Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Rose in Chains

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto

155 reviews

katbhw's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

I'm conflicted about this one. To start with, if you don't know - this is a rewrite of a Dramione fic (The Auction). I never read the Auction, but you can still sometimes see the scaffolding of the stories and characters that this used to lean on.

please check all trigger warnings before reading this - there are a lot of horrible things that happen to women in this world.
So yes, this originally was based on a story based on characters by JKR. Just want to make it clear that I do not support her in any way, and intend, to the best of my abilities, to treat this as a work separate from its source material.

To start, I love Julie Soto's writing, and this book solidly confirms my opinion on that - I just love how she builds relationships and layers tension so perfectly so that when romance eventually happens (at the 97% mark!!!!! talk about a freaking slow burn), it feels earned. Her characters feel real and solid in their world. I really just enjoyed the relationship between Briony and Toven - their shared history, the tension and slow burn between them, their whip-quick banter and interactions. (Toven had me yelling and shaking my fists at him for how slowwwwwww he's making things go)

However, the world building is a bit rough. Don't think too much about it, and it won't bother you (I got over it quickly). If you're a stickler for strong world building, maybe stay away from this one. But there are dragons, and I have a feeling that they're going to be a larger part of future stories. So there is that. I'm also intruiged by the greater things going on in the rest of the world that we haven't gotten much of a peek at yet.

That being said, this is a rough book. I like fantasy for how much it can remove me from what's going on in the real world. This is not a great book for that. the men in power are horrendous and abusive to women. there are talks of racial purity and racially motivated hatred and violence. lots of talk of sterilization and the value of virginity (among many many other things). it is a captive/captor/slave romance.

But it is, still, a romance. As someone who believes that we can still continue to have good things while the world burns around us, I am a huge fan of the romance against a bleak, horrendous backdrop.

I listened to the audio, and I would say that the narration is fine. not the most spectacular thing I've ever heard, and there were a lot of moments that I wished I had a physical copy in front of me. The narrator did a solid job.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio/Forever for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

asims723's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Rose in Chains is, in my opinion, a horror fantasy, Dramione-based, and honestly I think that is the core problem. Dramione assumes readers know HP, but RIC decides to devote chapters to how Tovan and Briony were lab partners in agonizingly slow flashbacks. The chapters that do not reflect their time at the magical school NOT called Hogwarts instead focus on Briony's ubervaluable virginity, forced sterilization, and incels ruling the world. Most of this is extremely uncomfortable to read, and by the end there were not enough answers and development to justify the pages I endured more than read. I don't understand the hype with this one. I liked reading The Thrashers by Soto more than this. I wish I had a Kindle to get a word count on the number of times "collarbone" shows up. I'd estimate it at more than 30?

As far as representation goes, a character is ridiculed for being suspected of homosexuality resulting in the character exhibiting anger and shame. It is described in this way with zero character development. I will sadly not be continuing this series.

A note about the audiobook: the narrator was not for me, but I'm not sure if that experience is tainted by my dislike for the content.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this ARC.

Content Warnings

tpetty's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

🎧 Title: Rose in Chains- The Evermore Trilogy #1-3

✍🏾 Author: Julie Soto- an auto-buy author for me

📅Publication date: 7-8-25 | Read: 6-27-25

🗣️Narrator: Ella Lynch voices all the characters with standouts from Briony and Toven. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍♀️‍➡️Run Time: 15:35

Genre:
*Fantasy
*Dark Romance
*Adult Fic

Tropes:
*Dramione fanfic-The Auction
*enemies to lovers/rivals
*slow burn romance
*flashbacks
*forced proximity
*magic school-mind magic and heart magic/golden heartsprings
*mutual pining
*royal romance
*a dragon
*the chosen one

👆🏾POV: 3rd person

⚠️TW: slavery/human auction, virgin h, SA/SH, war, abortion, forced sterilization, mind attacks, death of loved ones

🌎 Setting: Evermore-Claremore Castle and Bomard

Summary: Rory is set to become King of the Eversuns but must first defeat Bomard led by Queen Mallow. When his castle is attacked, his twin sister Princess Briony and several others are taken prisoner-the women forced to become slaves to Bomard. Briony is given to her archenemy Toven as a heartspring. She is tattooed and chained to stop her magic and let everyone know she belonged to him.

