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Moderate: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, War
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Abortion, Murder, Sexual harassment
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
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, War, Classism
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Abortion
There were a few things I had trouble understanding in the beginning and those were:
- The worldbuilding including the locations, mention of a school but not really its purpose or intent for all parties involved, and the two... opposing countries.
- The magic system (Heart vs Mind magic and the rules for both? Handcasting? Etc)
It comes off in such a way that it assumes the reader should already be familiar with how all that works which is why it gets so confusing. Early on I had a difficult time trying to piece together the rush of events and picturing exactly how they went down. It was easier to picture later on but everything still remained fuzzy.
I did appreciate the main cast of characters and the turmoil Briony (lol) has to face throughout the novel. The flashbacks did help piece together some of the missing history between characters, though other flashbacks I am really unsure what their purpose was for.
There are also a LOT of characters mentioned in here and most are just mentioned very fleetingly. Maybe a tad bit too many to keep track of if they ever became important later on. Like oh, time to mention and meet Penelope. Oope now she is dead. Poor Penelope. So sad and tragic. Okay, next victim.
There was a bit in the middle (maybe around 60%) where it felt sluggish simply due to the fact nothing was really happening for a while. That's the only time it occurred.
I absolutely loved the way feelings are described through actions from Toven. That is the best way to display intense, repressed romantic tension between characters and I was living for it. Dual POVs is not always necessary if you apply the show vs tell strategy. Chef's kiss, well done. My dude was and has been in love with this girl for what feels like forever.
I did have one major issue with this story outside of the obvious dark nature of it, and that was part where
Overall, even with my nitpicks, not bad. Probably the best fanfiction to published work I have read thus far.
CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS.
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Abortion
VIBES
THOUGHTS (spoiler-lite™)
When the sun shines at night, he who will bring an end to war on this land shall be victorious. He shall be an heir, twice over, and a rightful sovereign over the continent.
FAVOURITE QUOTES
PRE-REVIEW
PRE-RELEASE
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Classism
This is a dark, dark story. Evermore and Bomardi have been at war for years. Briony is the princess of Evermore, and when the Bomardi army swarms her family's castle, her brother is killed (her father was assassinated early in the war and her mother died in childbirth), and she and others are taken into captivity. Evermore is known for its mind magic, while Bomardi is known for its heart magic, which often requires an external source like an animal familiar (the two magics are explained in much more detail in the book of course). The Bomardis come up with a truly horrifying plan to auction off Evermore people with mind magic so that they can use them as external sources of power (they call them heartsprings) and as servants and sex slaves. As the princess of Rosewood, Briony sells for an astonishing amount to her once-crush Toven Hearst. She is absolutely terrified of what is to come, but things are not exactly as they seem.
The beginning of this book is a little slow, but it has a lot of world-building and scene-setting that is incredibly important and interesting. Once the auction takes place, things really start to happen. I appreciated that there was no attempt to sanitize the Bomardis' war crimes, sex slavery, and every kind of horrible interpersonal violence imaginable. Briony is saved from experiencing much of those horrors directly, but she bears witness to her friends, family, and other people from her kingdom enduring violation after violation, and it's really hard to read but also essential to the plot. This book doesn't shy away from the grief and the rage and the disgust and the helplessness Briony feels, but it also highlights her determination and that hope comes from the most unlikely places, so it wasn't as depressing as I feared initially.
Julie also crafts the dynamic between Briony and Toven beautifully, which of course is central to a good fantasy romance. Toven resists the Bombardi's war crimes as much as he can, which I appreciated because it would have been really hard to root for him and Briony if he was unredeemable. Obviously he isn't all good, but he constantly tries to respect Briony and stave off his "friends'" attempts to humiliate her and sexually assault her, and there's an explanation for everything he does that seems off. We also occasionally get chapters from when Briony and Toven were together at school, which provide helpful context and make it seem more realistic that Briony is willing to trust Toven even a little. This book is extremely steamy in such a creative way - Toven is very careful not to initiate physical intimacy with Briony for the most part, but Julie creates tons of opportunities for Briony and Toven to feel the attraction between them and imagine acting on them. The sexual tension is absolutely delicious.
The world is also interesting, and it left me wanting to know more about how the different types of magic works, which is always fun. I am devastated I can't read the sequel until next summer!!!
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Infertility, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Some of the character name changes were a little silly. Veronika Mallow? VM? Really? Plus Briony and Rory same suffix, different spelling. Soto really did her best to keep the same amount of syllables for the same characters which I think was an interesting choice.
But the story itself? The magic system and world divide was imaginative and lush with possibility. I especially love that twist ending. It has the potential for what I had always hoped The Auction would—
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism