Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG!!! This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

This is a fantastic fantasy romance story, The author does a great job with the plot and story. The storyline grabs your attention from the beginning. The world building is remarkable. The characters are outstandingly written. A definite must read for fantasy lovers. This is a great start to a new series.


Disclaimer: Thank you Netgalley and Butterdragons Publishing for this review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really really wished I would have loved this book. There were a few things that made me really want to read it:
-a shattered world
-a strong princess
-an emotional untouchable guard/asssassine hottie
-a forbidden sapphic lovestory
-a murdermystery

But why did it not catch me?
The pacing (especially for the romance) was so fast, I did not get involved with the whole dynamic and I did not care for the bastard prince as he came out of nowhere for me. I am not certain the world Building would be enough to keep me reading but even though it was not a bad book for me, it was simply not fascinating to get me. Kinda "meh, well.."

2.5/5 stars - I had a lot of questions and mixed thoughts and feelings while reading this. I didn't hate it, but it certainly wasn't a favorite. I will say that I am interested enough in reading the rest of the series (for now) to see what happens, who is behind the plots, and if the magic and world-building gets better.

Reviews are available on goodreads and my blog (soon).

I enjoyed this book. It took a little longer for me to read due to unforeseen happenings in my life, but overall I was pleasantly surprised with the story.

Just to clarify, because the blurb doesn't really infer this, this is a F/F romance. I thought there was decent chemistry, but the relationship moved a bit quickly. I'm interested how Kay will come into play in the next one, and I wonder if a certain court scene was foreshadowing.

This could have been a 4-star read for me, but it desperately needs an edit. I cannot recall how many times I read about the plates in her plated hair. There were multiple spelling issues and grammar issues. The dialogue was so stilted and stiff. The story was interesting enough, but the book suffered for the editing issues. This is an ARC, so these things may change, but again, things like this should be caught early. This is not Larque's first book. She has many under her belt.

That said, I would be interested in reading the next one.

This book was out of my normal read, I'm not the one to go for an epic fantasy, but it had me hooked at the cover and the title. This book is wonderfully written and thought out, the characters *chefs kiss*. What should be changed is the description of the book and the fact that it is an LGBTQ+ romance. I'm excited to see where this series goes!

DNF.. I liked the premise, I like fantasy novels, and this one sounded like fun. But it was poorly written - all the characters blurred into one and none of them were particularly interesting. I'm also not a fan of instalove. Just didn't hold my attention.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

There are a few good thing about this book, and a few "could be improved":

Good:
- the lore is different. Different crystals with different properties, used in a way that is more "steampunk" than "magic" when applied to normal life, and magical in all ways in combat. Good combination.
- the characters have their faults, but they're usually good people.

Not-so-good:
-where is the Witch goddess? I feel like she's looming but there's no sign of her. The war also barely feels present, in anything the characters do.
-the characters' voices all sound the same. I had to check the headings a few times to work out who I was reading.
-they all sound like 2010s teenagers, including some of the slang. This dates it a little, and is more than a bit jarring.
-the sex scenes are completely useless. I skipped them every time, and lost nothing of the story - they're superfluous to needs.
-the storyline is incomplete. I understand starting the journey in the first book, but the characters barely crossed the threshold before the story ended. This means there's only a hair of development, relationships feel forced, and there's no real "movement" on the plot line.
I was reading, feeling like the story was ramping up--wait, a list of stones? 99% complete? What?
-I'm about 90% sure I can tell you the answers to the "mysteries" generated in this book for solving later on

I hope the writer continues the series because it's not even a fracture yet.

