I received an ARC through NetGalley, and in exchange this is my honest review. (Thank you!)

Right out the gate, I want to be upfront. There are some trigger warnings worth discussing. The MC Gemma suffers some intense panic episodes where she can spiral into self-harm. There's also characters contemplating suicide, and the ending paints dark imagery that can really mess with the mind. (i.e. It gets creepy.) Please read this book with that in mind.

Now, as far as the rest of the book, the readability / pacing of the book was noticeably off for me. It took me until about halfway through to realize what it was that was holding me back from really reading it. After all, the plot and the world are both really intriguing. The characters are definitely ones that I'm invested in, too. But for most of the book, I genuinely couldn't fully immerse myself. Finally, I realized what the issue was: sentence structure.

Sounds silly, right? The book has wonderful description. The dialogue reads just fine too. However, there are sentences scattered throughout the book that are too complex. You have to re-read them to understand the real way of processing the words. I don't know if it's from commas being overly used, or sentences that seem fragmented but really aren't... I don't know. Whatever it is - it makes the writing not entirely correct. This also can be seen from some paragraphs that read similarly: Subject - action - rest of the sentence. (I'm sorry, I'm not an editor nor an English major.) It'll be like "I did this... I painted that... He looked at me this way. I touched him that way..." Do you see what I'm trying to say? An entire paragraph of that makes things more static that what is actually being described.

Under NO circumstances did it actually bother me. Like I said earlier, this was scattered. Only sometimes would a sentence be overly complex, or a paragraph be made of sentences written too similarly. I wound up understanding everything. I do know this will cause issues for people who might find reading comprehension a little more challenging. This book took me 7 days to read, and it's under 500 pages. That's a long time for me.

Still - I always wanted to reach for this book. It starts off feeling a bit like a fantasy regency romance book, then dances its way into an adventure fantasy - only for it to end as this dark fantasy. Oh, and there is spice in here. Thankfully, not too much spice. (After all, there IS a plot afoot.) There's just enough spice to help keep things romantically interesting.

My only plot-related complaint is that some situations seemed to have developed too quickly. I would have loved to have less of Ivyhill in the beginning, and more of the tournament toward the middle. The ending was honestly the best part in its delivery (from the Mist to the end). And speaking of the ending, it leaves things wonderfully set up for the sequel. I'm hoping that things can be a little more fleshed out now that we have a grip on the world building.

Overall, I really did enjoy my experience reading this book. I think I would love it all the more upon a second reading, now that I have an understanding of the world, its people, and some of the quirky writing moments.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anybody who enjoys family curses and bitter feuds. This book is all about breaking those curses and striving to be a better (happier/healthier) person.

I enjoyed this for the most part, even though I felt like I was reading two completely different books smushed together.

Even with the outstanding chronic pain/illness and anxiety rep, I thought Gemma was a boring, whiny, and altogether unlikeable MC. I didn’t think Talan was anything interesting either until closer to the end of the novel, and I’m still not sold on him. Give me more of Ferrin and Ryder! Their relationship dynamic is already the times more interesting with the few crumbs of scenes we got with them.

My biggest issue was with the pacing and overall plot structure. Like I mentioned, I felt like this was two separate books combined. I had no idea why the plot progressed like it did, why the book was so long, or why there needs to be a whole trilogy dedicated to it. I don’t want to give spoilers, but I was confused on why this was compared to ACOTAR, and then the most popular fantasy element was thrown in.

Overall, I think if the author had picked a team in regards of plot (either focusing on the atmosphere of either half all the way through), this could’ve been more enjoyable. The disjointed-ness of it will definitely deter some readers.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled with the first half and did find things got more interesting about 50% in. Overall, the world building was confusing and felt like the author crammed so many different fantasy elements into the book that I wasn't sure the direction she was heading. Readers would benefit from a world map!

