Original Review to be published on Forever Young Adult.

BOOK REPORT for These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows #1) by Lexi Ryan
Cover Story: Typical Fantasy Fare
BFF Charm:
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Talky Talk: A Frolicking Faerie Fun Time
Bonus Factors: Faeries, Magic
Relationship Status: Two-Night Stand


Cover Story: Typical Fantasy Fare
As I only have a digital version of this book, I had no idea Sebastian and Finn were hiding behind Brie until I went to examine the cover more closely for this section. Hey, boys! There isn’t anything super unique about this, but I like it just fine. The typeface for the title is very neat. As an Ariel-lover, I am predisposed to covet and enjoy long red hair, plus Brie is rocking a great cat-eye look. And now I want a pretty cloak!

The Deal:
In the years since their mother abandoned them for a faerie, all part-time thief, full-time slave Abriella has left is the love of her sister, Jas. After their Cinderella-esque aunt sells off Jas to the Unseelie king to clear their indentured contract, Brie is determined to save her, even if that means going to the one place she never wanted to. Once there, she gets stuck in a web of lies, trickery, and deceit. The Unseelie king is an usurper who needs three magical items taken back from the Seelie court in order to solidify his power, so he forces Brie to do his bidding to ensure Jas’s safe release. To gain access to the Seelie court, Brie will have to pretend she’s one of the Bachelor contestants humans who long to win the prince’s heart, but when she’s finally face-to-face with him, she realizes she may not need to pretend that much after all. If Brie wants to find these artifacts before time runs out, she’ll need to utilize all the tricks of her thievery trade, including accepting help from a band of outcasts led by the enigmatic Finn.

BFF Charm: Mostly? Eventually?
Abriella is totally a special, not-like-other-girls snowflake, but that is part of the plot so what can she do? I admire her determination to save Jas and how she didn’t hesitate to lie to Sebastian (the Seelie prince) when necessary (I get morals and all, but if you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place and you’ve got to go all-in on deceiving someone, COMMIT). At first, when she’d do the dumb thing, like running off into the woods by herself in a magical land she knows nothing about, I appreciated that she instantly thought, “well, that was dumb.” If you’re going to do rash things as the main character I’m happy you at least own up to it so we are all on the same page as I roll my eyes.
As the story progressed, there were a few too many glaringly obvious things people would say in front of her or she’d witness that she never followed up on, and it did make her look super naïve. I know I’m more hip to general faerie lore as a reader, but, girl—ask the tough questions or use your powers to sneak into a library!

Swoonworthy Scale: 7
It looks like while this is Lexi Ryan’s first foray into YA fiction, she is normally a steamy romance author, and that totally shows. There is no extremely graphic sexytimes, but there ARE sexytimes, and she knows how to ratchet up the tension in a scene. Brie is torn between Sebastian and Finn, and my hesitancy to make this a Swoonworthy 10 is that there’s just a whole lot of complication going on here—and isn’t it always that way with fae, amirite?—that I can’t really go into without spoiling too many things. I definitely have a preference and it feels like the book does too, but also by the end I wanted to just tell Brie, pull a Kelly and choose yourself, bb; run for the hills!
Hit me up in the comments if you want to chat about them!

Talky Talk: A Frolicking Faerie Fun Time
Ryan takes the faerie tropes you know and love and doesn’t really seem to change much about them, but who cares? We read and watch and listen to similar things all the time because those pieces of media have locked into a good thing, a hook that we want more of. No need to reinvent the wheel! What matters is if you do it well, and I think Ryan did. Her writing is engaging and fun and I definitely didn’t want to put the book down until it was over, and now I really wish I can had book two, like, yesterday.

Bonus Factor: Faeries
To preface, I am not a connoisseur of faerie books by any means. Some aren’t going to like this because the fae aren’t sadistic and twisted enough (which is not my personal criteria for how good a faerie book is, but based on reviews I think for some it is, so…you do you). There was more than enough discussion of enslavement, murder, and questionable morals that I wanted to sit Brie down and be like, you know you don’t NEED to choose any of these yahoos, right? Take your powers, go rob that human again, and find a better town to live in away from faerie-land. But also, it’s a dark fantasy book, so, like, whatever, you get all the sexy faerie dick you want and crown yourself queen, Brie!

