Review – The Court of Hate and Heartache (Evernight Fae, Book 4) by Angela M. Hudson (2/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy
Length: ‎409 pages
Publisher:‎ Oakland Press
Release Date: September 25, 2020
ASIN: B08GY4DFQ5
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the Evernight Fae series
Source: Borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 2/5 stars

“It is entirely possible that this was never the story of us–that my need to find Aerik, and then my fight to be by his side against all odds, might not have been a destination.
It was only ever a road to the life I’d get.

But everything that led me to this conclusion was Aerik’s own doing.

Against the advice, the warnings, my pleas, it was his anger, his hatred and jealousy, that drove him to this.

And it all started with a council meeting.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 4th book in the Evernight Fae series, there are seven books in this series. I borrowed a copy of this as an ebook from Kindle Unlimited.

Thoughts: I always am looking for a good fantasy series set in a fae type world. I thought this might be it, but this series has had a lot of ups and downs for me so far. It is plagued by awkward dialogue and I am uncertain if Cami is a strong woman or cool with people abusing her. Book 3 in this series had a lot of casual discussion about rape and attempted rape scenes, which I wasn’t a huge fan of. Unfortunately, the theme as rape as a plot device continues in this book.

I felt like the third book had gotten past some of the awkward writing but that was back in this book. Some of the conversations between Aerik and Cami are painful to read (and not because they are both immature jerks to each other) because they are just super awkward and poorly written. I am willing to forgive a bit of this, but it just doesn’t seem to be getting better.

Then there is the inconsistency in Cami’s characters…she is all like “girl power!” “I am a strong woman!”, then she lets a guy humiliate and beat her in public and is all like “Well I’ve loved him forever, so it’s okay”. No, Cami it is not okay, this is called a severely abusive relationship and makes me queasy to read about. Additionally, at one point Cami goes off about how it’s impossible for men and women to be friends because they will always want to have sex together…and this is another place this story lost me. Just because Cami wants to have sex with everyone she meets doesn’t mean everyone is like that…

By the end of this book I hated most of the characters and was confused with where things are going here. The awesomeness of the Nightfolk fae race isn’t enough to make up for the clumsy plot, the awkward dialogue, and the heavy theme of abuse being fine if the person really loves you..

My Summary (2/5): Overall I finished this but had a lot of issues with it. Despite the painfully awkward writing, the story does remain strangely compelling…kind of like watching a car wreck in slow motion. However, the continued themes of rape and abuse and the way these themes are deal with left a sour taste in my mouth. Cami’s strange attitude about being strong and independent but then allowing herself to be an abused support character made my head spin. I think it is fair to say that I just don’t get along with Hudson’s story themes and writing style. I won’t be reading anymore of this series.