What I Liked:
*The spotlight on mental health - panic attacks & Chronic Pain
*Ryder and Mara are interesting characters (I hope Mara and Farrin's stories are more entertaining)

What Didn't Work:
• The world building
• Insistent Pacing
• Talan and Gemma's romance was rushed - I don't understand how they fell in love so quickly
• I wasn't invested in ANY of the characters and would've be okay if anyone of them died
This is her Adult debut novel and it read as YA

I have not read any of Claire Legrand's other books, however I do know her other series is YA and this was her "adult" fantasy debut, unfortunately I found that this still read very much like a YA novel in terms of dialogue overall narrative of the book. Now that isn't necessarily a negative thing, I just personally am not a huge fan of YA. I found the concept super interesting, I love getting lost in fantasy worlds and tuning out reality. The concept of meshing together a Bridgeton like romance with a fantasy plot was a very unique and interesting idea, it drew me in right away and I really enjoyed the chemistry between the two characters!

Unfortunately the book lost me a little in the second half, with all of the new additions it became a little muddled and confusing, it also felt like the 2 halves of the book didn't fit together properly. Gemma as a character was not someone I connected with, I found her unlikeable from the start and unfortunately she did not have much growth in my eyes. I am however looking forward to future books in this world with some of the other characters that I found more enjoyable!

I will continue to read this series as it has intrigued me, this one wasn't a huge hit for me but I did find myself wanting to finish it regardless of the bits of confusion the world building caused me!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
A Crown of Ivy and Glass is Claire Legrand’s adult debut, and from what I’ve seen, it’s received rather polarizing responses. Having now finished it, I understand why, as while there’s potential here, it didn’t blow me away.
The world building is one of the standouts, and I would be open to seeing what Legrand does with it going forward. The pitch of “Bridgerton meets ACOTAR” captures the vibe pretty well, as the world feels somewhat Regency-inspired, but also fairy tale-esque. The world is fun to explore, and if it weren’t let down by some other aspects, I’d have enjoyed it a little more.
Gemma was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I didn’t care for her as much at the beginning, but she grew on me as the book went on. I enjoyed the exploration of the relationship between her chronic pain and her inability to do magic, and how it wasn’t a story that demonized disability. I also enjoyed her complex relationships with her sisters, and they reminded me a little of the aspects of ACOTAR I liked before giving up on that series.
Talan was fine…he’d typically be the type of character I like, being a softer sort of character. But he didn’t feel as well developed to me, and she ended up falling in love with him pretty quick for some inexplicable reason.
The main downfall for me is that this book was so long, and it didn’t feel like it needed to be. It was unevenly paced, droning on in places, and it didn’t feel like a single coherent story, but a couple different loosely connected ones crammed haphazardly together instead.
I do see potential in this series, and I may check out future installments to see how Legrand grows as a writer. And as flawed as this book is, I’d recommend anyone looking for more fantasy romance to give it a chance to see what they think.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluintarily.

This is the first book that I have read by this author and apparently, the first adult fantasy the author has ever written. Frankly, I find that astounding. This book drew me in the from the first page and I just could not put it down. The world building was incredible. Often I find with fantasy novels that I get a bit lost in the world if it's too different or strange, but this was just the right amount of different and strange.

The three sisters at the centre of this book are compelling and beautiful characters with complex emotions. I can't wait to read more about Gemma, Mara and Farrin. I hope the next book focuses more on Mara and Farin, although I believe this story really is about Gemma. At first she seems a little vapid but the pain she hides and the strength she has makes her a more interesting character than her first impression leaves.

Talan is also complex and mysterious. The development of their relationship is heart-wrenching.

I loved Illaria and Gareth, and again, I hope to see more of them in the coming books.

My absolute favourite has to be Rydrer Bask - Farrin and he have something going on beneath the surface, I am sure of it. I am rubbing my hands together gleefully in anticipation of what happens with them.

Can't wait to read the next one - can't believe how quickly I read the first! Hope I don't have to wait too long!!