👩🏾 Heroine: Briony Rosewood-25, Princess of Evermore turned prisoner

👨🏾 Hero: Toven Hearst-25, his family controls Heart Magic in Bomard, Vespa-his fox familiar

🎭 Other Characters:

* Rory Rosewood-Briony's twin, heir-apparent to King Evermore per a "chosen one" prophecy
* Cordelia-Briony's BFF/ in love w/ Rory
* Veronika Mallow-Queen of the Bomardi, bonded to a dragon. A mind reader who wants to end the Rosewood line.
* Lag Reighven+ Gaines- evil handlers
* Serena + Orion Hearst-Toven's parents
* Liam + Finn + Colin-Toven's friends
* Larissa Gaines-from Bomard/Briony's rival who becomes enslaved because of her father's cruelty

🤔 My Thoughts: This was a great beginning of a new romantasy series. The mutual pining, the betrayal, and war politics all combine for a Dramione/Handmaid's Tale/Fourth Wing dark romance. It ended in a surprise and cliffhanger that I can't wait to devour.

Rating: 5/5 ✨
Spice level 1/5 🌶️ most unwanted encounters, kiss/make out between H/h

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Julie Soto for this ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

lauraelovesbooks's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Julie Soto is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. Her storytelling and characters are so rich and captivating. I couldn’t stop reading

The world building was so accessible and I find the premise so intriguing. I cannot wait to see where this series goes.

I absolutely love how slow burn the romance is, the kind where you relish every interaction and where it’s obvious what to come will be nothing short of epic.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the ALC. I highly recommending checking this out on audio. The narration was excellent!

Content Warnings

monsterreads's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Julie Soto writing fantasy tickles my brain. I have never read the fanfic that Rose in Chains was based on so my opinion is looking at this as a completely original work.
I loved the story, magic, and characters in this story. It was beautifully written and immersive. The audio was well done, expressive and easy to listen to. I finished it in less than two days because I just could not stop.
I absolutely cannot wait for the next part of the trilogy.
Thank you to Netgalley and the published for the audiobook ARC of this book! My review and opinions are entirely my own.

Content Warnings

ritualreads's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The war is over and the dark forces have won - princess Briony Rosewood and the remaining citizens of Evermore have been captured and auctioned off to the people of Bomard, their rival nation. Her brother is dead, her friends split up, and her childhood crush… purchased her.

The story goes between present day and the past, providing a good foundation of backstory throughout the novel to prepare the reader for what comes next. This provides helpful context, and helps the reader build an emotional bond to characters who are talked about in the present day, but seldom seen. Julie Soto does a great job of building the world, explaining how the magic works, and not overwhelming the reader with all the information at once. Instead, we are introduced to certain topics and explanations only as it becomes relevant, which really helped with the flow of the novel.

Once I felt up to speed on the inner-workings of magic in this realm, and the tensions between Evermore and Bomard, I had already developed a fairly emotional bond to Briony. I loved that even from the beginning, the story felt both unique and comfortable. While not necessarily groundbreaking, it was creative and inspiring, and kept me intrigued. I always had a list of questions about what would happen next - and it was hard to predict.

There were many nuances as we were introduced to essential characters, but only slowly learned what we needed to know about them. Briony’s curious mind helped keep the reader enthralled about what each person’s role was in the bigger picture of the Bomardi line, and who was loyal to it.

The relationship building was particularly good. We saw it first with how connected she was to her people, and to her brother, Rory. While their childhood could have driven a wedge between the twins, their relationship was stronger due to their hardships - because he saw her value, and made sure she saw it too.

“When they were very young, he used to say that they were answering the questions together, as a team”

We next saw the relationship grow between Briony and her captor, Toven Hearst. Throughout the book, we see the two as classmates, as enemies, and as captor/captive. The slowest of slow burns - politics mean that facing any feelings would risk the safety of many.

If you’re expecting a nice, magical romance, you’re in the wrong place. To me, the romance was secondary to the rivalry between worlds, the other relationships, and the plot to save Evermore. This is a fantasy through and through, with dark themes of captivity, human trafficking, non-consent, and s*xual humiliation. Definitely read your trigger warnings before jumping into this. That said, I thought they were handled very well and I was tied into every moment, desperate to learn more.

This was the longest audiobook I’ve listened to, but I was so impressed that I never once felt bored or like the story wasn’t moving. There was always something to unravel and explore. I’m completely hooked and eager for book two.

