Servant of Earth

Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley | 451 pages | 2024

Kenna Heron is best known in her village for being a little wild—some say “half feral”—but she’ll need every ounce of that ferocity to survive captivity in the cruel Fae court.

Trapped as a servant in the faeries’ underground kingdom of Mistei, Kenna must help her new mistress undertake six deadly trials, one for each branch of magic: Fire, Earth, Light, Void, Illusion, and Blood. If she succeeds, her mistress will gain immortality and become the heir to Earth House. If she doesn’t, the punishment is death—for both mistress and servant.

With no ally but a sentient dagger of mysterious origins, Kenna must face monsters, magic, and grueling physical tests. But worse dangers wait underground, and soon Kenna gets caught up in a secret rebellion against the inventively sadistic faerie king. When her feelings for the rebellion’s leader turn passionate, Kenna must decide if she’s willing to risk her life for a better world and a chance at happiness.

Surviving the trials and overthrowing a tyrant king will take cunning, courage, and an iron will... but even that may not be enough.

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

I grabbed this book off the shelf because of its beautiful cover, and I ended up loving it! It's a new spin on some of the standard elements of Romantasy - dangerous trials, Fae, magic realms, nobles, politics. The magic dagger is a great twist though, and I much preferred this version of the "human trapped in faerie realm" trope to other similar stories. In this first installment the romance takes a bit of a backseat to the world building, but I can't wait to see where the relationships go next. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series!