Okay, so I didnt love this. For an adult fantasy I felt the characters were acting pretty juvenile. There were a lot of subplots and stories going on at once which I found really confusing and hard to stay engaged. I wish we had seen more character development. Maybe that will happen with the next book. Im not sure Im invested enough to pick up the next one, since this was so large and I found tedious to get through

Unfortunately, this just did not work for me. Gemma was too frustrating. She was very silly and stupid within the first two pages, and while I think some of her reactions to things were understandable...an engaging, compelling character also needs to give the reader a reason to be interested in them. Gemma was just a painful, annoying character to spend any time in the head of. The world is really cool, and I am not opposed to reading the other books in this series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

I feel like author wanted to wrote two different books in one. One is kinda regent era romance in fantasy world with some magic, second is full fantasy with whole world building. Unfortunately this two books didn’t connect like they should. First half is interesting, we don’t know much about world and magic but it’s slowly showed to us. There is some mystery to this whole thing. But then something happens and we are left with info dumping, creatures jumping from nowhere and for nothing, to quickly and they are without any purpose only to name drop and fill the page.
Main character is of course “special”, but not in a good way. At first we are led to believe that she’s narcissist and vain and that would be interesting if not for a fact that somewhere in the middle she stops being that and to be true I have no idea what changed her soooo much. For me her whole arc was kinda boring and predictable, and Talan, eh… had so much potential but I think it was wasted by rushed second half of the book. After whole reveal I still didn’t bought why he was acting as he was. To be true I’m interested in story of secondary characters and I would want to read about Bask family.
Romance is so rushed and this whole thing with MC who is not thinking straight but only about jumping love interest was cringey as hell. Unnecessary and without any deeper connection which makes their love not believable.
*

eARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass has a lot of great potential. A spunky protagonist with a crippling disability, strained relationships with her sisters, a literal blood feud with another family, and a dashing man who sets her heart aflame. Oh and there's a bunch of magic and the Most keeping demons and other old powers locked away is falling apart!

A lot of the books focus is put on Gemma's relationship with Talen, but ultimately it is her relationship with her sisters and her would be enemies, the Busk family, that really drives the story. I wish those aspects had been more focused on (and tbh I could've had the romantic subplot slowed down and/or eliminated... Though Talen is Gemma's motivation for all her actions).

Read if you like:
⚔️ Fantasy Books
✨ Magic
♥️ Romance

This one was super fun! I’ve never read anything from this author before but I really enjoyed the way this felt like a regency romance with fantasy elements brought in! It’s definitely action packed and maybe a bit too much going on at times as I did get a little lost, but that could also be just the world building phase of the story.

I also loved the daughter not having magic within a magical family as a plot point as it made me think of Aelin from TOG and I truly loved her character.

Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review!

I have heard good things about this author’s book Furyborn, so I was excited for this. The premise sounded interesting and I was happy to receive an ARC (thank you, NetGalley!)

Unfortunately, this was a slog to get through. I didn’t care for the relationship dynamic between the two sisters, and I found I was not rooting for any of the characters, not even the main girl.

The plot was slow, and I kept wanting more. Kudos for an interesting world, but there was also a bit too much for the reader to follow.

Did have those Bridgerton, acotar, throne of glass, vibes, definitely a compelling fantasy that had me rooting for those imperfect main characters but was a bit too slow-paced and long for me. Interested in the Farrin/Ryder hints and the Basks type of magic.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley (thank you!), and this is my honest review.

Overall, not bad, but also not my fav. I did enjoy the second half onward when things are FINALLY happening, but it took me a month to drag myself through the first half where I just could not understand what was happening (if any at all) and where the story was trying to get to. I am interested in the overall plot and the ideas, so I'd follow just so I can know what will happen.

The writing style is easy to understand and descriptive - but sometimes just too wordy. NGL I skipped through paragraphs at time because it really made no point in character or story development, it's like watching a show where you come back 5min later and they're still talking about the same thing as when you left. The storyline also at times seem pointless - like did she get abducted just so she can have 3 allies???? was it really necessary just so she gets a talisman? Why take us to Basks but mention nothing, and then have Ryder say things like "do you know what we've have to deal with"??? I had questions for the plot at so many points of the story.

Okay character development - at least better than plot being so scattered and only started to pull together on the second half. I did ending up liking most characters, which honestly was probably what kept me reading.

