Review: These Hollow Vows

Let's talk about These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan. It feeds into every fantasy stereotype you could ever imagine, and you can guess all the big reveals and plot points from a mile away. In fact, I counted the number of books I recognized a similar scene or idea from this book in. They include: Hunger Games, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Shadow and Bone, and From Blood and Ash. If you love these books, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one as well.

Regardless of it being nothing new, it was still a great read for me. I loved most of the characters, it was written at a pace that kept me interested, and the worldbuilding was good without being too wordy. The plot definitely could've used some help, but it wasn't bad by any means.

Mild spoilers below!

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Synopsis: "Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them, even if that means starving on the street. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she'll do whatever it takes to get her back—including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the Seelie court.

Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie's only choice is to pose as a potential bride for Prince Ronan, and she soon finds herself falling for him. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. As Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she struggles to resist his seductive charm.

Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty. And with her heart" (Goodreads).

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Now, what does this remind you of? If you said A Court of Thorns and Roses, you're right! It's literally set in Faerie, and it involves a poor girl going from the human world to the Fae world and falling in love with one of them. There's even rival courts! In this, it's the Shadow Court and Sun Court, but these are really just the Night and Spring Courts. Two love interests involving each of these courts, too. Really, the only thing missing is the Beauty and the Beast aspect of it.

Despite my misgivings about ACOTAR, this one really surprised me. I have very conflicting thoughts on Brie, though. Like, firstly, that's my girl. She's definitely a badass with her shadow powers and willingness to fight through anything for her sister. But also, she's a dumbass. Literally, at multiple points in the book, she confesses parts of her plan to a person that was in no uncertain terms, the enemy. Sure, she loves this dude. Love makes us weak, blah blah, we KNOW. But really, I was just pissed off that she was so weak when it came to him.

Next, we have Finn. FINN. I love Finn. I think anyone who prefers the other brother in books will be a Finn girl. If you're a Rhysand girl, or maybe a Conrad girly, you're also Finn's. There's really no specific reason I like him; he's like every other misunderstood male MC. But at the same time, that's the whole point. I wish we learned more about him, though. It felt like he kind of took a backseat in this book, and I really hope he turns out to be the main love interest in the next book.

The way this book was written really appealed to me. There was enough description of everything in the world to give me an idea about how it looked, but it wasn't overpowering with paragraphs of description like some authors tend to do. (Looking at you, JLA). It felt understated while still being enough. The characters weren't really explored a lot, but I can forgive that, as this is the first book in a series. I assume we'll get to know a lot more as we continue.

The plot was very predictable. If you're a fantasy veteran, I know you'll be able to guess every single plot point correctly, because I could. There were absolutely no surprises, though miss Brie seemed surprised every time. If you just want a classic fantasy read, I'd say go for this. if you're looking for something groundbreaking and new, yeahhh maybe don't read this book.

I feel like I don't really have a lot to say about this book because comparatively to every other fantasy book out there, it was the most average thing I've ever read. But of course, I always rate books based on the level of enjoyment I got from reading them. And this one was pretty high. I was sitting there yelling for my man Finn and my girl Brie, and hating on Sebastian the whole time. Really entertaining experience. It's 4/5 stars from me.