When Poppy Hill was a child, she was stolen from her family's Montana homestead and taken 'Otherside' to the land of the fae, where she spent more than a century as a cook in the Wild King's castle. Now back in the human world, she works for a company that brokers faerie bargains, checking for loopholes in their contracts.
But when a bargain that Poppy is negotiating goes disastrously wrong, she must return to the world she grew up in to try to rectify her mistake, facing danger, intrigue and a pesky ex-boyfriend along the way."
The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains has a captivating start that pulled me in right away. I was immediately taken in by this concept of having what is essentially a law firm that handles bargains between the Fae and humans. Humans can make requests, such as for things like fame, beauty, or other desires, in exchange for time spent in the Fae world. For example, someone might agree to spend five years in the Fae realm, which could equate to only a single weekend in the human world--as long as everything is carefully agreed upon beforehand. Of course, as notoriously tricky as the Fae are, any and all bargains must be meticulously and carefully worded to avoid any sneaky loopholes or tricks from the Fae. This is where our protagonist, Poppy Hill, comes in. She spent more than a century in the Fae world before returning to the hill world, which of course comes with many of its own challenges, but also makes her uniquely suited to succeeding at a job such as this.
Our story really begins, however, when Poppy negotiates a particularly difficult bargain that ends up going horribly wrong, and as a result she is forced back into the Fae world to try and fix what happened. Poppy was a really interesting character, and I loved seeing how all of her time spent in the Fae world shaped her decisions and actions in both the human and Fae world, and especially how it made her so incredibly aware and capable of the many dangers that existed around her. It’s always nice to have a capable protagonist!
As soon as we entered the Fae world, I was hooked. I really enjoyed exploring McCarty’s version of the Fae and how this world was crafted. There are a lot of small details that make it feel vibrant, strange, and entirely intriguing, and I liked how much thought clearly went into shaping it. It feels classic, yet also still new and exciting. It’s also a version of the Fae that I love that comes with very real and often intense consequences for all actions, which is something that I always appreciate in any story with the Fae.
I also really liked the overall tone and atmosphere of this story. I feel like it hit a nice balance between whimsical and more serious with a hint of danger, which fits really well faerie stories. There’s an enjoyable sense of wonder throughout that I always love, as it’s what makes me really feel excited about exploring a new land, but there’s a strong sense that this is not something to underestimate, and you must always have your wits about you.
Everything worked really well for me in the beginning of this book, and I was genuinely invested in where the story was going. However, once we got a bit deeper into the Fae world, I found my attention starting to drift a bit more than I expected at different moments. I found that the pacing slowed down quite a lot in the middle of the book, and as a result that made it harder for me to remain fully engaged. It ended up feeling like a bit of a slog at times, even though I still liked the overall concept and direction of the story. I wouldn’t say the pacing was egregiously off or anything, but it did feel like it could have used a bit of tightening up.
In some ways, I really enjoyed this one, and in others I feel as though I don’t have all that much to say. It’s a solid, interesting Fae story that does what it sets out to do, but it didn't particularly stick with me. That being said, I could actually see myself revisiting this as an audiobook, as I would like to revisit this world and try to connect with it better. I think there are some elements here that my click better for me in a different format, and I’d be curious to see if that changes my overall experience with it.
Overall, this is a great choice for fans of the Faerie world and those who love exploring an interesting premise.
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