Bloodworthy

The Blood of the Fae

By: Abby Moore

Narrated by: Kat Rhydian

Serena Bloodworthy was born into a world where the Blessed gods give power to humans. Each person gets a power, until Serena is born. The day she was born changed everything for her, and her family. She is the most powerful person in history, but must hide what the blessed have given her.

Everything is simple until the day, it is not. Two new handsome commanders bring news of the queen's untimely death to Darnish. Serena is picked to compete in a deadly trial for the Kings heart. The problem? She must travel with the very people from Darnish she has hidden from her entire life. No one outside of her family knows of her powers, because if they did? She would be killed or worse... used as a weapon for The King she loathes. They will travel through deadly rivers and ice cold mountains to arrive at the palace, where things aren't as they seem. Along the way, Serena discovers things about herself, her powers and her bloodline while falling helplessly in love with men she shouldn't. During this difficult journey Serena must make choices that will alter who she is down to the very marrow of her bones.

©2025 Abby Moore (P)2026 Abby Moore

🤯 Loyal, Intelligent, Fierce FMC. Emotional DAMAGE

This book completely caught me off guard 😳. I listened to it on Audible 🎧 and this review reflects my honest thoughts and opinions 💭

We follow Serena, our FMC, who lives in a small village ruled by the king’s 👑 commanders ⚔️ And when I say ruled, I mean enforced. The king’s laws are harsh, and his commanders don’t hesitate to remind every one of that. 😬 Every village is ordered to send five males and five females to the primary kingdom. The males are forced into brutal training to become commanders… if they survive. 💀

The women are brought for a different reason. The queen’s dead.⚰️ Some say the king murdered her, others say she died in childbirth.

Now women from across the realm are summoned to compete in trials to become the next queen 👑. These trials test intelligence, physical strength 💪, diplomacy, decorum… all the things a queen would need to survive politically. And then there’s the final trial, which gave me serious “Hunger Games” energy. 🏹

But before any of that, the very first trial is simply surviving the journey to the castle. 🏰 It’s days in a carriage, traveling through harsh lands and forests… this is where we really begin to understand Serena and her history. This is where the tension with Sailor and Wolf begins 👀

She’s always been different. Serena has grown up knowing something about her doesn’t quite fit. She’s been an outsider in her village for as long as she can remember. Even as a loner, she hates being alone. 💔 She craves connection, even when the world keeps her at arm’s length. And yet, she is not weak.

Serena is intelligent 🧠, fierce, and loyal to a fault. She never backs down from a fight.🥊 She is not easily manipulated… if anything, she’s the one doing the manipulating. She’s always calculating her next move. ♟️There’s even a moment where she finds herself rooting for someone who quite literally poisoned her food! ☠️ That’s the kind of mind she has. Strategic. Observant. Able to separate emotion from outcome when she needs to.

She is the epitome of what a queen 👑 should be She puts her village first. She puts her people first. She would sacrifice anything, everything…if it meant doing what was right for them. 💕 There is one scene (no spoilers) where I genuinely wanted to stand up and clap 👏 Like YES! QUEEN!!!! Bow down 🙇‍♀️ Because the way she handled it? PERFECTION!

From the moment she steps into the palace, she is in a fight for her life. Every single woman there sees her as a threat. 👀 They all want the crown 👑 They all want the king. And instinctively, they know Serena is different. They know she’s his choice, even if no one understands why 🤷🏻‍♀️. As the reader, you don’t get the full picture either🤔 Sometimes you wonder if she’s sent there to die intentionally… This mystery lingers until the very end, and when it finally clicks? It’s another layered twist 🤯

On the journey to the castle, she grows close to the two commanders escorting them: Wolf and Sailor. Sailor carries the romantic tension.💘 Wolf feels like a steady, protective brother figure. 🛡️ The two men are bonded by their own shared trauma, both orphaned young and forced through the same barbaric commander training. ❤️‍🩹 And when I say barbaric, I mean this book is not for the faint of heart. 🥺 The themes get dark. 🖤The training is brutal. 🩸 The politics are ruthless.

I’ll be honest, the beginning moves a little slow at times, the village, the travel, the build-up. But once the palace trials begin, you realize none of that was filler. Every early dynamic matters. Serena’s bond with her family. Her complicated connection with Sailor and Wolf. Their relationship with each other. It all lays emotional groundwork for what’s coming.

And what’s coming? Two betrayals.
Two absolutely gut-wrenching betrayals 💔💔
I cried 😭

One made me so angry 🤬 that if I’d been holding a physical book, it probably would’ve ended up across the room. 📖 The other had me literally saying “what the f—” out loud 😳 I had to pause ⏸️ I had to rewind the 30-second clip and replay it because I genuinely could not process what I had just heard. 🎧 It was that well done. 👏 I did not see it coming. Serena did not see it coming. And when it hit, it felt like her entire world split in two 💥… and she was still standing there trying to understand the wreckage.

The last 50% of this book is emotional chaos in the best way. 🌪️ Jaw-dropping 😱 Devastating 💔 Layered. Every single piece of the story… the slow build, the relationships, the subtle hints…they matter when those twists land.

This book surprised me ✨ And Serena? She owned every page she stepped on 👑

MUST READ!

This was my first romantacy ever and I loved it! It kept me on my toes the entire time and was so detailed it was like watching a movie in my brain! The plot twists are impeccable and left my jaw on the floor a couple times! There were a couple spicy scenes that had me needing to cool down for a minute too! This book was so well written and I cannot recommend it enough! I loved this book and cant wait to read the next!

adventure and romance

I really enjoyed the narration! It really helped me connect with the characters. More sex than I typically like, but the plot points were engaging.