Intoxicating! Claire Legrand weaves such a spell of a story with its twists and turns, fiery romance, and other-worldly wonders; it’s so difficult to put down. Ready for a sequel!

Truly unique characters that had such depth and emotion. I would have enjoyed seeing more of an unreliable narrater or more points of view. Still a very fun story and plot that touch on serious issues that affect many people in the real world.

In this magical world, we have Lady Gemma who is pretty much abandoned by her family; she goes through society thinking that she wants it all. However, she does not possess magic and is limited by her abilities. However, she meets Talan, a mysterious, handsome young man who brings with him issues that she needs desperately to fix, for herself and her family.

Having read previous books by Claire Legrand, I was expecting more or less the same. However there were too many incongruities in the storyline to make sense and it distracted me in a way that I could not feel the characters and their dilemmas. So many twists and turns, it seems we go forth one way with Talan, and then, two steps back. Many times I wondered how the characters could think and do what the author described. I am still interested in reading the sequel with the feuding families. Will it be a fantasy Romeo and Juliet?

For fans of Sarah J Maas, Jennifer L Armentrout, and Robin LaFevers, this adult fantasy will take you on a steamy romp into the darker side of passion, trauma, and magic.
Imogen, known as Gemma, is the only non-magical member of her gods-gifted family. Her father and middle sister granted incredible strength and fighting skills, her eldest sister gifted with the ability to stop anyone in their tracks with her enchanting voice - and Gemma, whose is debilitated being in the mere presence of magic. She has been handled like a fragile, and uselessly decorative, object her whole life. But when the appearance of a mysterious stranger arrives at her family's manor seeking aid, even while a long-running feud between her family and northern wilding family, the Basks, reaches a fever pitch of cruelty and violence, Gemma is yanked into intrigue and danger. Demons, monsters, curses, necromancers, and more await!
I just reviewed A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand. #NetGalley

This was a nice update on the series and I’m so so so so very glad I got into this series because it was AMAZING. I can’t wait for the sequel !

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

This book was not what I expected. I was hoping for more Bridgerton vibes but it fell flat.

The main character was off putting. I understand she was supposed to be a morally gray character but it just fell flat. Gemma complained a lot and she even knew she did. The things that were meant to endear her to us instead made me more exasperated. She ignored a lot of red flags and as the reader it was frustrating. Also magic making her ill just didn’t flow well? Sometimes she would be in pain and other times it was like she didn’t notice.

Talan is the typically dreamy male counterpart. He has no personality until about 60-70% in the book. It was easy to tell something didn’t fit with him as Gemma was instantly in love with him. He kind of came and went. Which didn’t make much sense.

Overall I enjoyed the world and magic in this book. I think there were some major turn offs (her allergic to magic, the father situation, the revenants, her sisters). I don’t really know what to expect for book 2 as I don’t really know what the over arching plot will be. There were too many sub plots in my opinion. So the reader felt like they were pulled in too many directions.

I was prepared to really like this book. the premise was intriguing - a young woman from a magical family who becomes ill around magic. But I had trouble getting into it, It did not engage me and the story did not flow. I also found the main character to be unlikable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have not read anything previously by this author, but with this book alone, I’d be likely to not read anything else which is a huge bummer because the blurb and synopsis of this book really sounded so exciting. I noticed that other reviewers have felt similarly, but have said that the author’s other books are worth the time so I won’t write them off entirely.

This is supposed to be an adult debut, but it truly felt juvenile. You wouldn’t be able to tell it isn’t YA until you read the mature scenes and that isn’t a good indicator for me. The FMC was wholly unlikable and not in a fun way. I didn’t relate to her and the romance didn’t have a good spark for me.

I was given this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really do not enjoy writing bad reviews, but... here I go.

The idea for the plot was really neat, so I was initially excited to get my hands on it. A book about a girl who gets physically ill around magic while the rest of her family can wield their own power with ease? A hot mystery guy who needs help regaining honor to his family’s name? A deadly feud between two powerful families? Sounds interesting! Unfortunately, this book, in my opinion, was poorly executed. The writing style felt extremely juvenile despite its target audience being 18+.

The protagonist, Gemma, was incredibly obnoxious. I do not think I have ever been so disappointed in/annoyed with a main character in my life. There was too much back and forth between “I am so stunning everyone loves me *wink*” to “oh my gosh look how ugly I am let me make sure everyone knows how sad I feel.” As someone who has battled with self-harm, I was irked with how her struggle was portrayed. It made me cringe, it made me angry, and it felt entirely too forced. I appreciate the desire to portray this very real side of mental illness, but I think it could have been done more naturally and without romanticizing pain.

In addition, the dialog, particularly between Gemma and Talan, was cringeworthy. Two seconds after these two meet, they are tenderly kissing cheeks and foreheads and calling each other “darling” and “love.” Nope. I am not a fan of insta-love, but I can usually move past my preferences if the story and the connection is illustrated well. I could not swallow the pill so easily in this story.

There is nothing left to say, other than I think this book needs to be revised before publishing.

Umm… I enjoyed it… but I am still not really sure what was going on…. There was not a very clear outline and I am not sure if I just didn’t pick up on it or what…

I found myself skin reading to stay engaged… I am not exactly sure that I will continue with this series.

Couldn’t get into the book despite being very interested. Main character was very selfish and whiny which made it difficult to engage with the novel.

First, there was A Court of Thorns and Roses. Then, there was From Blood and Ash. Now, there is A Crown of Ivy and Glass.

Synopsis (no spoilers)
Gemma Ashbourne appears to have it all; stunning good looks, riches beyond measure and a social life unrivaled in all of Edyn. But all that glitters is not gold, and behind the shiny visage, Gemma hides secrets; some she knows, some she doesn't. A handsome stranger, a painful magic and a demonic influence threaten to bury Gemma beneath everything she's ever run from and leave her wondering if that wouldn't be the worst thing.

As a huge fan of fantasy stories, A Crown of Ivy and Glass ticked every single box for me. From spectacular, fast paced action, a tender love story, strong, brave female characters, fun side kicks (Gareth!), this book was a feast for the mind from the first page to the last.

I almost felt that this story could be an allegory for any young woman of this day and age. Like so many of us, Gemma struggles with violent anxiety and deals with it in a number of unhealthy ways I am sure many reads can empathize or even connect with. Her confrontation of "demons" both literal and figurative felt very real to someone like me, who also has a generalized anxiety disorder and struggles with panic. To watch Gemma grow and use her strengths, weak as they may seem in the beginning, and find herself and her power, was so invigorating and validating for anyone who has ever struggled with anxiety.
Claire Legrand's debut adult novel is a triumph. The first of a trilogy, it is tremendously exciting, full of exquisite beauty and pain in equal measure, characters you fall in love with and villains in every form (wink wink).

I, unfortunately, had to DNF around 30%. I couldn’t force myself to keep going. The concept and magic system are amazing. But the storyline started to stagnate after a fairly intense beginning. The friendships and relationships weren’t fleshed out well. I appreciated the chronic pain rep as someone with chronic pain, but the plot wasn’t strong enough to keep me interested. Thank you for the galley.

First off, thanks so much to Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an ARC of this book! I was so excited when I received it in the mail, as it’s been sitting pretty high on my wishlist of books to read in 2023. I wasn’t Legrand’s most ardent fan with her YA trilogy (I found that it began to fall into a few too many YA fantasy tropes for my preference), but there was never any question regarding her overall skill as an author. Her writing always came across as supremely confident and competent. That made me all the more excited to check out her first foray into adult fantasy, especially adult fantasy romance! Let’s dive in!

Gemma has grown up with a very priveleged existence: rich, beautiful, and a member of one of the most powerful families in the land. But, at the same time, Gemma has always felt herself to be on the outside looking in. Not only does she not possess any of the magical talent that her family is known for, and that both of her older sisters excel at in their own ways, but magic actively hurts Gemma, causing her to move through life in a very magical world experiencing constant levels of pain. When Gemma meets Talan, a young man who also feels that he exists outside the strictures of society, she finally begins to see a way forward, teaming up with him to hunt a powerful demon who may be the answer to her struggles with magic. But along the way, she begins to suspect that there is much more going on with Talan and the larger world as a whole.

So, I’ll be honest, I’ve had this post started for a few weeks now and every time I pull it up to actually write my review, I become super intimidated and find excuses to do other things. Mostly this is because I’m still not quite sure how I feel about this book! I have some extremely opposing feelings about almost every part of it. But one thing I think I can confidently start with is one of the things I referred to in my introduction: this author knows how to write. I immediately felt drawn into this world and these characters. As the story progressed, the magic and world itself felt as if it was unrolling before me, presenting more and more insights into the world-building that was on a much more grandiose scale than I had originally thought. Regardless of anything else in this review, the appeal of Legrand’s prose is enough to keep me reading this trilogy going forward.

