Very interesting concept and unique take on a royal romance, however the typos that slipped through the cracks started catching my eye more often that I would have liked. I would definitely like to read more from this author and see how their writing style progresses.

Thanks Netgalley for an ARC exchange for an honest review.
This book was a solid three stars for me. I don't think it was anything uniquely special, but it was an enjoyable, quick read. I didn't like the main character at first, she just waits around for someone to save her and then gets mad a her savior for calling her sweetheart. I love the different descriptions of the kingdoms & the food we're introduced to in each. The plot twist was predictable but I love a good identity reveal. The end feels like we're repeating right where we started, but hopefully this time she's grown enough to get herself out.

Oh my gosh what a book, hooked me from the get go and that was it read in one sitting, didn't want to put it and could not, so gripping and such a story that kept you guess and wondering what was going to happen, fantastic read don't miss out. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun and quick read, but not one that I'll probably put in my school library. While I was entertained, I wanted there to be a bit more depth to the characters and the plot felt rushed at certain parts for me.

This story was enchanting from the very first page, and I couldn't get enough of the story and characters that Kendra has created. I loved the world that she created within this story, and I am excited to continue this series and see where it goes. This story was so enjoyable, and I loved the tropes that Kendra weaved within the story. Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book.

A very promising first novel! This book has some great aspects and intriguing characters, and the ending was very exciting. I will be picking up the sequel at some point soon to see where it goes next, and am looking forward to seeing the author's development as the series progresses

Swoon worthy romance with a bold heroine! Can’t wait to pick up the following books because that ending was a cliffhanger!!

Thank you netgalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review. This was so fun and adventurous I really enjoyed it. The characters were well-written and I look forward to reading more books by this author.

This was just the fantasy book I was looking for. I was captivated from the very first chapter and can't wait to read the next book in the series

I did enjoy this read, it was easy to understand, entertaining and magical. The magic system was interesting and the world sounded like one I’d like to investigate more!

I have to admit, the cover was what originally drew me to this book! It is super pretty and gave me ‘The Selection’ vibes.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance, the whole ‘betrothed to my sister’ thing put me off a little, but it wasn’t anything to do with the writing- that was really good- I just personally think I’m not a fan of this trope. That and the romance came about very quickly.

Overall, I enjoyed the characters and the setting, and the plot was entertaining enough that I’d definitely read another book by this author.

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Paused on 1/9/2022.

Sabeara is the youngest princess of Aveladon, and lives in a land where the Stone-Hearted are given spectacular powers on their eighteenth birthdays. She wants nothing more than to receive that power and become beautiful and powerful like her elder sister. The land is in turmoil and threatened by a curse, and Sabeara finds herself caught up in the middle of it. She's rescued by a mysterious cloaked stranger, and she must rely on his help to return home safely.

My main issue with this is the writing. There's an immaturity to it, and much of it reads as though it wasn't fully edited. There are weird similes and the word choice is at times odd and unnecessarily florid ("Ice sickles" are not a thing that form on your eyelashes in extreme cold. They sound cool, but they don't exist; the word I think you're looking for is "icicles"). There are continuity and conceptual issues that crop up multiple times (the one I mentioned snarkily before of course; another not long after when she's riding through the forest on the Mage's back - basically a Shetland pony - and comments one moment on how "[t]he spiny, malnourished rump of the pony [feels] hard against my behind...", and the next on how she keeps falling out of the saddle as she sleeps. How <i>do</i> horses and saddles work, anyway?). I sunk into my advisory brain as I was reading, like I do with my students and during proof reading work, and kept coming up with places I'd have marked in red ink. That makes it difficult to settle into a story.

Ultimately I think it's a shame this wasn't cared for better before it was published. The worldbuilding is interesting, the characters are decent, and the plot is intriguing; there's so much potential in these pages, and in the author herself too. It is clear that she loves her work, and publishing a trilogy is no small thing. This seems to be her first work, so I'm genuinely curious to see how her writing progresses.

And the cover is hekkin gorgeous. Wowowow.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kendra Thomas for a copy of this book! I went into this book blind with no expectations and I was so surprised. This book was so good and sucked me right in!!

The book follows, Sabeara, a princess of a magical kingdom where people are granted “stone hearted” magical powers from a spirit tree. Stone hearted powers vary by person and people are granted different colored hearts based on powers. Also, those who are stone hearted essentially stop aging and only look old after hundreds of hundreds of years.

