Good, fast paced read. I thoroughly enjoyed how the different worlds were explored and found most of the characters highly engaging. Nice read especially when you need a break from some of the heavier fantasy books

I throughly enjoyed this book. I would rate it a 3.5 stars but round it up to 4 only because it was nothing original. This book just took tropes from other popular fantasy books and meshed them together. It was interesting though, I had a hard time putting it down and will probably purchase a print copy when it comes out. Valerie is a bad ass and look forward to see what happens next!

From the opening, the Woke religious dogma is pushed, and the reading suffers. From using the pronoun “them” instead of “it” for a bird, to glass bottles and frequent teen sex with no complications, it’s just one bit of indoctrination of what some consider the new morals to the next. Not an entertaining read.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. When I started reading this book I thought I wasn’t going to like it as much as I did. I really enjoyed reading this book. About half way through the book I thought I kew all the plot twist that were about to happen but I was wrong. I really liked the unexpected surprises. The book is about a princess called Valeria who is raised in the mortal realm after she has been exiled after her mother’s murder, to keep her safe. She is the heir to the throne of the Empyrean realm. When she is returned to her father after 18 years, the empyrean realm is not as perfect as she had been told.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Overall this was honestly a really fun book to read and it kept me on my toes for most of the book. I was initially a bit off-put at the start since it's one of those urban/fantasy world combinations and usually, I get an ick from that. But surprisingly it was written in a way that was rather refreshing, and the humor was top-tier.

I do wish there had been a bit more explanations here and there during the book when it came to the fantasy politics/magic system because I found myself a bit lost or confused here and there. On the flip side though the fantasy worlds were plotted out and created super well, and it felt like a very complete world.

Valeria was a super fun character to follow and I loved the question of morals that started to happen as the book got later, and once again the humor was amazing in this whole book. There was one part where I was slightly annoyed with her because she seemed to move on too fast from love interest to love interest (specifically the part where she just sorta forgot about Gideon), but despite that, I was very happy in the end.

This was honestly such a fun book to read despite a little bit of messiness during the later middle of the plot. It started out super strong and ended on an even stronger note in my book. The writing was fantastic and the plot really kept me focused, and I'm so curious about where this series will go next!

This book is a wild ride of emotions, it was addictive, I couldn’t put it down and am left wanting more.
Amazing work building, badass flawed female lead, love interests and power plays!
The start felt YA but things got dark!
Absolutely loved it.
5 ⭐️

Wow. What an amazing experience reading this book was. I felt drawn in my Valeria and her 'issues' as an outcast in the Realm of Mortals, her struggles in Empyrean with trying to adapt to her new life as Princess despite her fathers misdemeanours towards her and her struggles with trying to remain good in the Realm of the Forsaken. It was funny, tantalising and I could not put the book down. There was spice and smut but it was so minimal it didn't detract from the story at all, but added a little extra so as a reader you could feel the attraction yourself.

If there is a second book to follow on, I am definitely picking it up!

From the start of this book, readers understand that the main character, Valeria, is a badass. Valeria is an Empyrean princess exiled to the mortal realm because her father didn't want to deal with her. In her time in the mortal realm, she's struggled with being an outcast and has one friend Mason. On her 18th birthday, she has to return to the Empyrean realm.

Valeria's commentary throughout the story is relatable and witty. Lara Buckheit's worldbuilding was really nice. Often fantasy books can start off really confusing since we're introduced to a whole other world, but this wasn't the case with this book. From the beginning, it was easy to understand the world Valeria lives in and her situation.

Although this is classified as YA, the beginning felt very much like a teen story since it was about Valeria's high school experience. But as the story progressed, the book did start to feel like a YA novel.

I loved the love triangles, the enemies to lovers trope, and just the overall fantasy aspect of this book. For a debut novel, this is an incredible work and I'm excited to see what Lara Buckheit will have to write in the future.

4.5 stars! I absolutely loved the writing style in this book! It was a very good first impression of Lara's writing! She uses very eloquent words and I love her descriptive methods. I could feel every emotion that passed and see a lot of the details. The world building she did was beautiful and you could see the effort that went into it. I definitely wouldn't mind being spirited away to one or many of these worlds! The characters had relatable and deep feels to them. They practically leapt off the pages! Finally, there were some twists and ideas i was not expecting! I live to be thrown off. I can see multiple ways this can go in the future but I'm so excited to see the adventures Lara takes these characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sword & Silk Books for a copy of this book as an ARC.

Tropes:
+ Soulmates
+ Love triangle
+ Morally Gray Love Interest

The cover and title is what drew me in and the description sounded interesting, but the story just got overwhelming at times. The romance also suffers because of this and the love triangle feels more like a collection of flings.

