A review by charmettebooks
Rose in Chains by Julie Soto

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was thrilled to receive an audiobook ALC of Rose in Chains. Julie Soto is one of my favorite authors, and her stories are incredibly captivating. Rose in Chains is a dark romance/romantasy book about the fall of the magical Evermore kingdom to Bomard following a long civil war. This novel is the first book in the Evermore trilogy. The backdrop of war was violent and sometimes difficult to read, but the desperation and fear that the characters experienced was so powerful. Listening to the audiobook, I felt the urgency and danger of this new world that the people of Eversun were facing. 

The main characters of this book are Briony and Toven, who are longtime frenemies from school and different kingdoms. They often competed and were unfriendly to each other in the past, but cultivated a friendship during their final year in school before the country erupted in civil war. Both harbor deep, secret romantic feelings for the other. Briony finds herself imprisoned after the fall of Eversun and forced into slavery as she is sold to a citizen of Bromard. Miraculously, Toven is able to outbid everyone and she becomes his property, which doesn’t end up being as horrible as she feared. Soto masterfully builds the chemistry and tension between these characters agonizingly slowly throughout the entire novel. 

The novel is in Briony’s POV, and we feel her anguish and terror through the intense emotion and rapid pacing of the novel. This feeling of urgency was well narrated by Ella Lynch, who spoke quickly and with great feeling throughout the entire novel. Her voice compelled me to keep listening as I agonized over Briony’s fate. The novel alternates between the horrors of the present day and Briony’s idyllic past in flashbacks. There are heroes and villains, and Briony’s despair kept me glued to the novel until the end.

The author teases the reader with an earth-shattering epilogue. How will we wait a year to find out what happens next? Dark romance is not usually a genre I read, but this novel drew me in from the first page. I can’t wait to receive my hardback special edition copy of Rose in Chains with the gorgeous sprayed edges. Order or download this book today, you will not regret it!

Thank you to Julie Soto, Forever Publishing, Hachette Audio and NetGalley for an advance listener’s copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own. 
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