Bonus Factor: Magic
There isn’t a crazy abundance of magical usage in this book for a few reasons, but what there was, I wanted. The ability to turn into shadow and pass through walls? YES PLEASE. Those magicked pins Pretha used to turn Abriella’s sad-sack dress into something gorgeous? Sign me up!

Relationship Status: Two-Night Stand
Our connection isn’t that deep, but when I first saw this Book, I knew I wanted it. We shared one sleepless night, and while I don’t see us in a long-term, committed relationship, I think I need just one more tryst to get it all out of my system. Same time, next year?

I was desperate to read this book as soon as I saw the comp titles - ACOTAR meets the Cruel Prince? Sign me up! As with any book that uses such popular books as comparisons it had huge shoes to fill and large expectations to meet right off the bat. In my option, it didn’t quite meet my expectations but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless. A few parts I liked was (surprisingly) the love triangle. I’m not usually a fan of love triangles but These Hollow Vows does it very well and I was genuinely torn between the two love interests and am very keen to see how it’s resolved in the sequel. The magical system was interesting as was the world building, although I found it a bit lazy and relying too much on tropes in places. Which brings me to some parts I wasn’t quite so keen on. In many ways, mostly in tropes and certain plot points (I’m looking at you, Prince of Darkness), this book was essentially ACOTAR. There’s nothing wrong with some inspiration but there were some details that were just too on the nose for me to brush past. The other element I didn’t particularly like was Brie’s “not like other girls” mentality that popped up now and again. As in, she literally said “I’m not like these women” at one point. As a main character I didn’t *love* her but her character growth through some pretty large emotional upheavals was well done and I liked her a lot more by the end than I did at the start. Overall, These Hollow Vows was an enjoyable, easy read and I’d recommend it if you’re a fan of fae stories, romance and adventure. 3.75/5 stars.

3-3.5 STARS

This is truly a case of "me, not the book" if there ever was one. The synopsis really won me over because it sounds like a cross between A Court of Thorns and Roses and The Cruel Prince, two series I'm fond of. This comparison isn't *wrong*, but maybe slightly misleading? These Hollow Vows has solid writing, but where I feel it differs is that this book is definitely geared toward the younger side of the YA spectrum, meaning readers of the two above mentioned books, like myself, might be expecting something a little more steamy and dark. Again, nothing wrong with that, and would definitely recommend to those looking for something a little lighter with a bomb dot com love triangle. 10/10 would give this author another try!

Lexi Ryan has rocked the world of YA/Cross Over fiction with "These Hollow Vows".. I can't wait for the sequel! I was enthralled by this story. The protagonist is believable, even for a fantasy story about the world of Seelie/Unseelie intrigue. Fast paced reading with so many under layers of intrigue.
This book deserves to be made into a movie ASAP.

wow this book BLEW MY MIND. i had heard good reviews before reading it and my expectations were met. this is perfect for fans of the cruel prince and acotar and i can definitely see it being as big as those

Lexi Ryan proves she deserves to be ranked among names like Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black and Kiera Cass in this fantastic first installment to a new series. I loved everything about this book, from the magic, to the romance, to the world it created. This book left me second guessing who to trust until the very last page. I eagerly await the next installment, while I recommend this book to everyone I know.

Thank you so much to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm shocked that I liked this book! The blurb describes it as perfect for fans of ACOTAR & The Cruel Prince, and considering I didn’t enjoy either of those series, I was highly skeptical about this book, but I did end up enjoying it.

I will say right from the get-go though, that I didn't appreciate that Brie was only 17 years old in this book when Bash is 21 and Finn is 100+ years old. I really despise relationships where the MC is a minor and paired with adults or magical beings that are hundreds of years old. I feel like she could have easily been aged up to 18+, especially considering how much this book felt like a New Adult book. Because of this and a few other points, I think I’d rate it 4 stars.

