*sigh* I had to DNF this one, I simply do not understand this world at all.

While I think the cover is lovely, I couldn't get pass the underlying stupidity or ignorance of the characters in the actual pages.

Like I get it's supposed to be about finding strength or whatever through anorexia, but why the fuck does there have to be grape.

Why are the 'lairds' lusting after an anorexic, why is it that people expect beautiful to equate to stick figure unhealthy bodies, like I can't exactly judge, myself being on the opposite side of that scale, but I don't care what people think of me, I'm fat and I know I'm not beautiful, I accepted that a long time ago. That doesn't mean that I can vibe with this character as a whole. We are at different ends of the spectrum, and I would never make the choices they did and I also don't like the idea that SA occurred. It was unnecessary. Personally I associate anorexia with illness, a weakness so deep that it eventually destroys your body. It can kill you. (well i know, being fat is the same, I'm not saying it's not) That weakness is exactly what I felt, the character is being forced to be weak, but also enjoying that he's admired. Toxic.
As he is a royal, I felt a severe lack of respect on his part, a royal should be an inspiring figure, not one that has no control over themselves. I would never let someone choose how I look. If someone told me I had to be a stick insect to be valued, I'd probably eat them. SMH.
In some aspects I feel the author is somewhat glorifying this disorder, I'm sure it's not intentional, but I suspect some deep rooted need for this topic to be pushed by them.
I think maybe I could have enjoyed this, minus the SA, minus the preening, minus the body dysmorphia, minus the cabinet.
I don't often read MM books, but I thought I'd give it a try.
Sadly, this just wasn't for me.
It just didn't fit together properly, the world building didn't draw me in. There were too many negative aspects, not enough good vibes. Honestly I have respect for anyone who is going through any of these circumstances, and still remains strong, I truly wish you health and happiness, I do.
I just can't recommend this one at all.
Also, some questionable phrasing, like it was trying too hard to reach a word count target.

2 stars for the effort.
I must say that while this one wasn't for me, I hope others enjoy it better.

I did not enjoy this book, unfortunately. While I was really interested to read a fantasy with a main character who had an eating disorder, and who had to balance that with the mental and physical fitness to rule, the execution here didn't work for me at all, on a number of levels. The worldbuilding makes absolutely no sense in most of its aspects, including the resolution to the divinely mandated eating disorder; there's little to no subtlety in how anything to do with the eating disorder is handled (seriously, it treats the reader like an absolute idiot; the prince main character has all the symptoms of anorexia including fainting from hunger/weakness, and the other characters are all like 'oh, is he being poisoned?" Just zero common sense applied to the human body at all). And while an attempt is made at a political plot, there's very little going on that isn't either eating disorder or romance related (and the romance is mostly pining to realisation with no real character growth), so it falls flat as an interesting fantasy/story in its own right.

My biggest issue with this book is that the same prince uses dubiously consenting (on his part; another baffling bit of worldbuilding that doesn't make sense if you think about it for a few seconds) sex with his lords to self-harm, and the narration treats this almost identically to the consensual sex scenes of the romance later on, so we have pages of specific sensual detail as the sex occurs; this was deeply uncomfortable to read, but not for the reasons I think the author wanted it to be; rather than feeling uncomfortable because of the brutality or the depth of the conflicting emotions happening, I was uncomfortable because these scenes felt like they were meant to be "romantasy spice". I'm all for spice, sex scenes, whatever you want to call it, in fantasy. But I think if you're going for a grim vibe of sexual assault and its recovery, you can't write the scenes in the same titillating way as you write romantic ones. It makes it feel unbalanced. I kept reading hoping it was going to have a snapping point where the grimness was worth something, but it doesn't.

This book is underbaked and unbalanced all over, really - the two main characters are out of a modern YA novel, the politics/fantasy elements are barely there and badly constructed with no internal consistency, and the tone flips from fluff that feels almost disrespectful to the issues at hand, to attempts to be hard-hitting that wildly miss the mark. It treads too lightly to do anything with any of its interesting themes, and because of that it was probably my most disappointing book of the year so far.

