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nikitanavalkar 's review for:
Rose in Chains
by Julie Soto
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Every now and again, a book comes along that flays you open and restitches your very skin and bones into something new. Rose in Chains is one of those books for me. I’ve been up all night devouring this book and I’ve never felt more alive. Julie Soto couldn’t have written a more perfect book if she’d been trying to write directly to my ID. This right here rang all my bells and checked all my boxes. The messy, the fucked up, the YEARNING.
Briony Rosewood is smart and accomplished and powerful (?) and the Princess of Evermore, but ultimately burdened by the expectations of a patriarchal society. And on the losing side in a terrible war. It’s fallen to her to salvage what’s left of her broken kingdom, which isn’t much. What follows is a series of horrifying circumstances and terrible choices that aren’t really choices at all. And Briony navigates it all with a spine of steel. Folks, I beg you to heed the content warnings and protect your peace, do not go into this if you find the subject matter triggering or otherwise distasteful. This is a dark romance with gruesome, dark themes. I for one, started off concerned about it being too bleak for my current state of mind, but the vein of hope running through the depths of despair in the story is what I held on to. This book really got me like half AGONY, half HOPE.
Speaking of dark, let’s talk about Toven Hearst, our…MMC? Is he the villain? Antihero? Hero? Yes I know he’s allegedly done no good very bad unheroic heinous acts, and will do more (do we really know this). I’m sorry but I’m supporting all his wrongs until proven otherwise. He’s just a boy, and I am one messy bitch. He’s arrogant and mysterious and ice cold but that ice thaws under the right conditions which may or may not have to do with our princess. We shall never know, because one thing a broody tortured man will be is secretive and terrible at communication. But that’s fine, he has Reasons. Which I could not hear over the noise of his slutty forearms in his slutty button downs and slutty waistcoats. Sorry, horny humor.
Soto is a master of tension; you don’t really know what’s going on, but you still FEEL IT because Briony and Toven don’t even have to be in one room for the tension to leap off the page and slap you in the face. She only has to think of silver hair and gray eyes and you are panting like a dehydrated dog in the desert. Only intensified by the acerbically witty banter which makes you want to make heart eyes at a man and smack him at the same time. Soto also is a master of the slow burn, and for aforementioned dark reasons, it makes perfect sense for the development of their non-relationship (even though you will yell “NOW KITH” a lot). I have not read the source material (aka the fic that inspired this saga) and I was never truly invested in a certain fanfic couple except for a deep love of bullyish enemies to lovers dynamics. But Ms Soto can make me a believer in anything she wishes.
A truly sweeping fantasy romance is incomplete without compelling secondary characters and villains, and this book is chock full of all the above. I have a lot of feelings about all the amazing wonderful brilliant women, treated as little more than commodities for trade and spoils of war, and rising fiercely to the occasion anyway. Some dudes were okay too but they’re all on notice as far as I’m concerned. I did not quite see that one twist at the end coming but I’m abuzz with glee at the possibilities for the future developments in the story.
*I received an arc from the publisher and voluntarily chose to read and review. All opinions are mine alone*
Briony Rosewood is smart and accomplished and powerful (?) and the Princess of Evermore, but ultimately burdened by the expectations of a patriarchal society. And on the losing side in a terrible war. It’s fallen to her to salvage what’s left of her broken kingdom, which isn’t much. What follows is a series of horrifying circumstances and terrible choices that aren’t really choices at all. And Briony navigates it all with a spine of steel. Folks, I beg you to heed the content warnings and protect your peace, do not go into this if you find the subject matter triggering or otherwise distasteful. This is a dark romance with gruesome, dark themes. I for one, started off concerned about it being too bleak for my current state of mind, but the vein of hope running through the depths of despair in the story is what I held on to. This book really got me like half AGONY, half HOPE.
Speaking of dark, let’s talk about Toven Hearst, our…MMC? Is he the villain? Antihero? Hero? Yes I know he’s allegedly done no good very bad unheroic heinous acts, and will do more (do we really know this). I’m sorry but I’m supporting all his wrongs until proven otherwise. He’s just a boy, and I am one messy bitch. He’s arrogant and mysterious and ice cold but that ice thaws under the right conditions which may or may not have to do with our princess. We shall never know, because one thing a broody tortured man will be is secretive and terrible at communication. But that’s fine, he has Reasons. Which I could not hear over the noise of his slutty forearms in his slutty button downs and slutty waistcoats. Sorry, horny humor.
Soto is a master of tension; you don’t really know what’s going on, but you still FEEL IT because Briony and Toven don’t even have to be in one room for the tension to leap off the page and slap you in the face. She only has to think of silver hair and gray eyes and you are panting like a dehydrated dog in the desert. Only intensified by the acerbically witty banter which makes you want to make heart eyes at a man and smack him at the same time. Soto also is a master of the slow burn, and for aforementioned dark reasons, it makes perfect sense for the development of their non-relationship (even though you will yell “NOW KITH” a lot). I have not read the source material (aka the fic that inspired this saga) and I was never truly invested in a certain fanfic couple except for a deep love of bullyish enemies to lovers dynamics. But Ms Soto can make me a believer in anything she wishes.
A truly sweeping fantasy romance is incomplete without compelling secondary characters and villains, and this book is chock full of all the above. I have a lot of feelings about all the amazing wonderful brilliant women, treated as little more than commodities for trade and spoils of war, and rising fiercely to the occasion anyway. Some dudes were okay too but they’re all on notice as far as I’m concerned. I did not quite see that one twist at the end coming but I’m abuzz with glee at the possibilities for the future developments in the story.
*I received an arc from the publisher and voluntarily chose to read and review. All opinions are mine alone*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Slavery
Moderate: Rape
Forced sterilization