I only found out after reading that this was adapted from a fanfiction, but honestly, I never would’ve known if I hadn’t Googled it - it truly didn’t feel like one. If you love fantasy, adventure, and dark, brooding men… you will love Rose in Chains.

“She stared…listening to the echo in her ears of him calling her family”

I really think my only qualm with this book was how heavily it is marketed as a romance - I didn’t think the romance was the primary story, nor do I think it was developed enough to be considered the genre of the book. I would barely categorize this as romantasy… but I really hope book two changes that for me, because I can’t wait to see more of these two. In the end, the adventure and the mystery is really what captivated me, not the love story.

Content Warnings

theinkypaw's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark tense 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: Complicated

A Dark, Gripping Fantasy You Won’t Be Able to Pause

Omg, the ending KILLED ME. I need the sequel yesterday.

What can I say? Julie Soto is a chameleon. From contemporary romance to YA mystery and now dark adult fantasy, she continues to prove she can conquer any genre she sets her sights on. Rose in Chains, the first in The Evermore Trilogy, is a compelling and emotionally charged start to what promises to be an unforgettable series.

Like all of Soto’s work, this book is impossible to put down. I listened to the advanced audiobook copy and let’s just say: chores, sleep, functioning like a human? Not happening. Just one more chapter turned into full spiralling once I realised I hit the last one. And now I have to wait for book two?? Send help.

The worldbuilding here is rich and intriguing, though I did find myself wanting more detail and depth in certain areas. The pacing, too, felt uneven at times—perhaps due to the main character’s confined setting, which naturally limits interactions and scene shifts. But even with that, Soto maintains a strong emotional throughline that kept me hooked.

The audiobook narration was phenomenal. It took me a moment to adjust my expectations (I had imagined an English accent thanks to my memories of The Auction, the fanfic this is based on), but once I did, I was fully immersed. The narrator’s voice is crisp, expressive, and professionally recorded, and she added thoughtful touches that elevated the experience—like adjusting the sound to match when a character’s voice was described as muffled. She also differentiated the characters well, making them easy to follow in audio format. A huge kudos to both the voice actor and the director.

As a dark fantasy, Rose in Chains doesn’t stray into the extreme end of the dark romance spectrum, but it definitely includes mature themes and situations. If you’re new to the genre, I recommend checking content warnings beforehand.

Speaking as someone who read The Auction, I think Julie did a solid job adapting it into this new format. Some characters have changed, and a few scenes and roles have been streamlined or removed. There were moments I missed the original dynamics, particularly where the FMC could’ve had more meaningful interactions, but overall the essence of the story still hits hard. I will say: I had really hoped one particular scene wouldn’t make the cut—and unfortunately, it did. I feel obliged to interrupt this review with a quick PSA: virginity is a social construct. You cannot detect virginity. The hymen is not a reliable marker of anything, and I wish that myth would disappear from the world. I know this is fiction, but I had to say it.

All in all, Rose in Chains is a strong series opener. Dark, captivating, and emotionally intense, it will definitely appeal to fans of The Auction and dark fantasy lovers alike. I’m already counting down the days to book two.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

mrsjoylovesbooks's review

3.75

Please read the content warnings at juliesotowrites.com.
The world building and magic system was thoroughly defined. I really liked the complexity of the main characters. However, this book was much darker in theme than I expected. The on page sexual assault and frequent crude and abusive language was difficult for me to get through. Despite the heavy content, I do think Julie Soto is an amazing storyteller.

Content Warnings

allisonisbooked's review against another edition

5.0

Content Warnings

mayawildgoose'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: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My freaking goddess, this book! I am new to the Dramione world, and while I don’t condone the insanity that JKR promotes, it’s hard to deny the pull of this couple…

Yall, Julie Soto slid so seamlessly into fantasy world building, I would NEVER had assumed she was a contemporary romance writer. This book starts off with a bang and does not. Let. Up. It hit all the right boxes for me: good pace, easy to understand world, slow burn, complicated morality, and a little magic thrown in.

Given Soto’s previous books, I was surprised by the low spicy level, but I imagine book 2 might have more…

The narrator was excellent, too. She nailed it!

Thank you to Hachette Audio ans NetGalley for this ALC! It was such a treat to experience this book in audio format. Can’t wait to read it with my eyeballs when it releases!!

Content Warnings

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