Let's start with the good stuff first, the plot is actually interesting with unique magic system and world building.
It has a good foundation for a fantasy YA novel.

Sabaera's character sometimes confuses me. She could be a strong and defiant girl but the next she could turn into a sort of helpless damsel in distress...
As for the love interest, in the first part of the story, I admit I like Mid's character but my view of him change in the second part where his identity is revealed.
Strangely, I adore the secondary characters more than the main characters....

The romance is a big part of this story, sadly to say it is not my favorite part.
I'm not a huge fan of the insta love happening so early in this story... Which then progress to a forbidden love situation with so many heart wrenching moments.
Unfortunately I didn't find myself rooting for their love despite it being forbidden.

The book ends in a cliffhanger and it left me with so many unanswered questions. There's still some loose ends in this plot which left you wondering how some things works.

Overall, for a debut novel this is quite a decent read. It definitely has potential to be a great series.
It's a quick and simple read, I find myself flipping the pages despite it all.

I hope the characters, magic system and the plot is more developed in the next book because I'm actually intrigued to know more about the Cursed and how to break it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kendra Thomas for granting me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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

I really really really wanted to like this book! And I'm sure there are others who definitely would, however, the writing was a bit... off. The characters were two dimensional and shallow and honestly...predictable. I wanted a stronger female lead and I felt like she definitely could've been, but fell short. Also, the main love interest. I felt like he was unnecessary as a love interest. All in all, it was entertaining, but it was super difficult to finish. I hate that! The premise was so promising! /:

What I loved:
- lots of good ideas, and I like where this story is progressing.
- the magic system was so unique!
- Mid & Sabeara. I am a sucker for the forbidden love trope.

What I didn't like:
- the writing wasn't perfect, but decent for a debut novel. Some parts, like dialogue, felt very superficial. Other parts felt very disjointed or out of place for how the story was progressing.
- the main characters felt *very* different in the second half of the book. I really like Mid in the first half, didn't like him much in the second; but then the complete reverse for Sabeara.

⭐⭐/5
🔥/5
CW: mourning death of parent, kidnapping, war violence

This was a short fast read that I flew through in a weekend. It reminded me of everything that I loved about older YA fantasy romances and I loved the slightly nostalgic feel to it.

The storytelling was excellent and I felt immersed in the story.

The cover is gorgeous and it's definitely something that I would cover buy in the store.

I definitely want to continue with this series and see where it goes.

A great YA adventure read. I really enjoyed this story and will be recommending it in my library for YA readers to pick up.

Thomas is such a great author and she hit it out of the park in this new Fantasy series. The characters make you want to keep reading and the pacing was just perfection.

Wonderful book - I adore how Kendra writes and she writes with such beauty in this book. This book will whisk you away on a beautiful adventure that keeps you on your toes.

This is a perfect book for young adult readers!
The book is slow at first but picked up fast and I just loved the passion between Mid and Sabeara. It brought me back to the beginning of my teens when I swooned for the handsome prince hoping to be swooped away.

I have to say that I loved the beautiful scenery described as the plot unraveled and was pleasantly surprised with the build up, the characters and the dynamic between everyone.

The end really made me want the second book NOW!

This book had me at the cover (absolutely gorgeous)! This story was so fun and unique, full of adventure, swoon-worthy romance and a strong, courageous heroine. Four out of five stars. I can’t wait to see what Kendra does for the rest of the series.

I received a free ARC of the book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover of this is absolutely what drew me in to start with. But the story was magical, and reminiscent of the fantasy of the early 2000's that I loved so much.

I couldn't finish reading this book, and I hate it, because I was so excited to pick it up. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy to read, I wished I loved it as much as I see other people like it.

"I could hear him calling my name. The sun was setting, a glowing premonition that my time had come to an end."

When I read these first two sentences, I made a note, thinking that if a book starts like this, it could only mean good things. But it took reading a third of the book for me to realise that I would not be able to force myself to finish this book. What I hated was that the story idea was so intriguing, that I really wanted to look past the repetitive information, the info dumps and the adjective overuse that grated on my brain.

The world, the story idea - it was so interesting, but not worth the overuse of words that were entirely unnecessary. I can see this author writing amazing books in the future, but this one needs a lot of work, in my opinion.

"I could hear him calling my name. The sun was setting, a glowing premonition that my time had come to an end."
-Kendra Thomas, Granted

2.5🌟/5

I received this e-book from NetGalley.

Granted is the first book of a trilogy, which is quite a...forgettable story.

Sabeara Aigoviel (or "Little Bear") is the princess of Aveladon and the main character of the story, who will run across so many adventures along her path as she will be rescued by a mysterious(?) guy and eventually discovers he is betrothed to her sister, Jasper.

