The Mortal Queen (The Aisling Trilogy Book 1)
An absolutely addictive fae romance
by Ashley Metzler
Narrated by Samantha Norbury

Audiobook rating : 3.5 stars
Book rating : 1.5 stars
Overall rating : 2.5 stars

The narrator has done a good job but the book didn't work for me.

The mortal Queen started out great. Like the first scene in the book was like OMG I'm gonna love this book. The prose was elaborate and stunning. But it was too much, so much that I would forget what's going on in the story. This is perfect example of "purple prose." It was so overdone that I wanted to dnf the book. There's no chemistry between the protagonists. I didn't care for any character and after a while I didn't care for descriptions too.

There would be an intense action scene going on and the narration will wander to something which doesn't really add anything to the story or the world build-up and it will go on and on until you forget what was going on in the story. This happened so often that I just couldn't connect to anything.


The ending was different and unexpected but then again on the other hand, there wasn't any real development between the MMC and FMC so that was not shocking to me.



Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio | Second Sky Books for the audiobook ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Tropes:

🗡️ Human / Fae
🗡️ Arranged Marriage
🗡️ Prophecies & Curses
🗡️ Slowww Burnnnn

Couple Thoughts:

1. Pacing was tough - in the beginning I was intrigued, and then it lost me, until about 70%, when things REALLY started coming together. Just wish it hadn't taken that long.
2. This is really not a romance (probably will be more so in book 2) ... so don't go in with that expectation. It is the slowestttt of slow burns.
3. The 3rd person POV really threw me on this book and took me out of the story at times (normally I am not someone who cares about this) but the narrator kept referring to our FMC but her name and also by The Mortal Queen, interchangeably and in the same sentence... all the time... and my brain was just like, this is too much 😆

Overall, I liked it and am very curious where the series is going to go from here!

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

Aisling (pronounced Ash-ling by the narrator) is a mortal princess in an iron age land, who’s forced into an arranged marriage with King Lir of the Fae as part of a peace treaty. Her father has raised her to hate and fear the Fae as evil immortal beings who main, kill, and even eat humans. She leaves everything and everyone she’s ever known to live among Fae who hate and fear humans just as much. Can she survive long enough for her people to see peace?

This book tackles some heavy topics. Ash tries to come to terms with how misinformation and censorship can color how people on either side of a conflict view their enemy. She deals with essentially being a pawn in the game of war, used to the best advantage by those she loves. Also, as a woman in what essentially iron age Britain, she is neither educated nor informed as much as her brothers are, so she is at a disadvantage in all of her interactions.

As the story solely follows Aisling and Lir is frequently absent, we don’t find out much about him. The majority is towards the end, so I’m hoping we get more in the next book. His frequent absences also make this a truly slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance! I did enjoy the introduction of some of the side characters and the world building is excellent! I do wish the author wasn’t so repetitive. Ash was referred to as “the mortal queen” more often than by her own name. I was particularly bothered by how everything she liked was said to “like an opiate.” Not only was it repetitive, but it didn’t fit with the setting, which pulled me out of the story. Opiates were not mentioned in the book as something that was actually present in this world and they were not present in historic iron age Britain, so it just seems odd to use that phrase so often.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was on point! The pacing was great and she did a wonderful job with the voices for each character. I hope she narrates the next one!

So… I felt like I was dropped in the middle of this book. I had to keep checking that I was really on chapter 1 via audio. Just dove right in without any kind of back story which led me to have zero connection to the main character. These are really long chapters too, which is always a struggle for me. Enjoyed the characters overall but this was a little anticlimactic for me personally.

The Mortal Queen is a gripping fae romance that combines action, magic, and a sizzling enemies-to-lovers dynamic. Aisling’s arranged marriage to the savage fae king, Lir, seems like certain death, but she’s drawn to him in ways she can’t control. As their relationship deepens, Aisling discovers a world of deadly enchantments and ancient evil, while grappling with her own magical powers.

Metzler’s world-building is rich, and the chemistry between Aisling and Lir is electric. The slow-burn romance keeps you hooked, and the twists are thrilling. Though the pacing can feel a little slow at times, the payoff is worth it for fans of dark fae romance. A solid start to a captivating trilogy.

The Mortal Queen is the first book in the Aisling Trilogy by Ashley Metzler. This was a such an enjoyable read! It is fast paced with fascinating characters.

I really liked this book! I thought it had such a unique story and I can't wait for the other books in the trilogy because I need to know what will happen!!!

