Actual rating 4.5/5
The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke ponders on the aspects of a world without death and how far one expecting mother would go to stop that.

When Celestia and Izara set out to gain that favour, they don't realise their guide, Ico, will also be dragged along for the ride five years later. As always, Cassandra Rose Clarke's strongest asset is how she writes her characters. Celestia, Izara and Ico each have a very distinct voice and personality that are consistent throughout the book.
When Ico is called he had been doing his best to leave his pirating days behind. Having stumbled into a relationship with the Lady of the Cold, he deeply regrets agreeing to this favour when he is whisked away to the Seraphine, a river he swore never to step foot in because his debt collectors would come for his head. As such, his bitterness and fear are palpable for the first chunk of the book. He spends much of the first few chapters drinking, and staying on the sidelines, letting the other two women take the lead, even running away from confrontations. It was very satisfying to see him not only grow past that and help in the quest, but also form a bond with the sisters. Where he was afraid of Izara's magic and dismissed Celestia's strict adherence to the rules of hospitality, he comes to see both as an asset during his character arc.
Izara's character was the more consistent of the three. Through Celestia's wish, she was able to to the the prestigious Academy to study magic, but she loses the privilege when the Lady calls her. This regret weighs heavy on her throughout and she spends some of her time thinking of how she could study the new magical systems she uncovers during her quest. As the practical one, she is the brains of the team, often coming up with their next lead. She is also a rock for Celestia as she increasingly tries to protect her sister and unborn child.
But it was Celestia who surprised me the most. Celestia's biggest defining trait is how well she behaves in polite society, she knows all the aristocrats, all the rules and most importantly she stick to them. Rather than being played off for laughs, this is central to completing their quest as the gang runs into several situations where her expertise are the key. She does learn to be more relaxed about certain things as the book progresses. Due to her pregnancy, she's quite anxious, especially in the beginning, but learns to take things as they come by the time the finale rolls around. A lot of this has to do with those around her caring for her, particularly the bonds she made along the way.

Rose Clarke's world is equally fascinating. In a world where gods watch over natural elements, the main players are the goddess of the Seraphine, a river that is the central pillar of The Empire, and the twins Growth and Decay. Each has an important role in this world with the absence of one threatening to plunge the world into chaos. The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke asks what would happen if death vanished, and the answer is monstrous. Beyond the physical aspect, Rose Clarke raises some interesting moral questions about our own relationship with death and decay through various characters and happenings in the book. I was absolutely captivated by her worldbuilding and would happily read more books based in such a world. </p>

Where he characters shine, her plot is left in the shadow. The premise itself is fascinating but the execution come off as rushed at times. Some of the places the gang visited on their way to find the missing god were barely touched upon, which made those parts of the book go by too fast. Otherwise, the plot was very engaging. It's what grabbed my attention for the first few chapters of the book, as the characters took a while to grow on me. The pacing has some hiccups related to these rushed few parts, though it was good overall. Rose Clarke's writing has a whimsical quality to it that almost made me overlook these few flaws while I was reading, it was only upon reflection that they stuck with me.
In The Beholden, Rose Clarke truly brings the world to life. Be it the fantastical aspects, the more mundane tasks of running a manor, or squabbles and decorum in a palace, there was hardly an instant where I couldn't instantly picture what was going on. It's really the writing that allows the characters to be so lovable without obscuring the interesting moral questions brought up, nor the world the author builds.
Overall, I very much enjoyed The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke. The mains quest grabbed my attention, but it was ultimately the characters and the writing that made this book stand out for me. Her world without death was horrifyingly vivid while the reasons behind it were ultimately very human.

A young debutante makes a deal with a god to help her find a worthy husband, in the process she, her sister (a scholar) and their guide (a pirate) are made beholden to this goddess. Years later, the goddess calls in that favor and the three find themselves on an epic quest to capture an evil force bent on the destruction of the world as they know it. Their journey takes them through dangerous jungles, hidden cities and an epic cold desert. It also places them at odds with the emperor. Danger abounds and each of the three react quite differently.

This one took me a long time to get through, two weeks where I had to really press myself to keep going. I'm not sure quite what it was, there is interesting magic, an epic quest, the walking dead, hidden cities and arguing Gods. I think maybe it was the lack of attachment to the characters? No real character development? The writing was overly descriptive which was immersive but it meant there were long stretches without much action. I think had this been a 300 page book with an editor that tightened it up significantly, it would have scored much better for me. 

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions above are my own.

I really didn't like the history. The premise was really good and the cover is just so stunning that I ordered the book. But I really didn't liked how the history was going and how the writer made the sisters relationship.

