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challenging
dark
slow-paced
đŠDisturbing if compelling, this is not an easy read, but if you're here after The Auction, you likely know what you're getting into. (For the record, I wasnât wild about The Auction, but curiosity got the better of me.)
âïž The worldbuilding needs more depth, particularly around the cast of characters. Having read The Auction and being familiar with the HP fanfic, I could mostly keep track of who was whoâbut without that background, I imagine it would be confusing. The male character names blur together, and many relationships feel underdeveloped. The magic system heart & mind is an interesting start, but is overall flimsy.
đč The pacing is slow. Not in a tension-building, simmering way, just drawn out. It feels like this is going to stretch across multiple books, and Iâm not entirely sure the momentum is there to carry it all.
đ Toven and Briony. This is the stars of the novel and I wanted to root for them, but their chemistry feels underbaked. Thereâs potential, but it needs more emotional grounding to really land as a central connection. I don't understand the attraction to either of them at this point.
âïž The worldbuilding needs more depth, particularly around the cast of characters. Having read The Auction and being familiar with the HP fanfic, I could mostly keep track of who was whoâbut without that background, I imagine it would be confusing. The male character names blur together, and many relationships feel underdeveloped. The magic system heart & mind is an interesting start, but is overall flimsy.
đč The pacing is slow. Not in a tension-building, simmering way, just drawn out. It feels like this is going to stretch across multiple books, and Iâm not entirely sure the momentum is there to carry it all.
đ Toven and Briony. This is the stars of the novel and I wanted to root for them, but their chemistry feels underbaked. Thereâs potential, but it needs more emotional grounding to really land as a central connection. I don't understand the attraction to either of them at this point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, War
Minor: Bullying
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:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Trafficking
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, War
Minor: Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Apparently this is based off of FanFic, but itâs better than most of the recent âromantasyâ titles that Iâve read. Iâll definitely read the next books in the series!
Make sure to check out the content warnings because this book has a lot going on.
Make sure to check out the content warnings because this book has a lot going on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
4.5âïž
As a huuuuuuge fan of âThe Auctionâ and âThe Rights & Wrongsâ seriesâŠ.
I fucking loved this. Itâs completely separated from the-bitch-who-must-not-be-named. Sotoâs magic system is unique and very interesting! I loved her mind and heart magic descriptions, especially the mind magic. The needle and thread is such a great concept.
The name changes are a little funny to me. Theyâre just a little bit close to the originals that it made me giggle (ex. Briony - Hermione, Rory - Harry). Briony and Toven are my babiesđ©đ«¶đ» theyâre misunderstood, theyâre broken and traumatized, they just want to love each other without getting killed or worse. I am a huge Dramione shipper, so Briony & Toven are my loves.
Now speaking on DramioneâŠ
I said this before, but I really feel like HarperCollins and Julie Soto couldâve marketed this book COMPLETELY organic, without the mention of the JKR bitchâs characters. I have no hate at all for Julie Soto, as some people are saying she shouldnât have written and published this book. But she made the story, the characters, and everything her own. She had influences. Doesnât everyone have influences?
Overall, I absolutely devoured this book!!! Waiting another year for the 2nd is going to torture međ© I maaaay have to read my downloaded copy of âThe Auctionâ to get my fixđ
(I have to nerd out for a second: Nikita Jobson did the artworkđ Her âGolden Girlâ art is just beautiful that I was so excited to see she did the cover for Rose in Chains!!!)
(Nerd out pt 2: âFor the Saturday GirlsâŠâ Julie, are you fucking kidding me? I almost cried seeing that dedicationđđ)
As a huuuuuuge fan of âThe Auctionâ and âThe Rights & Wrongsâ seriesâŠ.
I fucking loved this. Itâs completely separated from the-bitch-who-must-not-be-named. Sotoâs magic system is unique and very interesting! I loved her mind and heart magic descriptions, especially the mind magic. The needle and thread is such a great concept.
The name changes are a little funny to me. Theyâre just a little bit close to the originals that it made me giggle (ex. Briony - Hermione, Rory - Harry). Briony and Toven are my babiesđ©đ«¶đ» theyâre misunderstood, theyâre broken and traumatized, they just want to love each other without getting killed or worse. I am a huge Dramione shipper, so Briony & Toven are my loves.
