The Courting of Bristol Keats

Mary E. Pearson

From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Mary E. Pearson comes a thrilling romantic fantasy full of dangerous fae, dark secrets, and addictive romance– the first book in a duology.

After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet—and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm—the one he is from.

Desperate to save her father and find the truth, Bristol journeys to a land of gods and fae and monsters. Pulled into a dangerous world of magic and intrigue, she makes a deadly bargain with the fae king, Tyghan. But what she doesn’t know is that he’s the one who drove her parents to live a life on the run. And he is just as determined as she is to find her father—dead or alive.

A Disappointing Read: My Thoughts on The Courting of Bristol Keats

by Alise Marie | May 29, 2025 | Book review

Let me start by saying the writing in The Courting of Bristol Keats is very descriptive, which is something I enjoyed at first since it added to the immersion. But somewhere around page 200, it started to feel less like immersion and more tedious and unnecessary. You could skip entire paragraphs (which I did end up doing) and not miss a single thing.

The book also has a very YA tone, which isn’t surprising if you’ve read the author’s other work. But since this is marketed as an adult novel, it kind of undercuts the whole story. The characters feel a bit juvenile, their decision-making is questionable at best, and their interactions almost made me want to roll my eyes.

The FMC just casually accepts the existence of fae and magical creatures like it was nothing, not the literal unraveling of everything she thought was real.

The plot is… barely there. It’s nearly 600 pages, and not a whole lot happens for huge stretches of the book. It’s slow, and not the kind of slow that builds tension or develops anything meaningful.

And then there’s the romance, if you can even call it that. Love is tossed into the story like someone realized last minute this was supposed to have a romantic subplot. There’s barely any build up or meaningful interaction between the characters—it just happens, and you’re supposed to be invested.

By the time I got to the ending—which literally had me laughing out loud—I was skimming with no guilt (and I still understood everything that happened, since it wasn’t much). The payoff was not worth the time investment, and honestly, I’m a little bitter about it. I wouldn’t recommend this one.