You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I have actually found myself in a Romantasy mood again. What perfect timing this beautiful book had to catch my attention in my local bookstore. First off as always...the cover??? Hello??? It's soo beautiful! It caught my eye immediately and I'm grateful it did because this was actually such a good read. I know I give 5☆ ratings easily but what can I say? I liked all the characters (actually I like Soren way too much imho), no one annoyed me much and they were all unique and made sense in their own way. I knew Uther was gonna die at the end. I made sure to already cry preemptively when the idea popped into my head that he could, then cried again when he actually did.
The story made sense and felt unique enough to me. Although fae are done a bunch in romantasy I personally hadn't encountered this kind of direction with the fmc also being one before. Usually I feel like it's a human girl whisked away by the fae. On that note I have to say again that I really liked Rhya as a protagonist. I feel like she wasn't completely unreasonable in her stubbornness as I feel like romantasy fmcs can tend to be sometimes.
I think I've kind of lost what I wanted to say. Overall I was very happy with this book and I truly enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to book 2!
Edit: After letting this sit for a while I do have a few criticisms and am therefore lowering my rating a little. Beware of potential spoilers I'm not sure.
I still enjoyed this overall. However I do agree with some of the criticism others have made. First off; this really wasn't enemies to lovers. Scythe was being a rough ass in the beginning, yes, and she obviously (how would she) had no clue about him so to her he was an enemy, but they were never truly enemies imo. Not that I mind that personally, just the marketing of enemies to lovers is off.
Also I do agree he was unnescessarily rough in the beginning. I wouldn't say it was quite abusive yet, though some dialogue may be questionable in the name of banter, but I felt like you could tell he wasn't very serious. Maybe it's just that that kind of talk is normal for me and never meant in a serious way so it doesn't read too badly for me.
Overall he was fine, not nescessarily swoonworthy for me, though romantasy mmcs rarely are, simply because my type is usually different.
All in all this was still fine, but I'd lower my rating to 4.5☆ for these points.
The story made sense and felt unique enough to me. Although fae are done a bunch in romantasy I personally hadn't encountered this kind of direction with the fmc also being one before. Usually I feel like it's a human girl whisked away by the fae. On that note I have to say again that I really liked Rhya as a protagonist. I feel like she wasn't completely unreasonable in her stubbornness as I feel like romantasy fmcs can tend to be sometimes.
I think I've kind of lost what I wanted to say. Overall I was very happy with this book and I truly enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to book 2!
Edit: After letting this sit for a while I do have a few criticisms and am therefore lowering my rating a little. Beware of potential spoilers I'm not sure.
I still enjoyed this overall. However I do agree with some of the criticism others have made. First off; this really wasn't enemies to lovers. Scythe was being a rough ass in the beginning, yes, and she obviously (how would she) had no clue about him so to her he was an enemy, but they were never truly enemies imo. Not that I mind that personally, just the marketing of enemies to lovers is off.
Also I do agree he was unnescessarily rough in the beginning. I wouldn't say it was quite abusive yet, though some dialogue may be questionable in the name of banter, but I felt like you could tell he wasn't very serious. Maybe it's just that that kind of talk is normal for me and never meant in a serious way so it doesn't read too badly for me.
Overall he was fine, not nescessarily swoonworthy for me, though romantasy mmcs rarely are, simply because my type is usually different.
All in all this was still fine, but I'd lower my rating to 4.5☆ for these points.
We were doing so well til we introduced the bad guy our main character immediately thinks is super hot, bleh
adventurous
lighthearted
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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is something that would have been right up my alley. The problem is the romance was not written well and I wasn't rooting for them. Honestly soren seems better than the MMC at this point. (This is totally turning into a triangle). Second there wasn't any female friendships and when it did appear all the did was talk about the MMC. Even the friendship with the maids could have be fleshed out a bit more, but we are only told she has a great relationship with them. Third when ever it was getting to the good parts and her basically given information from Soren she didn't even read it! I was more interested in finding the Earth Remant or even more about jer own family and power and not on how a over 100 year old MMC doesn't know how to communicate.
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Spice (scale at bottom ↓): 🌶️🌶️
Tags: adult, fae, soft fmc, slow paced, journeying, slow burn, single pov
I think this is the first new series I’ve enjoyed since the start of 2024. There’s some really great potential plot points in here that I’m excited to see unravel. I feel like, overall, this was a successful setup and first book of a series.
The pacing is definitely on the slow side. We spend a lot of time traveling with Rhya, just as clueless as her as to what’s going on. But in all honesty, I significantly prefer that to having paragraphs of pure exposition monologuing shoved down my throat at the start of a book. I found it infinitely more pleasant to learn things along the way and get a feel for Rhya and the other characters first.
