Author: Caitlin Breeze
Genre: Adult fantasy, urban Fantasy (faeries), dark academia (in the first half), romantic but not romantasy, queer themes but not queer lit
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)
Release Date: February 24th, 2026
TW: Misogyny, murder (attempted and followed through), imprisonment, near drowning, sexual assualt
So, this book took a genre that I usually bounce off of (dark academia) and turned it into a fey-wild romp in an intricate and magical world. Along with sacred cannibalism and queer themes, I love anything and everything to do with the fae. As such, I loved this book.
But first, the plot: Emma Curran is a scholarship student studying at the University, the most prestigious university in the UK (and possibly the world). Born to a renowned biologist mother and a deadbeat father, Emma is more at home in the University's rivers and streams among the animals than in the University's oak paneled halls. However, when Emma wins a full scholastic prize to continue her research, she's thrust into the glittering underbelly of the University's most secret society, the all-male Turnbulls, and their leader, the beautiful Jasper Balfour. The Turnbulls host wild parties and one night suggest something: a fox hunt. The girls will be the foxes and the boys, the hunters. To escape these murderous boys, Emma begs the City beneath and between the University to save her. With that boon a bargain is struck, and the Night City will claim it's due. Can Emma fulfill her debt? Can she take revenge on the Turnbulls? Will she ever be human again?
This book hooked me immediately. That began with the characters.Emma is an interesting main character; passive and a bit out of her depth at first, she grows into a capable and knowing character near the end of the book. Her best friend, Nathaniel (or Nat), is wonderful and even though he was decidedly a side character, I was very happy whenever he showed up. I appreciated that he was also a British person of color, and that there was mention of his trying to rediscover hisUgandan heritage and how that clashed with his father's full assimilation. The other characters in the first half of the novel were nice as well, but they are a bit thin. I loved the fey characters (special shout out to Robin), but due to spoilers, I won't speak more about the, except to say that they are mostly portrayed as the fey should be, delightful and delighted but also dangerous, cunning, and inhuman (sorry ACOTAR fans). I like it when the fae are odd, and cunning and a bit cruel, always using wordplay to get more out of a bargain than the human petitioner. There is also queerness in this novel (Nat is gay and Emma is bisexual) and I loved the representation. It felt natural.
Note, this isn't a romantasy, but there are romantic scenes here. However, I do not think they are particularly sexual, usually stopping on a kiss or cutting to black if the characters have sex. As an ace person, I found this fine. However, there is non explicit sexual assault, and the use of a date rape drug by a minor character to another character.
I loved the Night City as a setting and it's class dynamics that mirror the class dynamics at the University in the first half of the book. I like the undercurrent of desperation that the City has, where it feels like the upper class is partying while the City crumbles. The setting is rich, but also has room to be added to, especially after the end of the novel. The university was a bit more sketched in, but the Library was incredible, so that brief sketch in is definitely forgivable. The third person pov and vivid language really do help to smooth over any wrinkles in the current story. Although, I hope that in a (hopeful) eventual sequel, these holes will be filled in so to speak.
Now, with mention of the first and second halves of the book, I must give a warning here. This is not your typical dark academia book. After the titular Fox Hunt, the novel turns into a full blown urban fae fantasy. I love the fae, so I was fully on board for this change, but if you're looking for a full dark academia, you might not enjoy the switch. However, these two genres are woven together well, and if you like both genres (like I do) you'll love this book. Give it a try, and you'll dream of dark University's and fae bargains for weeks. I eagerly anticipate a sequel.
Final Rating: 4.75 out of 5 (rounded up to 5) stars
Drink Paring: Tongmu light smoke lapsang tea for the dark City and its attending university
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