Reviews

I really enjoyed this book and can not wait for the second one to be released. I found myself laughing at this books dialog from time to time. The MFC was great. I wanted her to find her voice by the end and she gave me everything I wanted.

jessmurr17's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

4.5☆
Sleep and Spirit is a fantasy romance slow burn but a little spice with elemental magic, dreamscape, forbidden love, arranged marriages, morally grey characters, and aspects of Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.

Aurelia is the princess in the Spirit Kingdom and the first female born in the royal families in over 400 years. The King of Spirit makes a deal for power upon her birth with the other kingdoms for arranged marriages with their Princes while keeping each kingdom in the dark of the other deals. Aurelia suffered day in and day out in her tower until her powers manifested and was able to use them to break out and escape.

Through the story, we learn about Aurelia's past within her tower and her relationships with her parents. We see her become a stronger, more clever MC as she grows into her powers and learns who she wants to be. Aurelia navigates the arranged marriage deals set up by her father while trying to regain her freedom. The MC is full of sass, hope, and kindness that readers can feel for and relate with.

I loved the storyline and the plot twists, but took me a couple chapters to get hooked and follow the story. I was so excited for the different themes within the novel that aren't as common in other books I have read. I can't wait to see where the ending picks up in the second book and where the characters will lead us.

alyssarrw's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

There were aspects of this story that I enjoyed and some aspects that were really frustrating. Some of the characters feel really one sided, King Entros (sole purpose to torture his own daughter very explicitly for his own gain), Cerise (only purpose felt to provide Aurelia with a “juxtaposition” of how her real mother treated her. Lacked any development of her own), her mom (deadweight compliance), Alev (the escape), and even the other princes’ (just misogynists). It felt like a lot of characters existed solely to advance Aurelia’s plot and growth. While I sympathized with Aurelia’s upbringing and her feelings, I didn’t find her the most lovable character throughout. At times I felt she lacked critical thinking skills and found her inner dialogue to be soooo whiney. I was also slightly confused about what her whole dream sequence with Llyr was about. It felt obvious dreams mean something important in this world. Possibly soulmate bond? I was really expecting Llyr to pop out somewhat during Alev’s visit. I think it’s an interesting choice to not have them meet in the first book. Hopefully more information about dreams are revealed in the second book. I did find the core plot interesting. I enjoyed the world building using the elements, it was interesting to see the different powers the manifest in people. I also loved Aurelia’s slow decent into madness, as I’m a sucker for a villainous FMC. I’m intrigued by the plot and where the story is going, so I will definitely be reading the next. But I feel like this book could use a really good editor to really flesh everything all out.

maiwalker27's review

Go to review page

4.0

I’m giving 4 stars because of Alev. He stole the show in this book especially with his declaration that he didn’t want Aurelia for kids but to be his queen.

I found Aurelia to be incredibly whiny and insufferable. Yes she has been through so much more than one should ever have to deal with but why she gotta take it out on the plants. I swear everytime she got a little mad or sad she would go burn and destroy the gardens. Like girl leave them alone. The plants ain’t got nothing to do with your daddy issues. when I had to read the scene where the prince says the garden was black and completely destroyed I almost started crying over the loss of beautiful flowers.

gcrossway15's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

cvv's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

intoxicatedflower's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

3.5

I wish we could have expanded more on the other Kingdoms, instead of generalizing them into either misogynistic and suffocating or open-minded and accepting.

The female character felt very young, which made a lot of sense considering her upbringing. Most of the male characters in this book gave me the ick though; they were just pure evil. I wish there had been more male characters that had more depth other than being a misogynist and absolute garbage.

The ending, in my opinion, was really satisfying to see play out.

Content Warnings

More...