Thank you to Erewhon Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. The Beholden takes the reader on a unique adventure through the rainforest, over mountains, and into the desert. It follows two sisters and an ex- pirate, which adds some humor and reliability to the fantastical storyline. The relationships are well developed and the overall concept of death retaliating was what piqued my interest.

I enjoyed the book overall. There were some small inconsistencies with the plot, but they do not take away too much from the story. I would have liked some more individual character development and lore, but it was a decent read and unique.

I requested for this book because the cover is just stunning! Alas, the story pales in comparison. I found myself bored and detached halfway through the story.

This story starts off with the De Malena sisters, Celestia and Izara, making a bargain with a River Goddess, the Lady of the Seraphine, in exchange for Celestia gaining a husband who could help her with her land. In exchange, Seraphina wants the sisters to find the source of sickness that is spreading through their land which is causing an imbalance to the world and they are tasked to restore it. Ico, the pirate, who wants nothing to do with this ends up being entangled in the sisters’ affairs.

The world building is very interesting but unfortunately, the plot fell flat for me. I wished more was explored on the dark magic element and around Seraphine cause they seemed so interesting but nothing much was mentioned about it. This story does have its potential but it lacked tension and character growth for me. The plot was also fairly straightforward and there were little twists and obstacles and that made me feel disconnected from the story.

What I did love was the relationship between Celestia and Izara. Their relationship isn’t fluffy but their support for each other is very heart-warming. Like all siblings, they have their arguments but it all revolves around how protective they are of each other.

Thank you Netgalley and Erewhon Books for the arc.

The Beholden follows sisters Celestia and Izara De Malena, along with former pirate Ico, who asked for a favor from a goddess and are now beholden to her. When the Lady of the Seraphine calls for her payment, the three find themselves on a dangerous quest. Their journey takes them through many lands and puts them against Celestia's husband as well as the Emperor. But without their help, the whole world will fall apart.

I actually really enjoyed this book. The world is so interesting and I would love to learn more about it, and the mythology and gods who are part of it. I also really liked the dynamics between the three main characters. Celestia and Izara had a great sisterly relationship, and Ico made a fun counterpoint to them. I liked the chemistry and development between them all. Plus a couple of the side characters were very interesting, especially in the later part of the book, and they actually asked important questions on judging people by appearance. The only thing I didn't like was the quick point of view changes which were kind of abrupt at times. Other than that, The Beholden is a fun adventure story and I'd love to see more of the world.

The Beholden follows the story of two sisters, Celestia and Izara, who are the last living descendants of their noble household. After the death of their parents, the family wealth started to decline, so they decided to petition one of their nation's deities: the Lady of the Seraphine. After they get their boon they are warned that they are now Beholden, meaning that sometime in the future they will be called upon to do a favor for the deity.

This book had such an interesting premise; I love books where a deal is made with a god or deity because it always turns out horribly. There is always a lesson to be learned about accepting what you have and figuring out your problems for yourself because gods will only make them worse. This book had that. It also had a really lush and beautiful setting. The nation, The Seraphine, was set within a jungle and riverlands locale, and Clarke's descriptions were great. I could really envision everything.

But that is where the good things about this book end, unfortunately. There was little to no character growth for any of the characters throughout the course of the book. Having the characters do things is NOT the same as character growth, They all ended the book just as insufferable as when they started, and that can work in some instances, but it felt anticlimactic in this book when taken in conjunction with all of the other flaws. I was waiting for some type of payoff and there was none.

I also think that the reasoning behind the main villain's wanting to leave the world/pantheon was very weak. He wanted to leave because no one liked him? Huh?? Ok...

This book ended up being pretty disappointing to me. It's always a letdown when a promising premise doesn't deliver on that promise.

I received this ebook as for free to leave my unbiased opinion. I wont' lie, I wasn't truly in love with the writing style which is why i had a hard time getting through it. I just wasn't' in love with the storyline as well.

I sadly have very few good things to say about this book, I did not enjoy it. It was very long and felt even longer. I stuck with it until the end because it was an ARC but I'm glad I'm done. I don't give out a lot of 1 star ratings and I almost went with 2 stars but I slept on it and it really is a 1 star for me.

The characters usually make or break a book for me and I really hated these characters. Celestia is incredibly annoying and just complains for the entire book, not offering to help or doing anything constructive. She starts off a spoiled housewife and has zero character growth to become anything beyond that. Her pregnancy is used and discussed ad nauseum although it added very little to the story. Izara had some potential but really was just the shell of a typical female fantasy main character with nothing unique and she even turned away from that and got weak and boring as the story went on. Ico is the most boring spineless pirate even written and every time he even showed a glimmer of personality, he disappeared for a few pages. I just didn't like a single one.

