Silver in the Mist is a YA fantasy novel by Emily Victoria. Devlin is a spy for her country, Aris. Aris is in trouble and Devlin and sent by her mother, the Whisperer, to inflitrste the enemy kingdom of Cerena in order to save it.

This novel was interesting and I enjoyed it overall. Aris is plagued by the Mist a dangerous force of magic that leaches life and destroys. And Aris's own magic is weakening they need a savior and Delvin is to procure it.

I liked that Devlin was a spy and I enjoyed seeing her put her skills to the test throughout the novel. The magic system in the book was unique and I feel as if I got a good grasp on understanding it.

I felt that the plot moved a little bit slowly for my liking. I just wanted to rush to the end. And some of the events that happened seemed predictable from the beginning of the novel.

Overall, I would recommend a Silver in the Mist to anyone who wants to read a story with a unique magic system and a main character who's a spy.

Review: 3/5 stars
Release Date: November 1, 2022

I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley courtesy of Inkyard Press. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Inkyard Press for allowing me to read this arc copy.

Devlin, a spy for Aris, is sent on an undercover mission to Cerena. There she learns not everything is as it seems in either country.

I enjoyed this book. Devlin was a great character. She was flawed in many ways. She strived for perfection, but fails, which I liked. I also liked Lachlan, her spy partner. They were snarky and fun. There were complications in all the relationships between characters. Some were more fleshed out than others.

The world building was interesting as well. The stark differences between the two countries was striking. Each country is the polar opposite of the other. Where one was opulent the other was barren. Where one was As was the attitudes of the peoples. For me, I could feel that there was history between the two countries as well as bad blood.

The magic system was okay. It wasn't groundbreaking, but it was interesting.

All in all, the book was very good. I enjoyed it a lot.

Thank you again, NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading Silver in the Mist, but I was pleasantly surprised. The world-building was well done and the characters were engaging. I was particularly impressed with the non-binary character, who was written realistically and with respect.

However, I did have some issues with the book. First, I felt like the plot was a bit slow-moving and I didn't find myself getting really invested in the story until about halfway through. Second, I didn't really understand the asexuality aspect of the main character. It seemed like it was included just for the sake of not including a romantic plotline, which was a bit disappointing.

Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of fantasy who are looking for something a little different. Silver in the Mist was an enjoyable read with some great aspects, and I'm interested to see what else Emily Victoria has in store for us.

Interesting and relatable characters. I enjoyed the idea of the Mists, the dialogue, and as the character relationships. This is an overall interesting read, partnered with easy-to-read.

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e arc of Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria.
This is a YA fantasy novel. 3.5*.
Synopsis: "Eight years ago, everything changed for Devlin: Her country was attacked. Her father was killed. And her mother became the Whisperer of Aris, the head of the spies, retreating into her position away from everyone… even her daughter. Joining the spy ranks herself, Dev sees her mother only when receiving assignments. She wants more, but she understands the peril their country, Aris, is in. The malevolent magic force of The Mists is swallowing Aris’s edges, their country is vulnerable to another attack from their wealthier neighbor, and the magic casters who protect them from both are burning out. Dev has known strength and survival her whole life, but with a dangerous new assignment of infiltrating the royal court of their neighbor country Cerena to steal the magic they need, she learns that not all that glitters is weak. And not all stories are true."
3 things I liked:
Genre, I like fantasy books.
Cover: Nice cover drew me in.
Other: spy elements of the story & asexual main character
3 things I disliked:
I did not get a hook early on
Moved to slow for my taste
I found myself skipping ahead because of the pace and losing parts of the story, maybe read just a bit on the younger YA side to me
I was glad to see some asexual representation and a book tweens or teens might enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher and author in exchange for an honest review reflective of my own opinions.

I really enjoyed this golden flame but silver in the mist seems to have hit a sophomore slump. It’s a solid 3/5 but the pacing was hard for me to keep with. I don’t know what will change before publication but solid characters and plot overall.

⅘ Stars

For a while, I have been feeling like every new fantasy has become so similar to each other that they started to sound the same. However, this book was so refreshing in every single aspect from the plot, to characters, to dialog.

What I liked:
I am the type of reader that needs at least a subplot of romance so when I found out that the main character was asexual I was wondering where the romance was going to come from but this book was so good that I didn’t need any romance. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I love every single character, even the characters that I hated. The world-building was easy to follow and unique, it reminded me of ‘Shadow and Bone’ but it was still unique in its own way.
Lastly, the way the main character talked and thought was so…. funny.. It was like taking a modern Gen z and making them a spy.