I loved the narration by Samantha Norbury. I thought she did an incredible job bringing the book to life!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Mortal Queen (The Aisling Trilogy Book 1) by Ashley Metzler
Narrated by Samantha Norbury
Puiblisher: Bookouture Audio/Second Sky Books
Genre: Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy
Expected Publication Date: Feb 14 2025

Big thanks to Ashley Metzler and Netgalley for the audioARC in exchange for a review.

This fits into the romantasy genre we are know and love but is fairly secure in the 'innocent' side of romance Aisling is very sheltered, with no real life expierence which we come to learn was decided by father. It left her with no real foothold to climb into her new world of the fae.

This book has a excellent twist in the end (I'm hoping) gives us a glimpse of her evil side. I need more books of villainous justification. I like em evil.

4 stars

"Don't blind yourself to one, to uphold the other."

The book "The Mortal Queen" by Ashley Metzler is about the mortal Princess Aisling, who is being married off by her father to the fae king Lir, to forge a connection between the two groups as a first step to a hopefully peaceful co-existence.
This alliance was made against Aislings will but she is ready to endure being the wife of the "brutal" and "wild" fae king because she trusts her father and her brothers decision and is willing to take on this sacrifice for her people.
Soon however, Aisling is forced to face the reality that the fae folk aren't as brutal and monstrous as she was made to believe. Furthermore she finds out that the fae aren't the only creatures that live among them and that there are more creatures whos existence she had not known, nor heard of before. Why had she never learned about them during her education at the palace? Had her father, the one she trusts the most, known about all of this? And if so, why did he keep this information hidden from everyone?
As she is trying to understand what is happening around her, she slowly starts to finds out more about her mysterious fae husband as well. Lir on the other hand is well aware of her prejudices and false beliefs that were indoctrinated into her, and so tries to make her see that what she knows is not the full truth and that she had been deceived by her people, her father, all along.
The story includes many popular fantasy aspects/tropes, such as arranged marriage, forced proximity, soulmate bonds and many more.

The story was overall very interesting and throughout out the book I got curious as to how Aisling would be dealing with the sudden confrontation of the truth and how her relationship with Lir would develop. I also really liked the narration of the audiobook. The narrators performance made the story even more engaging and compelling.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and Ashley Metzler for giving me the opportunity to listen to the audiobook arc and review this book.

Absolutely fantastic read, I couldn't stop listening. Slow burn super magical read. The writing was beautiful full of depth and the world buliding was vivid and vibrant completely captivated me gave a mysterious and enchanting vibe, I felt like i was there.

Aisling was a little hard to like to start with due to being lied to most of her life she certainly has a lot of attitude, but I grew to love her and I cannot wait to read more about her and how she will develop with her magic.
I felt Aisling and Lir were more friends with this heat between and the cliffhanger has me definitely wanting more I wonder how he will turn up in the next book and hoping the spice and drama is cranked up!!
wait for the next book!
5 ⭐️ is not enough
🌲Debut novel
🏔️Trilogy - 1st book
🌲Morally grey MMC
🏔️Slowburn romance
🌲Self-discovery journey
🏔️Forced proximity
🌲Enemies to lovers
🏔️Lies & betrayal
🌲Fantasy
🏔️Celtic lore
🌲Fae
🏔️Magic
🌲Prophecy
🏔️No spice
🌲Single POV

I enjoyed this audiobook! The ending leaves you wanting more, and I am excited that there will be two more books! I enjoyed the plot and growing suspense of the book and it is a very slow-burn, enemies to lovers storyline. I would recommend this to others who are into the romantasy genre.

When I started this audiobook, I was in a reading slump. I couldn't get myself to pick up a new book because I was still stuck, mentally, in other stories. The Mortal Queen completely snapped that slump. I could not stop listening! Ashley Metzler not only created a fresh fantasy story in a very saturated genre, but she made it engaging and lively. I felt like I was watching a mental movie as I listened to the narrator of this audiobook. I love the take on enemies to almost lovers and can't wait for the next installment of this series. I would highly recommend this to all of my friends, as well as teenagers and young adults since there is no sexual content. The only reason I am giving this a 4 out of 5 stars instead of 5 is because there were a few scenes I had to listen to twice to make sure I fully understood what was happening.

Thank you, Netgalley, for this audiobook. It was slow to start, and what a slow burn! The writing is so descriptive that you can almost see everything. It's such a beautiful and magical world. But, at times, the descriptions kinda took me away from the story, if that makes sense? I did enjoy it, and I definitely need the next book. The narrator did a fantastic job.

