The lore of the world is so well done, it's expanded on really nicely after the prequel. There's so much interesting history of the fae and humans and I could honestly picture bits of the history as Emelin learned about it! Very well written! Em, my baby, is an emotionally intelligent Heroine (big H) that had to learn to show a submissive and unambitious side. Until the most feared of the empire assassins sees her true colors (literally) and threatens her and her family's lives. The emotion is beautifully written, and I loved these two together so much. And when all of that tension becomes too much, the sexy time is hot, passionate and so profound as they come together, completely undone for each other, and I loved the intensity of their undeniable connection.

Court of Blood and Bindings is the first book of the Fae Isles series, an enemies to lovers fantasy romance featuring a strong-willed heroine and a broody, morally grey hero. This adult fae romance is perfect for readers of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout and Raven Kennedy. This was a very slow read and I didn't particularly like the main character. Emelin spent too much time in her own head (and was much too whiny) for my liking. She seemed to spend the first half of the book deep in thought. In contrast, Creon is a delight. Beautifully complex and very much morally grey - if only his character was given more time to open up. The one part of the story I really liked is when Emelin and Creon decide to test each other's self-restraint, but if I’m being honest, I expected more of these "midnight encounters". The heart of the Fae Isles. The treacherous Crimson Court, where the Mother of faekind has ruled unchallenged over fae and humans for decades.If she agrees to work with him, she could free all of humanity. But can she trust a fae male with so much blood on his hands? Worse, when his smouldering dark eyes and dangerous secrets reveal glimpses of the heart behind his murderer’s mask… can she trust herself? Un datito curioso, la autora no es americana es europea y se nota en su forma de escribir, algunos giros idiomáticos y particularmente se ve la diferencia en las escenas smut y la ironía en los chistes. Emlin has magical abilities, but are kept secret from her human people. One night, she awakens to her island on fire and everyone missing. All except a fae male with wings, who's voice was taken away from him 100 years ago. He takes her away to his island, filled with dangerous fae. She is forced to live with him to stay safe from the evil queen. But why did he want her so badly?? 😏 I freaking love this book. It’s beautifully written, the fantasy world is well developed and fascinating, and the concept of color-magic is so clever. It’s such an amazing read – especially when you consider that Marshall is still a newly-published author. I rate this book up among fantasy reads by Sarah J. Maas and Jennifer L. Armentrout (which is high praise from me indeed), and I can’t wait for more.

I really loved the forced proximity, the one bed trope and the fact our MMc must communique via sign language or writing on paper really brought a dynamic that I really enjoyed between our MCs. I did not expect to like this as much as I did! For 1.....I legit thought this was a vampire book 🤣 my mistake. Me hizo sentir ACOTAR vibes, no tanto porque sean parecidos sino por la historia y forma de escribir Our hero is a damaged fae assassin and torturer and our heroine is a feisty mage... how hot do you think it will be? 🥵🌶️Do they play the who-gives-in-to-the-tension-first? Oh yeah! 😏

The book’s timeline is actually pretty fast moving, but the romance feels like a slow burn, and I was revelling in every little moment between these two. The banter is epic, the glances and touches are so meaningful, and I absolutely love the way they handle the way they are feeling. They don’t hide from each other, they tease and they flirt, and every moment between them feels like it’s dripping with anticipation. The chemistry is electric and the sexual tension is off freaking charts, and the feelings are right there alongside of the mad lust, which makes the whole thing even more intense. They call him the Silent Death, because he kills without sound and leaves none capable of speaking in his wake… Emelin is a 20-year-old human living in fae-controlled land, born with powers she shouldn’t have, and living a secluded life to hide the fact. When the brutal fae assassin known as the Silent Death sees her using her magic, he doesn’t kill her on the spot as she expects, instead, he whisks her away from her remote island home to the centre of the fae empire, the Crimson Court. He moves her into his home, pretending that she is his human lover, which gives her some protection from those who would hurt her, while he works with her to hone her powers. Because the Silent Death is not who he seems, and he has a plan to take our the ruling fae Mother and free those under her control, and he needs Emelin’s help to do it.

The universe the author created was different from past books I've read. I liked the color magic system. The world was explained well enough to where I didn't feel lost and it didn't feel unbelievable. Ok, so it's clear from my initial review that I was going through quite a bit. I'm going to disagree with my past self when I said this book slowed down. I did not see that this second time around. I enjoyed the book much more as well. The hero continues to be one of my favorites and I can't wait to see where this story is going with the next book! Still a 5 star read ♡ I think this is my absolute favorite book by Lisette Marshall so far(and all her work is amazing)! She really outdid herself with this beauty! It's so good! Sobre las escenas picantes..ahhh sólo decir que Creon tiene ALAS...ARGHGG.. asi que para los que leyeron ACOTAR, YA SABEN QUE ESPERAR, porque Lisette Marshall les da una función parecida, pero MEJOR DESCRIPTA que en ACOTAR ( muero por segunda vez ). I loved the morally grey hero. He was fantastic. I loved how he warmed up to the heroine... eventually. I liked that he learned the equivalent of ASL in the universe the author created to communicate with her.While reading this book, I was going through/still am going through a lot in life. It was one of the few things that kept me sane. For that reason alone it deserves 5 stars.

Court of Blood and Bindings is the first installment in the Fae Isles series and is a fantasy romance story perfect for ACOTAR fans. I'm a huge fan of Lisette Marshall but this book was a miss for me unfortunately. While it has the makings of a good fantasy story, with a unique magic system and an interesting world, these elements could have been much stronger. I absolutely love that the magic works through colour and I thought the Labyrinth was a delight, but they weren’t explored enough. Note: Court of Blood and Bindings contains a generous dose of smouldering glances, angry yearning, and midnight meetings of the illicit type, as well as other mature themes. This is definitely a slow burn book. There are parts where it feels mundane, but it all really comes together near the end and I ate up every single minute!!It’s a great dynamic from the very beginning, full of aggressive banter and threats of violence, but there’s this underlying attraction that creates delicious chemistry. Neither of them act on it as Creon teaches Emelin about his world and they begin her training, but it’s always there. And when he begins to reveal his secrets and they truly start to learn about each other, their connection only deepens when Emelin promises to work with him to bring down the Mother. This fantasy romance includes most of my favorite tropes however the story felt slow to me which made me lose my focus a few times and I didn't connect with the heroine much. AMÉ ESTE LIBRO.Tiene un worldbuilding fantástico, un sistema de magia muy novedoso y la descripción del mundo Fae hace acordar mucho a A Court of Thorns and Rosesy Under the Mountain.. . La relación entre Creon y Emelin, la química entre los dos no aburre en ningún momento y hay algo sobre Creon que hace que su relación sea todavía mas única y taan grumpy sunshine... que me muero de AMORRRR. No diré nada para no spoilear ya que creo que esta particularidad es algo importante dentro de la historia y mejor descubrirlo al leerlo.