As mentioned, These Hollow Vows (really apt title, by the way) is marketed as a YA fantasy book, but I definitely think that this book should have been marketed as New Adult instead (I’d recommend it for readers 16+). It does have the typical traits of a YA novel though--you have the “I’m not like other girls MC” (Example: Brie wears pants instead of dresses, so she thinks she’s special.) and your standard “golden-boy prince vs. mysterious dark prince” YA love triangle. But I think where the love triangle in this book actually is better than other love triangles is that you truly don’t know who Brie should end up with as the novel progresses. I usually tend to gravitate towards the broody dark-haired love interests so naturally I was rooting for Finn the entire time. But when more secrets are revealed as the novel progresses, both from Finn and from Bash, I truly didn’t know who Brie should and would end up with (and to be completely honest, it felt like she should stay away from both).

The other thing I liked about this book is that with the story being about the Fae, there is no moment in the book where Brie accepts the promises that the Fae spoon-feed her. She understands from page 1 that she can never trust anyone but herself, even when it seems she can. I appreciated how explicit Lexi Ryan was in making sure that readers understood that any character who committed horrifying actions like that, no matter how much they seemingly “cared” for Brie, should not be treated like the hero. And while I was able to guess the plot twist at the beginning of the novel regarding Bash’s true identity, the multiple plot-twists and cliffhanger at the end of the book really got me though and I’m so excited to see the narrative in Book 2 turning into Team Brie rather than Team Bash vs. Team Finn.

Regarding other aspects about the book, I could see how the story in the middle of the book got a little slow/repetitive, but I think the romance made up for it. I also liked the side characters (Preth, Jalek, Kane, etc.) and how their relationships with Brie developed. One thing that did feel weird to me is that even though this book has a medieval setting, the characters use modern language/slang. Overall, you may enjoy this book even if you are or are not a fan of YA fantasies featuring Fae characters. I probably will be checking out the sequel when it eventually comes out.

These Hollow Vows is described as The Cruel Prince meets ACOTAR. I do not think it is similar to The Cruel Prince. These Hollow Vows' plot is not politics or about a woman obtaining power, and the biggest similarity between the two is both stories have Fae characters. The book is similar to ACOTAR; both books start with a young woman entering Fae territory to save their family.

I did like this book. I had a great time while reading; the book was fun and adventurous. It does feel like a typical YA Fantasy novel; however, that is a really popular genre, and not every book needs to be groundbreaking. Classics are classics for a reason.

I do not know who Bree is going to end up with at the end of this series. This book had multiple twists and turns with the male love interest. While some aspects of the plot were predictable, the love triangle isn't. You have the dark and mysterious stranger and the loveable best friend. Both great options, but everyone has an ulterior motive in this book.

This book does not really have any representation. The book contains your typical YA protagonist, a white redheaded young woman, and there is an overall lack of LGBTQ and BIPOC characters. Personally, I would rather have no representation than poor representation in a book, but the lack of diversity is worth noting.

I really liked These Hollow Vows, and I am excited to see where the story goes in the sequel. I rate the book 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and HMH for a digital ARC of These Hollow Vows!

These Hollow Vows features a fiery protagonist, Abriella (aka Brie), doing everything she can to take care of her sister. The magic and world offers a different take on the Fae and creates a plot that puts much of the power in the hands of the protagonist to move the story along. However, we still get to unfold the secrets of the Fae world alongside Brie, allowing us to feel for her and appreciate each twist.

The Cinderella vibes are strong in this one! Additionally, the story uses so many familiar tropes that it was difficult not to simply compare this story to others that have come before it (namely ACOTAR and The Selection). Oftentimes, this led to the character dynamics falling flat. But the plot was enough to keep me reading.

Unfortunately, a lot of the story was spent flip-flopping between Brie’s feelings about the two Fae princes. I could have done without the romance and attempted love triangle here. One side felt way too underdeveloped while the other side felt toxic and possessive (perhaps too much inspiration from ACOTAR?). Some of that time could have been spent building the plot more and avoiding such a rushed ending because honestly, the ending was the best part. All that said, I will still read the next book to find out if Brie ends up with who I am currently predicting.

