avaloneve's Reviews (203)

Wild Reverence

Rebecca Ross

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a beautiful story! I was really excited to read this book, after the amazing time I had reading Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows, and it didn't disappoint. In my opinion, Rebecca Ross never disappoints.

Her writing is whimsical, lyrical and beautiful. You feel transported into this poetic and magical world, full of betrayals and love.

The world building was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the world in the Letter of Enchantment duology, but within this book we got to read more about the lives, desires and motives of the gods and goddesses. I loved Bade with all my heart.

Matilda and Vincent were amazing; I loved seeing their growth and strength as the story progressed.

I was really emotional while reading this book and the final chapters didn't help. I was in tears for most of the ending and the way this book connects with the Letters of Enchantment duology was perfect.

I love this book and I am very grateful to have read it early. Also, this book may be one of my top reads of 2025.

Favorite Quotes:

“I do not know when this happened, when the current rose and when I let it take me, willingly, but there came a moment when I looked at you and could not breathe. There was a moment when I watched you depart, and I wanted to fall to my knees.”

“My home is your home. My arms are a haven for you to rest. My last name is yours if you desire it. I will love you to my grave, and even beyond it, when the mists welcome me, when I am hopefully very old and gray and grouchy and have spent the seasons beside you when you are here and dreaming of you when you are gone.”

“I could not hold her any more than I could the wind, but I love her for it .”

Problematic Summer Romance

Ali Hazelwood

5.0

Shield of Sparrows

Devney Perry

4.75

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The Knight and the Moth

Rachel Gillig

5.0

adventurous dark medium-paced

Arcana Academy

Elise Kova

4.0

adventurous dark medium-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

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had a great time reading this book! I loved the atmosphere, the setting and the Dark Academia aesthetic. It had some of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, found family and a fake engagement.

The magic system was very unique, original and very different to other books that I have read. I really had a great time reading the battle sequences involving the tarot cards as weapons. The different skills you need to use this magic were clever and very well thought out.

The FMC was confident, impulsive and reckless, which made her a really fun main character. The MMC was fine. I wished we could have found out more about his motives.
The romance was just ok, I needed more of it. Although, I really enjoyed the banter and the tension between them.
I liked all of the side characters; they all had amazing personalities and little quirks and flaws that make them really unique.

Overall, an amazing start to a new fantasy series and I am very excited for the second book.