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manaledi's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
This is slow for high fantasy with a lot of world building and a lot a lot of court intrigue. It's an interesting premise with a lot of somewhat twisty developments and analysis of character motivations. Definitely find myself rooting for our main characters and some of their friends, but it's not clear always what the good and bad lines are, which is interesting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Slavery, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
koistyfishy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-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 to me was absolutely stunning, brilliant, fantastic, and magical all rolled into one!
I was a little confused going into the book based on the info from the blurb as I wasn’t sure how Romeria (Romy), a girl who is a thief for a New York Crime boss and a magical world with warring kingdoms and elves were going to come together…but I think ultimately this confusion is pretty quickly wrapped up in a nice bow… basically Romy meets a mysterious woman called Sophie, and after a couple of circumstances, she makes a deal with her that takes her to a different universe. There Romy wakes up in the body of “dead” princess Romeria of Ybaris. The girl that has just killed the newly appointed King Zander’s parents. Zander also happens to be her fiancée.
The writing in this is excellent. It is easy to read but incredibly vivid. I can see why some people would get bored though, because the story does move very slowly in terms of plot, and because Romy is dumped into this world, and doesn’t understand the history, a lot of it is explained as “history lessons” instead of naturally being found out. However, I personally didn’t mind this as the political intrigue, the complex characters, excellent storytelling and amazing world and world building kept me captivated. I also in general love books that take place in parallel worlds as it gives the excuse for contemporary writing and language to infiltrate fantasy in an easy and natural way that makes it not feel out of place.
As said before the world building is captivating and in general is something to be commended. It has all the elements of what makes a good fantasy, great. It has lore, a unique magic system, supernatural races, Gods or Fates and is complex but easy to grasp a handle on.
Romeria is everything I love in a MC. She is compassionate, caring, strong willed, determined, independent and has a very powerful willingness to survive in any situation. My only irritation is we never really get to see her skills as a thief, it’s only ever mentions that she is good at stealing, but we are never shown this…and in two cases is caught trying to pilfer something….
Zander is broody, serious and extremely loyal to his kingdom and his responsibility to it’s inhabitants. He is also suspicious but strong willed and, given the circumstances, slow to trust but he has an innate need to do the right thing for his people.
The slow burn enemies to lovers romance between the two is angsty, full of tension and banter, and entirely full of chemistry.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves slow burn, forced proximity with a fake relationship. It just ticks all the boxes that need to be ticked including the only one horse and omg that bathtub…..
I am so glad the second book is already released because I would be dying right now if it wasn’t….
I was a little confused going into the book based on the info from the blurb as I wasn’t sure how Romeria (Romy), a girl who is a thief for a New York Crime boss and a magical world with warring kingdoms and elves were going to come together…but I think ultimately this confusion is pretty quickly wrapped up in a nice bow… basically Romy meets a mysterious woman called Sophie, and after a couple of circumstances, she makes a deal with her that takes her to a different universe. There Romy wakes up in the body of “dead” princess Romeria of Ybaris. The girl that has just killed the newly appointed King Zander’s parents. Zander also happens to be her fiancée.
The writing in this is excellent. It is easy to read but incredibly vivid. I can see why some people would get bored though, because the story does move very slowly in terms of plot, and because Romy is dumped into this world, and doesn’t understand the history, a lot of it is explained as “history lessons” instead of naturally being found out. However, I personally didn’t mind this as the political intrigue, the complex characters, excellent storytelling and amazing world and world building kept me captivated. I also in general love books that take place in parallel worlds as it gives the excuse for contemporary writing and language to infiltrate fantasy in an easy and natural way that makes it not feel out of place.
As said before the world building is captivating and in general is something to be commended. It has all the elements of what makes a good fantasy, great. It has lore, a unique magic system, supernatural races, Gods or Fates and is complex but easy to grasp a handle on.
Romeria is everything I love in a MC. She is compassionate, caring, strong willed, determined, independent and has a very powerful willingness to survive in any situation. My only irritation is we never really get to see her skills as a thief, it’s only ever mentions that she is good at stealing, but we are never shown this…and in two cases is caught trying to pilfer something….
Zander is broody, serious and extremely loyal to his kingdom and his responsibility to it’s inhabitants. He is also suspicious but strong willed and, given the circumstances, slow to trust but he has an innate need to do the right thing for his people.
The slow burn enemies to lovers romance between the two is angsty, full of tension and banter, and entirely full of chemistry.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves slow burn, forced proximity with a fake relationship. It just ticks all the boxes that need to be ticked including the only one horse and omg that bathtub…..
I am so glad the second book is already released because I would be dying right now if it wasn’t….
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
ka_ke's review against another edition
Eh, I just wasn’t interested or entertained. It was just kinda basic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Gun violence, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sarah_br's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I loved this book, more than I expected to. I adore reading fantasy books but they can be a little hit or miss, especially when I saw that the author usually writes contemporary romances or another genre. This book reminds me a little bit of From Blood and Ash in the way that the vampires are portrayed, and that the main female character doesn't know that the love interest is secretly a vampire, but a nice one, not a nasty blood sucker type plus the retractable fangs vibe, AND the tongue over the fangs while kissing trope
The book has mystery and intrigue, a new world full of secrets that we're plunged into with the main character, learning as she learns instead of an info dump of world building for the first hundred pages (although sometimes this is enjoyable too).
Enemies to lovers trope, a little close proximity, throw in a fake relationship - there's tension, yes and it's amazing, but the "spicy" scenes aren't really that spicy. Might change as the serves progresses? And it's more a matter of opinion and preference, some people might be happy with the spice for an NA novel, some might be a little dissapointed.
It does end on a cliff hanger but the ending wraps up the book well, while still leaving us wanting to know where the characters will go next. We learn new pieces of information up until the last page. I can't wait for the next book, I love the story and the character she's created.
The book has mystery and intrigue, a new world full of secrets that we're plunged into with the main character, learning as she learns instead of an info dump of world building for the first hundred pages (although sometimes this is enjoyable too).
Enemies to lovers trope, a little close proximity, throw in a fake relationship - there's tension, yes and it's amazing, but the "spicy" scenes aren't really that spicy. Might change as the serves progresses? And it's more a matter of opinion and preference, some people might be happy with the spice for an NA novel, some might be a little dissapointed.
It does end on a cliff hanger but the ending wraps up the book well, while still leaving us wanting to know where the characters will go next. We learn new pieces of information up until the last page. I can't wait for the next book, I love the story and the character she's created.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Dysphoria and War