The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre by Darcy Ash is the kind of book that sneaks up on you, not with flashy action or over-the-top drama, but with a quiet, steady depth that stays with you long after the final page.

I was instantly intrigued by this Scottish-inspired world and the gentle intensity between Fierre and Aiven. The romance here is refreshing. It’s rare and beautiful to see a relationship built on emotional safety, and that alone makes this story stand out in the fantasy romance space.

But this isn't just a love story. Darcy Ash doesn’t shy away from the darker undercurrents particularly Fierre’s struggles with disordered eating and the emotional weight of being a royal with hidden vulnerabilities. These themes are handled with a quiet grace and honesty that adds real emotional heft to the narrative. It’s a book about healing, not just from illness, but from the pressure of expectations, isolation, and self-doubt.

The worldbuilding is subtle but immersive if you're used to sprawling magical systems and action-heavy plots, this leans more intimate and atmospheric. But that worked perfectly for this story. The court intrigue adds texture without overshadowing the personal stakes, and the supporting cast brings layers to both the setting and the emotional journey.

I am so conflicted about this book. The romance between the two main characters is really well done and exceptionally sweet.

The rest of the book … less so. The fantasy world makes no sense.

The premise is that the ruler has to be fragile and beautiful to prove they are divinely favoured. Fierre does this by starving himself which is encouraged by his doctor.

He's supposed to starve himself enough to be waiflike but not enough that he appears weak. There's a lot of references to how tiny he is and how big and masculine the lairds are which I found disturbing.

Fierre is also expected to give the lairds sexual favours but then is shamed for it. These encounters are not necessarily consensual (and we have to read several of them).

The writing is good if a bit clunky at times and it's well paced. I just didn't enjoy it. I recommend people read the trigger warnings and then make a decision about picking this book up.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

I really wanted to like this book but it just wasn't for me:
- I liked the queer romance but I disliked the sexual violence and the unhealthy past relationships dynamics that were never really resolved for the main character, instead there's just more rough sex. Why???
- I like the Scottish setting but as a Scottish Gaelic speaker and Scottish Studies scholar: none of this made sense. What a waste. Also historically. Linguistically.
- The gender-bent forced starvation to control the prince could have been interesting but it also made no sense really. Why was this introduced at all? The doctor bit was also random. I don't know, the entire also lacked good female characters.
- I disliked both protagonists. The class difference was not executed properly, I didn't like their romance at all.

Overall I was just annoyed reading this book.

1.5 stars

This book was okay. I feel like it could have had another round of editing to clean it up some. It was missing some depth in the writing. If it wasn't for the spicy bits I would classify it as YA. It was missing the depth of adult fiction.

I'm gonna have to DNF this - sadly I found the whole thing with the sexual favours and dubious consent to be a bit too much. I guess the way it was done in this world just icked me out too much, especially in combination with the ED. So yeah, not for me I'm afraid!

Unfortunately, I don't think this was for me, and I honestly felt a little uncomfortable whilst reading it. I fully recognise that the book's themes and topics are supposed to be uncomfortable, and I am not in any way saying that these topics should not be explored in fiction. For me personally, I didn't really like the world-building, and I found the narrative style did not support the heaviness of themes.

I was not able to completely read this book by the archive date or release date, but let me tell you that I was hooked. Darcy Ash does a fantastic job at getting you hooked in the beginning and I am obsessed with this title and its characters. Not only will I be highly recommending that my library purchase this book, I will be budgeting to buy it personally as well. I definitely recommend giving this book a read if you can.

I picked this because the blurb compared it to Fox Meadows who I love, but this book was just lackluster. I’m sure it will work for some people but if you’re expecting high fantasy and intrigue this isn’t really it. The over emphasis on the messaging took away from the story and the characters, it’s almost as if the messaging was a character itself. DNF.

~2.5~

Unfortunately, due to time conflicts, I could not finish this book (stayed about 16%) before it expired.

I do have to say, what I read was funny and actually quite interesting; plus the writing wasn't too heavy.

It seems like a good story could flourish from this and maybe one day I'll actually finish the book.

