Unlock the secrets of Victorian England's underworld of fae magic, love and murder in this spellbinding romantic fantasy.

A spirited young woman's quest for the extraordinary entangles her in a deadly investigation, where she must unravel murder, life-altering secrets and a forbidden love that transcends realms to save all she holds dear.

Bound by the constraints of Victorian England, Lady Alice Hyde's future appears secure in a marriage arranged by her uncle, the Viscount. But her heart yearns for more than being a traditional and dutiful wife. Blessed, or cursed as it seems, with a curious mind and a thirst for knowledge, she eagerly anticipates a visit to The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace.

However, her journey takes a darker twist when she stumbles upon the lifeless body of a young woman. Drawn into the investigation alongside the enigmatic and exasperating Cyan, Alice finds herself on a treacherous path fraught with danger and desire.

Together, Alice and Cyan battle not only dark forces but also a growing attraction that defies the chasm between their worlds.

As they unravel the mystery behind the murder, Alice discovers a whole new realm of terrifying possibilities that leads them to an all-powerful and vengeful fae who threatens everything.

In a mesmerising blend of romance, fantasy and intrigue, The Charmed is a spellbinding tale of love, magic and choosing one's destiny. Join Alice and Cyan on a heart-stilling journey where they discover that even in the darkest of shadows, love can illuminate the way and potentially conquer the impossible.

The Charmed is the first book in the Fae of the Crystal Palace series and brings together the historical romance of Bridgerton with the mystery of Sherlock Holmes and an irresistible sprinkle of A Court of Thorns and Roses fae. It features medium level steam.

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

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The Charmed by Kylie Fennell is set in 1851 the year of The Great Exhibition, the infamous Crystal Palace, so named by the glass building designed by Joseph Paxton. Organised by Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, and Henry Cole, the Great Exhibition was an international exhibition that housed exhibits from all over the world. The Crystal Palace is a place of wonder, and it is everything that Lady Alice Hyde could ever dream of, filled with inventions and offering her access to a world that will be closed to her soon.

She’s engaged to be married, and her dreams of travelling to the countries exhibited in The Great Exhibition are disappearing before her eyes. Little does Alice expect to have her world turned upside down while visiting The Great Exhibition. Witnessing the murder of a woman she knows, Alice is drawn into the world of the mysterious fae as she works with Cyan Symond, the Exhibition’s caretaker, to find the culprit. As Alice soon learns, there’s much more going on, and she’s right in the middle of it.

I wanted to like The Charmed, however, there were so many issues that I couldn’t ignore. Fennell’s world-building was interesting at times, and for me personally, the setting of The Great Exhibition was a selling point as it’s my hometown’s local history. Unfortunately, the interesting points were let down by stereotypical characters, weak plot points and huge over-reaching in the world-building.

Let’s start with the characters. Alice is the stereotypical clever and nosy female Victorian character who infuriates the male character, and ultimately, they fall for each other. That trope doesn’t bother me so much. What bothered me was that as soon as they slept together, she turned into a completely different person who was fawning over him every second, to the point where she couldn’t even finish a sentence. If this was one of those books where fae had a natural sexual attraction, pheromones or anything to explain such a reaction, then fair enough. However, there was nothing to explain this sudden change.

The other characters in the book can all be fixed to a trope. There wasn’t an original character at all in The Charmed, and the big reveals of the book were also huge tropes. The overall plot felt weak due to this. At the start of the book, there appears to be an anxiety representation. Alice’s Uncle, the Viscount, struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive thoughts about germs. Later in the book, it is revealed that Fennell has not written a character with anxiety or OCD representation; instead, she has just used mental health as a plot device.

While I found Fennell’s interpretation of fae interesting, she has chosen to mix time-travelling with her world-building. On some levels, this works and adds interesting components to the story, but Fennell has over-reached at times. For example, bringing technology from the future into the Victorian era and completely ignoring the consequences of doing so. She has just thrown time travel into the mix and brushed any actual technicalities about it under the rug. I also kid you not that one of these items was called a “ray gun”.

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Thanks for reading my book review of The Charmed by Kylie Fennell. If you would like to check out this book for yourself, it is available to read on Kindle Unlimited.

If anyone is interested, here’s a bit more information about The Great Exhibition and my hometown’s history. In 1852, it was relocated to Sydenham Hill in South East London and in 1926 it burned down. When I was ten, my primary school choir took part in an event to remember the 60th anniversary of the Crystal Palace fire.

The area was renamed Crystal Palace after the Great Exhibition, and as such has no defined boundaries. It actually crosses five different London boroughs and is home to the football club of the same name, and Crystal Palace Park, which was designed by Joseph Paxton to house The Great Exhibition when it moved. The park is famous for its Victorian dinosaurs. You can read more about the park and see photos of the dinosaurs on the Crystal Palace Park Wikipedia page.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

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