Reviews

The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill by Rowenna Miller

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smiley7245's review

slow-paced

2.5

This book was incredibly slow. It took me months to read. I put it in my purse and read it when I was in waiting rooms and at appointments because the first 30ish pages were so slow. On top of that, the font was tiny, like 8pt, and the pages were thin so this was a big book. The blurb on the back was so promising, but it did not live up to it.

This family bargains with the fairies. Usually they only do small, simple bargains, like for a good harvest or to keep bugs away. But, the two daughters start getting bolder with their bargains. The older daughter starts doing so well with her bargains that she thinks she is getting the better of the fairy that she is consistently bargaining with. But, then things start to go poorly for her sister who just got married and moved away. So, she starts to get bolder. But, things aren't necessarily working as well as she wants. That leads the sister to have to bargain, because she was the one that made the initial bargain that led her to the bad marriage to begin with. Well, she makes a bargain that she doesn't understand which leads to Emily, her niece, her older sister's daughter, to be taken into fae. She travels into fae to try to get her back. When she gets in she meets a different fairy, one that has been ostracized and they make a bargain. Well, one thing about the fae is that their names have power and they don't tell anyone their name, but if you guess you can use it for one favor. So, she is not having any luck getting her niece back, but she does learn the name of the new fae, turns out it's a relative of hers, Violet, who exchanged herself so that her mother could have a new baby since she just had just lost a baby. So, she uses the favor to get Emily back, but she also secures a new patron for Violet so she can return to the fae fold. And then, she ends up moving away to Chicago while the rest of her family stay on the farm and they continue to make bargains, but only small ones because they all learned their lesson.

This had all of the elements of being good, but it took too long to get to the good parts. I will not be reading any more books by this author.

roseangel2's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

aolney's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

annabelpulman's review

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1.0

This book was so disappointing because I really wanted to love it. I love feminism historical fiction and fantasy. But it just was not what I was expecting. I was hoping for more fantasy, less history. I found it to be incredibly boring. I am normally a quick reader but I had to sit through three weeks of trying to force myself to read this book before I eventually gave up. I gave it my best go. I only had 80 pages left when I finally threw in the towel. But if you like a quick pace, and are expecting fairies because of the title, this book is not for you. It was more than halfway through when the fairies showed up, and even then it was still boring.

ktread07's review

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5.0

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book ahead of it's pub date (March 28, 2023).

I am a sucker for a good fairy bargain and this book is absolutely full of them!

The book started off slow but don't let that change your mind about reading it! I think the author did a great job showing us the nature of the bargains and the danger of changing them.

As Alaine kept making bargains for her farm and family's luck, I was on the edge of my seat wondering when something bad was going to happen or a bargain was going to be twisted by the fae.

The story is lush with detail and truly imaginative. I definitely give it 5 stars!