Agent of the Fae

4 out of 5 badass pixies and the grim forest-loving fae that love them ⭐️

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We belonged together. Love and dread. After all, what was more terrifying than love?
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It's so easy to hate Elrene in the beginning of this book because of how she behaved during the attack. I couldn't believe her immediate reaction was to “get Roan” (her words) and leave the others to fight for their own lives (the implication). I knew she wasn't a savory character when she had always belittled Cassandra despite the other (1) rescuing her, (2) helping her kind, and (3) fucking rescuing her AGAIN. She was ungrateful, yes, but straight up being selfish was almost out of character which kinda surprised me. I was actually beginning to like her in this book after she shed her “other woman” character and started becoming the posh yet loyal bad bitch that she was. The first scene though? A bit uncharacteristic for this image.

I loved the series. I was immensely interested by the concept of an FBI profiler with a secret lineage to the fae realm. The first two books were more on par with the marketed plot but as the series progressed, there were more fae and less FBI profiler in her character. Eventually, especially in this book, she completely lost her identity as an FBI agent and became a full fae warrior. While disappointed by that path, I was still interested enough by the plot that I decided to continue reading it. I wasn't disappointed by the ending, at the very least. Just surprised that my initial impression that the series will end with her merging her human side and fae side seamlessly. I'm more disappointed by the fact that we almost completely lost Scarlet in the process of her becoming the Mistress of Dread. Mostly because I see Scarlet as the most important part of her human life, even more important than her biological parents.

The romance in this book is not something to write about. This is more about action and fantasy than romance. But that doesn't mean that we don't get swoony moments with the male protagonist, Roan. It's just that, while the man was a complete loyal servant to his love for her, he was also great at hiding his feelings in the beginning of this series. I didn't even know that he loved her until the 3rd book, I just thought he was attracted to her. I'm just glad that the authors did not choose to use Elrene as a driving force to put a wedge between them. In this book, we actually get to see and understand their relationship from all sides: Roan's, Elrene's, and an outsider's, namely Cassandra. It was interesting, though I can't deny that I really hated her spiteful behavior in the beginning, especially after Cassandra had always been nice to her AND saved her twice.

The side characters are lovely as well. We fell in love woth Gabriel, Alvin, and the fae gang. We also lost a lot of them since the beginning. It was realistic, I would think so. But it still hurt, nonetheless. Especially Gabriel's loss. While I wasn't shipping him and Cassandra, I was loving his character as he was the most supportive person and the most caring one since the very beginning. It was such a painful death, too, because his last act was once again an act of kindness. Fuck that bitch of a king. I'm glad they killed him for what he caused.

Btw, he was a beautifully-written incel villain, I loved the POV that we got from him when Cassandra was baiting him.

P.S. I still don't know how to spell Elrene's name. I listened to the audiobook so was just guessing. I went from calling her “Irene” to “that bitch” to “Elrene”.