Now speaking on DramioneâŠ
I said this before, but I really feel like HarperCollins and Julie Soto couldâve marketed this book COMPLETELY organic, without the mention of the JKR bitchâs characters. I have no hate at all for Julie Soto, as some people are saying she shouldnât have written and published this book. But she made the story, the characters, and everything her own. She had influences. Doesnât everyone have influences?
Overall, I absolutely devoured this book!!! Waiting another year for the 2nd is going to torture međ© I maaaay have to read my downloaded copy of âThe Auctionâ to get my fixđ
(I have to nerd out for a second: Nikita Jobson did the artworkđ Her âGolden Girlâ art is just beautiful that I was so excited to see she did the cover for Rose in Chains!!!)
(Nerd out pt 2: âFor the Saturday GirlsâŠâ Julie, are you fucking kidding me? I almost cried seeing that dedicationđđ)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment
Minor: Body horror, Infertility, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
tense
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
This has good pacing, decent writing and I think also good characterisation.
The struggle is separating it from the fanfic its been adapted from. I tried as I was reading, but its hard not to keep comparing it to the storylines and characters in the fic.
That said, as the story progresses, the plot does definitely veer away from the fanfic and start to establish some new elements.
I think the two MMCs are distinct enough from their HP counterparts. They are both frustrating at times but we can also understand why they are acting that way.
I do think they are sometimes lacking maturity of 25 Yr olds but its a small complaint.
Contrary to most criticisms I see, I thought the world building was ok. I liked the two warring kingdom ideas and how we are coming in at this point where one has taken over the other. The succession in MMCs kingdom is needlessly complicated to track. The way the author has planted very large problems with the societal structure of both kingdoms is interesting and I hope its resolved well by the end of the trilogy.
The sexism and misogyny is rampant in this, but I'm also hoping there is progress on this throughout the trilogy. Briony helping her brother so much is frustrating, understandable for her character though. I thought his death would help her realise she needs to take her magic back and reclaim her power but now hes SUPER SPOILER alive, so i don't know how it will play out but I hope she stops making him seem better than he is.
Too many characters are squeezed in that we can't really keep track of them all. We don't have 7 years of books to get to know them, so I think it would have benefitted from cutting some out.
Last, the ending i felt was a little abrupt. not a cliffhanger but just felt like a strange place to end it? The reveal was decent but tbh I didn't want her bro alive so like, bit disappointing
The sexual violence is a bit much and sometimes I have to suspend disbelief at MCs reactions. Check your trigger warnings.
Anyway, its an intriguing start and I'll read the sequel next year.
The struggle is separating it from the fanfic its been adapted from. I tried as I was reading, but its hard not to keep comparing it to the storylines and characters in the fic.
That said, as the story progresses, the plot does definitely veer away from the fanfic and start to establish some new elements.
I think the two MMCs are distinct enough from their HP counterparts. They are both frustrating at times but we can also understand why they are acting that way.
I do think they are sometimes lacking maturity of 25 Yr olds but its a small complaint.
Contrary to most criticisms I see, I thought the world building was ok. I liked the two warring kingdom ideas and how we are coming in at this point where one has taken over the other. The succession in MMCs kingdom is needlessly complicated to track. The way the author has planted very large problems with the societal structure of both kingdoms is interesting and I hope its resolved well by the end of the trilogy.
The sexism and misogyny is rampant in this, but I'm also hoping there is progress on this throughout the trilogy.
Too many characters are squeezed in that we can't really keep track of them all. We don't have 7 years of books to get to know them, so I think it would have benefitted from cutting some out.
Last, the ending i felt was a little abrupt.
The sexual violence is a bit much and sometimes I have to suspend disbelief at MCs reactions. Check your trigger warnings.
Anyway, its an intriguing start and I'll read the sequel next year.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, War
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Classism
Moderate: Abortion, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Love love LOVED this. My first dip into the dramionie world and I LOVED it!it was very well written and easy to understand and keep up with. I thought the world building was excellent and really liked the subtle foreshadowing and then going back in time to offer little snippets of history. The only reason it didnât get 5 is because I wish she wouldâve explored more of Brionyâs emotions. I felt like we were given very surface level reactions to very devastating circumstances and I wouldâve liked her to go deeper into that. I also so wish she wouldâve made this book longer, there is soooo much more I want to see! Briony in the arena, the heart spring bond actually happening, some sort of reconciliation w Toven, maybe more from the rebels, and we know sheâs going to be put on that elixir soon. I also wish there wouldâve been more exploration on her powers after mentioning so many times how powerful she was. But all that was missing was in a good way in that I am literally counting down for the next book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery