Darcy Ash
Rebellion Publishing
30 January 2025
244
eBook - EPUB
Fantasy LGBT Romance
ARC via NetGalley
Prince Fierre has three big problems. He’s suffering from a mystery illness. He’s surrounded by lords who expect personal favours. And worst of all, he’s in love with his best friend, Aiven, a former farm boy and studious enforcer of rules, now right-hand to the prince.
Can Fierre heal himself, deal with the noblemen snapping about his ankles, and confront his desire for a man who has no noble blood… but a very noble heart?
Set in a Scottish-inspired world, The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre combines a happily-ever-after romance with a story of disordered eating and healing. Blending queer joy with glittering aesthetics, this fantasy explores what it means to learn to love yourself amidst the harshest strictures of diet culture.
The Two Hungers of Prince Fierre was a book with many deep themes, all of which I felt were well portrayed and sympathetically explored. However, in some ways, I felt those themes overrode other aspects of the story to too great an extent. The world building was okay, but at times I wanted more background information. Fierre was reasonably well fleshed out, but I would have liked to have gotten to know Aiven in more detail. Their relationship was okay, but the turn to romance felt a bit rushed. There is a lot of sexual content too. At first I did feel this helped expand the story and characters; however, later in the book the balance shifted and it took over from the plot too much, so I found myself skimming through some of the longer sex scenes near the end, waiting to get back to the story. I was glad to see Fierre's eating disorder resolved at the book's conclusion, since it sent a positive message; however, this too felt a little rushed and perhaps a bit too easy. In the end I am giving this book 3.5 stars. It had some nice elements and explored a very worthwhile topic, but there were also some elements within the book that I felt could have been improved.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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