Sabeara loathes being Royal and dreams of being stone hearted. Sabeara’s mother died when she was younger, her father has become a recluse in mourning of his wife, and she has been raised by her sister Jasper and guardian Oli.

On the night the kingdom celebrates Jasper’s granting, a rival kingdom crashes the party and kidnaps Sabeara. Sabeara is frightened and very concerned as her kidnappers are former members of her father’s court.

Sabeara is ultimately rescued by a mysterious and handsome young man named Mid. He takes her on a journey on his way to return her to her kingdom. She ultimately develops major feelings and reluctantly returns home.

Upon her return, she finds out that her father has secured an alliance with a neighboring kingdom by betrothing Jasper to the crown Prince. This crown Prince is MID and Sabeara is heart broken. You are left feeling and wondering what will happen?

This isn’t the only problem… the rival kingdom Obscurum is still out for blood. This kingdom is seeking to invoke an ancient curse which will slowly destroy the stone hearted powers and make them age like normal humans. The only way to end the curse is to find 5 tokens of the ancient kings and use those to stop the curse. However, if someone gathered all 5 they could use them to become the only and most powerful stone hearted and rule over everyone. The King of Obscurum seeks to control all!!

What will Sabeara do? What choices will she make for her heart and her kingdom? This book left me wanting the sequel immediately!! A total 4 star book with a sequel that is even better!! Go ahead and give Kendra Thomas a chance guys!! I’m so glad I did!

These opinions are 100% my own and do not reflect anyone else. I think this I a hidden gem book. While the speed of the book needs a bit of work I can’t wait to see what happens next. The cliff hanger definitely makes me want to see what happens to these well developed characters. I can’t decide if I love or hate mid in particular but time will tell.

I absolutely love what this book could have been but sadly much of its immense potential went unfulfilled.
I loved much of the premise of the book – it’s set in a fantasy world with a magic system that seemed unique enough to pique my interest and an evil curse looming. The premise and the overarching plot are fantastic. Unfortunately, I found them to be ruined by several issues.

The main character: Sabeara “Bear” Aigoviel has strong “Not Like Other Girls” and “Mary Sue” vibes. I think you know the spiel: She thinks herself oh-so-plain, the ugly duckling to her swan sister but in reality, she is pretty, rich, of royal blood and has the fellas swoon over her. While reading, I was unsure if she was deliberately written to be unlikable – the writing itself often suggests that is not the case but she is just so thoroughly… annoying that I find it hard to believe someone would genuinely like her. One of her worst aspects is her constant jealousy of her sister, especially when said sister is part of a magic-giving ritual that all citizens go through when they are 18 years old. Bear is only a year younger – she literally only has to wait for a year to go through the same ritual!
The side characters: Most of the supporting cast are stereotypes and tropes. The love interest is a dashing stranger from a foreign land with emerald green eyes. The sister is perfect. His niece is a clumsy child that consistently gets herself into trouble. In fact, the whole characterisation of the niece was beyond strange – she is often written as if she was primary-school-aged. The protagonist often thinks of how she also used to do this or that when she “was her age”. However, this girl is introduced as being fifteen or sixteen years old and our protagonist is seventeen! They are practically the same age which made the way the younger girl was written extremely odd.

The writing: At times this was just… bad. “I leaned against a tree trunk, letting the bark dig into my innocent flesh.” Innocent flesh? What the…? The author also has a tendency to overuse unusual or more “quirky” adjectives, specifically “dainty” and “nimble”.
The plot and world-building: *MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD* This story is built on good bones, the world, the magic system, and the overarching plot are all interesting and unique enough, but they lack in execution. The history and lore is relayed through a massive info dump at the start of the book rather than woven into the story. The exposition before the main events of the plot is drawn out – which I did not mind though – but then many of the main plot points revolving around the curse are rushed. The villain backstory feels very rushed and not well-thought-out. It turns out one of the characters knew the main villain when they were children but does not remember them at all. The villain, on the other hand, remembers it all (of course) and has been plotting revenge. The love story was absolutely unbelievable – both of the love interests were not just boring individuals but also incredibly selfish, putting their own feelings before those of others.