But where my opinions become more divided is with the characters and the pacing of this story. Let’s start with the pacing and plotting. This book was blurbed as “Bridgerton meets ACOTAR.” Maybe I should have know right from there that I would be conflicted about this book! I mean, I really enjoy Bridgerton and I absolutely loathe ACOTAR. And I can confirm that both of those references feel very on point and accurate to what you’ll get if you pick up this book. I’ll even go as far as to say that the ACOTAR aspects were by no means as frustrating to me as ACOTAR itself. Indeed, I very much liked these parts of the story! No, the problem came in a very unique way. The book almost literally feels as if it has been split down the middle by these two comparisons. The first half is Bridgerton, with fantastical balls, social hierarchies, fancy gowns, and romance. And then, boom! The second half hits and we’re full on ACOTAR with magical barriers and fantasy creatures and magical systems. And, again, I enjoyed this half too! The problem is that, overall, it left the book feeling very disjointed and created a jarring reading experience. I was all down for the regency fantasy, and then it was like a bait and switch to suddenly be dropped down into a much more “traditional” fantasy setting. And due to the fact that much of the plot really takes place in the second half, I was left feeling as if the book could have been edited down quite a bit from the Bridgerton stuff of the beginning, as much as I liked it on its own.

Now, to the characters. First, I think that Legrand did an excellent job of portraying the experiences and life of someone who lives with chronic pain. Gemma is very straight-forward with her struggles while also never becoming self-pitying. She is frustrated with her limitations, while also not belittling herself. I also really like the way this aspect of her character plays out over the entire arc of the book. Unfortunately, that was about all I liked about Gemma. I get that the author was very intentionally writing this character as rather frivolous and selfish; indeed, Gemma herself comments on these aspects of her personality. And I think the book used these traits to also do a great job of diving into self-loathing and self-harm. But over the course of the book, while Gemma does experience growth, I still struggled to really like her or feel invested in her story.

But, here comes the other side of the character issue: I REALLY liked both of her sisters. Honestly, fairly quickly into the book I realized that I was mostly reading on for the glimpses we get of these two and trying to piece together the stories we’ll get from them. I was even more invested into the glimpses of what I can only guess will be the central romance for one of the sisters than I was in Gemma’s own romance. There, too, I struggled with Gemma’s story. Talan felt very one-note when he was first introduced. And then as he went on, he had a few scenes that made him incredibly unlikable. The story does go on to make this a fairly central part of the plot, but it’s hard to recover from on the romance front when the author sets the reader on a path of questioning and disliking the romantic hero from the very start.

So, overall, this was a very mixed bag for me. I think, in the end, I didn’t end up loving this book. But, BUT!, on the other hand, I’m supremely invested in the next book in this series and can’t wait to get my hands on it! Given the nature of my complaints with this book, they all feel of the very specific sort that won’t be a problem in the books going forward. Both sisters seem like much more interesting characters than Gemma. The romantic interest/plot for one of them is already laid out and is incredibly appealing. And I think the world-building is now established enough that we won’t have the same plotting/pacing issue going forward where the tone is unclear between Bridgerton or ACOTAR. So, all of this to say, while I did struggle with this book, I do recommend it for fantasy romance readers based on my faith that the trilogy will turn out to be well worth it as a whole.

Rating 7: A very mixed bag for this book specifically, but I was definitely sold on the concept and anxiously await the next entry in the trilogy!

Link will go live in May

I enjoyed this story! I haven't read the other popular series by this author so I went into this with no expectations. I have heard from other readers that they were let down, but that was not my experience. I really enjoyed this story. My only complaint would be the pacing. It felt slow at some points and then all of a sudden really picked up. If that's not your style, you may need to skip.

It was a great book and very enjoyable. Good start for a series. I thought it flowed well with an interesting characters. The storyline was unique.

I was nervous about all of the low ratings for this book, and sadly I now understand why. While there were interesting things about it - the magic system, demons, ancient feuds, anxiety rep, etc., the negatives outweighed the positives for me.

For one, there were so many descriptions that I just did not care about especially when they made the book even longer. I didn’t care for the MC or the romance, it honestly made me feel nothing. I felt like a whole new plot was introduced in the last third of the book which was very odd and there was just too much going on. While I would be interested in learning more about some of the side characters, it’s not enough to make me continue the series.

