Published By: Zephyr
Pages: 304
Released On: 08/10/2026
Many years ago, Rowan’s ancestor followed a white hare and disappeared without trace. Since then, her descendants have warned the women of the family against the magic of the cunning, shape-shifting hare – known often to be witches in disguise. Centuries later, Rowan, heartbroken and yearning to escape, ignores the warnings and follows the hare to a new world.
She finds herself in the mysterious yet beautiful realm of the Shadow Mountains, underneath the green light of a single bright star. Entranced by its beauty, she is lured deeper into the embrace of the faery realm. But the hare is revealed as a witch and all its promises of happiness and healing turn to dust as Rowan finds herself a pawn in an ancient rivalry between witch and faery lord, entwined in the fickle nature of the fae. As the danger beneath the glamour around her grows, Rowan will need all her skills to survive.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Zephyr for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is the third book in the Faery Realms series (although they are also standalone stories), starting with Nettle and then Owl King, and I’ve loved it.
The magic she has infused into this book, and the series as a whole, is delightful. She doesn’t hide the fact that magic can be frightening and powerful and should be respected, but she’s also given it that essence of what we think magic is like – magical.
It’s not a long book and it’s effortless to read so I finished it in one sitting.
I read it at a period of my time where I was not feeling well and my depression had reared its ugly head once more. And it can be hard to lose yourself in a book when this is the case, but there’s so much love and hope and joy that comes from this story and these characters that it really did help perk me up a bit and made me want to run away to a mystical, magical realm (even if it wasn’t quite what Rowan thought it was).
What I particularly liked about this one was Rowan’s sense of wonder and imagination. I can’t now remember how old she’s meant to be but she’s not a small child anymore, and the people around her believe she is old enough to no longer believe in magic and to get her head out of the clouds and stop being so childish. But Rowan isn’t childish, but imaginative and creative, and honestly, the real world can be so terrible at times, why wouldn’t you rather exist in a magical land for a while.
I really wanted to like these characters but I didn’t. Rowan herself is great, I liked her. She was very human, whimsical, creative, trusting, and just seemed very lovely. But the two other main characters annoyed me. That is probably their indented characteristics, so I applaud their writing, but I kept trying to see from their sides to try and find some sort of redeeming qualities but then they’d do something or say something that would get my back up a bit.
It has, of course, got another stunning cover.
I wonder how many more instalments she will write because I really do enjoy them immensely.
Books By Your Bedside 