Reviews with content warning for Violence - Ledge

In the Ledge, Dawsyn fights to survive the merciless cold and hopes to avoid the Glacians, a race of half-winged creatures that give the people rations in exchange for sacrifices every year. This year however, Dawsyn is chosen; desperate to escape, she finds an unlikely ally in half-Glacian Ryon and together they traverse into the world below the mountains. But that world might not be so forgiving either, and with the Glacians on their trail, Dawsyn must continue to fight.

A book that intrigued me with its premise but ultimately left me disappointed. I couldn’t quite pinpoint why, but the book felt like a struggle to get through despite its short chapters. The setting was interesting, but I found that it didn’t feel rich or even ‘big’ because it was as though Dawsyn and Ryon were getting from one end of the continent to the other in the span of a day. I thought the Ledge itself was more interesting than the rest of Terrsaw, which was unfortunate since we spent the least amount of time in the Ledge.

As for the characters, I unfortunately did not feel attachment to any of them; Dawsyn was fun and I loved her unbridled anger but at the end of the novel I didn’t really catch any character development or any depth to her other than her being an unforgiving, angry ax-wielder. Ryon was fine, but likewise, I didn’t have any major feelings for him or any of the side characters either (except maybe some curiosity about Baltisse). I’m sure they’ll play a bigger role in the sequel but they had little impact here.

Speaking of, the book left on a major cliffhanger though which had me reeling, but it’s a question of whether I’m going to remember this by the time the next one comes out next year.

Although, in all honesty I don’t think Ryon is dead, or at least going to stay dead.

There was some clear set up for the next book and I think I can see where this is going, which does excite me but again, I’m not sure whether I’ll keep reading.

Overall, not entirely bad but not good either. I can definitely see why fantasy-romance enjoyers may like this, but it was personally very mediocre and apart from the ending, it just didn’t provoke any big feelings or emotions for me.

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soniajoy98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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magiquek8ball's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book took me longer to finish than I expected because I had to keep taking breaks. I loved and felt so there with the characters, that whenever something happened I needed to literally walk away and come back.

Based wholly on those breaks and when in the book I needed to take them, I can say that this book is perfectly paced and the ebbs and flows of the plot are as soothing and intoxicating as the magic in the pool of Iskra. I’ve never wanted to pick back up a book so soon after finishing it.

One of my favorite things about this book (aside from the characters) is the language used both in and out of dialogue. When the characters are talking to each other, not only does their individual personality come through but it really feels like a fantasy book in the cadence of their speech. I was constantly aware that I was witnessing something magical and of-another-world. Despite the true, heartwarmingly, human moments in the book, there was nothing pedestrian about it because of the words the author used in those moments.

Throughout this book, I got a sense that Stacey McEwan was sharing her wishes for the world. Some were small and simple like a man with huge hands who loves a woman with a sharp wit and

being able to shove entitled men into gaping holes in the earth

. Others were huge; the type of hopes we have but rarely know how to chase. Things like making the world “A Better Place” where people are not forced to go without freedom and comfort so that others may benefit, bluntness is welcome so long as it’s used without judgment, and differences are used as strengths to join forces against those with their heels on the backs of others. I loved being in a world where these wishes became plans and actions and I thank the author for sharing it with me.

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plantsbookscoffee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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cover2covertx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book was definitely a roller coaster for me and I really enjoyed it! The beginning was very dark and heavy but with the pacing being done so well, the author didn’t just have you sit there in the gloom and did a good job of giving you an awesome character to root for in Dawsyn. The world building was wonderful and gave you a really interesting and unique premise that you can understand well without info dumping which is a huge plus in fantasy (in my opinion).

The relationship between the two main characters goes from enemies to lovers but not in a super predictable way. I really enjoyed the pacing of their relationship too! It was very well done and the author threw in some good twists and conflict for their story without anything being too predictable. Their banter also was PERFECT. ❤️

I appreciated the trigger and content warnings because there were definitely some darker moments to the plot that I’m grateful for the heads up for.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book- until the ending. I’m excited for the very big cliffhanger because that means a sequel (hopefully) is coming. However, after everything that happened in the story, there’s a huge moment in the last few pages that took this read for me personally from a solid five stars to four.

Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for this ARC to review.

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ccouey's review against another edition

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challenging fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

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samantha_ellen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This was an outstanding & thrilling debut.

It was a truly unique world. Filled with strong characters in a harsh environment & different magical creatures to the ones we usually see.

This book felt like a breathe of fresh air, exploring a concept I haven’t read before, while still working with all the tropes we love in a high fantasy romance.

It’s beautifully written with characters that were really flushed out & likeable, Dawsyn (FMC) especially - she’s strong & capable & believable.

The plot was surprising & meticulously thought out & paced well, including the twists & turns & epic battle scenes.

The romance was perfect - I love these two together! The spice, being just enough.

But I can’t believe I have to wait for book two now because that ENDING 😭 WTF!!!

I need more Dawsyn & Ryon in my life NOW ~ & I need to know what happens after that last bombshell!

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anxiousnachos's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

1.75

Content warnings: sex, suicide, violence, blood and gore, confinement, kidnapping, murder, threats of rape, child death, injury detail

Thank you to Angry Robot for the physical ARC of this one in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve been struggling with how to write this review since I finished because I’m hugely grateful to AR for sending me an ARC, especially because it’s so rare for me to get physical ARCs given where I live. Unfortunately as you can tell from my rating, this was not my cup of tea. This sounded like a really fun, enemies to lovers romantic fantasy which I was so on board with and I was so excited to see how the author’s humour translated into a book. But I found the worldbuilding to be pretty nonexistent (please explain the existence of a mage who turns up to heal people whenever the plot needs it) or badly written and the pacing off. It takes more than a third of the book to get off the mountain and the journey becomes very monotonous. At times, it felt like a tool to tell Dawyson (and thus us, the reader) things about the world. The whole book is very much “worldbuild entirely from telling not showing” which is the exact opposite of the books I tend to enjoy the most.

The above I can forgive as personal tastes, as I do think this could be something that might appeal to SJM fans? (Though note I say that having never read her books, but I imagine they could be something similar). And I know the heavy immersive worldbuilding I prefer is not for everyone! But more than the above, there were several moments that really…raised my hackles? The main love interest, Ryon, being an animalistic half beast Black man? 😬😬😬 This is a highly overused and problematic trope in media. Particularly given he is for much of the book, the only person of colour around - in fact on first read through, I thought he was the only one until page 284. When I went back to check I did notice a brief mention of another character’s darker skin colour.

There were also several very…TERFy lines around genitals and womanhood that I did not like? It was rather odd. One of these I could have excused as me just looking too deeply and feeling touchy as I read but there were multiple throughout the text and they just added up and left such a feeling of distaste in my mouth which is obviously not the feeling you want when reading. For some examples, implying that to reach womanhood you have to have a period. Or referring to “parts that make me girlish will never know your touch again” as if our genitals make our gender. Of course all of these lines wouldn’t even exist if Ryon didn’t constantly infantilise Dawyson by calling her “girl”… They all come up in her responses to him calling her this.

So yeah, l wasn’t a big fan of this unfortunately! But thank you again to Angry Robot for the ARC!

Oh God I thought I was finished but I just remembered they almost had sex after Dawyson just drowned and Ryon had to resuscitate her. WHAT.

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