Court of Ravens and Ruin

A Brides of Mist and Fae Novel (The Shadow Bound Queen, Book 1)

By: Eliza Raine

Narrated by: Lia Holland, Gabriel Thorne

A defiant human woman. A dark fae Prince. Two enemies bound to a marriage that could destroy their world.

Reyna was born a valuable slave to the Gold Court, imprisoned her whole life in a glittering palace by sadistic, greedy fae.

When the palace is raided, she takes her opportunity to escape. But the raid is led by her worst nightmare. The Prince of the most feared fae of all; the Shadow Court. And he wants one thing.

Her. The copper-haired, rune-marked human.

Reyna doesn’t know why the Prince has kidnapped her. But when he announces her as his betrothed, she knows that she must escape before she is eternally bound to the monster behind the mask.

Only, when he takes the mask off, he isn’t what she expects. He’s lethal, beautiful and exudes sin. And he needs her.

Drawn into a deadly world shrouded in secrets, and desperate to keep her own hidden, Reyna must find a way out. If she doesn’t, she risks more than just death. She risks giving everything to her intoxicating captor.

This is the first book in the Shadow Bound Queen series, and is inspired by Norse mythology and Vikings. Sexy fae Vikings. It has Hades and Persephone, Beauty and the Beast vibes, and is slow-burn enemies to lovers fantasy romance with a burn-the-world-down-for-her hero. The series builds in steam and is filled with magic, myth, and delicious tension.

Brides of Mist and Fae is a brand new world from Eliza Raine, unconnected to the Dark Gods of Olympus.

©2022 Eliza Raine (P)2025 Eliza Raine

Blah

This had a great foundation for a really good story, it just dragged on. Nothing really exciting happening. Didn’t love the narration. The book also ended in the middle of a chase scene which was weird. Just really underwhelming. Not sure if I will get book 2. Don’t really want to audible it.

Had so much potential......

This book needs to be "remastered/revamped" and re-read with a new narrator!!! When I read the synopsis, I was so excited to listen to this book, but I was so underwhelmed by the first 6 chapters, I couldn't even finish it. From the very beginning everything feels so rushed, and the world and characters development is so lacking. The narration of this book only enhances this book's pitfalls. The narration of the king and many other characters makes it sound like we are listening to a children's book. " You there. I will have you with the copper hair" "She will be mine" "Oh no. You didn't get picked did you?" "What are you going to do?" "Silence!!!!" "I will run away" and the narrator is so monotone when reading, that it just makes it painful to listen to :(

Great concept, uneven execution.

A Norse mythology based fae world, a snarky owl sidekick, and a brooding dark prince? Yes, please. But Court of Ravens and Ruin is a slow burn with a lot of inner monologue.

Reyna’s immaturity and constant overthinking drag the pace, especially when she paints Maz, the morally gray prince who kidnaps her, as more villain than he is. The Norse-inspired world-building is fresh, and the owl adds humor, but the romance simmers slowly.

Worth it if you love mythology and have patience.

Meh

The worldbuilding started off really cool and I enjoyed the beginning. That said, when 98% of your MCs’ dialogue is questions, especially questions that go unanswered, it feels extremely unnatural and gets irritating fast. There are numerous other ways to withhold information from your reader & between characters that could’ve been employed. The tension between the MCs wasn’t great and I didn’t feel much of a connection between them. The ending was extremely abrupt, as well. When it finished I literally said “that’s it?” I may have had a slightly better opinion of the novel if the narrator wasn’t so monotone and flat. There was practically zero inflection and it really dragged the characters down. I gave the second book a chance hoping the plot and characterization would really pick up and the endless questions would cease, and the plot has become a bit faster paced. Overall, average in my opinion.

Great story terrible narrator

Need another narrator for next book as her various voices were terrible and she didn’t put any life in her reading. Story was interesting, should just read the book