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!

As a fan of Legrand's books, I was so excited to get this ARC from NetGalley that life around me ceased to exist. Taking me two days to finish, barely eating and sleeping I was able to close my Kindle and sigh. I love this book. I'm not sure why there are low stars for this one. Clearly Gemma is the baby of the family and has much growth to overcome as the book progresses. Plus, I understand Gemma's panic/anxiety attacks. If this makes her seem juvenile then you don't understand the illness. I also love how I can picture the world Legrand created without diving into too much detail. It's creative and thoughtful and enjoyed how the estranged sisters find each other (emotionally) again. I can totally see a book 2 with Farrin and Ryder. Is he the mysterious boy that saved her from the fire? It would totally explain so much of the angst he feels and why she is so against him. Because writing a song about him would totally be contradictory to her feelings of their family nemesis. So here's to me shouting out, "Book 2" "Book 2"!

A fun fantasy that promises to keep you entertained for 3 books! I will admit it took me a second to get into, but once the magic (and romance!) really amped up, I was hooked! Can’t wait for the rest of the series.

The first time I read Claire Legrand was when I read the Empirium Trilogy in 2020. I loved that trilogy and everything that Legrand did with it. That’s why I am torn over this book. A Crown of Ivy and Glass is Legrand’s debut adult fantasy novel. There were things that I liked and then there were things that just personally did not work for me.

What I liked:

I really enjoyed world building. Legrand is very good at creating whole fantasy worlds with their own god, magic, and political systems that always have a unique twist to them.

Also, I enjoyed the sisterly relationship that was healed throughout the story. We start the story with a rift between the three sisters, Gemma, Mara, and Farrin, but as the story progresses we see this relationship start to heal itself. Speaking of the sisters, I am very interested in Farrin, her power, how her story will play out, and the love interest that I think she will have.

What did not work for me:

Gemma. I liked certain aspects of her character and enjoyed the chronic pain representation through her character. However, she was young and naïve and was the type of FMC that personality wise I have a hard time relating to. I did enjoy seeing her character development throughout the book and by the end of the book I feel like she matured, but until that point it was hard for me to fully engage with her personality and story.

The romance. This book is marketed as a fantasy romance but I honestly did not connect with the romance or enjoy it. It was very insta-love and naïve, which put together is a romance that I have a hard time engaging with. There was no tension to this romance that made me feel like they worked for it. The tension between Farrin and Ryder, who were side characters at this point, was better and I looked forward to them being on the page more than Gemma and Talan.

The pacing. I’m sorry but the pacing was not the best. It took me until 80% into this book to FULLY engage with it and not put the book down. Parts of the story also felt disjointed at times, like there was no clear plot line being followed. There are definitely three separate sections of the book, with what it felt like three different plot lines that didn’t connect together. By the end of the book I can see how it all aligns, but to get there it was bumpy.

The genre marketing. Genre wise this felt more strict fantasy/ horror fantasy then fantasy romance. You could argue it is romantic fantasy, but to the romance was not center stage in this story, so that does not make it a fantasy romance.

Overall I am not fully impressed with this book story wise, however I do plan on reading the rest of the series. The ending leaves a lot open for future books, and as mentioned before I am very interested in Farrin’s story which I think will be next (if you go by context clues in the book).

Bridgerton meets ACOTAR is certainly an apt comparison for this new series. I enjoyed the high society lifestyle but there were enough fantasy elements to keep a broad range of readers happy. Although I didn’t love Gemma as a character, she had a lot of depth and I appreciated the intensity the author wrote into her, along with the chronic pain and panic attacks. It was nice to have a point of difference. The familial bonds were well developed and all the characters were fully depicted with depth and believability. Some of the fantasy elements were a bit rushed. The love story was decent but I didn’t adore it. I’m usually a fast reader and this book took me quite a while to get through, not that it was uninteresting, it kept me wanting more, it just seemed to keep going and going and going, which is unusual in a book. I enjoyed it, though didn’t love it. I’d probably read the next book when it gets released, but I won’t be knocking on the door of the bookshop like I would with other follow up books. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I’d definitely read more by the author. I’d love to see it made into a tv series or movie, which is not something I’d usually want to see. Different enough to make it worth the read. A solid 3.5-4 out of 5.

This did not work for me. Nothing about it felt coherent or cohesive. I had trouble finding a singular pull through thread that made this a solid book.

The MC doesn't have much character growth, and I constantly felt like I was reading a YA title. because of the immaturity of the MC and the writing.

