📕 Title: Heir of Prophecy
✏️ Author: Analeigh Sbrana
📖 Genre: Fantasy
⭐ Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
📝First book in a duology

Magic has been absent from the human realm for thousands of years, existing only beyond the mist that borders the sea. When the Fae unexpectedly arrive on shore, Audra, along with a ship full of other humans, is kidnapped and taken into the Fae realm to train at a magical academy. One among them is the Heir of Prophecy, a chosen one who will save the realm from eternal winter—and Audra quickly begins to suspect that it’s her. But when she starts having strange visions, Audra realizes that the Fae have not been honest about everything.

REVIEW

Thank you Harper Voyager for the digital copy of Heir of Prophecy by Analeigh Sbrana!

Heir of Prophecy is the first book in a planned fantasy duology, dual POV and written in third person. It has dark academia vibes, a hard magic system, a main character who is “the Chosen One”, and a bit of spice.

The worldbuilding was great, carving out a stark difference between the human realm and the fae realm, and I loved the lore behind this divide. The hard magic system worked well with the academic aspect, allowing the reader to learn the rules and framework along with Audra as she attends classes. The fae/human/demon setup was something I haven’t seen before and was super interesting.

Audra was a likeable main character and I especially appreciated her loyalty to her family and friends. I love that she finds a supportive group of friends while at the academy. Her character and choices felt consistent throughout the book and I liked that she utilizes her experience and skills gained from working at the inn to help her succeed in the fae realm.

The pacing is a little slow to start, but I liked that the prologue provided a taste of the Fae cult and established the importance of the Heir of Prophecy, which kept me intrigued through the first few chapters that detailed Audra’s life in the human realm.

The story is heavier on the fantasy and dark academia elements than romance, and while there is an open door explicit scene I would not shelf this book as romantasy. Unfortunately, this romance didn’t work for me; even though there is this long buildup of the relationship it felt more lustful than romantic, without a true emotional connection, and I didn’t love that it went from zero to sixty out of nowhere. Maybe this is normal for a “fated mates” type of story, but I’m hoping for more development in the next book.

Although I’m not sold on Audra’s Shadow Daddy just yet, I really enjoyed Heir of Prophecy overall. I’m excited to see how things wrap up in the sequel.