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read this recent novel from an author I enjoy! Sadly, it was not for me and I decided to not keep reading it.

"A Crown of Ivy and Glass" by Claire Legrand is presented as a "romantasy" with intrigue and mistery.

I have loved Legrand's writing style ever since Furyborn, so there is nothing I can say about that other then I enjoyed.. every description, place, feeling.. it really resonates with what I enjoy reading. She did indeed develop further from the empirium tirlogy.

What I didn't enjoy is the fact that this book is not exactly an adult read, at least in my opinion, and that all of the subplots, themes, secondary characters are not well coherent with the main story, if that makes sense. At times it feels like every single suplots is it's own story, rather then serve to the main storyline.

Gemma starts out being a very interesting character, expecially with her magic-repulse-illness.. yet the more you go on the more I lost interest.

I am very saddenerd by this, cause the empirium trilogy is one of my all time favourite fantasy sagas.. but i feel like this book lacks the originality, the immersiveness and the depth that fuyrborn had.

Overhall I do believe this is a nice book if you wish to just be entertained for a while, but if you are looking for something that will ultimately leave something behing, I suggest looking into Legrand's other works.

Nothing makes me more excited than reading a new book by Claire Legrand. She is my most favorite author and I have loved every single one of her books. This was no exception. I loved it. Way too much, perhaps. I may have loved it too much to be able to write a review that will make sense, ha. Five stars, of course.

But where do I even begin with this book? There is so much to write about. So much to say. And I am going to try not to share everything about it. But oh, I have many thoughts. And I simply must share most of them. The writing was absolutely stunning. As always, with a Claire book. I fully fell in love with everything.

This is the first adult book by Claire, which I loved. Felt a little young to me, and that is what I like. So I did not mind that at all. This trilogy will be told from three different sisters. In this one, it was about Gemma, the youngest. Gemma was twenty years old. Mara was the middle one, twenty-two. Farrin the oldest sister, at twenty-four. I cannot wait to read their books as well. Although I very much hate waiting. Hmph. Anyway. It is an adult series, but I felt like it was very much like her Furyborn books in tone and such, which I loved. Gemma felt so young at times. Yet older too. Of course, biggest difference with this book being for adults was the very steamy romance. Sigh. There was a lot of it, haha. And it was perfect. I loved how steamy it was, yet sweet too.

This book tells the story of Gemma. She lives in a world of magic. A world that is somewhat divided in two by a mist that keeps the people safe. As long as they stay away from it. Some people were blessed with magic from the gods, long ago. Gemma and her family were one of those lucky enough. Except that, well. Gemma has no magic. Her parents have magic and her two sisters. But she has nothing. And to make it worse, magic hurts her. Just being near people with magic brings her pain. It was so very heartbreaking.

There is just so much to say about Gemma. I loved this girl. Though she was not easy to love. At least not at first. She seemed kind of mean and all kinds of stuck-up. But she was not truly like that. She was pretty insecure. And she was every kind of lonely. And hurting. Hurting so badly. Which might have been why I loved her most. She had been in pain her whole life, from the magic around her. She was always aching somewhere. That is close to me, as I am too, always. Which just made me connect with Gemma.

She was such a special girl. Fully broken, but trying. Somewhat. She was trying to seem better than she was. Trying to not let people see how much she hurt. And the panic she often had. I loved reading about it. As it was so hurtful and raw and real and honest. I loved it so. Gemma was precious to me. Sure, she often did things I did not agree with, ha. But I loved her. Most especially at the end of the book. Oh, and her family. Gosh. Her mother was not there. Her father was pretty much the worst. Ugh. I truly hated him.

But her sisters. Sigh. We learn so much about Gemma and her two sisters. Mara and Farrin. Both every kind of amazing. I loved them all so, so very much. Mara got taken away as a child, to work as a Rose, protecting everyone from what lived in the mist. They miss her so. Though they visit once a month. That was not nearly enough. I so loved getting to know her. Sigh. And Farrin was amazing as well. I loved her magic with music. She was fierce and loving. And I could not help but ship Farrin with her enemy, haha.

