Hidden Beneath the Embers by Fay Bec is a dark fantasy book (with romance included of course), which frankly feels like one of my new favourite genres. Combine my OG favourite fantasy with one of my more recent favourites dark romance? Yes please! I got immediate Cinderella vibes off the start of this book, and as it proceeded it was reminiscent of A Court of Thorns and Roses in some ways, though darker. Which if I’m being honest, I’m clearly all about the darker stories.
Davyna was an enjoyable main character, she’s tough, can take care of herself, and loves those who matter most to her so deeply. Her relationship to her sister was so pure and was an early highlight. Davyna also shows that, despite being able to take care of oneself and having a great inner strength, sometimes it’s ok to need someone else to pick you up and help you through tough times. She also very quickly takes back her strength and I enjoyed what a badass she steadily became in the new world she is introduced to.
Alastair I thought I was really going to enjoy in his first POV chapter, though he fell a little flat after that, and then just went downhill from there in terms of how his character and story progressed. Plus, let’s be real, I’m all about that morally grey/kind of seems like a bad guy type. So when a certain someone came on the scene I was left wondering, “Alastair who?”. But honestly, I very much adored the multiple POV characters throughout as I’m a sucker for getting multiple perspectives on the story, and I was not disappointed here.
Davyna discovers mysterious powers she has which tie her to the Embers, a powerful group of Fae with fire magic. The twist is that she is the last of her kind as the rest had been killed off in a violent uprising and she had no idea of her relation to them. Davyna spends the book trying to figure out who her parents were and where her ever growing magic comes from with the help of members of the Fallen court.
I very much enjoyed the journey of Davyna discovering where she came from and who she really was. She had so much growth throughout the entirety of this book, though she started out as a strong individual, this strength only grew as she figured out who she was and what she wanted. I loved seeing her figure out she didn’t really need anyone else to pick her back up because she had it in her to do it herself, though she did finally find the people who always would help her through thick and thin. She also learns to embrace her dark side and still hold onto her humanity. All in all the character development was fantastic in Hidden Beneath the Embers for a multitude of characters, from those who seemed the darkest, to those who mistakenly came across as the heroes initially.
Finally, all I can say is, WHAT WAS THAT ENDING. WHAT. I absolutely need to know what happened ASAP because I’m about to lose sleep over where things left off.