If you're into tropes, this is the book for you. Let me put it this way. I finished and enjoyed this book in one day, but I also predicted the main plot only 4% into the book. So as much as it was predictable, I found myself unable to stop reading.

I know that's not the strongest vote of confidence, but don't let predicability scare you away! I can honestly say I still really enjoyed this story. I mean, who doesn't love a fae fantasy with romance and magic. So, even though I could see the bigger picture, I still enjoyed getting to see how the plot progressed and to understand the character's backgrounds.

As the blurb states, if you're a fan of ACOTAR (and in my opinion a bit of a Cinderella story as well), I do think you'd enjoy this story as well!

All Vows Lead to Death
These Hollow Vows is the first book I have read by Lexi Ryan, and it has easily landed her on my list of must-read authors. The world building is intricate, yet subtle, and her characters are all the beautiful shades of grey that make for a twisting, and unexpected story arc. Magic abounds, along with plenty of courtly intrigue, and romances that are steamy but not spicy (a plus in my opinion-- I'm a prude, but do appreciate a sweet love scene). The action is constant, building the mystery of who Brie really is, and why she is so important to the Fae, ending with some major plot switchbacks and one heck of a cliff hanger, that throws everything you thought you had figured out about where the story was headed into question.

The mythology surrounding the split between the Seelie and Unseelie courts of Faery is familiar to readers of fantasy, and Ryan keeps with the basic tenets of this plot as the backbone of her story. Where she diverges is in the question of how the courts could be united into one, and what a seemingly mortal girl could have to do with this solution. As Brie searches for her kidnapped sister, while simultaneously trying to learn mastery of her peculiarly dark magic, and figure out the will of her treacherous heart, clues to how she could be the key to the fate of Faery are slowly laid out, only to be snatched away at the last possible moment. Brie's romance with the Seelie prince, and undeniable pull towards the Unseelie prince is predictable for this type of book, yet neither seems stale or trite; they even avoided making me roll my eyes at the antics of the poor girl caught in the middle of two hot, powerful males.

'I don't hope. It's a waste of time. Dangerous even.' He tilts his head to the side. "You're wrong about that. What's truly dangerous is not having hope.' -- Brie and Prince Ronan

Brie is indeed a girl who seems not to hope, she allows all of her hope for the future to live in her love for her little sister, whom she once saved from a burning building. So when she learns that the key to using her magic may be in learning to hope, she is forced to adjust the way she looks at the world, and how she evaluates her relationships. Is saving her sister more important than the fate of an entire race of people? Is she willing to sacrifice herself and her new-found romance and friendships for one life? How Brie answers those questions reveals her true nature, and why she is so important to some of the most powerful magical beings in the world. But in vowing to love one of those beings forever, she finds out how hollow her knowledge of love and hope might really be. I highly recommend pre-ordering These Hollow Vows today, I need some company as I wait (with great anticipation) for the sequel!

The first in a new fantasy duopoly, These Hollow Vows is a high fantasy novel with a contemporary voice. We following a red-headed mortal thief named Brie who finds unexpectedly herself wrapped up in the convoluted world of faerie politics. While this book seemed to promise a satisfactory blend of fan-savories like The Selection, The Cruel Prince, and Throne of Glass ultimately, These Hollow Vows leaned so much on well-read tropes that, rather than offer a refreshing and original new story, reading this ultimately felt repetitive and all-t00-familiar.

I requested this book because I was in the mood for a fantasy with fairies, and I got exactly what I expected. I thought there were some interesting world building and I liked some of the characters. The writing was decent; it flowed well and was easy to follow. I didn’t like some of the main character’s choices, and I felt like most of the secrets that were hinted at throughout the book were easy to guess (which made me a little frustrated with the main character—she should have guessed some of those things!). While it’s not my favorite book I’ve read, I did enjoy it and I’m interested in reading the second one to see what happens!

I was given an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't really know where to start with this book. It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. It was meh.
The plot was decent. And the list page was amazing. But the writing? Cringe. The characters? Barely know em. The world? Decent.

If you're going to say "for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses," then the book better live up that. This one fell way flat of those expectations, unfortunately.