I found this book extremely intriguing and like nothing I’ve ever read before. Here we have floating kingdoms, with a war coming closer and closer, and a princess as wild and she is smart. She is the youngest of her siblings, and the most rebellious at that. She has been assigned a guard (Rayla), an expensive one at that, with the war coming her family cannot be too careful. Fabienne (better known as Eliza) loses a lot throughout this story and is forced to fight for her life as Rayla is on a journey meant to assist Fabienne’s future. Little do they know, they’re both fighting for their lives and it doesn’t seem like this enemy is willing to just give up. They are forces to be reckoned with, but so is Rayla and so is Fabienne, in their own ways. This book has caught my attention and I’m curious as to what is coming next for all in this story.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it does what an opening to a series is suppose to do. I enjoyed being introduced to this world and the characters living in it. It had great elements of fantasy and I really enjoyed the journey. It left me excited for the next book in the series.

I do not even know where to begin, this novel was a page turner. I can say, with complete honesty, I dont believe there is another fantasy novel quite like this. I consumed almost the entire thing in one sitting, forgoing much needed sleep so that I could finish. Being new to the world of fantasy I appreciated Mrs. Larque's talent for world building. It is vast without being overly consuming. Her characters share so much chemistry they seem to leap off the page. I found myself trying to anticipate where the story was going but was pleasantly surprised with each twist. I look forward to the rest of the series!

This book was a great easy read. Eliza’s world was turned upside down and she’s so underestimated. I’m all for the underdog proving everyone wrong. She’s excellent. Rayna, her guard and then some, is my favorite though. A woman fighting her heart out in a man’s world is my favorite thing ever. I really did enjoy this book, but felt like some aspects were missing. I will definitely continue this series.

Four and a half because I found this was engaging and easy to read. I have not read anything else by this author but I really enjoyed reading about Eliza and her bodyguard Rayla. Without a doubt Eliza is headstrong and clearly spoiled but she's pragmatic and sees things far more clearly than people seem to think. Yes she's underestimated but I found her extremely likeable. Her almost instant relationship with Rayla was perhaps a little jarring but the society she lives in felt very blinkered as same sex relationships are ok but a Queen without a husband isn't ! The author has a plot devise for this though as Kay a somewhat wayward Prince is introduced leaving me wondering will this couple become a throuple ? I want more world building and there is certainly a lot still to discover but this wet my appetite for more and I look forward to discovering exactly who the murderer is and why.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

3.5 stars. I thought this book was well written and I enjoyed the story. Multiple pov’s are always great! However the blurb needs some improvement. It doesn’t seem to really describe the story (maybe a general blurb for the whole series?!) or mention the fact that it’s a lgbtq romance. The cover is stunning! The characters are relatable. Overall an enjoyable read.

Princess of Stone by Victoria Larque is the first novel in a NA fantasy trilogy. It follows Eliza and her new bodyguard Rayla. Eliza must decide if she is going to step up to her family's throne following an unspeakable tragedy. What will it cost her?

I loved the writing in this novel. Larque writes from multiple character's points of view, one of my favorite techniques in fantasy novels. You get to experience so much more of the world and hear different thoughts and aspects of the story! I was immediately pulled into this novel. The romance piece of the novel was amazing and didn't detract or steal the lime light from the overall plot and mystery that makes up the novel. While I found some twists and turns predictable, others I did not see coming and shocked me. I loved the strong, bad a** female characters. It was the first female-loves-female books I've read and I enjoyed it.

Highly recommend this novel and give it 4/5 stars. I am very much looking forward to book 2. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me this e-arc.

This was such a well written and interesting first book for a series. The first book of a series usually involves a good amount of world-building, but I enjoyed the setup for this book, as I was drawn in from the very beginning. Eliza, the youngest of the royal family, escapes from the castle in order to play games while dressed as a man. Her disapproving family hires a personal guard named Rayla, a highly trained Dovani sent to protect Eliza as she is thrown into an unlikely situation and assumes her new role as Queen. Eliza is such a strong female lead and is she is very relatable, so I connected to her very easily. As much as I loved Eliza, I also enjoyed getting to read from different perspectives, as it adds so much more depth to the story. Victoria Larque did an amazing job writing this novel, as there was truly never a dull moment. I cannot wait to see what she does in book two. I highly recommend this one if you love a good fantasy book!

