Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto

55 reviews

Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No

A whole lot of nothing. Auctioning of slaves. Bystanders to sexual assault on multiple occasions, masked as "showing off their property". Stockholm syndrome? Literally nothing plot wise happens in this entire book.

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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?

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Es war ein wirklich gutes Buch und ich werde auf jeden Fall, denn nächsten Band lesen, jedoch war er ,besonders in der Mitte, etwas schleppend und es wurden immer wieder Sachen wiederholt. Ich weiß, dass es mal eine fanfiction war, bei denen solche Wiederholungen oft nötig sind, da zwischen den Kapiteln viel Zeit liegt. Trotzdem bin der Meinung man hätte das, vor der Veröffentlichung, beheben müssen.

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hopecobbledpots's profile picture

hopecobbledpots's review

5.0
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

"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."  - The Prophecy

New to me, author Julie Soto surprised the heck out of me with Rose In Chains. Action packed and atmospheric, this story of rivals to lovers, mostly, employs two types of magic – mind magic and heart magic. Each Kingdom has its own magic, and that is that, or is it? The children of each kingdom are schooled together. One year in Evermore and the next in Bomard. Until the King of Evermore is killed leaving Briony and her brother Rory orphans and Rory King ultimately giving chance to the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of a King Twice Over.

On the day we meet Briony, it is the day of the Eclipse. But her Kingdom is defeated, her brother presumed dead, and she is put up for auction as a “heartspring”(read and you'll understand) and purchased by her longtime Rival. And this is where the fun begins.

I listened to this on audiobook and kept it on 1x. I didn't speed it up at all. I savored each morsel of speech. I became in the setting, as it shocked me, awed me, sometimes amused me, and ultimately made me cheer.

What I loved:

🦊Vesper, Toven's Jealous Fox Familiar. She gets the first nod in what did I love. Way to go, Vesper!
🩶Despite himself, Toven was kind to Briony. Mostly. Sometimes he is a donkey's rear end. Sometimes he has to act that way.
🤍Toven's Mother. I adore how she treats Briony. You'll see.
🩶Toven's Father. Sometimes he seems gruff but ultimately, his priority is devotion to his family.
🤍Briony's twin Rory
🌻Briony is not a delicate flower. She is a fighter. Not just for herself but for others. Even for Toven.

What I liked:

🚫Toven refusing to take place in the fights using Briony as a heartspring 
🤟Briony's camaraderie with the other girls who have been auctioned as slaves.
🫶Notable Side Characters who bring life to this story.

Will I read/listen to the next book? You bet your bippy I will! This book entertained me, kept me engaged the entire way through and left me screaming “MORE!!!!”.

Why should you read this book?

🌎Amazing Worldbuilding
🎭Political Intrigue
🩶Moral Gray MMC
😈Feisty FMC
🪄 Two different Magic Systems
🪆Cultural Biases
🤫Secret Pining
🙇‍♂️🙇‍♀️Forced Proximity

And, I would not compare it to any other series out there. Rose In Chains stands on its own as an individual Book One of a series. I congratulate Julie Soto for her accomplishment.

I'd like to thank the Author and Hachette Audio Group for this gifted ALC in exchange for an honest review.

#roseinchains #juliesoto #hachetteaudio #booksaboutmagic #atmosphericbooks #fantasyreads

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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medium-paced

I had a fun time reading this! I had trouble getting into it at first, but by 50% I was pretty invested. It was a lot darker than I expected, and I definitely recommend checking trigger warnings!!! I think the magic system is very interesting but there is definitely a need for more world building. I got confused because there were so many characters and it was hard to tell who was important. I’m excited for the second book to come out!!!

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dark emotional sad tense 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: No

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dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Julie Soto’s writing is fantastic. The narrator did a fantastic job. This book just was not for me. It was too dark. I received the book as an early audio copy and wanted to make sure I read and reviewed. I honestly couldn’t stop comparing this to the source material- the narrator also sounded like the original if you catch my drift. 

If you like dark romance, you’ll probably like this. I won’t be completing the series. 

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated

4.5⭐️

As a huuuuuuge fan of “The Auction” and “The Rights & Wrongs” series….

I fucking loved this. It’s completely separated from the-bitch-who-must-not-be-named. Soto’s 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. They’re just a little bit close to the originals that it made me giggle (ex. Briony - Hermione, Rory - Harry). Briony and Toven are my babies😩🫶🏻 they’re misunderstood, they’re 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 Dramione…
I said this before, but I really feel like HarperCollins and Julie Soto could’ve marketed this book COMPLETELY organic, without the mention of the JKR bitch’s characters. I have no hate at all for Julie Soto, as some people are saying she shouldn’t have written and published this book. But she made the story, the characters, and everything her own. She had influences. Doesn’t everyone have influences? 


Overall, I absolutely devoured this book!!! Waiting another year for the 2nd is going to torture me😩 I maaaay have to read my downloaded copy of “The Auction” to get my fix😏 

(I have to nerd out for a second: Nikita Jobson did the artwork😭 Her “Golden Girl” art is just beautiful that I was so excited to see she did the cover for Rose in Chains!!!)
(Nerd out pt 2: “For the Saturday Girls…” Julie, are you fucking kidding me? I almost cried seeing that dedication😭😭)

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