Fae court chaos meets human trafficking drama in this twisted, thrilling tale of a teenage girl on a mission to rescue her family from a magic realm.
Liar in the Hollow Court pulls you in with its striking opening line: “The fae were just a town legend until the day they took Mom.”
Having just learned magical creatures exist—by way of witnessing them kidnap her mom from their home—Brynn is doubly-shocked by her inability to tell anyone about it. Her words are overridden with mundane, unrelated replacements as they leave her mouth:
“’911, what’s your emergency?‘
“‘My mom has been—’ I choked slightly on the word ‘taken’ and instead said, ‘Going out in her bathrobe lately.’ What the heck? I hadn’t meant to say that.”
When they come back to take her father and sisters, magically manipulating them into signing blood contracts and stealing them away, Brynn follows them into the woods. Somehow, they lead her into another realm. The fae realm.
Soren, the fae who logs arrivals at the realm entrance, agrees to help Brynn find her family if she makes a deal with him, which doesn’t surprise her. In the time between witnessing her mother’s kidnapping and the rest of her family’s, Brynn researches faefolk—everywhere from internet forums to her library’s fiction selection—assuming truth wherever she found commonalities, like those describing “a species of magical beings known for their glittery wings, [and] untrustworthy bargains.”
Wary of believing any fae’s offer to help, but with no real choice, Brynn agrees. Soren brings her into the Hollow Court, whose interconnected tunnels alternate between a chilled, austere gloom, and elaborate decor like gold inlays, magical heating, plush carpet, and marble flooring. In author Bethany Atazadeh’s fae realm, sky-high Court windows have doorknobs (“with so many wings here, any opening could become an exit”) and starlit skies twinkle above underground ballrooms. But it’s not a magical wonderland. Brynn’s underground adventure is incredibly dark, especially where it aligns with Soren’s work.
The faefolk dance around the phrasing of their answers to Brynn’s questions. Every carefully-worded mention of the forced labor that Brynn witnesses throughout the Hollow Court is more chilling than the last, revealing an ongoing human trafficking operation. The humans move like zombies who had no choice but to sign themselves into enslavement, and Brynn learns that “the majority of humans under these types of permanent contracts at some point lose their will to live.”
Soren’s friends (who play ballgown stylist, welcoming chef, and fae-behavior coach to Brynn) seem disturbingly comfortable being frivolous about these serious matters, despite building something like friendship with Brynn. But are they involved in the trafficking operation? Soren won’t give Brynn a straight answer: “’Are you involved in stealing people?’
“‘Yes and no.’ The others chuckled, like he’d made a joke.”
Brynn is the titular liar in the Hollow’s Court, a contrast to the immortals of the fae realm, who cleverly twist their words with deceptive intent, but cannot actually lie. Soren and his friends “lean into the fact that Brynn can lie,” tasking her with sharing “deliberate and detailed [lies] with the prince of the Hollow Court,” giving Soren an alibi for the night before Brynn arrived and furthering their secret plans.
Brynn is forced to second-guess every detail of everything she agrees to, fearing she’ll sign away her future to creatures who cast forgetting spells on mortals, stealing entire families away to labor in their Court. At the same time, she’s accused of prejudice against faefolk (“We’re not a children’s fairytale with good and evil. We’re merely a different species.”) for not seeing past mortal myths to their diverse personalities and varied moral standards. Brynn must hold onto her humanity but act convincingly fae to hold up her end of the bargain with Soren in public. She must push through survivor’s guilt and eat decadent Court food for strength to continue searching for her family, knowing they’re likely being starved.
Liar in the Hollow Court’s charm lies in the sparkling potential between Brynn and Soren. It’s not so much a no spice romance as a story focused more on its fantasy, adventure, and mystery aspects than the romance. That said, the alliance between Soren and Brynn begins as a deal and blossoms into a friendship. Sparks fly during their high-stakes fact-finding missions as a tentative trust builds between the couple. The charged sweetness between Soren and Brynn is more noticeable in the way those around them react to their proximity: Leaving the room to give them time alone, unsubtly raised eyebrows, and knowing winks as they exit. The result is a romance of comforting proximity, chaste kisses, and longing stares, toned down but no less true or tantalizing.
With Bethany Atazadeh’s enthralling worldbuilding, each beat of this magical tale is an unputdownable thrill, a ride so enjoyable that you’ll be surprised how many pages you take in at once. Every page-turn is a rewarding joy, where even the twists that readers know are coming have gasp-worthy potential. Liar in the Hollow Court is a wonderful gift for readers who love fast-paced fantasy without the heat or distraction of a spicy romance, and it’s perfect for those entranced by the possibilities of falling into a fae realm and dealmaking their way out.
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