Review – Restless Slumber (Fortuna Sworn, Book 1) by K.J. Sutton (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 452 pages
Publisher: Once upon a Time Books
Release Date: February 4, 2020
ASIN: B084GF75V9
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Fortuna Sworn series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Fortuna’s entire life has changed.

She has no idea how to balance her new responsibilities and who she used to be. There are hundreds of faeries in her head, her brother seems to have lost touch with reality, and a werewolf won’t leave her side. Maybe the utter lack of control is why her abilities seem to be changing, as well.

Then there’s Collith. Enigmatic, beautiful, and infuriating. Not only a king of the faeries she despises so much, but also her mate. His gentle pursuit causes confusion in her normally unwavering relationship with Oliver.

As a result of it all, Fortuna now finds herself surrounded by new enemies and ones from the past. The question isn’t whether she is strong enough to make change in such a corrupt court.

It’s whether she will survive long enough to do it.”

Series Info/Source: This is the second book in the Fortuna Sworn series. I bought a copy of this book for my Kindle.

Story (3/5): Now, aside from the above complaints below I really enjoyed this….especially the first 75% of the book or so. I really loved the first book in this series and was absolutely adoring this book as well right up until the end. I thought the ending was not only depressing but kind of out of the blue; suddenly there are demons and zombies and I was a bit confused where all these new elements were coming from. Not to mention the book ends on a huge cliffhanger which I hate. Authors should rely on their excellent story rather than a cliffhanger device to keep readers coming back for more.

My last complaint was that there really isn’t a solid plotline here. Most of the story involves watching Fortuna navigate her new position as Queen of the Unseelie and finding Finn’s pack. Woven into this is the issue of Damon and his rehabilitation. Another main driver for the story is the progress of Fortuna’s relationship with the Unseelie King, Collith. The story kind of wanders.

Characters (5/5): I love the characters in here and watching Fortuna and Collith navigate their relationship was sweet and engaging. Watching Fortuna grow and take her place as the Unseelie Queen was also very satisfying.

Setting (4/5): I really love the Faerie Court and wish we had spent more time there. Aside from that this book is in a pretty standard contemporary setting, the setting really isn’t the driver for the story.

Writing Style (4/5): The book is very readable and I found myself very engaged in the story and whipped right through this. The ending though just left a bad taste in my mouth, very contrived and out of left field.

Summary (4/5): Overall I really loved most of this book but struggled with the ending and how wandering some of the plot was. Right now I do plan on continuing the series, but hope things are a bit more structured and plot driven in the next book. I would recommend to those who enjoy urban fantasy stories about fae.