Then there's the world where these characters live which I do not understand, it is not explained at all. I don't know what anything looks like, the author didn't bother to tell me. They come across tons of statues and none of them are described. There seems to be a cold desert with sand. Other places are hot and there's a river. A lot of reviews are talking about the jungle atmosphere but the word "jungle" is not used. There are mentions of mangos many times and once they use a vine to climb off a boat. Does that mean jungle? They call trees the forest a few times. I have no idea where this book took place. I'm not looking for purple prose but a simple discussion of what the general surrounding looked like would have been nice.

There is some magic in this world but the magic is not really explained or even used much, it's just an undefined "magic" they speak of. There's some kind of other plane of existence and trances and I don't understand any of it or how it ties together. I don't know what the academy does or Izara's end goal of attending. Izara has magic but besides one instance (which is totally random and inconsistent but at least added some action), all she seems to be able to do is go into trances. The gods were an interesting idea and the whole growth versus decay bit had potential but it was buried among so much other nonsense that I had a hard time caring.

Lastly, the writing style didn't work for me. Only 15 chapters in a 544 page book is ridiculous not only because really long chapters are annoying but the chapters are intended to break up parts of the story. This story only had 15 parts and it really felt like it, the plot was so slow. The chapters also changed point of view with no warning and many times I was unclear on who the narrator was, their "voices" were so similar that it was easy to miss when the narrative changed.

So, yes, it's a 1 star for me.

*I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I stopped reading after the second chapter, the first real chapter, because it dragged one. The cover, the blurb, and the first chapter had me very interested. Even some of the world building in the second chapter had me hooked. But it took so long to even get started, I lost interest. And even the hook at the end of the second chapter wasn't enough to hook me completely. Good premise, but execution could've been better.

I trudged my way through this book against my better judgment. I kept hoping it would get better, but I honestly did not enjoy it all the way through the end. The pacing was extremely uneven with the first 80% of the book feeling so slow I kept checking the percentage I'd read and feeling absolute dismay that the number was still so low. The plot and writing were boring and repetitive. It was a simple quest story that had the characters going from one place to another over and over, but the biggest problem was the lack of real obstacles. The characters moved from place to place with no discernible plan, and the answers they sought were largely handed to them at each turn. Nothing really felt earned. It didn't help that the characters were extremely one-dimensional. Only one of them really exhibited any growth and that was mostly due to her being absolutely insufferable for most of the book. Any slight change to her character at all gave the impression of immense growth because of how awful she was for most of the book. The only saving grace of this book was the somewhat interesting bits of world-building. The gods and magic were really intriguing, but even they were underwhelming because of the way they were utilized. The magic felt almost nonsensical at times and seemed to be able to do whatever the plot needed it do without any logical explanation. Some of the themes explored were also interesting, like the need for balance and the impact of being hated/shunned on one's psyche, but the deliverance of them left a lot to be desired. Overall, I did not like this book and could probably write a lot more about why, but I don't need that kind of negativity. So, instead I'm just going to rate it 2 out of 5 stars and move on to something (hopefully) better.

The Beholden is a new stand alone fantasy from author Cassandra Rose Clarke, being published in January by small SF/F press Erewhon Books. I haven't read Clarke before, though I had heard of her, but Erewhon's publishing output has been truly tremendous in its short existence (Folkorn, The Scapegraers, The Midnight Bargain, On Fragile Waves to name four such books), which made me very much want to try this book out.

Unfortunately, The Beholden is perhaps the most ordinary Erewhon book I've read, with some really interesting ideas and one well done relationship buried underneath a plot and trio of main characters who largely don't really work. The book is long (500 plus pages) but reads quick, and does contain a plot dealing with the importance of death/decay alongside life/growth, the difficulty of being hated for doing what's necessary and how self-destructive humans can be in pursuing short-sighted goals over more important ones, alongside the importance of love. So there's certainly something underlying this book, but the book's ignorance of its opening concept and how that reflects on the protagonists, as well as its failure to actually make those protagonists truly interesting actors, prevents it from being one that I can really recommend.
----------------------------------------------------Plot Summary------------------------------------------------------
5 Years ago, two destitute noblewomen - courtly Celestia and magic-gifted Izara - embarked on a journey down the Seraphine to summon its Airiana patron, the Lady of the Seraphhine, seeking the godlike Lady's magical aid in finding rich husband for Celestia to restore their family's fortune. The Lady they summon grants their wish, but declares the two of them, and Ico, the ex-pirate guide they dragged along, to be "Beholden". As Beholden, the three of them owe the Lady a debt, one which they must repay....or else.

