Court of Bitter Thorn

by Kay L. Moody

Formats

Included in Free Trial

He’s a cursed fae prince. She’s the mortal with a sword who can save him.

Swords first, love later. That was always Elora’s rule. Duty demands she marry a rich merchant to save her family, but a cruel twist of fate, and a handsome fae prince, had other plans. Now she’s a stranger in a strange land, bound by a bargain she foolishly made.

Prince Brannick is everything she shouldn’t want: smug, powerful, and the ruler of a cursed, beautiful court. He expects Elora to teach him the art of the blade to help him win a deadly contest for a throne.

He doesn’t know her own dreams are just as sharp, or that she’d do anything to get back to the world she left behind.

The Fae of Bitter Thorn is a magical fantasy romance series. If you like high stakes fantasy, sword-wielding heroines, and brooding fae princes, you'll love this addictive enemies to lovers binge read.

SERIES READING ORDER

Book 1: Court of Bitter Thorn

Book 2: Castle of Bitter Thorn

Book 3: Crown of Bitter Thorn

Book 4: Queen of Bitter Thorn

Formats

Open reader Upgrade Account

Included in Free Trial

Book Details

Genre

Fantasy/Science Fiction Romance

Subgenre

Action/Adventure, Fae / Elf, Fairytale, High Fantasy, Medieval, Mythology-Based (Greek, Norse, Celtic, etc.), Royal

Series

The Fae of Bitter Thorn • Book 1

Audience

Upper YA

Bell Peppers

🫑🫑

Profanity

1 None

Violence

2 Mild

Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco

1 None

Publication Date

August 18, 2020

Language Versions

English

Fiction Form

Novel

Sensitive Themes

Grief or loss of a loved one, War or battle scenes

Representation

BIPOC main character / cast

A Fae Adventure

I've read the author's other novella series Elements of Kamdaria and loved it so was looking forward to reading this new Fae series by her. It didn't disappointment. We get a strong but adequately flawed heroine in Elora! The descriptions of the Faerie world are vivid and detailed and each character is interesting and different.I have to admit that one thing kind of initially confused me though towards the end - the way the climax came about (without giving spoilers, I went back and looked at the previous passages and realised it does kind of make sense but maybe a bigger explanation would have helped me). Also I felt like the words twitch and swallow were a bit overused, but I'm always nitpicky like that when reading so might just be me! Anyway, other than that I really enjoyed the book. It's a strong start to a lovely series with a jawdropping reveal at the end. Looking forward to reading the next book now and hoping for the romance to ramp up a bit. ;)

I fell in love with the story, the world and the characters <3

I’ve been thinking about whether or not to give this book 5 stars or “only” 4.5 stars and the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I have nothing to complain about. There is nothing that rubbed me the wrong way, nothing that didn’t convince me and nothing that in any way fell off. The only reason I had for giving this book 4.5 stars is the feeling that book 2 and also the rest of the series probably have a lot more in story for me and that I need room for a higher rating later on in the series. And this is a dumb reason to lower a rating, isn’t it?! So, here I am with my 5 star review.The story sucked me in immediately. I didn’t really know where the story would go at first, especially with King Huron in the picture. But the more I read, the more I loved everything about the story. The characters were likable and I clicked with Elora right away, because I just love her personality so much! The side characters were wonderful and all their personalities were so unique! Tansy, Soren and Blaz immediately stole my heart. Brannick was fascinating and the world was wonderful and magical and I wish I lived there myself!The storyline has some really nice twists and turns. I didn’t know what to expect, I was surprised (especially by one thing in the end!!!!) and the last 40% of the book I just wanted to binge read the book, I didn’t want to put it down, I didn’t even want to sleep, but of course I had to fall asleep while reading.😂❤️I fell in love with the story, the world and the characters, so I plan on reading not only the prequel novella, but also book 2 in the series very soon! <3

Couldn't put it down.

It is not often I find a book I do not want to stop reading. Court of Bitter Thorn is an entertaining tale of tragedy, heartache, love, and adventure. Kay Moody draws you into her world of amazing characters who grow in maturity, discover truth and reality, and build strong relationships with each other. Her writing style is not only entertaining, but a style that brings her world to life, a style that causes you to feel what the characters feel, a style that allows you to experience her world first hand.I highly recommend this book.

Slow start but fast paced high up by the end

One of my bookworm friend recommended this book. Mostly our taste alines but I just couldnt grab her devotion towards this book at the beggining. But I kept readin as I trusted my friedn. And how again she was right?!? Before 50% of the book its about a strong 3stars. Too descriptive for me and lack of interaction and waaay to much inner thinking for my taste. However. After about half of it its just skyrockets to adventure intigue schemeing and whatnot with a slight romance line.I honestly got my fist clenched by the many fistclenching the heroine was doing at the beggining but once she came to her right mind I absolutely could enjoy the book.Such a great worldbuilt with adventure and impossible loveline. Overall rate is 3 for the firat part 5 for the last so about a 4.I now got the prequel but planning to continue the series.

Great YA Fae Fantasy!

I absolutely loved this book. I read it last year but needed a refresher, so going through it again was great. I admit that I'm a massive fan of fae-based books, so this was right up my alley. The covers for all the books in this series are stunning. I really enjoyed Elora's character and, even more, her character development during this first story. I dislike when authors make characters too agreeable. For example: "Oh the prince said this is the truth? Ok, I believe him with no reason or justification." This author doesn't do this. Does that mean that Elora makes mistakes? Absolutely. But there's a truth to her errors because most of us would make the same ones in her shoes. Brannick is hard to like early on in this series, but I felt for him by the end of this book and am looking to learn more about him in its sequels. This is a great read for fans of "Folk of the Air," the "Fair Isle Trilogy," and anything by Tricia Levensller.