Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Rose in Chains

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto

155 reviews

annabelle_kortum's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

cc_shelflove's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lillibug's review against another edition

3.0

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

baileyk113's review against another edition

3.0

dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A lot happened, but not a lot happened at all? I found the world building to be confusing and hard to keep up with at times. A lot of this book was just building up the world for the future books with some crazy traumatic events happening sparingly.

Also, I really don’t think we learned enough about Mallow’s rise for the people of Bomard to be depicted as downright barbaric. The evilness felt so manufactured.

Wish there was more development between the love interests.

I did like the inclusion of the flashbacks, though. Just wish we had more of them with Toven to really develop their relationship.

529 pages

Content Warnings

redstringraven's review against another edition

0.25

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

in the most to-the-point way possible: you're probably not going to give a crap about any of the characters in this book unless you're 1) familiar with harry potter, and/or 2) familiar with the original fanfiction and know which 'published' character corresponds to a harry potter character. as for the plot? the worldbuilding? they're sirs not appearing in this novel.

if you want more thorough notes/complaints, they'll be listed below in bullet points (cw-related bullet points will be last). i'd say "spoiler warning" but like... there's barely anything to spoil, honestly. it's like trying to hide a present with one layer of flimsy tissue paper.

to restate the character issue: i earnestly don't think there's anything enjoyable about these characters unless you know which harry potter characters they're supposed to be and you're familiar enough with harry potter that your fandom-brain fills gaps in their history/personality that this book doesn't (and i've been told these versions are extremely fanon-ized/flanderized, too). little to no time is given to characterize them independent to their HP counterparts. it very much feels like the book expects you to open it with a pre-established attachment you won't have if you don't know this is just HP fanfiction with the serial numbers scraped off.
that being said, the characters don't even really react to what's happening around them in believable or meaningful ways. the main character gets attacked by a fox and, even though she's bleeding, decides it's a bigger priority to be horny on main for the love interest.
tbh by the end of this book i still don't know what it is we're even supposed to like about the love interest (toven). this very much feels like another case of "knowing he's actually draco is doing all of the heavy lifting"; the only way i can understand someone liking him is if they already like draco and also have an "awww, he's just a poor birthday boy 8c" view of him.
there seems to be a sloppy attempt to make up for that last point in the form of (extremely awkwardly) placed flashbacks. the book opens with a startling hook, then suddenly you get a chapter that takes place "8 years earlier". completely throws off the pacing and tension; this will happen several more times.
i'm not familiar with the original fanfic, so i don't know if the magic system in it is supposed to be its own or if it's meant to mirror HP's magic system. it doesn't matter, though, because either way: the magic system in this book is awful, poorly explained, and exhausting to try keeping up with.
after you get past the flashback and the following chapter(s) that focus on The Atrocities, the first half or three-quarters of this book are boring as hell. it's very much "fanfic characters being put in various situations", where at the end of each scene i was left wondering what the point of all that was and what i was even doing there. like... i can't call this book plot-driven, as there barely was one, and i can't call it character-driven, as they barely did anything.
i know i already touched on the fact that i don't think there's anything likeable about these characters as independent characters, but like... the bad guys are just Evil™. oh they're just the worst. they're gross and nasty and cartoonishly bad. i don't even, like, hate them from a villain standpoint, i hate them because they're so fucking annoying.
also, the prose can genuinely be so clunky and awful. there were a few sentences i tried typing out myself, and my brain/fingers were like... actively trying to edit and fix them as i went.

cw-related comments:

look, non-con stuff isn't really my wheelhouse or something i enjoy reading, but i'm gonna try not to harp on it too much from the standpoint of it just existing in the book as a concept.
that being said, the lead up and actual auction itself is just... Bad Things Happen To Women™, oh it's so bad, look at all the horrible bad things, in a very melodramatic way that's hard to listen to/read. part of that could be on me as this, again, isn't my wheelhouse. but i guess what i'm trying to articulate is that the way it was presented felt much more "look at how BAD things are, feel SORRY for them, woe is they, feel bad, feel bad, feel bad" than it did... knowing and expressing the actual weight of what was happening. does that make sense? i hope it makes sense.
it's also wild to me that, not ONCE, does the main character even consider suicide as an escape option. like... i know that's dark--i am: aware. but there isn't even a fleeting thought about throwing herself out a window, nor during the 6(?) days that she's alone in her assigned room does she survey her options if this was an action she was prepared to take. they definitely didn't comb her room for potential tools she could use to hurt herself.
i don't know if it's a staple of this 'genre' or 'niche' or whatever for sexual assault and rape to be framed in a way where the assaulter somehow isn't at fault, but can't say i'm a fan of that. i feel like if you're going to indulge in this sort of thing, you--as the author--can't soften what it is.

anyway, that's all i really care to spend time on writing out i guess. this is already a lot more than i had planned to say and give time to. ...i can't believe this book has a 4 star rating. if it's your trash, fine, i'm happy for you, but like... boy howdy, i don't understand. whatever; i'm glad to be rid of it.

Content Warnings

chili_reads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

This was my first time reading Julie Soto, but also her first fantasy book, and let me tell you I am hooked. I was instantly pulled into this story. I love the magic system and how it works and is determined by country, but also heart vs mind. It is so simple, but also complex and thought out, including the differences between how they work, feel, and are used. The plot is very strong, with great political aspects. I am usually not a fan of heavy politics in a book, but this does not feel heavy, although the politics are often mentioned and a large part of the story. There is a nice plot twist / cliff hanger at the end to keep you ready for the next novel.
I did think this was a romantasy book due to the cover, but I would call this fantasy with romantic aspects. The romantic storyline is hinted at, and intertwined in the story, but is not very strong. It seems as though it is setting up the romance to be later throughout the trilogy, but that is just a guess.
I do wish there was a stronger backstory on the prophecy that is mentioned in the beginning, and throughout the book. The reader learns the prophecy early on, but I would like to know more.
I really enjoyed the third person writing style, strictly following the FMC. The writing style was very easy to read and follow.
The book definitely has a lot of dark aspects, especially in the beginning half or so. Please read the trigger warnings if you are interested in reading.

Content Warnings

thelaurajay's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kay_chan's review against another edition

4.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love the idea of this trilogy. I love the characters, even though the FMC is a little bit insufferable and does not have the maturity of age and position she feels she should have. But oof oof.. the trauma in this book is heavy. If you're not about reading characters who can't exist without their trauma or further trauma happening to them and around them, this one is not for you. Dark.

The storyline is also incredibly character driven, so if you're looking for story lines and plot, first book is very very slow and can almost be tedious on how everything focuses and circles back on the same obfuscation points. I hope as the trilogy comes out, it might expand in POVs. I really liked how the flashbacks were linked not only throughout the story but then also fully fleshed in their own chapter memories. The magic system seems to have a fairly good start but definitely needs to be fully fleshed more, especially when it comes to all of these different elixirs, spells, bonds, and other Magics and creatures. Definitely a top read for summer 2025, but has room for growth to elevated as so much more.

Rating is rounded up because I loved the world & the characters so much. If I rated only based on pace and plot, this would be rounded down to a 3.5

Content Warnings

katrinaward's review against another edition

5.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Content Warnings

sirpandacat's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional tense

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

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