Thank you for the opportunity, nonetheless!

(Free ARC from NetGalley and Solaris | Solaris Nova that I chose to review after reading - Cross-posted on Goodreads on April 7th, 2025)

I wanted to like this but I had a hard trying to get into this story. I think I decided that it wasn’t for me and that’s alright.

thanks to netgalley for providing me an e-arc of this book!

this book tackles a LOT and i'm not quite sure how i feel about all of it. fierre is dealing with an eating disorder that's been imposed on him by his father and doctors (??) and is expected to offer himself up to older noble men as a part of his duties to his country (??) and i find the resolution to both of these significant plot points that carry throughout the book to be rushed in right at the end. it's not the content itself that was the problem, but rather the way is resolved. i think the relationship between fierre and aiven, they had good chemistry and their romance kept me in this book for a lot of the time.

In this brilliant debut novel, Darcy Ash’s new queer romantasy novel brings a beautiful kingdom to life in this unique and intense story. As Prince Fierre prepares to take the throne, he struggles with a mystery illness, greedy lords, and possibly unrequited love with Aiven, a former farm boy and now his right hand advisor. Inspired by Scotland but totally unlike other fantasy worlds, the political intrigue and personal struggle of this novel really brings the emotional nature of this powerful new release to life. Readers should be advised that one character suffers from an eating disorder which addresses both the physical and mental aspects of an ED in graphic detail (by both the individual and by other people witnessing their ED), and violence, sexual assault, slut shaming, and bullying are also present throughout the book in varying degrees of intensity and detail. The characters are well-written and fascinatingly complex, while the world-building is really the star of this novel for the complex political settings and interesting cultural traditions and backdrop. Intense and immersive, this powerful and unique new novel has a strong emotional storyline that the readers will really get drawn into as it progresses and as Fierre and Aivan grow in the face of their new circumstances.

DNF. The portrayal of the main character’s eating disorder felt shallow. I was so looking forward to seeing ED explored in a male protagonist, but the worldbuilding was so strange, this never quite hit the mark.

This book had an interesting element in the ED rep. Everything else felt basic fantasy! I would recommend it for fans of romantasy and light fantasy where the fantasy is more a setting than a whole element.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

In The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre, Prince Fierre is caught between his struggles and the weight of expectations from both his noble court and his growing feelings for his best friend. Set in a Scottish-inspired fantasy world, this gripping tale explores themes of self-love, queer joy, and healing from disordered eating.

🔹 A Royal Struggle – Prince Fierre is haunted by a mystery illness, but his struggles extend beyond health. Surrounded by lords demanding favours, he also has to contend with feelings for his best friend, Aiven—a former farm boy and now his trusted enforcer.

🔹 A Forbidden Love – As Fierre confronts the yearning for Aiven, someone with no noble blood but a heart full of loyalty, he's forced to face his insecurities and desires in a world that prizes nobility over love.

🔹 Healing and Self-Love – Set against a backdrop of glittering aesthetics, this book masterfully blends queer romance with personal growth, showing the struggles of learning to love yourself amidst society’s cruel standards.

Perfect for fans of:

✔️ Queer romance with a happily-ever-after
✔️ Books like A Marvellous Light & A Strange and Stubborn Endurance
✔️ Stories of self-discovery and healing

A compelling and tender exploration of overcoming personal demons while navigating love and identity. Prince Fierre’s journey will have readers turning pages for the triumphant finale they’ve been waiting for.

3.5/5.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

thank you so much to netgalley, rebellion publishing, and darcy ash for approving me for an arc! i genuinely wasn’t expecting to love this book so much, but i was completely hooked once i got past the first few chapters. the relationship between fierre and aiven was so soft and sweet, and their dynamic was gorgeous to read. lower stakes and an easier resolution than one would expect from a romantic political novel about a soon-to-be king, but somehow that didn’t take away from the plot for me. overall, i really enjoyed it!

This book didn't work for me and it wasn't just because of the triggers, I found the way that aspects of things were handled weren't done well. I originally picked it because I loved the cover but I couldn't finish it, DNF at 41%