I have so much to write about this book. And I have already written too much. And yet I'm not done, ha. But I will not say too much about the plot of this story. As it was all over the place. And I loved that. This book is all about Gemma. About her slowly learning more about why she has zero magic. And how she might have it anyway. It was a little creepy and all kinds of awesome to read about. This is a book about demons. A book about curses. A book about magical travelling through hedges, haha. A book about love.

Oh. And a book filled with incredible characters. Like the queen of this place. She was ancient, I think. Yet young. And all kinds of interesting to read about. Though we only got to know a little about her. I want to know more. Then there was Illaria and Gareth. Both characters whom I adored. And Ryder with his sister. They were a little crazy but I grew to like them too, haha. I loved Una the dog. There was so much about this book that I loved. The different types of magic. The twists in the story. All of it interesting and exciting.

And then there was Talan. Of course I must mention him. Sigh. The love of this book. The most beautiful man that Gemma has ever seen. She is instantly attracted to him, the moment she sees him. She does go a little crazy around him, ha. But I loved that. Gemma and Talan makes a deal at the start of this book. She will help him fit in with the rich and maybe earn back his family's reputation. And he will help her with the feud her family has with the Basks. How to end it all. They are also on the hunt for a demon together.

Oh, wait. Talan. I loved this boy the very most. Eee. He was all kinds of precious. Beautiful, of course. But so sweet and giving off such vibes of innocence, haha. Which he was not. Well, he was. He was all kinds of complicated and I loved that. He had such a wild story and a wild life. I loved getting to know him. Sure, he did make some mistakes too. And there was some drama that I was not a big fan of. Hmph. But it was nothing that bad. And oh, how I loved him. Talan was the sweetest and he cared so so much for Gemma.

What I loved most about their romance was how gentle Talan was with Gemma. How he took care of her and healed her and helped her. How she got better just by being near him. Though, of course, he did not heal her. She was still all kinds of broken. But she was better with him. And I so loved that. They had their problems, both of them, but oh, how they were perfect together even so. Sigh. Their steamy scenes were the best. But that ending. Ahh. I cannot deal with that ending. I must know more. About everything. Gosh.

There is so much I want to say about the plot of this book. So many spoilers. But I'm not going to mention any of them. This is a book about Gemma and Talan. It's filled with magic and danger. All of the twists. So many secrets. So much pain too. But also hope and love. And I adored every part of this book. I so loved how Gemma and Talan fit together. I loved reading about Gemma and her sisters together. And oh, I did love the ending. But gosh. There are so many things I need answers to. I must have the next book now.

I have seen that there are people who were struggling with this book. And did not love it. And I will say that I somewhat get that. Because this book was a monster to read. It was very full of different types of magic and so many twists kept happening. It was hard to keep up with. But. I loved it. I loved the twists and the different kinds of everything. I loved the writing and I loved the very messed up main character. So, yes. I suppose that this book will not be for everyone. But if you are like me, you are going to love it.

But yes. There were parts of the book that I had some issues with too. But there was nothing that I hated. There was nothing that I wish had been cut out of the book. I loved how everything went together. I wish Gemma had been less of a selfish stuck-up girl at the beginning. But she got better. And I loved her back then too, ha. Of course, what I loved most about her was her pain. I loved that she wasn't perfect, despite pretending to be so to others. I loved that there was no way of easily fixing the broken parts of her. Sigh.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass was just as perfectly incredible as I knew it would be. Full of magic, romance and curses. Full of pain and passion and hope. The sisterly love between the three of them was amazing and I loved it so. The steamy romance was the most I have read in books before and I very much loved it. I know the next two books will be about Farrin and Mara. And I can't wait to know more about them, eee. I do hope there might be some Gemma point of view too. Fingers crossed. I must know more of this world.

I want to say the biggest thank you to Martina at Sourcebooks International for sending me a print ARC of this most beautiful book to read and review early. I shall treasure it forever. It means the most to me and I am honestly just so thrilled to own this one as well. My Claire collection is complete. And it is what brings me most joy. Of course, I have pre-ordered a whole bunch of copies of the finished book, haha. You need this book in your life too. If you love books of magic and twists and secrets you are going to love this one.

