Fast paced if a bit predictable at times but overall enjoyable and I would like to read more in future

I enjoyed this book but there were moments where I was pulled out of the story and found it at times difficult to get back into it.

I was super excited about the premise of this book; however, the execution fell flat. There was a lot of information dumping on the reader that took me out of the story, and I found it hard to jump back in or become re-invested after reading those parts.

In a world where the Roman Empire never fell, two starcrossed lovers fight to ignite the spark of rebellion…

Londinium, the last stronghold of the Romans left in Britannia, remains in a delicate state of peace with the ancient kingdoms that surround it. As the only daughter of a powerful merchant, Cassandra is betrothed to Marcus, the most eligible bachelor in the city.

But then she meets Devyn, the boy with the strange midnight eyes searching for a girl with magic in her blood.

A boy who will make her believe in soulmates…

When a mysterious sickness starts to leech the life from citizens with Celtic power lying dormant in their veins, the imperial council sets their schemes in motion. And so Cassandra must make a choice: the Code or Chaos, science or sorcery, Marcus or Devyn?

DNF - Unfortunately I think that I was just the wrong type of audience for this book. As a big fantasy fan I was looking forward to the world building and romantic elements the book had to offer. However a lot of that got lost for me in the historical elements and just added to the normal difficulty that can come with keeping track of information in a world-building part of a fantasy novel. I ended up getting lost in some of the historical elements and just felt that there were too many factors in the plot for me to be committed to each one.

I ended up having to DNF it but that being said for fans of both fantasy and historical content definitely give it a read. This just wasn't my cup of tea.

Thank you to Netgalley and Clara O'Conner for the advanced read of "Secrets of the Starcrossed" in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank NetGally for allowing me to have an ARC of Secrets of the Starcrossed by Clara O’Connor. I had such high hopes for this ARC but it didn’t do it for me. I got confused at one point and couldn’t carry on after that. It was added to my DTF list.

Not my cup of tea.

I believe others will love this story, but it was not for me. I did not finish the book.

The premise of this book is what drew me in - I love ancient societies and am a bit of a history geek, so I was excited to see how an author would have the Roman Empire never fall in the west and what life would have been like.
However, there were a few historical inaccuracies, and the world building was lacking for me. The pace was also a little slow, The characterisation of Cassandra was bland and we’ve seen it done so many times before. Devyn himself was just gross.Their relationship was not interesting at all and I think the book would have done so much better without them.

An absolutely beautiful, mesmerizing read that had plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested. I loved reading this and I wish I could read it again for the first time. Incredible book that I never see anyone talking about,.

I know you aren't supposed to chose a book because of it's cover, but the glowing celtic knot really is what snagged me in the beginning. I didn't know what to expect going into this book, but I'm so happy to have gotten a copy to read. I actually read it twice within a month, once on my own, and once as a buddy read with another book blogger. Both times around I was blown away. In first books of a trilogy you typically either get vivid world building, or in depth character development. Clara O'Connor managed to deliver both. I did not want to put this book down at all, and was overjoyed when I found out books 2 and 3 were coming out so soon after.

“In a world where the Roman Empire never fell, two starcrossed lovers fight to ignite the spark of rebellion…”

Let me begin by saying I really loved the idea of this book. The blurb peaked my attention instantly, I mean, who wouldn’t love the idea of a London where the Roman Empire never fell and the British live in exile beyond the city. Unfortunately the blurb is where my interest died. I actually DNF’d this book on my first attempt reading it, though I managed to power through when I gave it a second chance.

World building is really important to me, and I loved the idea of a Roman London that O’Connor was aiming for. Unfortunately I feel like the world the author was trying to build was too complex and this let down the world building as a whole. I really wanted to know more about the history and how this timeline came to be but this was never explained well enough.

I also found the characters extremely unlikable. I like to get emotionally attached to the story and characters but there was not one character I liked even a little bit. I absolutely hated the romance. I found Devyn to be quite toxic and condescending towards Cassandra. Not to mention the cheating. I know it was technically an arranged marriage, but cheating is cheating and Marcus was really trying to make things work in the beginning.

I rated this book 2 stars overall and I do not think I will be seeking out the rest of the series.

I received a complementary copy of this book courtesy of HarperCollins UK and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

History is rewritten in Secrets of the Starcrossed and it is magical! I made the mistake of checking out the reviews before I read the book and it seemed like I was able to enjoy the book more than most. I’ve always been interested in history, European history, mystical things and basically everything that the book encompasses and I was very pleased with this idea of “what if.” I really enjoyed this idea of a world that could have been.

