Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by romancingthereader
Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Normally I'm not out looking for romantasy series to drop in on. I get FOMO and pick up the big ones, and maybe some smaller hit my feed, but its definitely not my biggest subgenre. But Gretchen Powell Fox put up a threads post that immediately god my attention. What if SHE'S the 250-year old shadow wielding fae, and she's always saving him? Ok, girl. Gimme the book. And that Threads post delivered.
📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox
📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Shattered Crown trilogy. Book 1.
📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book ARC on Kindle. 🆓️ on KU.
📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Fantasy romance
📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Deadly trials, enemies-to-allies-to-lovers, slow burn.
📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Elyria is tortured by grief from losing her soul mate in The Crucible, a series of trials pitting human and magicfolk against each other in hopes they win the elusive and powerful Crown of Concord. When the Crucible is set to begin again 25 years later, she enters to help save a friend. After the trials are revealed to be structured toward unity of the two realms, she teams up with Cedric, a knight who has trained for the trials his whole life.
🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: I always have trouble rating the first book in a trilogy, because to me... book 2 and 3 (especially in this case) are going to be where the REAL fun happens. But I truly enjoyed Smoke and Scar, even with the sky high expectations that Threads post gave me.
The world was an easy learn, and the Crucible trials themselves were exciting. I read through this super quickly, and I was almost surprised I was at the end because it was such a fluid read. The characters were awesome and dynamic, and you truly root for them and grieve when someone doesn't make it - because Gretchen Powell Fox isn't scared of killing off a character. There were a few twists I didn't see coming.
And for those concerned, the ending isn't what I would consider a cliffhanger. It ended where you clearly want more, but you don't feel anxious enough to lose sleep. I can't wait for book two - there's so much I want to learn more about - and it comes out this fall so the wait isn't too long.
I will say a few things - the romance is light, but I was promised it will be much more focused in book 2. It felt consistent with the story - where were Elyria and Cedric going to get it on during an extremely intense set of magical trials? But I wished there was just a little more.
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 0/5
𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.
📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox
📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Shattered Crown trilogy. Book 1.
📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book ARC on Kindle. 🆓️ on KU.
📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Fantasy romance
📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Deadly trials, enemies-to-allies-to-lovers, slow burn.
📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Elyria is tortured by grief from losing her soul mate in The Crucible, a series of trials pitting human and magicfolk against each other in hopes they win the elusive and powerful Crown of Concord. When the Crucible is set to begin again 25 years later, she enters to help save a friend. After the trials are revealed to be structured toward unity of the two realms, she teams up with Cedric, a knight who has trained for the trials his whole life.
🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: I always have trouble rating the first book in a trilogy, because to me... book 2 and 3 (especially in this case) are going to be where the REAL fun happens. But I truly enjoyed Smoke and Scar, even with the sky high expectations that Threads post gave me.
The world was an easy learn, and the Crucible trials themselves were exciting. I read through this super quickly, and I was almost surprised I was at the end because it was such a fluid read. The characters were awesome and dynamic, and you truly root for them and grieve when someone doesn't make it - because Gretchen Powell Fox isn't scared of killing off a character. There were a few twists I didn't see coming.
And for those concerned, the ending isn't what I would consider a cliffhanger. It ended where you clearly want more, but you don't feel anxious enough to lose sleep. I can't wait for book two - there's so much I want to learn more about - and it comes out this fall so the wait isn't too long.
I will say a few things - the romance is light, but I was promised it will be much more focused in book 2. It felt consistent with the story - where were Elyria and Cedric going to get it on during an extremely intense set of magical trials? But I wished there was just a little more.
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 0/5
𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.