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Book: “The Sweetest Fiend” by Raven Kennedy
Publishing Info: Avon, September 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the library!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Our world cracked open like an egg. Power burst out, and with it, nine monstrous Banes ready to destroy everything. The powerful Core fae finally slayed them all, but each Bane left a Plague to punish us.
But that’s not the only thing they left behind.
I’m half Bane, half fae, and wholly hated. Survival means enduring every vicious glare and cursed outbreak. Until one day, a Plague descends upon my city that means certain death.
Then he comes. The Pied Piper.
He rids my city of the Plague, but it comes at a cost. One hundred and thirty people are taken as payment. Including me.
I don’t know what he’s going to do to us, but I know I have to get home. My family’s lives depend on it. But the Piper won’t let me go, and something wicked stirs between us. The sweet scent in my veins beckons him, while the seductive lure of his magic sinks under my skin.
I have to escape before it’s too late. Because if I don’t, it’s not just my heart at risk…
But the entire world.
Review: I love fairytale retellings, but by now, the most popular ones have been done quite a few times. That’s not to say that I won’t definitely read the millionth version of “Beauty and the Beast” the second I get a chance (there may, in fact, be one of those coming in two weeks…), but it’s always fun to find an author tackling a lesser-known story. And what’s a more random choice than the Pied Piper? And then somehow the Pied Piper himself is the romantic love interest?? Bizarre! But this kind of wackiness is just the thing to immediately pique my interest, so here we are!
I also know that this author is fairly popular, but her books are the rare ones where it seems like the story got stronger as it went. And reading this one, I can definitely vouch for that. This is a long book, nearly 500 pages, and the story definitely takes its time getting started. And while I really liked the worldbuilding that was first introduced, I won’t lie, I put down the book quite a few times in that first quarter or so, and it was really only the strength of the writing itself that kept me going.
There were things happening, but even in the midst of events that should have been exciting, it also felt like the entire story was turning into one whole “woe is me/look at me be bullied” sob fest for the main character. I get it, she’s persecuted. But it was just a bit too much for me to handle without it being better balanced alongside any other characteristics on offer. Really, it felt like Esti’s entire personality was “people hate and fear me.” This then led to some frustrating decision-making from her later in the book, too. But by that time, there was enough going on in other aspects of the book that I was able to overlook some of it. But yeah, the main character was definitely not my favorite part about this book.
But let’s get back to what I did like, and that really circled around the creative world and magic. Right from the start, I loved the idea of cycles of plagues that torment these villages. And these aren’t pesky little things; they are all described as incredibly deadly in their own horrifying ways. The moment one is done, another one rolls in, seemingly worse than the last. There were a lot of great moments that focused on the lows that these sorts of life-or-death situations could push society to and what people are willing to tolerate.
I had mixed feelings on the romantic plot itself. Again, we have the confusion of an author seeming to feel like they have to do an “enemies to lovers” story based on the popularity of the trope, but not necessarily knowing how to transition her characters through this arc. We were never given any real character development for why these two drew closer together, other than lustfulness.
I did enjoy the love interest, which was a bit shocking since he also had some of the most ridiculous lines ever. I don’t know exactly what it was, but the archetype that he was portraying was the sort I enjoy, and I definitely felt like he was the stronger half of the romantic pairing.
That said, I did feel like the book was overly long. The prose was incredibly strong, the worldbuilding was excellent, and the creative use of the Pied Piper story was on point. But by the second half of the book, we were running into scenes repeating themselves, most notably in Esti’s failed escape attempts. A good editor could have caught this, and I think paring it down by a good 75 pages would have made it a stronger entry altogether.
While I had a few problems here and there, mostly with the length and with the main character, I still really appreciated picking up a romantasy book that felt like it had a few new things to bring to the table. If you’re a fan of retellings, this is probably one to check out!
Rating 8: The main character had a bit of a persecution complex (maybe rightly so, but it still got annoying), but the romantic lead was ridiculous in a way that somehow I loved?? Either way, if you’re looking for an interesting new retelling, this one is a fun entry!
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Sweetest Fiend” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Best Novels with “Fiend” in the Title and Non-Fairytale Spicy Retellings.