The Cover: I must admit that initially the cover was an eye catcher due to the strong blue colour. However, I actually find it looks a bit like a YA fantasy cliché and does not really suit the book. I can’t think of an occasion for which the characters would wear a gown like this – all the social events in the book involve a lot of dancing. The colour blue also has no meaning. As I said before, the fantasy world in this book is actually unique and interesting and there are so many aspects to it that would lend themselves to a cover that truly stands out. The magic tree that grants the powers/magic to people in this world would have made for a fantastic subject, for example.

I really, really wish I had liked this book better than I did as it truly felt like a waste of potential. I am on the fence about continuing this series at this point.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Granted follows Sabeara 'Bear' Aigoviel, second princess to the Kingdom of Aveladon. She is the reckless and slightly disobedient younger princess. She lives in a world where people become Stone-Hearted at the age of eighteen, when they receive powers and go through a transformation. At the beginning of the book, Sabeara's older sister, Jasper, goes through her Granting where she receives her Stone-Hearted powers. It is at the party celebrating her sister's Granting that Sabeara is kidnapped by enemies of the kingdom. She is eventually rescued by Mid, a handsome stranger that she starts to fall in love with. It is as he is returning her to her home that she learns about a curse that could befall the kingdom soon.

She separates from Mid, believing she will never see him again but a few weeks after her return home he enters her life again as her sister's intended groom. Sabeara discovers he is the prince of a neighboring kingdom and the eventual marriage between Mid and her sister will unite and safeguard both kingdoms. Sabeara's journey is both an emotional one dealing with her feelings and also a physical one as she tries to learn more about the curse that seems increasingly imminent.

The cover for this book is absolutely gorgeous! I'm not going to lie, the cover kept drawing me back to this book as I was debating whether I wanted to read it or not. The book itself was an interesting read with an entertaining concept. I love fantasy so I enjoyed reading about the world and the powers that the Stone-Hearted obtain. I usually love description but I felt like some of the descriptive parts didn't necessarily add to the story of the book. And I felt the same about the actual structure of some of the sentences - like it didn't always flow and sometimes felt stilted. That would take me out of the story for it bit. Overall though, it was an interesting read!

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

At first glanse , the cover was so stunning i can`t even and the blurb made it seem interesting.
But the story was cut/chopped oddly and some of these descriptions was just awkward, i mean leaned to the tree and having the bark digg into the innocent flesh, i mean...what? i can go on. But i won`t. The main lady: immature and annoying. the main guy aka love interest: Annoying!! The romance was just meh.I will not be continuing the series.

Okay I have to start with how absolutely gorgeous this cover is!! Definitely top 5 for 2021! The plot was interesting but I found the writing to be a little slow and it seemed like a lot happened but also not? I definitely see potential for the series and do wanna find out what happens to the characters.

Granted is Book 1 in a refreshing new tale that follows Sabeara, princess of Aveladon as she navigates her life in the Kingdom and outside it. A rebel at heart and wanting nothing more than to be Stone-Hearted, Sabeara has a restless need to escape and do more than what she does inside the Castle. She wants to restore peace to the Kingdom. Her father, the King is barely there, dealing with the grief of her mother's death and a lot of the decisions to take fall on her older sister Jasper.

I love how the sisters have a very strong bond and are supportive of each other. In this first book, we follow Sabeara's journey as she gets kidnapped by Obscurum soldiers and is then rescued by a very handsome stranger, Mid. As they navigate their way back to Aveladon, we follow along on an adventure filled with obstacles, new friends, new enemies and a budding romance, the reader is in for a treat! Little do they know that there would be further obstacles to their romance and secrets that reveal who they are which changes a lot of things the readers initially thought they knew.

I liked the concept of the Stone-Hearted, having different kinds of powers, reading about a supposed curse and how to end it. The author has brought to us a whole new fantasy world that is well thought out. The story is rich in descriptions and character building with likeable characters who add a lot of new dimensions to the plot.

I loved this book and am definitely looking forward to reading more of this series! This is definitely worth the read!

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the free e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.
I originally got this book because the cover was beautiful but there was way too much going on in the book, I think the author had too much plot's that it overpowered one another and made it confusing to read. There was potential but parts of it seemed very rushed. I just couldn't get into this :(

I dont know
I feel like I missed something in the book. I feel like either it jumped to quickly.or I just wasn't paying attention.
The cover is beautiful.