Reviewed by: Sue Eaton
TITLE: Bright Dead Things
SERIES: Bitter Legacies #1
AUTHOR: Hailey Turner
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 386 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2026
BLURB:
If the forest stares back at you, you’re already prey.
Bran Gallagher grew up with three rules passed down through his coven: beware forest paths that lead to dangerous mounds, always keep iron close, and never speak of magic.
Cillian Dunne grew up with his mother’s love, his father’s absence, and secret warnings to never trust a witch.
In Pelham’s forest, where bright lights haunt the trees and hunt the lost, there are traditions kept for survival and others out of habit, none of which should be broken.
Bran and Cillian unknowingly broke tradition and ruined each other in the aftermath of a kiss years ago. Reunited in the wake of a family tragedy, they cross paths with something old, something terrifying—something that wants them dead. When Bran’s younger sister is stolen away by a nightmare into the Otherworld, they can only follow and try to keep each other alive in a strange and haunting land.
Trapped in a dangerous Fae Court, Bran learns being a witch comes with a death sentence. To save him, Cillian must fight against those who seek power from a past he has no memory of, and the only person he can trust is the witch who broke his heart.
But it might be too late.
For the Fae have never been kind, and they have always hungered, and this time, what they hunger for is revenge.
REVIEW:
Bright Dead Things is a story that thrums with magic, grief, and the slow, inexorable pull between two men who were never meant to be ordinary. At its core lies the beautifully tangled relationship between Bran, a witch dragged home by loss, and Cillian, a man who has lived his whole life believing he was human, right up until the moment that truth shatters the illusion. Their connection is the emotional spine of the book, and Hailey Turner builds it with a deft hand, layering longing, fear, and revelation until it becomes impossible to imagine one without the other.
Bran’s return home is a study in quiet devastation. He walks back into his past like someone bracing for impact, every memory of his mother’s death pressing against him like a bruise. He’s powerful, guarded, and so used to carrying everything alone that vulnerability feels like a threat. Cillian, by contrast, is all raw edges and newness his Fae heritage exploding into his life with the force of a tidal shift. Where Bran knows exactly what he is and resents the weight of it, Cillian is suddenly confronted with a world that has been hiding in plain sight, and a self he never knew he was allowed to claim.
Their chemistry is a slow burn that feels both inevitable and dangerous. Bran sees risk in letting anyone close; Cillian sees possibility in everything Bran tries to shut down. They push and pull, collide and retreat, but beneath every moment is the sense that something older and deeper is drawing them together. Their magic, their histories, and their futures are intertwined in ways neither of them fully understands.
The worldbuilding hums with a low, electric tension, as if every shadow is holding its breath. Turner’s Fae realm is beautiful in the way deep water is beautiful, mesmerising, vast, and capable of swallowing you whole. The beings that inhabit it are ancient and uncanny, shaped by rules older than human memory. Even the ones who seem helpful feel like they’re indulging mortals out of curiosity rather than kindness. Every encounter carries that delicious sense of something is watching, something is waiting, and the atmosphere wraps around Bran and Cillian like a second plotline one made of secrets, bargains, and magic that never gives without taking.
What elevates the story is how the emotional stakes are inseparable from the political ones. Their growing connection unfolds in a world where alliances have teeth and every choice echoes through courts and bloodlines that do not forgive easily. The tension between them isn’t just desire simmering beneath the surface; it’s the awareness that wanting each other could shift the balance of power in ways neither fully grasps. Bran’s grief‑hardened caution clashes with Cillian’s newly awakened instincts, creating a dynamic that feels intimate, volatile, and deeply human.
Beneath it all runs the quiet hum of Fae politics, ancient grudges, unspoken rules, and factions watching with interest that is rarely benevolent. Their romance becomes a rebellion in miniature: two men trying to choose each other in a world that keeps reminding them that choices have consequences.
Bright Dead Things is ultimately a story of two men discovering who they are, what they’re capable of, and what they mean to each other. It’s tender, dangerous, surprising, and full of the kind of magic that lingers long after the last page. It’s one of those rare books that wrapped itself around me completely, the kind you sink into and read long into the night. The blend of rich worldbuilding, sharp emotional stakes, and the magnetic pull between Bran and Cillian made it an absolute standout, and I loved every moment of their story. Turner has crafted a world full of danger, beauty, and heart, and I’m already counting down the days until the next book in the series. If this is only the beginning, then whatever comes next is going to be extraordinary.
RATING: 
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