5 years later, all three have gone their separate ways: Celestia is married to and pregnant with the child of a famour rich adventurer, Izara is a gifted student at the magical academy, and Ico has lost all human comfort but found a home in the bed of the Airiana mistress of the cold and snow. But strange things are happening in the world, with rumors of war and a plague that leaves all it touches in a state of miserable undeath, a state that has led the Emperor to call away Celestia's husband for one more adventure.

And these strange things lead the Lady to call Celestia, Izara, and Ico together once more, and to call in their debt: to find a 500 year old legendary mage, the very man the Emperor wants dead, and to not kill him, but instead bring him to the Lady alive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Beholden is a story that alternates its telling between the third person perspectives of its three main characters - Celestia, Izara, and Ico. The world it takes place in is epic and grand, featuring multiple countries of various allegiances, a culture that worships the godlike Airiana - who aren't quite gods but are close enough for most purposes - especially the twins known as "Growth" and "Decay", and where some of the Airiana do exist on the mortal plane and can be summoned....at a cost. There's various forms of magic, various other forms of god-like creatures, and well, this is a deeply developed world, even if we don't really get to see that much of it.

Unfortunately, our three main characters aren't really the greatest guides to this whole world, as they all really didn't connect with me at all for the most part. The first problem of course is that Clarke never has them reconcile with what they did 5 years ago - when Celestia magicked herself a husband (how this works is never explained, she just has a husband immediately after the time jump who she sort of loves) at the cost of not just herself being indebted to the lady, but her sister Izara and Ico as well. At NO POINT in this story does Celestia or Izara ever really recognize the fact that they basically screwed over poor Ico in the process in their own selfishness, nor does Celestia ever have to tell her husband how their marriage was magically influenced so that she faces the consequences of the shortcut she took...instead this deal is just used as a reason why the three protagonists are on this quest, which well, just seems off.

And it doesn't help that Celestia and Izara remain in large part selfish as hell for major parts of the book in how they pursue their quest, even if it soon becomes apparent that their quest is in fact to save the world. Celestia wants to be back at home with her husband so she can have their baby and Izara wants to be a mage, and their constant thoughts about those desires are just kind of annoying, since it's their own damn fault they're unable to have either thing (and Celestia doesn't deserve that husband). Ico's selfishness is at least understandable since it wasn't his idea to bargain his life away, but his spending most of the book running away and drinking just makes him seem like a waste of a character, as barely any parts of the book would be different if he didn't exist - and most of those parts really feature the Airiana who's fallen for him instead of him directly.

Really that's an issue for all three characters, who except for perhaps in the ending, never actually take affirmative action and instead wind up getting carried from one place to the next, rather than actually making any choices of what to do next. For example at one part the trio washes up at a strange noble's house, who sketchily serves them magic tea she promises will help them reach a magically protected city, which Izara points out is really questionable and doubtful. But that doubt comes to nothing as they have no choice but to go along with it (and it turns out the doubt was wrong anyway, so it was just pointless).

The shame of it all is that there are things that this book does do well. A fourth character joins the party midway through and her relationship with Celestia is really well done and utterly lovely - it might be predictable, but it's the type of character relationship that the book lacks pretty much everywhere else, and I loved this fourth character as a result of it. There are a lot of interesting themes here as well - themes of the importance of death and decay alongside life and growth, themes of the shortsightedness of men in focusing on wars and alliances over environmental disaster, themes of love and listening to your significant other rather than obsessing over what someone else told you, etc. And there's also a theme near the end of the burden one faces when one's necessary actions cause one to be constantly hated, and how possible that is to bear. There's some interesting stuff here, and Clarke's prose reads well enough that I managed to finish a 500+ page book in two days rather than the three it usually would've taken.

But alas, those character problems with the main trio are just too there for the other stuff to really shine, and it prevents me from really recommending this one.

I was attracted and intrigued by the cover of this book, so I decided to request it.
But unfortunately I didn't like it very much :( The chapters were quite boring and I didn’t feel a connection with the characters. I repeat that all I have written are personal opinions about the book.
So in conclusion I rate it 2 stars :(

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Actual Rating = 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

Like so many other reviewers, I picked this book up because the cover is GORGEOUS. Unfortunately, the book didn't quite live up to the cover.