I almost DNF'd this one part way through but the plot was intriguing enough to keep me going. I figured out most of the plot twists very early on, which made it boring. The two that I didn't guess where good, I'll give the book that much.
Abriella is ANNOYING. And dumb! This girl is so clueless and blind throughout the whole book I was almost rooting for the bad guy. She was incredibly one sided and static. She had no personality. She was incredibly underdeveloped.
And then two princes. Just as one sided. No personalities. We know NOTHING about either of them! Not that blind Abriella tries to learn anything. When she does ask questions she gets shot down because ~secrets~

The writing was mediocre. It was rushed and lacking leaving everything- plot, world, characters- underdeveloped. This felt like a middle draft. The draft where you have the general idea of the story and where you want to go but then you do another draft or two to fill it in and spruce it up. And the language? Wayyyy too modern for a fae world. It drove me insane. I'm not asking for "thees" and "thous" just a little formality in the way the characters speak and in the narration. It just didn't fit the setting.

Those last two chapters though. A+. Great plot twist, put me on edge, and Abriella finally grew a backbone and sliver of personality.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HMH Books for Young Readers for the early copy to review! All opinions are my own. Actual rating 3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars.

I really don't know how I feel about this one. Like, I get the hype. I really do. It's similar to ACOTAR (at least the first two books) with the love interests. I enjoyed both ACOTAR and this book, but it was severely over-hyped for what it is. As said, I did enjoy the latter 40-45% of the book. I just couldn't get past the fact that it reminded me so much of ACOTAR. No spoilers, but I was rooting for Finn the whole time. The one thing I couldn't get past in this book was the twisty deception everyone participated in. Brie deceived Finn and Sebastian. Sebastian deceived Brie. Finn deceived Brie. It was kind of endless.

Despite all that, I really do want to read the next book (if there will be one) as the ending left a lot of questions. I have to have closure for everything that happened in the last like 5%.

I do believe there are others who will enjoy this book more than I did. If they go in not knowing what happened in ACOTAR, maybe they could enjoy it more. I think at this point, fae is overdone and we need something extraordinary to be more interesting than the other books.

Thank you so much to HMH teen for the early review copy via netgalley!

Okay, I'm trash for this book. For once the romance actually had me interested. It definitely helps that the author writes adult romance. Keep in mind this book does have a love triangle (I personally love them but I know some people hate them).

Abriella's character was one I actually saw myself in some. She was stubborn and didn't want to see both sides of the story in the beginning but eventually grew and saw the error in her ways. Sebastian and Finn are both characters I enjoyed but for different reasons and I'm curious to see how this love triangle progresses.

I'm sad that I finished this book since it isn't out yet and now I really want the sequel.

Have you ever wanted a Cruel Prince x Throne of Glass x The Selection fanfic? These Hollow Vows (first in a series) is a high fantasy with a contemporary voice, following a red headed mortal thief named Brie who finds herself wrapped up in faerie plots and politics.
The first time I tried to read this, I had to put it down. The contemporary tone and writing style felt strange in a fantasy world, it felt a little disjointed (at first I hoped it leaned more like Holly Black or Cassie Clare who do this style pretty successfully) When I came back to it, I found the world and well loved mortal girl in faerie land concept fun enough for me to read through to the end, but honestly, I was pretty disappointed.
I felt like I had read everything in this book somewhere else before, and it did not help that maybe halfway through, the main character overhears something that instantly reveals the entire rest of the plot, only to remain oblivious to it and string us along through the entire rest of the book. This was the biggest downfall for me— already familiar tropes combined with a very pointedly oblivious main character going through a plot that the author reveals so early on. It was very difficult to feel any sort of connection to the main character when she was repeatedly making poor choices and painfully trying to sort out that we as the audience already knew. I rushed to get through the rest of the book.
Contradicting this a little, my favorite parts of this book were the tropey concepts, mortal girls mingling with fae princes, magic, curses! I just wish that there had been more originality or anticipation built around these themes.