I was surprised when I came to back to review this book to see it listed as adult not YA, as the writing style is a bit immature for an adult book and the main character is obnoxious and spoiled with pick me girl energy. The insta love I can put up with in YA, but in an adult book where the protagonist is written to be (deliberately?) unlikable, the romance just comes across as very forced. I struggled to get through the start of the book, but I would put that largely down to the protagonist more than anything else. I did enjoy the book as it went on and the MC grew as a person, but the plot took a while to get going and I lacked connection with the MC at the beginning.
All of this isn't to say that it was a bad book - it was good butforgettable and slow moving with a writing style not properly crafted to the audience it is marketed for.
The world building is wonderful with deep history and lore given to the magic system and the world. This is a dark fantasy (check trigger warnings before you read) with plenty of twists and turns and I can see it doing well with a wider audience as it contains all the familiar tropes and themes we have come to expect from a run of the mill romantasy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Casablanca for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was super excited to receive an arc of this book since I consider Furyborn such a classic ya fantasy. There were definitely a lot of aspects throughout A Crown of Ivy and Glass that brought back Furyborn just because of the same writing style and inclusion of certain tropes. Personally though, I think that if I had to choose a favorite it would be Furyborn because the initial concept was definitely stronger and more fleshed out.
There was so much about this book that drew from other concepts within the genre while also giving a concept that I have never seen before. Main character Gemma is born into a world where families derive magic from different gods from ancient times. Her own family has magic as well as a wealthy estate. Yet Gemma herself does not have magic, and gets ill when it is used around her. Curses come into play as well when it seems that a demon has fated Gemma's family to a feud with another family, the Basks. This aspect of the story reminded me a lot of Sorcery of Thorns, so I think for readers who liked that consider this a similar new adult storyline.
I felt that this book tried very hard to be inclusive and have representation, but from my perspective it wasn't able to accomplish that intention. There were almost no characters of color except for the main character's best friend, who was there only to be helpful to Gemma when she was in trouble. Personally I felt that if there was going to be an attempt made at including diversity perhaps allowing there to be multiple characters of color who served a real purpose in the plot would have been a better choice.
I also struggled to find any of the characters in the book likeable. Gemma spent the entire book desperately seeking validation from men who deceived her. Her love interest, Talan, seemed to have no personality. This may have been purposeful on the author's part given that she did begin the book by trying to frame the main character as someone who had accepted her selfishness and greed and was owning it. However this was never really touched upon again in the book so Gemma's character did not have a clear development over the course of the novel.
All in all I gave this book three stars because it kept me entertained. It was a typical new adult fantasy book, complete with magic, curses, monsters, and battles. The concept was good and there was certainly a lot that could have been done with it, so I wanted to come back and read more to find out what would happen next. But I was just a little bit disappointed with the obvious nature of the plot twists and lack of strong development for the main characters. There was both too much and not enough happening and often problems seemed to come out of nowhere or be solved by essentially nothing. I think this is a great read for someone who has been in a reading slump or craves a story that they know they can count on because it is something similar to so many other fantasy books they love.

No one is more disappointed in this rating than me. I had the highest of hopes for this book. It is one of my most anticipated reads for this year and it failed me so spectacularly I’m actually shocked and internally cringing to have to write this review.

The one thing I did find intriguing was the magic system and lore. It was interesting enough that I wanted to learn more about it. The ancient magic, demons, gods, and other aspects were a highlight that I felt should have been focused on more to make the story more captivating.

I really hated the main character, didn't like her at all. She wasn’t relatable nor someone I could empathize with. Most of the time I was surprised at how much of a spoiled brat she was. Honestly, I think her sister would have made for a much better POV. Although I don’t always hate instalove, this one just had zero spark. It was very lackluster, with no tension or real feelings conveyed to me.

The plot felt super low stakes, and I wasn’t getting the motivations nor feeling any sense of urgency. The driving incident, if it could be called such, wasn’t driving anything for me. Between the lack of connection to the characters, and the less than thrilling plot, I kept wondering why I should really care, as nothing felt seemingly important or interesting enough for me to continue.

Overall, it just wasn’t the experience I was hoping for. My biggest point of contention being that it failed to make me care enough. Unfortunately, I think a lot of readers will be similarly disappointed. This is a long book and I don’t know that many will be hooked enough to finish it, nor continue with the series.

The concept of the book is amazing! I was soooo excited when I got accepted for an ARC. But I had to push myself to make it 10% if the way through before DNFing it.

It was too childish to be adult, but also way too wordy to be YA. It felt confusing as a reader to figure out what it was going for. And I know I didn’t give it much of a chance, but if I’m not invested at the 10% mark, it’s likely not going to happen.

Some sections were over detailed and became confusing, the build up of relationships was too quick, felt forced and unbelievable. It was tough. I hate it, trust me I hate this rating and review, but it was tough.

I truly love the bridgerton type world that was created in this book. it was a perfect blend of fantasy and romance with characters to die for. I ate this book up in one sitting and could not put it down. The main character is fun and witty and her choices were entertaining to watch!

Thank you to Source books Casablanca and Netgalley for the review copy of A Crown of ivy and glass by Claire Legrand.

