The Court That Bleeds Gold (ARC) Review

I’m back with my second ARC review of the year! I received this book as an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Warning: the following review may contain spoilers for The Court That Bleeds Gold by Zara Storm.

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Summary:

Desperate to escape marrying a brutal king, I make a deal with a Fae Prince...

“I can spin gold,” I lie.

With my life at stake, I have no other choice. I get one chance to turn my lie into truth, and I’m shocked when I succeed. But now the cruel human king demands I become his wife—passing between his bed and being locked away in a tower, spinning gold until my last breath.

My only way out is to summon him. A brutal Fae prince. The deal we strike is sickening, but it’s the only way I’ll live after I’m caught escaping my. My new captor drags me back to his realm. A place of profound beauty and savage cruelties.

As wicked fairies play sadistic games, the prince is my sole protector. He’s not just protecting me, though. He’s guarding his own secrets. I should hate him. But our pact shows me a side his court never sees. There is more behind his monstrous mask. I can’t stop myself from looking.

My Review:

Let me start by saying I love romantasy and fairy tale retellings. This is a romantasy retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. All of this to say, I loved this. The twists and turns were a 50/50 of predictable and shocking. I really loved the characters. I fell in love with Eleanor from the beginning. She’s kind and graceful but clever and resilient. One of my biggest pet peeves in romantasy is helpless damsels in distress and while naive at times, Eleanor was far from that.

I would’ve like to see a little more worldbuilding and see more of what this specific far court is like, but what the world building lacked, the side characters and plot picked up. I’m usually pretty good at predicting where things are going, but there were times when I had no clue! The writing was compelling enough to keep me going and I loved the side characters. I loved that at the end of the day, they both came through even when it seemed like it might not happen.

I’m not sure how I feel about Ruskin yet, but I loved him giving Eleanor a nickname and how he genuinely seemed to open up and change. There’s so much more to explore in this world and I can’t wait! I’m reading book 2 as soon as I get Kindle Unlimited back. This was a fantastic debut! 5 stars.

About the Author:

If you'd like to read more about the author Zara, you can find her at her website here or her Goodreads here.