I love fantasy and anything that make me laugh, so I jump on every comedic fantasy I find (especially one that looks like a romcom). A Fae in Finance seemed like it would be the perfect fit at first, but it just didn’t work for me. I think I may have gone into the book with the wrong expectations!
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Title: A Fae in Finance
Author: Juliet Brooks
Series: How to Do Business in Fairie #1
Genre: contemporary fantasy, workplace comedy, romantic fantasy
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 414
Audiobook length: 12 hrs 1 min
ISBN: 9780316587686
Content warnings: misogyny, racism, kidnapping
Blurb
When investment banker Miri is purposely trapped in Faerie by her client, the Princeling of the Faerie realm, she does what any 20-something would do: cries, eats cake, and worries loudly about her cat, Doctor Kitten. Instead of rescuing her, her boss simply confirms that she has solid internet access, leaving Miri stranded in a strange land with only a warning that the quality of her work should not decrease because of a change of address.
But Miri grew up reading fantasy, and she knows there are always ways to work around magic–she just needs to find them. To affect a daring escape, Miri must navigate Faerie political drama, lies by omission, deteriorating mental health, and a mother who never hangs up the phone.
Review of A Fae in Finance
- Format: ebook
- Pacing: slow
- Plot or character-driven: a mix
- POVs: first person single POC
- Representation: bisexual MC, f/m/f love triangle
Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinion of the book.
A Fae in Finance is a workplace comedy with a light sprinkle of fantasy and romance. I think this is partially why the book didn’t work for me, because I went in expecting more fantasy and more romance. The humor mostly fell flat for me as did the plot. There are large chunks of time where nothing really happens to move the plot or character development forward, so I didn’t feel any tension or excitement from the story.
It seemed to me that the fantasy/fae aspect of the story was mainly there to poke fun at fae fantasy. The main character points out that the fae prince is the perfect “I could fix him” love interest, but that she would never fall for that. Maybe this would have worked if I felt like there was any chemistry between her and her two potential love interests, but I didn’t see anything there to keep me interested. The fae are also characterized oddly. They are supposed to be cunning enough to trick humans with the truth but had no basic understanding of human social practices and cruelty. This infantilized the fae characters.
There could be something in A Fae in Finance for people who want a contemporary workplace comedy with just a touch of fantasy. For me, the story didn’t work.
Where to find A Fae in Finance:
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