Review by Booklist Review
In the conclusion to Pearson's duology (which began with The Courting of Bristol Keats, 2024), betrayals of the past threaten hopes for the future. When Bristol Keats came to the fairy realm of Elphame, her goal was to bring her missing father home, not to fall in love with fae king Tyghan. But Tyghan's love provides the stability Bristol has been so desperately craving, especially since finding out her parents hid the fact that she is a powerful bloodmarked. Bristol's newfound power will come in handy when confronting the demigod Kormick, who is trying to take control of Elphame. But when Bristol discovers who's been aiding Kormick with his terror, she must reconcile long-buried secrets with the duality of those she loves if she and Tyghan's love (and the realm Elphame) are to survive. In The Last Wish of Bristol Keats, Pearson once again presents a thrilling romantasy that looks at "the million chances that happen every day" and what it means to find home with those that you love.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Pearson brings readers back to Elphame in this beautiful and tense sequel to The Courting of Bristol Keats, completing the romantasy duology. Bristol, the daughter of the Dark Monster and a traitor to the crown, now might be the kingdom's only hope for salvation. Bristol prepares for war on multiple fronts: her love life with the interim king, Tyghan; her tangled loyalties; and protecting the kingdom from the looming threats to the crown and Elphame. Difficult choices await her. Will love be enough to carry Bristol and Tyghan through the deception and betrayal from their own pasts? The building tension makes this book impossible to put down. VERDICT Pearson expertly weaves together romance, action, and atmosphere, pulling in readers, who soon won't want to leave Elphame and the friendships she has developed in the duology. A perfect read for fans of Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde series and Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing.--Leigh Verburg
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Bristol, Tyghan, and the rest return in the second installment of Pearson's duology, followingThe Courting of Bristol Keats (2024). Twenty-two-year-old Bristol Keats has had a hellish time lately. Her parents, as it turns out, are not dead, but that is far from a silver lining. Her father is still on the run, facing a 1,000-year-long sentence, and her mother is working with Bristol's ex-situationship, Kormick, to help him secure Elphame's throne. Meanwhile, Tyghan's older brother, Cael--the rightful king of Danu--languishes in Kormick's custody. To spring him, Bristol must outwit her own mother, make a promise she does not intend to keep, and get the prickly king--demoted to prince, now that Tyghan is on the throne--home in one piece. But when Maire accidentally shows her hand, betraying her true capabilities, Bristol realizes the hard truth: She has to get rid of the magic-sucking tick on her back if she has any hope of stopping her mother. Doing so will risk her life; the Lumessa must literally stop Bristol's heart in order to coax the tick from beneath her skin. Removing it will also unlock Bristol's latent shapeshifting abilities, but can she resist using them, and potentially losing herself, when desperate times call for desperate measures? This installment doesn't suffer from the same info-dumping blunders as the last one, but perhaps swings too far in the opposite direction, as the wide cast of characters is insufficiently reintroduced in the book's early chapters. (This won't be a problem for readers who pick up both books in quick succession.) Additionally, although the character portraits are just as compelling this time around, and Bristol and Tyghan's love story just as sweet and spicy, Bristol's failure to meet any real resistance on her path to saving Elphame from Kormick may underwhelm readers looking for a more adventurous romantasy. A loosely plotted, but nevertheless compelling, portrait of Faerieland in peril. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