What I did not like:
The only reason that I gave it 4 stars was because somewhere in the middle of the book everything was starting to sound repetitive, it was a little boring. But it only lasted a few chapters because the overall book is fast-paced.

ASEXUAL REP!!! ASEXUAL REEEPPPP!!!! YA needs more asexual rep, and this was fantastic. This book was an absolute joy to read and I’m happy to add another queer standalone to my library’s collection. This was also pretty, well, revolutionary in my opinion as far as YA fantasies go. Normally all of them have some sort of romantic plot but this did not. It focused solely on worldbuilding and the fantastical adventure.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

I loved that we get a kickass young heroine who forges her own path, and I appreciated there being a non-binary character in the story. The plot was easy to follow and there really wasn't any confusing world-building. This is classified as young adult fantasy, although I do think it reads more middle-grade - not a negative at all, but something to keep in mind.

I was really excited to read a book about an ace spy, but I was disappointed that there wasn't much exploration or conversation around her being asexual. I think we got one or two mentions of it, and that was it. Aside from those and that there is no romance story, I probably wouldn't have realized she was meant to be an ace character.

I did feel the book could feel somewhat surface level because everything did seem to work out *so* well - it felt quite predictable both in plot and character development. Overall, though, I think this is an enjoyable book for younger fantasy readers with a plot that is easy to follow and that ties up nicely at the end.

Devlin a young spy is given a mission to save Aris from the encroaching Mist. That requires magic. The spymaster is Devlin's mother and she is sending her on a mission to capture and bring back the great caster of the neighboring kingdom Cerena. This mission will be the first that Devlin has done alone. It is a good read especially as we understand that Devlin is struggling with family issues between her and her mother. She is, however, determined to prove herself to the Whisperer who has not treated Devlin as a daughter since they lost her father. Devlin must overcome many obstacles to achieve her goals. Exciting to watch her maneuver these obstacles and grow into her own as she does so.

In a land divided by the Mist, a stretch of mysterious fog that holds back destructive, magical monsters, Devlin lives in one city pitted against another. Devlin is a reluctant spy who desperately wishes to please , the famed Whisperer, chief spy to the throne, and Devlin's mother. When she is assigned a dangerous, risky operation, Devlin finds herself learning more about the other side and the centuries-old truth behind the creation of the Mist.

I enjoyed this story, although I did find it a little simple. It had a lot of particularly overdone tropes, including the mother issues being resolved by a complete turn-around and pretty thin explanation of frankly emotionally abusive behavior, and the tension with being a spy and making a genuine friend on the other side, only to have the friend explain that they knew you were a spy the whole time. It felt a little cheap, but some of the emotional development felt very genuine and I didn't find the main character as annoying as I might have with poorer writing or a less interesting premise.

Overall, the story was straightforward and easy to understand. I would probably recommend this to younger readers-- there are some nice themes and a refreshing lack of romance for a YA novel, and the language is clear and concise (although the ubiquitous title of "layde" was at first confusing, but if other novels can call everyone "sirrah," I don't have a problem with it).

I received an advance reader copy of Silver in the Mist in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for allowing me to read this book.

Devlin is a spy tasked by the spymaster (her overly critical mother) to infiltrate the rival kingdom. Her goal is to steal away their best magic user to save her own kingdom from the mysterious Mists and the deadly lightning-creatures that live there.

I found this a well-paced, enjoyable read. Devlin is a sympathetic character who desperately wants to please her neglectful mother. Her motivations and her inner thoughts make sense in this context and I was rooting for her to find confidence in herself, regardless of her mother's approval. I thought the creeping mists and the scary creatures that live within were a neat idea, as were the two rival kingdoms. We don't get to see a lot of Devlin's home, but the kingdom she infiltrates is colorful, with an interesting culture that differs from her home kingdom. The friendships between the characters was well-written and is one of the strengths of the book. Overall, an entertaining story that kept me interested throughout.

There were a few plot and character elements that I didn't love, which can be found in my Goodreads review, since they contain spoilers.

This was an ok book. I think I didn't connect with the characters or the world the author was trying to make. I admire the effort, however, this missed the mark for me.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this book! It had a lot of good going for it, such as breaking away from the typical tropes other reviews mentioned. I feel thst the world building could have been stronger and made the plot more authentic. If you are creating a world, you can create new standards and titles (layde is an obvious mix of lord and lady, but a whole new title could've been created to match the world). Good story but could use more development.