It's a fairly dark story with a flawed female main character. Imogen, often called Gemma is beautiful and she knows it. She is rich, indulgent and leads a fairly superficial life. She also lives with chronic pain and panic attacks and has some pretty unhealthy coping mechanisms.

There is a lot of world building in this adult fantasy novel but it unfolds really slowly so I was never confused or overwhelmed.

It's a pretty twisty read. There is a lot of fantasy elements humans with various kinds of magical abilities, warrior women who turn into creatures, revenants, demons, gods, fae.

Everytime I thought I knew where the story was going some new, totally unexpected thing happened to Gemma and she grew and changed so much throughout this story.

Trigger warnings for panic attacks, self harm, suicidal idealisation

Looking forward to book two in this new series. I have previously read two other books by the author Sawkill girls and an ARC of Furyborn. I plan to re read Furyborn some time soon and continue that series.

This review will have my feelings about the book but I can fully see why so many people were raving about this book even before it came out. I personally did not love it as much as the hype made it out to be.

Overall this book is a perfectly fine fantasy romance, so it will probably do quite well and have a bit of a fandom. However, I was not a fan for a few reasons.

The book starts off like a straight fantasy romance. It is pretty compelling and enjoyable for a bit, but the pacing of that first part does not match the length of the novel. It makes a switch partway through that feels like it wants to be a more serious attempt at fantasy instead of just romance. That vibe isn’t present in the first half as much, so it’s a bit sudden and jarring.

The connection to the plot elements just wasn’t there for me. There were also some tropes and trends that felt similar to other series I do not care for which made it a bit difficult to get into.

Positively though, I did not feel there was an abundance of infodumping or monologuing that so often plagues fantasy books that spend too much time of one element and not enough on world building.

This book took me a while to finish but once I was about 50% of the way it really hooked me. The book's first half is a lot of the world-building and the societal gossip that Imogen loves, including their rival family, the Basks, but at the halfway point the magic and hinting of other worlds really takes over. I hated Talan at first and still don't trust him but I started to like him better by the end. Not to give spoilers but I am excited about the foreshadowing of one of the Basks, Ryder and Imogen's sister Farrin. Will definitely be picking up the next book in this series!

This author was new to me, and I found the premise of the book very intriguing. I love Fantasy, and the world-building that goes with that. I think Legrand did a wonderful job describing this new world and its mythology. Unfortunately however, this novel fell flat for me and I found it very difficult to finish. At times it would hook my interest, but then it would get boring, or it would take such a strange turn that I didn't know what to make of it.

Although it is certainly a Fantasy novel, there are also elements of Horror, and sometimes a little bit of Mystery. That all sounds wonderful, but it just didn't work this time. To me, it was all over the place. The final nail in the coffin is that I found most if not all of the characters unlikable, including the main character (especially the main character)!

So with a cast of characters I couldn't get invested in, and a plot that I found confusing or uninteresting, I had to give this book a 1 star.

Oh, this was such a wonderful book! I've read most, if not all of her YA books, but I think this is her first adult. And it sounded like it was going to be a great time reading it, and it was! I loved the story, and oh, the world was so compelling!

This world where the gods died, but gave their gifts to people, on purpose or by chance, and with the Middlemist that divides this continent in half was so interesting! When you add in demons and the inhabitants of the Middlemist, it was rich and detailed and I loved it!

It was just that sometimes Gemma just would make awful decisions that sometimes it was a bit frustrating following her perspective. I understand why she was doing it, because she was in pain, and I get that, on a minor way with the amount of pain that I'm in on a daily basis. But still, wrong choices were deliberately being made! Bah!

Oh, but the way things came together in that ending? That was so fantastic! I'm pretty sure that I read that each book in this series was going to follow a different sister, and I can't wait to see what's going to happen next!

This was a fantastic read, and I can't wait to read the sequels!

This is Claire Legrand's first adult title, although she is the author of Furyborn, a best-selling YA title, and this new start to a new series is absolutely wonderful. There is excellent world-building and deeply layered, flawed but fascinating characters as well as plenty of action and suspense.
Gemma Ashbourne is the youngest of three sisters, and feels that she is so much less than they are because, unlike them, she has no magic. In fact, being around magic makes her sick. While her family is rich and socially connected, and except for Gemma, rife with magical talent, there is a deep sadness caused by a near fatal fire fourteen years before the story opens, and the abandonment of her mother soon after that. Gemma's father and oldest sister, Farrin, are absorbed in handling their estate and with the blood-feud with the Bask family, while her middle sister, Mara, was taken to the Middlemist to help guard the border against dark magic.
Then Gemma meets Taran d'Astier, a devastatingly handsome, mysterious man with many secrets, both helpful and frightening. The relationship between the two of them starts out shaky, but ever so slowly evolves into something that strengthens both of them and allows them to grow into the people they are meant to be.
I love seeing all the unfolding facets of both characters, indeed of all of the characters, and how they grow during the course of the story. I highly recommend this book and am eagerly looking forward to the next book of the series.