Best Guilty Pleasure, perfect escapism, couldn't put down, stayed-up-until-the-middle-of-the-night-to-finish-read I've read in a while. **Thank you to HMH Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review** - I now have you all to thank for me getting no sleep last night:)

This one was a definite pleasant surprise for me, when I started it I almost switched to something else thinking it read a little youngish (I'm an adult reader of YA Fantasy), but boy am I glad I stuck with it. No it didn't suddenly turn into War & Peace, but it did go from a Cinderella (evil step sisters, a ball, a fairy godmother) inspired tale to a full flung Fae Fantasy Soap Opera with all kinds of Cray (in the best way possible!). This had so many of my favorite tropes: a Love Triangle (and the good kind, she gets to figure out which of the two guys she wants, not the other woman kind), Hidden Identities, Hidden Powers, and secret sneaky betrayals galore.

The Lowdown: After Brie's sister is kidnapped by the Unseelie King, after making a deal with the King to retrieve 3 magical items for him Brie leaves the human realm behind to infiltrate the Seelie Court via a ball they are holding in the Seelie Princes honor to find himself a human bride. Surprise! The prince turns out to be someone she already knows, and as she decides to let her feelings for him grow she finds herself in a tight spot - she's also trying to locate said Unseelie Court magical items hidden in his castle somewhere.

Enter the Dark Prince, the Unseelie exiled Prince Finn, desperate to get the evil Usurper off his throne and save his court and kingdom. He's anxious to help Brie retrieve the items stolen from his court so his people can get their Magic back. Now we've got all kinds of triangles going and political machinations abound, secret histories and powers are revealed, and double crosses and betrayals litter the landscape.

Will she save her sister? Will she discover the truth about her own power? Her missing mother? Will she pick the right guy?! Will she survive as a human in the treacherous Fae realm?

I'm not going to lie, I was cringing at her choices at the end (me and her do not agree on her love life) and I felt her choice in going back to the guy that repeatedly lied and deceived her (all with a smile on his face) made her a little TSTL (granted just about everyone lied). I'm sorry but I'm a firm team Finn fan and thought Sebastian was a total boob (I still believe he is definitely a wolf in sheeps clothing, I thought it the whole time and I'm sticking to it into book two). I definitely am of the mind "better the Devil you know, than the Devil you don't". If you're going to be a cinnamon roll be a cinnamon roll, don't be an Evil cinnamon roll in denial of your true corrupted core. No one wants to eat one of those.

I'm happy to say I felt somewhat vindicated in the end, and am sticking with my Team Finn (probably not the popular choice? I dunno). And what an ending, big twist in the last chapter: cue dramatic music and evil voice "bwah hah hah hah". All I can say is I cannot wait for the next one!

100 percent entertaining read, perfect for fans of Holly Black's Cruel Prince series and Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass and ACOTAR series (note: while there's some heat, its definitely not ACOMAF level - but that could be because I wanted to gag at her choice of partner lol).

An enchanting story of magic, adventure, and the lengths we will go to for the ones we love. Lexi Ryan takes readers on a rollercoaster ride we won’t forget and leaves us begging for more of this story and world.

Unfortunately, These Hollow Vows only gets two stars from me. Though the premise was fun and the author did an excellent job portraying Brie's struggle to deal with betraying people she cares for, some parts of this novel fell short for me. I also think, had this been a standalone novel, it might be a more effective story.
Overall, this is an ok YA novel. At times the writing felt more like I was reading fanfiction, like it could have been more polished, but it wasn't enough to make me put the book aside.
This story is set up and advertised as a love triangle, but there were times where I felt confused and frustrated at the lack of chemistry or relationship-building moments in the story. Brie's attraction to Sebastian is established before the story begins, and when Finn is introduced Brie feels an immediate connection with him, despite him being largely dismissive of her. Their main relationship-building, the scene that points to Finn and says
"he won't take advantage of you," is deeply problematic.
Consent is a big thing that I value in books, and nothing makes me want to ditch a book faster than rape or rape-y scenes. Unfortunately, this book fell into that trap, and it knocked at least one star off this review.
Flaws aside, the twisting story was engaging, the mind games were tense, and I felt like the ending made sense.