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A review by amandas_reading_nook
Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
3.5
After seeing all the discourse surrounding the ethics of trad published Dramione fanfiction in 2025, I was hesitant to read this book. Ultimately, the FOMO won out once I started seeing a bunch of rave reviews for it, and here we are.
Having not read The Auction, I was curious to see just how much this felt like an HP fanfic, and the answer is: Yes, this was very obviously once a Dramione fic (in my very humble opinion, as someone who is intimately familiar with the original IP). Honestly, that didn't bother me; it might've even been beneficial to me as the reader, seeing as there was a distinct lack of world-building.
My actual grievances with this book are with some of the overall themes. I understand that sex/magic trafficking is a major part of this story, and while I was concerned with how that was going to be portrayed, I still chose to pick it up. But what I really had an issue with was the emphasis on virginity. Using the term virgin to refer to someone who hasn't had sex is whatever, but there were definitely some purity culture undertones that gave me the ick.
I was also annoyed by some aspects of Briony's character. I've seen other reviewers call her a weak FMC, but I don't feel like that's a very fair assessment. She's been through something horrifically traumatic and is uncertain about her position and who she can trust. I actually felt that she had done a fair job trying to get her bearings and gain some semblance of agency. Instead, what frustrated me about her was how naive she was (concerning sex). Again, I understand that she was supposed to save herself for the potential of a political marriage (gross *see above complaints about purity culture*), but she was also 25. It feels very unbelievable to me that a 25-year-old woman would be so unknowing about even the basics of sex in any made-up world. I really hate that the author infantilized an otherwise very smart and powerful woman that way.
Even with all of the issues that I had with this, I can't deny that I still devoured every word. There was something so addictive about this story that I just couldn't put it down. This series is my new guilty pleasure, and I fear I will be continuing it.
Having not read The Auction, I was curious to see just how much this felt like an HP fanfic, and the answer is: Yes, this was very obviously once a Dramione fic (in my very humble opinion, as someone who is intimately familiar with the original IP). Honestly, that didn't bother me; it might've even been beneficial to me as the reader, seeing as there was a distinct lack of world-building.
My actual grievances with this book are with some of the overall themes. I understand that sex/magic trafficking is a major part of this story, and while I was concerned with how that was going to be portrayed, I still chose to pick it up. But what I really had an issue with was the emphasis on virginity. Using the term virgin to refer to someone who hasn't had sex is whatever, but there were definitely some purity culture undertones that gave me the ick.
I was also annoyed by some aspects of Briony's character. I've seen other reviewers call her a weak FMC, but I don't feel like that's a very fair assessment. She's been through something horrifically traumatic and is uncertain about her position and who she can trust. I actually felt that she had done a fair job trying to get her bearings and gain some semblance of agency. Instead, what frustrated me about her was how naive she was (concerning sex). Again, I understand that she was supposed to save herself for the potential of a political marriage (gross *see above complaints about purity culture*), but she was also 25. It feels very unbelievable to me that a 25-year-old woman would be so unknowing about even the basics of sex in any made-up world. I really hate that the author infantilized an otherwise very smart and powerful woman that way.
Even with all of the issues that I had with this, I can't deny that I still devoured every word. There was something so addictive about this story that I just couldn't put it down. This series is my new guilty pleasure, and I fear I will be continuing it.