable at time and I think I did caught on the great majority up until the end but it didn’t diminished my enjoyment and eagerness to just read one more chapter. This is a sub-genre I particular favour within fantasy so as part of the journey I like to plot alongside, collect all the little clues and try to guess what will happen next and I think that Sarah made it really well and I felt like an active participant alongside Kenna in discovering everything.

I wouldn’t say this is the most original Fae-themed fantasy but I think that it’ll appeal to fantasy lovers all the same as all the little things are really well entangled; you have the action from the trials, you have the chosen one, you have the slow burn-forbidden romance; you have all these secrets awaiting you. You’re in for a treat!

A good dark fantasy that made me think of The Cruel Prince. Well plotted, a bit disturbing at time.
The world building is well done even if it pays homage to other novel set in the world of Fae.
I found the talking dagger very interesting and original.
Some more humour would help but it's a compelling read nonetheless
The cover is gorgeous and I'm curious about the next installments
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A Court of Thorns and Roses meets The Cruel Prince.

To save her best friend from being a sacrifice to the Fae, Kenna follows her across the bog to the Fae land - a cruel and violent place. Kenna is made handmaiden to the heir of the Earth house, to aid her in the dangerous trials to gain her powers.

Of course, we have a handsome and charming Fire Prince and a dark and cold Void Prince, the King’s vengeance. I wonder what this is setting up, hmmm…

Dreams were nothing but illusion. They obscured sight of what actually existed.

Another fun inclusion - a talking, homicidal dagger! Whenever we get a sentient weapon, I get excited.

The plot twist became very obvious to me before even the 30% mark, so I am curious to see other peoples’ reactions.
Characters’ motivations, relationships, and actions were pretty predictable to me, but I was drawn into the world and the cruel fae atmosphere.

People vanished all at once, but the things you wanted to tell them or do with them or show them didn't.

I do have to mention this contains some dark and disturbing scenes. Like fae brothals, slaves, torture, executions… Definitely not Young Adult.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for a review.

Thank you to the publisher for my netgalley widget. Unfortunately I was unable to connect with the story as Romantasy is not really my thing. I much prefer darker fantasy. I would recommend this to fans of Sarah J Maas .

Oh. My.

This was truly, undoubtedly fantastic.

Excellent world building, incredibly expressed cruelty and clever politics, unbelievable twists, unexpected revelations and betrayals.

I loved Kenna as a character, her journey and bravery, her kindness and strength.

The romance was a small part of the overall story, and the few spicy scenes were scorching, really well done.

I suspect we have a Tamlin situation going on here, and someone else will turn out to be the love interest, and I cannot wait to find out if my predictions will come true.

The action towards the end blew my mind even more than everything leading up to it, and the final pages made me very hopeful and excited for the next book.

Just overall absolutely sensational!

Incredibly well written, with fantastic imagery and ideas that though familiar feel fresh in the author’s capable hands. Unfortunately, I ultimately wasn’t able to connect as strongly to this book as I’d wanted.

I don’t even know where to start with Servant of Earth by @mssarahhawley Sarah Hawley, but I shall do my best. Kenna is a human that has found herself living in the underground Fae realm, serving House of Earth. Part of her servitude is helping her mistress pass the trials for immortality. Things take a turn when Kenna gets embroiled in a secret rebellion to overthrow the Fae king of all the houses.

If you’re looking for a new fantasy romance that has a little bit (or a lot) of everything, Servant of Earth is for you. Court intrigue, magic, dangerous trials, adventure, politics, and romance are abundant in this novel, and masterfully done. Sarah weaves the most enrapturing story, I could not put it down!