The Fox Hunt: Dark Acdemia into Fantastic Fey Fantasy

 

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

Book Review-The Murder at World's End: Amusing Mystery, Amazing Characters

 

 

 

Author: Ross Montgomery 

Genre: Mystery (locked room, cozy*)

Publisher: HarperCollins, Penguin Random House UK

Format: Audiobook (NetGalley copy)

Narrators:  Joe Jameson, Derek Jacobi

TW: murder, period typical sexism, mention of eugenics in a true context, verbal abuse, sexual harassment (mentioned)

*The main lady character, Decima swears like a sailor (period accurately), which might put off some cozy readers, but I definitely believe this counts as cozy.

I, pardon my French, freaking loved The Murder At World’s End. 

But first, the plot: It’s 1910 in Cornwall, England. The day Hailey’s Comet caused a worldwide panic. Swept up in this panic is Viscount Conrad Stonckington, who decides to seal up his estate, the semi island of World’s End, in hopes to emerge into a new world. Thrust into this lunacy is Stephen Pike, a prisoner turned footman here with a reference to work in the house. Hired on to take care of the helion Miss Decima, Conrad’s irasible aunt, it seems to be simple. Seal the doors, and wait untill the next morning for the lunacy to boil over. But not everyone makes it out alive. The next morning, Conrad is found dead, a crossbow bolt in his brain, and Stephen is a prime suspect.

The mystery unravels from there, with many twists and turns and red herrings. The mystery was tantalizing enough to keep me hooked and guessing until the end. The world building was believeable and complex, and the language was surprisingly vivid but also in character, even if the amount of times Stephen jumped or bumped into someone stood out. (But since it’s his diary, the repetitive actions makes a lot of sense.) 

But the characters were the real draw. 

Stephen Pike is initially a bit naive. A country boy done in for a crime he didn’t commit, his last chance is World’s End. I love Stephen. He’s endearing (I love his habit of carrying around a notebook and writing down words he doesn’t know so he could look them up later) and insanely observant, without being mean. The book is primarily told through those notebook entries in first person with a few interstitial bits done in third person, which is very intimate. His perspective is a joy to read, and his background came right through and added colour to the story, balancing out the other lead, Decima.

I love Stephen, but I would follow Miss Decima Stockington into the jaws of hell, and I think Stephen would too. Decima is a force of nature. Worldly, whip smart and assertive, but also flawed. Her mistreatment by her family has hardened her, and she has prejudices and meanness that she has to overcome. Her verbal sparing with Stephen is amazing, and her voice is so different from his. (She swears, for one, oh the horror!) Her character at the end of the novel had me crying. 

The side characters felt so real too. Shout out in particular to Temperance and Mr. Stokes, and the hilariously incompetent Inspector Jarvis. But for spoiler reasons, I won’t mention anything more about them.

It would be remis of me not to mention the outstanding narration done by Joe Jameson and Derek Jacobi. Jameson voiced every character in the novel and did it well too. He brought every character to life and was so good at it that I was convinced there were multiple narrators. Derek Jacobi voiced the outside of the diary parts, and he was excellent as well, with a dignified voice that sparkled with barely held mirth near the end.

I am so glad there is room for a sequel.

I will be buying this book for my mother in law. She’ll love it as much as I did.  

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review audiobook!

Final Rating: 5 Stars

Drink Paring: Black tea in a porcelain cup, hot and steaming