Secrets of the Starcrossed brings us Cassandra, the adopted daughter of a wealthy merchant, Marcus, the betrothed “Prince” of Londonium, and Devyn, the Brit on a mission to find his lost Lady. Their lives are so intricately woven together in this story. I loved how Cassandra’s past was slowly unraveling and that everything she had grown to love was so heavily orchestrated by others. She begins to learn about herself and starts to call the shots for her own life and it was just awesome watching her stand for herself. Marcus and Devyn, you couldn’t help but feel a little bad for their predicament with Cassandra, one was betrothed and the other was sworn to her through duty. It was an unusual but interesting love triangle that I can’t wait to see how it plays out in the next book.

O’Connor made a wonderful world in Secrets of the Starcrossed. It was so awesome to imagine her world and to think of all the what if’s. I enjoyed the subtle name changes, the lineages, the technologies and most of all, I loved the magic. I think O’Connor has something special hear and I’m looking forward to the rest of Cassandra’s story. This is a definite book recommendation for those looking for a fantasy world to escape into.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

I kept seeing tags for this that said 'For fans of Hunger Games' so I got excited to check this book out. I can see some similarities: a dystopian society where the government has absolute control, a secret rebellion, and a girl who is special in some way. But this didn't grip me like the other series did and I didn't feel like this had a unique plot. The pacing is slow and not much happens until the very end, I skimmed a lot because so much of it wasn't relevant.

Cassandra lives the life of a wealthy young woman, she's kind of materialistic and doesn't question how things work in her society. The racism and huge gap between the rich and poor don't bother her because that's just the way things are. Cass comes across as a sixteen year old girl and I kept forgetting she was supposed to be twenty two. She's immature for her age and I wish she'd been written as a teenager instead. Devyn is an interesting character, but I didn't like that he refused to tell Cass anything. He kept all these secrets and I wasn't exactly sure why.

My feelings are torn regarding "Secret of the Starcrossed." It took me a while to commit and really get into the story. But somewhere just under halfway through I think the story found its groove and it piqued my interest. Despite the narrator (I'm NOT going to recommend the audiobook. the narrator made Cassandra, extremely whiny, even when the dialogue didn't warrant it.) the storyline had what seemed to be an interesting premise. I was starting to really enjoy the book, right up until the very end.

Now I know this is a trilogy, however, the ending of this first book was more of a frustration than a cliffhanger in my opinion. In order for a trilogy to be warranted, the story needs to be progressing, and this ended combined with many of the conflicts in the story felt circular, that it just gave off the impression think the story might just be stuck. After the last chapter, my exact thought was: you've got to be kidding me, we are basically back at the beginning, nothing has really changed. More or less the final result was two characters switched sides. I'm hopeful that the other two are better and we can just chalk this one up to world-building. We will see. I will at least give the second book a few chapters to decide.

What an addictive read! Magic meets technology and old ways intersect with contemporary ones we recognise but nothing is what it seems. Dive deep and enjoy. This is the first of a trilogy - make sure you read them all, it’s well worth the ride.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I am not sure if the comparison this and the Hunger Games. I know that is takes place in an alternate timeline of Britain and the gap between the rich and the poor is huge. Cassandra did not come off as a very likable characters. I did like the history and the world description. I know this is the first book in a series. I know there must be more to this series. She was paired with a guy when she was twelve but she met another. This is changing her life. There are a lot of secrets and mistruths.

I gave this read 3 stars. I honestly had a hard time following the plot and the characters. This may have been due to the narrator and how they portrayed each character. This is not my usual genre but I wanted to branch out.

I did like the soul mate aspect and I did like the dystopian aspect. I have the opportunity to read the second book in this series and I hope I can understand that one a little more.

I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Huge thank you to the publishers for sending an ebook on Netgalley my way for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this, sadly it was not the case. Sadly I DNF'd at 50% as I just couldn't get into it. I found the pacing and narrative quite patchy and felt no interest in the characters or the plot whatsoever. The concept is definitely unique and an interesting premise and I'm sure some people would love it so am giving it 3 stars. I don't feel fair giving it less than that as I haven't finished the book, sadly from what I have read it just wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this read. While some areas of this story fell flat for me…there were a lot of other areas that I enjoyed! This story contains magic, fates lovers and a dystopian world that is perfect for anyone looked for a fast paced, easy, other world type read!

The premise behind this was very interesting but I didn’t feel like it was developed enough to actually keep my interest. I think certain elements were good but there wasn’t enough of them to make the story flow. The characters also weren’t interesting enough to keep the story going. I think with a little more time this could have been so much better

I love the premise of this book and that it's got Celtic elements, which is not common in YA fantasy. Unfortunately, there was a lot of information to ingest and it was very hard to really get into the story.