This book was a joy to read. I felt that the plot and characters were well written and interesting. The plot pulled me in pretty quickly, and I was able to read it easily within a couple days once I got started.

I really like that this book did not fall into the normal YA fantasy tropes. I appreciate that the storyline contained no romance at all, which is rather surprising since I normally love a good romantic subplot. It was refreshing, though, to be able to simply focus on the main story along with the friendships forming between the characters. And while it took me a little while to get used to, I actually enjoyed the very gender neutral tone of the book. I liked that everyone had the same title, no matter their gender, and that everyone seemed to be treated equally and given the same deference.

While I really enjoyed this book, there were a few things that I felt could have been a touch better, though. I wish there had been more world building. We got a lot of backstory on the people side of the story, but the world itself felt a touch underdeveloped. I'd liked to have understood the world itself more as opposed to only learning about the history of the monarchy.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to reading a sequel, should one come out.

I received this ARC from Inkyard Press on Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

It was really hard to get into this book. While the beginning started out with an interesting storyline, as you learn more about the world and the main character's "mission," it just starts decreasing in quality.

The idea itself isn't bad, but for the events that actually happen, I think a lot of scenes and plot elements get unnecessarily drawn out. (I also thought the mission itself was kind of ridiculous. How are you going to take the time to get someone to trust you and then kidnap them? Either you kidnap someone, or you take the time to build a relationship and get them on your side).

Also, because of the rating, it needs to be said that I actively read about 25% of the novel and then skimmed the rest to be able to write a review. I normally DNF books that are less than 2 stars.

First I would like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for providing an advanced readers copy in return for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It's about a spy named Devlin and her mission of going undercover in the neighboring country to steal magic to save her own country. Devlin is asexual so there isn't any romance but there are a lot of good friendships which I enjoyed reading about and seeing grow. We get to see Devlin undercover doing spy things for a lot of the book and it's more believable since she's had so much training as a spy compared to other MC's that know how to do so much with no training or prior experience. The ending feels like it could be a standalone so if you're looking for a quick read with good characters, a different kind of magic system, and spies then you should read this book.

I appreciate that this book shuns the typical tropes for YA fantasy - no love triangles to be found anywhere. And really, no love story at all, which is fine. I also loved that one of the characters is nonbinary and literally no one cares; there's also the underlying gender neutral-ness of the world (nobles all called by the same title, instead of the gendered "lord and lady", etc. Though I kind of wish the author had found a different word than '"layde" for them, bc I kept reading it as laaaayyyyyddddyyyy" in my head. But that's a minor quibble.)

Unfortunately, the rest of the book was underwhelming. The plot is okay, nothing too intricate, but the world building and characterizations were both very shallow. There's supposedly some chemistry between the 2 main characters which explains why they trust and want to help each other, but I really couldn't see it. In fact, the main character was so flat they had no real chemistry with anyone.

The emotional development was also rather shallow - people breaking out of long held patterns with little effort or any sort of crisis. It just seemed very juvenile to me.

I'd have given this 2 stars but appreciated the non-binary character and other new approaches to issues of gender here. I received this as an ARC from Net Galley.

Eight years ago, Devlin’s father was killed, and her country was attacked. Her mother becomes a spymaster and Devlin becomes a spy which is the only time she sees her mother. The mist is spreading, and enemies are ready to attack again. Now it’s up to Devlin to steal magic from the royal court of a neighboring country.
I was hooked a few chapters in. The author used such amazing detail when describing everything including the world building. The main character is ace (which is an own voice representation) and there is a non-binary character. I loved how this book had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what will happen. I highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers.
Thank you Netgalley and Inkyard Press and I will be posting this review to my Instagram (Bookmarkedbymaddie) closer to the release date. I will also be posting this on my Goodreads account.

This book would benefit from more world-building and higher stakes.

Before the reader can fall in love with (or even learn about) Aris, Devlin's home country, she is whisked away to Cerena (the enemy neighboring country) to continue her spy duties. Devlin, for having the spy master as a mother, was not a very good spy.

There is not a lot of information about present-day Cerena. Most of the world-building comes towards the end of the book through the discovery of old texts.

The character arcs were fast moving, which made it difficult to understand some of the decisions the characters made. It was also hard to tell if any of the characters were meant to be romantic interests.