3 stars, maybe even 2.5 but I hate giving low ratings.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand is a new adult fantasy romance from a legendary author. The story revolves around Gemma Ashbourne, whose family was Anointed and given magical abilities. However, Gemma is the only one who doesn't have any magical powers. One day, she makes a deal with the handsome Talan, and the two start to fall in love. But when Gemma starts developing powers of her own, all bets are off. Can Gemma learn to control her powers and use them to save her family?

Here is an enchanting excerpt from Chapter 1:

"I never liked visiting my sister Mara, though I loved her so desperately that sometimes I found myself convinced the feeling was not love at all, but something much fouler: guilt, bone-crushing shame, a confused, defensive revulsion.
...
Fortunately—or unfortunately, according to Farrin—no one in the Ashbourne family could be described as conventional. Centuries ago, at the time of the Unmaking, hundreds of families were chosen by the gods to receive kernels of their power and serve as guardians of Edyn, the human realm. Our family was among them—one of the great Anointed clans. Yet even among our Anointed peers, we stood apart. Generations of eminent magicians, shrewd investments, and even shrewder political maneuvering will do that—a reality that Farrin despised."

Overall, A Crown of Ivy and Glass is a creative adult fantasy romance that will appeal to fans of From Blood and Ash or ACOTAR. One highlight of the book is the extravagant and dramatic ballroom scene. The plot really gets exciting after that scene. Another highlight is Iris's cool glamor powers. I really enjoyed reading how Iris learns to use her powers. If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that I had trouble connecting with Iris's character. I felt sometimes that she tried too hard to be beautiful and lovely. I'm not sure if that makes sense. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy books in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in May!

I have seen a lot of anticipation for this book, and though it had been a while since I last picked up anything from this author, I thought this was one book I would be nice to pick up. The premise and the world-building sounded promising. This was an author known for epic fantasies and one of the most popular authors BookTokers loved to trounce out to other readers especially if they wanted an introduction to epic fantasy of beautiful characters, magnificent world-building, and a storyline that will draw you into.

This series is being touted as a cross between ACOTR and the Bridgeton books. I read the latter when I was a teenager a long, long time ago. Those books were seen as nothing more than cheesy bodice-ripping historical romances. Though this does have the feel of a historical regency romance, it leans more toward the high fantasy romance. A world built around myth and magic and where our female lead has none of it running through her veins. Her family is prestigious and rich with magic running through their veins, but our female lead cannot even be around it. It causes constant chronic pain. She is even often ignored and forgotten by her own father and sister, Farrin. Her own mother had abandoned them. On top of that, they came for her sister, Mara, and took her to Middlemist where she would become part of the female warriors of shapeshifters and priories of Rosewood meant to protect the human realm of Edyn against deceitful magic. Her own family is embroiled in a blood feud against the mysterious family of Bask from the North. A feud caused by a demon called The Man with the Three-Eyed Crown.

But it all changes when she meets Talan d'Astier - a charming, mysterious, and sarcastic man. Gemma is drawn to him as he is to her and the two of them set out to find The Man With The Three-Eyed Crown, navigate their way through the UpperCrust of Society, and destroy the Bask Family.

This book was surprisingly a great read. I loved the world-building and the mix of regency within. The only downside to this is I am not quite fond of Gemma. Though she is not a perfect character, her personality seems a bit terrible. She's the youngest of three and her behavior shows it - she's selfish, vain, and dismissive. All the characteristics that made me dislike her the moment she came on the scene. I wanted to like her further as the storyline progressed but I didn't really see anything redeemable about her. Maybe I was just annoyed with her and just could connect with her any further.

This book is the first in a trilogy and I am hoping the other sisters will prove to be better than Gemma.

Overall, this first book is promising and I am looking forward to seeing how the trilogy plays out.

I absolutely loved this book. The summary is kind of vague when I think back on it, but I think it's good to go into this book a bit blind. I loved the magic in this world and how much it is woven into everyday life. I also love the characters and their relationships. We get to see a love story as well as the relationship between sisters which is one of my favorite relationships to see in a fantasy novel. Claire Legrand has created such a beautiful and interesting fantasy world filled with mystery and adventure. There was never a second where I was bored. I cannot wait to see where the rest of this series goes!