Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Rose in Chains

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto

72 reviews

akatsuragawa's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

mylabyrinthine's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

"He knew yesterday that they were coming. He knew they'd find her untouched, and he'd ransacked the library for a solution to his problem.

Briony's breath hitched at the realization that he'd skipped over the easiest one."
--

If you're a fan of dark romantasy with high-stakes angst and a palpable enemies-to-lovers tension, this book is for you.

From the start, the story plunges you into a world of magic, historical politics, and morally grey characters that will keep you guessing.

For those familiar with the source material ("The Auction"), the general plot feels comfortingly familiar—

until the last couple of chapters, where the story takes a surprising and welcome turn.

The unexpected twist makes the journey worthwhile for both new readers and longtime fans.

The narrative is told through a third-person limited point of view, primarily following the thoughts of Briony. Her perspective makes her a wonderfully unreliable narrator, adding a layer of intrigue as you try to decipher the truth from her perception of events. This limited viewpoint, along with a dual timeline structure, provides a fascinating look into the complex and often dark nature of Toven, and a deeper understanding of why Briony is drawn to him.

--
"If she could hear one sound for the rest of her life, she wanted it to be Toven Hearst moaning her name."
--

And the romance? She's a slight slow burn in this one for sure, but the yearning between the two is undeniable.

Julie Soto masterfully builds the romantic tension, and I am eager to see how Briony and Toven's feelings will develop in the next two installments of the series, in which I'm sure the stakes will become higher
higher

Content Warnings

ziaxx's review against another edition

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

I just can't believe my eyes!!!! This is the same author who wrote The Auction. 😑

Content Warnings

laurenclaire99's review against another edition

4.0

Content Warnings

shannonjoyce's review against another edition

3.75

slow-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: Yes

Ok I will be continuing with this series, but this book was unnecessarily long & drawn out without much plot progress. Now if it had some kind of payoff for the reader, fine, but for me it was just a frustration of lack of communication. The two MC’s seemed so irrationally dumb. But hopefully they figure their shit out in the next book?

Content Warnings

sierrareads103's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

kmaller01's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

merylmeetsworld's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I picked this up to read a day and a half ago, because I randomly read about the issue re: the author attending (and then not attending) an event for romantasy authors. Something about how this published fic was originally HP fanfic for Dramione and people didn't want to support the author and her novel because of the HP association.

I would say in this case it worked in her favor because it got me looking into her novel, and it turns out it was just what I needed to read and pull me out of a reading slump. It's not the best or original, sure, but it engaged me and I enjoyed reading it, so I would say it's somewhere between a 3.0 and 3.5 for me.

I'm curious why / how the Hearsts are powerful, what's Mallow's story (I just wish she wasn't Mallow because part of me keeps thinking of the word marshmallow lmao sorry), what's the dragon about and how does it come to play with mind magic and heart magic, if Toven and Briony are about to be a power couple with their talented magical energy and deprived will-they-or-won't-they sexual tension lol. The cliffhanger ending has me hooked too... only I have to wait til December 2026?!

Content Warnings