Published: September 30, 2025
Publisher: Ace
Series: The Shards of Magic #2
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 512 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 5 Stars
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Once a servant, now a princess, a young woman thrust into power challenges everything about the underground Fae realm in the next installment of Sarah Hawley’s new romantasy series.
Kenna Heron is still reeling from her lover’s betrayal and the threat of an impending war. With only her two closest–and most powerless–friends by her side, she must navigate the treacherous politics of Mistei while coming to terms with her new identity as not just Fae, but princess of her own house.
With the king dead, three candidates are vying for the right to wear the crown next. A princess who claims the throne as her birthright and two rebel princes, both of whom are depending on the support of Blood House to break the stalemate between them. Old loyalties fray as new, dangerous alliances form, and Kenna finds herself caught in a web of violence, deceit, and unexpected passion.
Kenna has the power to shape Mistei’s future… but someone’s willing to kill to make sure she never gets the chance.
Princess of Blood is one of my most anticipated sequels of the year because the first book, Servant of Earth, absolutely blew me away in 2025. It was a surprise favorite and much to my delight, Princess of Blood absolutely kept that momentum going. No second book syndrome here! Though this book doesn’t have the competition element, Kenna’s new role as the Princess of Blood House has foisted her into the spotlight and now she’s in danger for a whole new reason – court politics.
Princess of Blood of course picks up directly after the events of Servant of Earth and Kenna, Lara, and Anya have entered the long abandoned Blood House. They must regroup, strategize, and recover from their various traumatic experiences. Kenna is caught between Prince Drustan of Fire House and Prince Hector of Void House as they both vie for her support in their alliance against Light and Illusion Houses. Imogen of Illusion House has declared herself queen and has also declared a thirty day period of peace, where she tries to woo support with decadent parties all while organizing her forces. Though there is a public declaration of peace, the fae courts continue with their deadly machinations and Kenna must spend her time spying and training in both combat and magic.
Princess of Blood is somewhat less action packed than the first book, but as a professional Enjoyer of Court Politics, I couldn’t get enough. Kenna is young and idealistic, though not without a degree of practicality that prevents her from dipping into starry-eyed naivete. She knows she’s inexperienced and often bemoans this fact, though she does try to learn and wields what little power she is able to with not insignificant effect. Lest the Enjoyers of Romantic Subplots worry that there won’t be any romance, let me assure you there is some. It’s not a love triangle, as Drustan doesn’t stand a chance since his reprehensible actions. I feel like it’s not a spoiler to say that Kallen is the new soup du jour as there was plenty of palpable tension between him and Kenna in Servant of Earth. While I almost want to disparage the fact that yet again the ultimate love interest is the dark, brooding shadow daddy I cannot bring myself to do so. I like Kallen. He’s like Rhysand from ACOTAR if he were actually given the proper backstory to be the morally grey love interest who is secretly a good guy.
Princess of Blood was an absolute banger of a sequel and truthfully it exceeded my expectations. So often second (or middle) books seem like it’s all set up to get to the really exciting stuff at the end. Princess of Blood, however, is thoroughly traumatizing in its own right thanks to that ENDING. I mean, really, another cliff hanger like that!? Also, I love that the fae in this book are truly awful like those portrayed in the darker faerie stories. Think dancing in hot iron shoes, horrible poisons, and other various torments just for their amusement. If you haven’t picked this series up yet, I would highly recommend it! It’s one of my favorite ongoing series right now and I’m eagerly awaiting news of the third installment.
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