Spice: 1.5/5 Plot: 5/5 Spoiler Free! Perfection. Absolute perfection. I don’t have a single negative thing to say about this lol. Not one. Like nothing, zero. I know, that’s crazy, who am I??! Ha! If you guys have been around here for any decent length of time, you know I have a serious thing for pirates lol. You’ll also know that this book has literally been sitting on my shelf for the better part of a year because I was terrified it was gunna be overhyped and I’d end up disappointed. Well, that was very much not the case. I’m currently kicking myself for not reading it sooner lol. Y’all… This. Dang. Book. Books like this are the reason I love fantasy. The absolutely insane amount of creativity that it takes to create a world like this will never cease to amaze me, and LJ has done such a phenomenal job that I’m completely in love with her work now. You guys, she freaking combined Fae with Norse mythology and PIRATES. WHAT?! She literally just took 3 of my favourite things and mashed them all together and was like, here’s the perfect book for you. I’m in love. Love at first read lol. So we have Erik Bloodsinger; pirate captain, King of The Ever, sworn enemy of the Earth Fae realm and morally grey love of my life. This man is utter perfection and no one can tell me otherwise. I will hear zero criticism on this lol. Then we have Livia Ferus; daughter of the Earth Bender King, feisty, powerful and so dang relatable. I absolutely loved her. Everything about these two was absolutely perfect. The enemies to lovers was exactly right, the touch her and I’ll unalive you, and their arc as a couple were what all of my romance dreams are made of. Right from the prologue they have you hooked and it’s such a beautiful thing. One of the things I loved the most though, and I think needs special attention, is how Livia is plagued by anxiety and fears. Now, I don’t come on here touting mental health reps all that often because honestly most of the time I think they’re way over the top, which gives me the ick. But this, this was believable and beautiful and the way that Erik handled it was so powerful. He doesn’t shame her or coddle her or try to make it less than it is. He reminds her who the **** she is and lets her take her power back. It’s so incredibly good. There’s so many moments that I could just go on and on about too but I desperately don’t want to spoil anything. The plot twists and the cliffy at the end were just so good that I immediately picked up the next one, which really never happens anymore lol. But one of the other things that makes this series so good is the side characters! Everyone is so unique and so well rounded, you just know that their books are going to be phenomenal too. Now the series before this, The Broken Kingdom, is where we get our current characters parents’ stories, is my understanding. After having read The Ever King and now being halfway through The Ever Queen, I’ve met Lidia’s parents and learned so much about who they are, that I really really want to go back and read their story. But not only that, I want to know about every single character. I want all of their stories, past, present and future because each one of them is just so brilliant. So I just re-read all of that… There’s a lot of words but I didn’t really say a lot hahaha. Honestly, the gist of it is that you need to read this book. Maybe my pirate thing is making me biased lol, but if you love fantasy and romance, I truly believe this book will blow your mind! Happy reading my loves! Xo - J P.S. I have 165 notes and highlights. 165!!! WHAT?! That hasn’t happened since Iron Flame (and I adored that book, just so we’re clear lol). Soooo, yea. Go read it lol.