You will read what feels like an endless back and forth between the mysterious rescuer and Sabeara, with Jasper (that is just..."there") as the bride to be (and third wheel), clueless of what is happening between these "two lovebirds" (which, by the way, don't really know each other, so...love at first kiss?). All of the above is mixed with a curse, some family (and royal?) problems and colourful powers.

After the first two chapters, I started to not care about the story or the characters. Something seemed to get better around chapter 13, but still, I simply...did not care about any of them (it was a load of "meh"). Nonetheless, I would have preferred to know more about the Spirit Tree, the artefacts and the curse, which I presume will be explained in more detail in the next two books?!

With thanks to Kendra Thomas for an advanced readers copy of this book.

3.5*

Yeah it was enjoyable enough. Normal formulaic YA. The world building is pretty strong and I'd enjoy exploring the magic systems in further detail.

Would read the next.

This book honestly was not for me. The blurb sounded great,but I just couldn’t finish this book. I hope this book finds it’s audience.

Characters:
I think Sabeara is an okay main character, she is definitely the kind of character I want to get to know more of, I know this because I immediately sought out the next books in the series. Mid as a character is multifaceted, I liked him in the beginning and pictured him as a sort of robin hoodesque type character, but by the end I actually stopped liking him - whoops. I don't think that was the authors intention, but I couldn't help but feel that he and Sabeara were doing Jasper SUCH a disservice! It really was borderline cruel and I couldn't help but cringe. I also couldn't get my head around that Suhnn was, what, 15? And Sabeara was 17, right? Yet the way they're described, their mannerisms and dialogue were years and years apart. I loved Jasper, Liony and Shar the most. More of them please. Liony needs her own love story.

Writing:
This is where this story really shines. Place names and character names were truly spectacular, so undeniably beautiful. And there is a gorgeous quality to the writing, many of the descriptions are not only apt but so carefully chosen that the imagery is pushed forwards easily. There were some word choices that seemed a bit odd-fitting, sometimes less is more (sorry to use a tired, old idiom).

Storyline:
I enjoyed the story, I can't wait to learn more about the origin story of Obisidian. I think he will make for a great character in the rest of the series once he gets his chance to develop into super-scary villain. The magic system was so intriguing, but I wish it was explained a little bit more, I didn't understand the colours and what they were related to, level of power or personality or type of power? And how does being Stone-Hearted affect the age, exactly? I didn't reduce any stars for this though, because it is the first book in the series and I appreciate the need to set up.

Themes:
- Kidnapping
- A whole lot of damsel in distress
- Insta love
- Kingdoms at war
- Magical powers

Additional Thoughts:
How gorgeous is the cover, though? I hope the entire series is as enjoyable as this first book, I literally finished it in a few hours!

I received a free, advanced copy of this book from #netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover to this book and the written description drew me into reading this. Unfortunately the story did not hold my attention and I struggled to finish it. I found so many odd spellings and just underdeveloped ideas that my interest wasn't captivated.

It has been a while since I have been captivated by a story. This story was well written and sucked me in from the beginning. I truly enjoyed the story and bought the next two books so I could enjoy the entire journey. I look forward to more from this author.

For some personally reason I couldn't quite connect with this book. It's sad that I read this when I'm struggling with my reading. But once that is over, I will give this book another chance.

A fun and fast-paced fantasy

Sabeara is a princess and she wants to become stone-hearted and be granted a gift. However, it's her big sister's turn to achieve this part of her life. On the night of the ceremony, Sabeara is kidnapped by enemies. Luckily, a handsome stranger rescues her and promises to bring her home safely. Conceiling her identity at all costs, she will face many trials if she wants to make it back unscathed.

I really liked the magic system of this book. The Stone-hearted idea was quite unique and original and it was really interesting to discover such a world. The story was really fast-paced, with action at every corner and secrets and schemes all around. Some of the plot-twists were a bit predictable but others had me gasping in shock and I was really enthralled when reading. I liked following Sabeara's journey. There were several subplots that were more and more important the further into the book I got and it was quite fascinating to see it all come into place. The main thing I didn't really like was the romance. At first, I thought the love interest was cute, if a bit predictable and it was okay. But as their relationship and the plot changed, I thought he became less and less likeable, bordeline creepy at times. I couldn't comprehend why Sabeara liked him so much and it kind of put me off, but that's a personal opinion of course. Apart from that, I really enjoyed the story and the world and I will definitely be reading the sequel because I have a feeling this will only get more intense and addictive.

I'd recommend for YA fantasy fans in general because it was a good book.

"Love wasn't supposed to be selfish."

The cover is gorgeous and it was what initially sold me this book.
Love the concept and storyline here.
The twist and turns which were thrown throughout the book made this a page turner romance.
This was an exceptionally written YA. Love the hero and the heroine.