I do wish the whole plot of the book could’ve been a bit more streamlined. The journeying portion takes up a significant chunk of the story, but even once we’ve reached a destination and settled, the pacing sometimes felt a tad too slow.
As for the romance, I liked the way it was set up. It takes a good 150 pages or so before Rhya even sees him without his helmet on, and I was extremely pleased to find out that there wasn’t any weird obsessive, insta-lusty tension between them as is so often the case these days. I liked the slow burn to camaraderie as the foundation for any potential romantic tension down the line.
The romance in general is less sexy and more emotion-centered, as I prefer. I don’t love it when things are too crude. I’ve definitely always preferred more emotional romance over sexual banter, and this book did that well.
Something I’m super excited for is the foreshadowed dynamic between all 4 Remnants/ elemental magic wielders. There’s some great potential for messy romances, feuds and friendship in there, and I can’t wait to see what happens.
As for the characters, I liked Rhya as a heroine. I like that she’s gentle and soft, I only wish she put her foot down more often.
The love interest is likable enough, but someone needs to remove the stick up his ass. He can be extremely rigid and unyielding, to the point of completely stifling Rhya in her potential. But if I’m right, it won’t stay that way for long. There’s an outside factor that might be just the wake-up call the love interest needs, and if it unfolds the way I hope, I’m gonna have a great time.
I generally really liked everything about this. I do wish the pacing had been a teeny bit snappier, as I mentioned above, but overall I’m quite happy with what I read. There is found family in this, but I need more time to feel emotionally invested in this story and its characters before I really and truly start caring, which will hopefully happen come book 2.
* * *
Spice (scale at bottom ↓): 🌶️🌶️
Tags: adult, fae, soft fmc, slow paced, journeying, slow burn, single pov
I think this is the first new series I’ve enjoyed since the start of 2024. There’s some really great potential plot points in here that I’m excited to see unravel. I feel like, overall, this was a successful setup and first book of a series.
The pacing is definitely on the slow side. We spend a lot of time traveling with Rhya, just as clueless as her as to what’s going on. But in all honesty, I significantly prefer that to having paragraphs of pure exposition monologuing shoved down my throat at the start of a book. I found it infinitely more pleasant to learn things along the way and get a feel for Rhya and the other characters first.
I do wish the whole plot of the book could’ve been a bit more streamlined. The journeying portion takes up a significant chunk of the story, but even once we’ve reached a destination and settled, the pacing sometimes felt a tad too slow.
As for the romance, I liked the way it was set up. It takes a good 150 pages or so before Rhya even sees him without his helmet on, and I was extremely pleased to find out that there wasn’t any weird obsessive, insta-lusty tension between them as is so often the case these days. I liked the slow burn to camaraderie as the foundation for any potential romantic tension down the line.
The romance in general is less sexy and more emotion-centered, as I prefer. I don’t love it when things are too crude. I’ve definitely always preferred more emotional romance over sexual banter, and this book did that well.
Something I’m super excited for is the foreshadowed dynamic between all 4 Remnants/ elemental magic wielders. There’s some great potential for messy romances, feuds and friendship in there, and I can’t wait to see what happens.
As for the characters, I liked Rhya as a heroine. I like that she’s gentle and soft, I only wish she put her foot down more often.
The love interest is likable enough, but someone needs to remove the stick up his ass. He can be extremely rigid and unyielding, to the point of completely stifling Rhya in her potential. But if I’m right, it won’t stay that way for long. There’s an outside factor that might be just the wake-up call the love interest needs, and if it unfolds the way I hope, I’m gonna have a great time.
I generally really liked everything about this. I do wish the pacing had been a teeny bit snappier, as I mentioned above, but overall I’m quite happy with what I read. There is found family in this, but I need more time to feel emotionally invested in this story and its characters before I really and truly start caring, which will hopefully happen come book 2.
* * *
[DISCLAIMER: I rate “spice” primarily so those who don’t like it can gauge when to potentially avoid a book.]
Spice Scale:
🔥 just kissing, no touching, no intimacy (Tithe, Ironside)
🌶️ kissing, some touching, no or subtly implied intimacy (Legendborn)
🌶️🔥 intense kissing, fade to black (The Queen of Nothing)
🌶️🌶️ kissing, touching, 1 tame explicit scene (ACOTAR)
🌶️🌶️🔥 1-2 tame explicit scenes (Fourth Wing, ACOMAF)
🌶️🌶️🌶️ multiple explicit scenes, dirty talk (Bride)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🔥 multiple very explicit scenes, some kinks (ACOSF)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ frequent intense explicit scenes, kinks (Souls Trilogy)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🔥 intense, kinks, more spice than plot (Haunting Adeline)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ almost/ every chapter, intense, extremely kinky
adventurous
emotional
sad
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
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:
Yes