I finished The Mortal Queen audiobook two weeks ago and I’m still thinking about it. It hit me like a sleeper agent. There’s just this steady hold that Aisling‘s world has on you from the very first minute. I’m still trying to wrap my thoughts around it…

Let’s recap. Aisling, a human and the only daughter of the high king, is promised in marriage to Lir, King of the greenwood fae. Humans and fae have been warring for centuries, and this is the first chance for peace. Aisling goes willingly, but with deep fear and hatred for the fae. Except she quickly learns that everything she thought she knew was wrong. Plus (snicker) she’s undeniably attracted to her husband and he to her.

It’s basically Pride & Prejudice set in the middle of a war between fae and humans. Oh, and it turns out there’s a bigger threat - and a prophecy - to worry about too.

Guys, this one is a TRUE enemies to lovers and SLOOOOOW burn. There’s also so much trauma and treachery. A complicated history of the fae and humans. A interesting twist on the magic system. And it sounds like we might get to see some dragons?! Yaaaaasssss!!!!!

Oh, and that ending? I did NOT see that coming. I’ve already got The Savage Queen on my TBR cause I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

And can we pause a moment to applaud Samantha Norbury‘s narration? It was wonderful. A quiet, steadiness carried Aisling’s POV throughout. Her man voices were easy on the ears, and she fluidly switched accents and inflections for characters, even within the same scene. She was just so engrossing to listen to.

Adding Ashley and Samantha to my authors and narrators to follow list!

I had to DNF at 58% through because it was still just moving too slow for me. I had high hopes for this one unfortunately it didn’t hit the mark for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook, the story is a slow start and also just throws you into the story making it a little confusing to follow along. Unfortunately I’m not a fan of the narrator and found it difficult to follow along or want to listen, and didn’t care for the characters in the story. I unfortunately ended up DNFing at 73%.

This had an interesting premise but just wasn't really doing it for me. I found it hard to really settle in and get excited for the story. I wanted to keep going and see where the story went, but I think the pacing was off. I found the first bit really slow, but it did slowly pick up.The writing style feels a little... soft? I think, for my taste, but had an all the fun fantasy elements of fae and court politics. The narration was well done though.

The synopsis of this book and comparisons to other authors I love like Maas drew me in and convinced me I had to read this ALC. Thank you netgalley for the copy in return for an honest review! Release 14th Feb 25.

We follow Aisling who is a princess that thought her life was set to go one way but instead she is used by her kingdom to bridge the gap between them and the fae. She is married off to the Fae King, Lir but goes in with a ton of prejudice against fae kind.

I did struggle with the POVs as the narrator often interrupts our FMC alot. The world building was really good, there are so many types of fae/beasts and they are described so vividly. I loved the magic system too.

I would say expectations are everything with this book as its not slow burn or a romantasy in my opinion. There is no burn, no tension and you just don't feel it will lead there. The MMC and FMC avoid eachother for almost the entire book. Now this is a series so it could have more romance later but this approach was not for me. I loved Spark Of The Everflame for reference which is a super slow burn but gives you all the tension, angst and feels.

This is a fantasy book following Aislings journey, growth and discoveries in a magical and interesting world. If you love a fantasy book with fae, magic and little to no romance I think you would really enjoy this book.

Fae
Forced Proximity
Arranged Marriage
Magic
Mythical Creatures
Secrets
Self Discovery
No Spice

I started the audio book at 1x speed. I found it to be slow and dramatic. I increased it to 1.25x speed and found the pace better. Overall, I found the story boring. It is a slow burn book, and it's exactly that slow. There are phrases from the beginning of the story that get repeated throughout the story. They were repeated enough that I found it old and annoying. Clean story, no explicit sex or mature language.

I received the audiobook for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book had me captivated from start to finish. I enjoyed learning so much about the Ao Si and their culture and powers. Lir is the ruler of his people and now has ties with humans since he married their daughter Aisling. This sparks rage with the Unseelie who had a pact with the Ao Si. The Unseelie are drawn to Aisling due to her human and blood and quite literally want to devour her. However, she appears to channel magic. It is unheard of for a human to channel magic since long ago. Aisling has to learn to control her magic as she uncovers truths from lies.

The world building and descriptions in this book were phenomenal. I could vividly imagine the different creatures and even the foods that were being ate by the Ao Si. I could picture the nature with lush flowers, plants, and animals.

This book honestly had me supporting one side the entire time and then the ending absolutely destroyed me. I can't wait to read the sequel! Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture Audio, and Ashley Metzler for an ARC of this audiobook. This review is my own honest opinion.

I originally read this back when it was Breath of the New Creature and I loved it so much! Soooo, of course I had to check out the audio. I am not disappointed! This book, this series!!!