Rating
Synopsis
Forced to choose between loyalty and love...
Avery is a Golden Child who can heal any illness or injury. She lives a sheltered life, dutifully healing hopefuls from around the globe. Although she dreams of freedom, she fears disrupting the status quo—that is, until her powers go on the fritz, threatening her health and her relationship with her government caretakers.
In search of answers, Avery travels through The Rift to the realm of the fae, intimidatingly beautiful beings with powers humans don’t understand. Their prince, Riel, has his own motivations when he agrees to teach her about her rare magic. But as they work together, the two are drawn to each other.
Just as Avery manages to unlock the full potential of her powers, a betrayal shakes Riel’s House, putting pressure on the already tenuous relationship between humans and the fae. Caught in the middle, Avery and Riel must decide what matters most to them: loyalty to their respective nations or their feelings for one another.
Review
I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this book from NetGalley. The Treasured One is due for release on July 9, 2024.
The cover and the blurb of this book were what caught my attention. I was expecting some epic romantasy (romantic fantasy) story…, and while there were aspects of that within it, I was rather let down by it.
I have to be honest, I found it rather boring. Nothing much happened. Significant gaps existed between the action, and the action/drama didn’t last longer than about a page. There are characters within the story who could have caused drama but didn’t; if they had, it would have added an extra layer of interest. There weren’t any obstacles for the main characters to overcome in their ‘journey’. This also meant I felt like there was little to no character development for the MCs and the side and extra characters. The fae don’t trust the humans, and the humans don’t trust the fae, but that isn’t something that is improved or developed along the way. It is part of the plot but felt more forced and wasn’t overly thought out.
The main plot line was the relationship between Avery and Riel. I was, however, somewhat surprised when Avery started saying she had growing feelings for Riel. When did that even happen? I didn’t feel that there was much romantic build-up or proper ‘get-to-know-you’ moments. It was just skipped over, and then they had feelings for each other and were being protective.
There are some wonderful descriptions of the fae world. It was well imagined and really interesting, with some wonderfully unique places and ideas.
I was somewhat angry at the ending. It felt unresolved and left me asking, “Why? Was there not a better way to go about it?”
Needless to say, I was not a huge fan. I feel it could have done with a touch more development and interaction between all the characters, not just the MCs. It is a debut, and Levin has the potential to be an awesome author.