Thank you NetGalley and Butterdragons Publishing for this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

The book was an easy read, and the storyline was straightforward. We are introduced to one of the main characters, Eliza (aka Fabienne) who escapes the palace dressed as a man to go play trice in one of the seediest parts of town. Her family, desperate to curtail her escapades, hires a professional guard, Rayla, the 2nd main character. Toward the end, we meet Kay, the 3rd main character. However, the book description doesn't really describe the book, but the series. The kingdom of Chardour is looking for alliances, but I didn't get the sense of desperation portrayed in the description. Eliza is loved and cared for, but as the youngest child, the throne won't be hers, until the tragic accident... which wasn't an accident but a calculated murder by a mysterious faction. It's never clear why people want Chardour--is it the mines? Or this mountain Rayla dreams of? Is it something else?

This is an LGTBQ+ novel, and I wished this would have been hinted at in the description. The author did a lovely job of portraying this relationship. It is the book's best asset, in my opinion, and I wanted to see more of their relationship, or better understand why it was such a risk for them to be in love. I would have been happy if this aspect were the driving force for the novel, for I love epic fantasy that turns the trope on its head.

What didn't work for me? I am not a fan of 1st person narration in general, and not for epic fantasy. However, here we get three separate characters, all in 1st person narration, and it was confusing at first. The chapter titles reflect who is "talking," but it still took me some time to adjust from one character to the other from chapter to chapter. The murders, as a storyline to push the plot, felt contrived and came out of nowhere. Then, an assassin enters Eliza's bedroom and stabs her. That also came out of nowhere. In short, there's little suspense or foreshadowing that keeps us on our reading toes. The bit about the rock gems was confusing until I saw the glossary at the end.

Eliza and Rayla fall in love sort of quickly, and given the sexual tension that starts right off the bat, we know they will fall in love. It's a given. Yet, despite how the kingdom is open to these types of relationships, it is somehow forbidden to Eliza. This made no sense at all. Same-sex relationships are OK, yet only a man can ascend the throne? Of if a woman does, she must be married? I found this an annoying inconsistency. More so when the author does an excellent job of portraying Eliza as smart and shrewd, with a sharp wit and sharper tongue, and not a clueless damsel in distress (which was the trope I expected based on the book description).

It was hard for me to care for the characters as a whole, perhaps due to the inconsistencies in terms of character development or perhaps due to the bias going on in this book. I found typos and technical errors, which to me is a flaw in this business. For a period fantasy piece I expected language that aligned, but to have the characters speak as if they were in 2022 California, using current cliches was odd.

Fascinating, bewitching, full of passion, action and magic, I loved it!

At first glance Eliza seems devil-may-care and generally not very princessy, but she is smarter and more capable than some would give her credit for. She knows her way around politics and she dearly loves her family and her kingdom.

What she also loves is to dress up, sneak out of the castle and play Trice with creepy strangers in seedy bars. Because of that her worried parents hire a Dovani to be Eliza’s personal guard. Dovanis are highly skilled and fiercely loyal but also rather pricey so initially Eliza is not very enthusiastic about meeting Rayla. However it soon turns out, that she simply cannot stop thinking about her beautiful protector. As the two women start getting to know and discover each other Eliza’s life takes an unexpected turn. She will not only have to lead her kingdom, she will also need a husband.

I was enthralled by by both the plot and the beautiful writing. The story flows seamlessly and keeps you engrossed from the beginning till the end. It is written from three POV and all three characters are so lovable! Eliza - a force of nature; brave, loving and unstoppable, and Rayla - intriguing and a little mysterious, dedicated to protect Eliza at all cost. Their chemistry was amazing! But I also loved the third person - Kay - a dark and brooding prince... I am so curious how this triangle is going to play out in the next book!

Highly recommended to all romantic fantasy lovers!

TW: loss of loved ones

Thank you NetGalley and Butterdragons Publishing for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.