I thought this book was really good. Was it perfect? No. But I did love the characters (especially the supporting women - Illaria, Mara & Farrin) and it did pull me in! It definitely kept me surprised with the twists and turns that weren't predictable.

Our main character, Lady Imogen “Gemma” Ashbourne is beautiful, selfish, completely flawed- and she knows it. No self sacrificing heroine trope here. She’s riddled with chronic pain and panic attacks and desperate for relief. She’s lustful, vapid, vain and spoiled, terribly avoidant, yet somehow still charming and rather amusing. She’s truly detestable at the beginning but pitiful enough that we still like her and her character growth through the story is immense. She has a mysterious missing mom, an emotionally distant dad, sisters with incredible powers and for reasons unknown to her, she is incapable of magic like everyone else. Enter Talan D’Astier. Mysterious, handsome, almost too-good-to-be-true love interest to distract her and take away her pain and help her on her mission to feel normal again. Throw in a violent family feud with another magical family, some demons, Gods and all kinds of adventure ensues.

What I loved: Claire Legrand can paint incredible pictures with her words. Her descriptions are vivid and lush and so full of detail, I was completely transported. The details she gives of locations and clothing are particularly lovely and I could clearly picture each person and place she described. One of the other really wonderful things about this story is how it addresses really important topics like chronic pain/illness, depression, self harm, suicidal ideation. Many times our main characters are shown as all powerful, infallible and physically strong. While Gemma might not be a pro at hand to hand combat, and expertly wield magic, she displays a special kind of strength, facing each day while enduring intense pain. By creating characters with these experiences and feelings, Legrand makes a more inclusive cast, one that is relatable to many. Even Talan is not shown as this immovable pillar of strength. He has his own struggles and pain and self loathing and Gemma comes to his rescue more than once, as he does for her. I love the relationship between the sisters - true ride or dies. Farrin and Mara are understanding of why Gemma acts the way she does and they love her unconditionally.

What could’ve been better: I felt like the relationship between Talan and Gemma came on so fast and so strong it was a little hard to believe. I would’ve liked some slower build trust and interest there. Instead, they just immediately trusted and loved each other and hatched a joint plan without any kind of vetting or getting to know each other - it seemed unlikely. And also their constant nicknames for each other - darling, my love, WILDCAT. I could’ve done without those. Lol. I loved that Legrand threw in some twists and turns in the plot that I wasn’t expecting, but I felt like SO much happened and so many different types of characters (demons, fae, Vilia, Brethaeus) were thrown into the last half, it felt a bit like a new world all of a sudden. The mentioning of fae came out of nowhere - that threw me for a loop and I think the plot could have been more successful if the idea of fae was introduced earlier on.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I will definitely be tuning in to the next book because I have so many questions left…. You can bet I’ll be waiting for some answers in book 2!

A big thank you to Netgalley & Sourcebooks Casablanca for the advanced copy of this book!

This, unfortunately, was not the book for me.

I think I'd read the summary and somehow missed the comps that it was Bridgerton x ACOTAR, and I don't particularly love the voice of regency romance. In addition, it contains my two least favorite tropes: unlikeable main characters who never, ever consider that other people might know things they don't, and insta-love.

Gemma is childish, and selfish, and very little about her was interesting enough to keep me reading, and I found the plot introduction of Talan to be just too obvious. He has no interesting features other than his interest in Gemma and his attractiveness. That may be part of the genre, but alas, not my particular cup of tea.

Hopefully it finds it's home with other readers!

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablance for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 21%

I keep seeing a lot of hype out there for this book (TikTok I'm looking at you), and I was really excited when I recieved the opportunity to review an ARC of this because I've loved the authors previous works.

But this was just not it. At least for me.

I got about 30% into this before I had to accept that I just wasn't enjoying it at all. I found the main character to be pretty bleh, and the interactions with the love interest didn't pull me in.

I really wanted to love this read, but I just couldn't.