Now don't get me wrong, this book is fine. The sister relationship was well written and the settings were beautiful. However, those positives weren't enough to over ride the fact that I just wasn't invested in the character or the plot. I also didn't think the worldbuilding was very strong, besides the beautiful settings.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

A few chapters into the novel, I didn't enjoy the story enough to want to continue. It was a bit confusing.

This novel evoked dark mysterious magic of fertility and death in deep amazonian jungles. There was something humid and claustrophobic about this adventure fantasy. It could have been great if the characters had been more engaging. But their conversation felt a little too realistic- in the sense that it was never very interesting, and I never really liked them. For some reason I felt too much at a distance from them the whole time which made me lose interest in what was happening to them. They have hopes and a goal, but we never have a reason to root for them, there is no action of theirs I can think off that made me think they were people I’d love to be with. But the action is well paced in an intriguing world for those who like adventure.

I grabbed this because of this cover its so gorgeous and I wanted to check out the story. This was lacking everything from plot, to action, to the magic system and just everything was lacking. The story/plot was just so ugh. I was bored and I just had to put it down. Which just made me so sad.

First off I just want to say I adore the cover, it’s absolutely stunning & captivating, & it’s what drew me to this book in the first place.
Now, onto the book itself, for the most part I enjoyed the story but there was just something lacking for me, I found it a little difficult to stay engaged with the book. The world building & different settings were interesting, detailed & beautifully described, you could definitely picture the places written in your mind.

The magic system was fascinating however I was a bit disappointed there wasn’t a whole lot of detail put into explaining & describing the different types of magic, it fell a little short for me. I found the characters were enjoyable, however they felt a little one dimensional & it was hard to feel connected enough to them to be anything more than mildly interested in their back stories or futures. I even found the deities quite predictable & somewhat lacklustre.

The sister's relationship was well written – while the regularly disagreed with each other, they generally ended up deferring to each other's expertise & past experiences without resentment, & their love for each other (even when in they disagreed) was always clear. I didn’t feel like Ico added much to the overall story, of all the characters his POV’s felt the flattest to me.

I definitely prefer books that have multiple POVs to have their own chapters instead of multiple POVs per chapter, it makes it too choppy & hard to keep track when it keeps changing in the same chapter. The story was more plot driven than character driven, and had a big focus on worldbuilding, though it would have benefitted from showing the different magical systems & how they’re intertwined into the world. The pacing & characters just didn’t do it for me unfortunately. The ending was ok but I didn’t feel like it gave enough closure overall. 2 1/2 stars rounded up to three.

Thank you to Netgalley for this digital ARC received in exchange for honest review.

I am so sorry but I had to DNF this book.
This story and writing style is not for me.
The beginning is really confusing, and I just could not deal with the "plain" and "pretty one" observations.
The locations are also confusing and I assume there will be worldbuilding at some point but right now I had no idea what the magic situation was and who the lady, probably god is.
I hope other people like this one but unfortunately miscalculation on my part.

3.5/5 stars - this book REALLY needs a map included! If you read the description and it sounds like it would be right up your alley, you'll probably like it.

What I liked:
- The world building when it comes to the setting was really intriguing! With lush jungles, snowy mountains, harsh deserts, oceans, futuristic cities, old plantations, magical palaces, and more, this is definitely a world the characters can explore. I would love to see the fan art of all these locations! This is where a good map would come in, because it was hard to tell the scale of the world and the spatial relationship between locations.
- The pace of this book was good; there was always something happening and it didn't drag for me. Some (but certainly not all) of the plot points felt predictable but it was still enjoyable to read as the characters faced new challenges and explored new locations.
- Kristina Caroll, the artist who made the cover of this book, should be commended because the cover is AMAZING and is what drew me in and made me request the book in the first place!

What could have been better:
- The world building when it comes to the development of the world's magic was lacking for me. It seemed like we were sort of thrown into it with no explanation, and the system just kept expanding.
- Additionally, the time frame of the book wasn't really clear (in terms of how long the characters stayed in a location and how time passed). When you have a pregnant character and they find out they're pregnant and deliver the baby in the same book, it should take place over the course of multiple months, and with the way the plot moved this felt like it took a few weeks.
- The characters themselves felt sort of undeveloped and flat, which is sad because they had so much potential! Other than the unexpected romance threaded through that popped up at the end (no spoilers), it didn't feel like any of the characters really grew or changed as people or in their relationships with each other.
- I would have liked to see the characters actually interact with the main crisis in the story somehow (it seemed like they were just outrunning it the whole time without having to interact with it or realize how it's spreading).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.