reidkelsea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
creatingkristen's review against another edition
4.0
Romeria, a human girl, is plunged into a new and mysterious world full of magic, gods, and elven when a strange woman seeks her help. All Romi has to do is steal something from a secret garden and keep her identity a secret. What she isn’t told beforehand is that she’ll awaken in this new world as Princess Romeria of Ybaris, on the night former Princess Romeria assassinated the Islor King and Queen, the same night she was set to wed Prince Zander of Islor who will now be King. As she navigates this strange place with no knowledge of herself or those around her, she must convince Zander not to kill his parent’s murderer while searching for this garden. As she gets closed to Zander, she must decide what is most important - staying on mission or protecting this new world and the man she has started to care for.
Romi and Zander have an amazing enemies to lovers romance blooming, but secrets and lies are hard things to forgive.
Romi and Zander have an amazing enemies to lovers romance blooming, but secrets and lies are hard things to forgive.
ziyijo's review against another edition
4.0
A bit of a slow read, especially at the beginning but picked up towards the middle. I was really worried that this will be an urban fantasy but I'm very glad it wasn't! However, Overall, I liked it.
reaganing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
anirta's review against another edition
5.0
If I could, I would give this book 10 stars. It's that good!
sagittarian's review against another edition
4.0
once again, i'm in the position of having read a great book that serves as a fantastic start to a series with months to go before the next book is published. and with a cliffhanger end that broke my heart but left juuuuuuuust enough potential to have me salivating for the next one.
it took a while to get into this story, probably because it started out in modern-day NYC (and urban fantasy is so not my thing, *nudge nudge* crescent city..........), but the minute it shifted setting, i was all in. we have body-swapping, castles, magic, gods, political scheming, enemies (of the 'you tried to kill me and my whole family' variety) to lovers, the idealist, doesn't-want-the-crown, advocates-for-human-rights love interest, and a little bit of spice to keep you on your toes. surprisingly, the fact that the main character came from a modern day setting into the more traditional, fantasy-style setting made the story richer, rather than trite. (romeria designing herself scandalous modern dresses? love it.)
the mystery of the story is not only well constructed within this first book, it's built perfectly to withstand a multi-book series. as much as i love JLA/FBAA, there are few things more annoying or cheap than being given answers to questions only for those answers to be deemed incorrect or irrelevant in later books. the way the author tells the story in this book poses questions that are answered satisfactorily, but leaves enough of an open-end that there is so much potential for more depth in the book(s) to come without resorting to tedious retconning.
everything about this book is delicious as the introduction to a larger, interesting story. because it's the appetizer, it lacks the emotional punch that makes a book 5 stars for me, but detailed world and character-building takes time, and i just know book two is going to be so, so, so good. sopleasereleaseitearlyasapimmediatelythankyouuuuuu
it took a while to get into this story, probably because it started out in modern-day NYC (and urban fantasy is so not my thing, *nudge nudge* crescent city..........), but the minute it shifted setting, i was all in. we have body-swapping, castles, magic, gods, political scheming, enemies (of the 'you tried to kill me and my whole family' variety) to lovers, the idealist, doesn't-want-the-crown, advocates-for-human-rights love interest, and a little bit of spice to keep you on your toes. surprisingly, the fact that the main character came from a modern day setting into the more traditional, fantasy-style setting made the story richer, rather than trite. (romeria designing herself scandalous modern dresses? love it.)
the mystery of the story is not only well constructed within this first book, it's built perfectly to withstand a multi-book series. as much as i love JLA/FBAA, there are few things more annoying or cheap than being given answers to questions only for those answers to be deemed incorrect or irrelevant in later books. the way the author tells the story in this book poses questions that are answered satisfactorily, but leaves enough of an open-end that there is so much potential for more depth in the book(s) to come without resorting to tedious retconning.
everything about this book is delicious as the introduction to a larger, interesting story. because it's the appetizer, it lacks the emotional punch that makes a book 5 stars for me, but detailed world and character-building takes time, and i just know book two is going to be so, so, so good. sopleasereleaseitearlyasapimmediatelythankyouuuuuu
xxmcsxx's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
atwade's review against another edition
5.0
Excuse me, KA Tucker?!?!? It’s official, fantasy is YOUR genre. Wtf this was SO GOOD! I am so pleasantly surprised by this book. I honestly have no complaints, this was excellent.
This book immediately caught my attention. The prologue had me incredibly intrigued, and then we met Ms. Romeria of New York City ✨ I went into this book completely blind, didn’t know the plot, or what kind of fantasy/magical elements would be in this book. BUT WOW UM IT HAD EVERYTHING. I’m fan girling over this book.
When she woke up in a fantasy world and all the drama started to unfold … I was screaming. Like what a GOOD CONCEPT. I LOVE IT.
I am super tired of the “I’ve been sent here to kill you, but omg we fell in love and now you feel betrayed by me, blah blah blah” IT IS OLD NEWS. This was “I woke up in a fantasy world and the king wants to kill me because I betrayed him but now I get to show him how amazing I am” like I love the reverse of this trope. I HATE WAITING FOR THE BETRAYAL BECAUSE IT MAKES ME ANXIOUS! So thank you for not doing that to me KA Tucker.
The SLOW BURN ROMANCE… I was itching for them to get together… to touch, to kiss
This book immediately caught my attention. The prologue had me incredibly intrigued, and then we met Ms. Romeria of New York City ✨ I went into this book completely blind, didn’t know the plot, or what kind of fantasy/magical elements would be in this book. BUT WOW UM IT HAD EVERYTHING. I’m fan girling over this book.
When she woke up in a fantasy world and all the drama started to unfold … I was screaming. Like what a GOOD CONCEPT. I LOVE IT.
I am super tired of the “I’ve been sent here to kill you, but omg we fell in love and now you feel betrayed by me, blah blah blah” IT IS OLD NEWS. This was “I woke up in a fantasy world and the king wants to kill me because I betrayed him but now I get to show him how amazing I am” like I love the reverse of this trope. I HATE WAITING FOR THE BETRAYAL BECAUSE IT MAKES ME ANXIOUS! So thank you for not doing that to me KA Tucker.
The SLOW BURN ROMANCE… I was itching for them to get together… to touch, to kiss
rachelncostello's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I didn’t really know what this was about when I first started reading it but it was recommended to me so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m so glad I did, I loved this book and very quickly became obsessed with it. I wasn’t ready for it to end and immediately picked up the next one.
There is a lot of information dumping in this book but I didn’t find it overwhelming and because it was done as the MC learning histories it felt like little bits were revealed as they became relevant to the story. I felt that this also really helped with the worldbuilding because we learnt about it as the MC did.
The story is action packed, magical and intense. It has all my favourite tropes in it. I’m not sure what else I can say without giving things away but it made me so happy and if you’re thinking about reading it and like fantasy books then do it because this has quickly become one of my favourites. I’ve not read KA Tucker’s books before but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for her now.