There is a lot that happens in this book and sometimes it feels like the plot just jumps from point to point without really fleshing out the new information we are given. For example, we learn that the FMC needs to be trained more in her magic, and that is briefly touched on, but then the magic is never really explained with what it can do or what grater power looks like. Frankly, the magic overall was one of the more frustrating aspects of this book because it was mostly only used to solve a minor problem and none of it felt cohesive. There was apparently also two types of magic, but again I could not tell you how they differed or functioned.

As for the romance, a lot of it felt vary rushed or surface level. The FMC and the MMC start out on unsteady footing because there are assumptions and the FMC does not try to clarify anything. Some truths are revealed and the FMC again does not clarify anything, and the FMC acts like a fool and says some really hurtful things. Within two chapters, they have forgiven each other with minimal conversation and are ready to be together. This is all explained away by the bond they have and just accepted.

While this is tagged as a new adult book, there are times it feels vary young adult, and the FMC seemed to also bounce between that genre too. She sometimes had vary altruistic goals, but then hold grudges for minor incidents and make that her whole personality for 3 chapters.

The world itself sounded interesting and I wished it was fleshed out more. Like more details on the gods and the role they played or how the different realms interact with each other. I will most likely read the next book just to see if this is fleshed out more and to see if the magic makes any more sense. Also, I hope trigger warnings are included at the start of this book in the final copy, as there are some gruesome and tough aspects of this book.

Trigger Warnings:
+ On page violence and gore
+ On page child abuse, both physical and emotional
+ Explicit language
+ Sexually explicit scenes
+ Conversations about past abandonment

A Realm of Ash and Shadow was a pleasant surprise! I haven't expected to like it this much but I did.

The book had me hooked since the beginning with it's mix of three different realms, the Realm of the Mortals where our FMC Valeria was raise for eighteen years, the Empyrean realm where her throne and birthright is ruled by her ruthless father and the Realm of the Forsaken where Valeria will find herself in later on.

The plot was gripping, it had it's ups and downs but overall it had me interested throughout the book specially the last quarter or so when Valeria is on the Forsaken Realm, I devoured that part.

I liked Valeria and how sassy she is. Gideon is a sweetheart and I never thought I be swooning for a blondie (don't get me wrong, they're great but dark haired males supremacy...), although the spotlight goes to Vemdour, the God of the Forsaken. I'm rooting for him and Valeria even after seeing how things ended.

I liked all the side characters too, each one of them was special on its own specially Mason and Malachi.

Overall, it's a solid debut with a very interesting and entertaining story. I'm looking forward to the next book of the series.

I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts are my own.

Stars: ✨✨✨✨
Spice: 🌶️

Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers
Friends to Lovers
Love Triangle
Found Family
Soul Mates
Dark Secret
Morally Grey Men

Recommended Age: 16+

First, I would like to thank Sword & Shield Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a fast-paced high drama/high stakes romantasy series introduction. Once I picked it up it was hard to put down. The strengths of this book are the amazing plot twists and brilliant “I never saw that coming” moments. I audibly gasped at least twice reading this book. There is a little bit of spice, but there is a lot more kissing and implied sexy time (versus graphic descriptions).

Valeria is an angsty almost 18 year old with a secret. She is messy, which is refreshing in a coming of age fantasy where FMCs tend to be hyper idealized super girls. She can be fickle and flakey at times, but that seems to be her age showing. This does come off in certain parts of the book as a lack of relationship development between Valeria and the MMCs. The MMCs - Mason, Gideon, and Vemdour - all carry different torches for our girl. They each fill a different role in her worlds/realms and in her heart. There is a significant cast of supporting characters- most of whom are fully developed. The different realms are well thought out and intricately described.

There are so many great plot twists in this book - which is part of my criticism. At times the reader is bounced around in Valeria’s emotions so quickly it feels shallow. The interpersonal relationships between FMC and MMCs are extremely rushed in sections - to hurry up and get to a really good twist. Understanding that part of the plot is her being internally torn between multiple MMCs, the chemistry is not built up enough between them. There are enough unique very clever twist ideas in this book that it would have been more successful being split into two books - with more build up in the conflict and interpersonal character development. That being said - I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series.

Eighteen-year-old princess, Valeria Breault, is sure of three things. One, she was exiled from Empyrean because her father didn't want the hassle of raising her. Two, her perfect realm would be better off without a mortal-raised smart-ass with a foul mouth and penchant for trouble. And three, neither of those things matter when a horde of demons crashes prom.

Forced to fight for her life, Valeria narrowly escapes being captured by the Realm of the Forsaken, only to be dragged back to Empyrean before she is meant to return. Instead of the beautiful utopia from her bedtime stories, Val finds herself thrown into a hellish nightmare where the poor are dying, the rich are thriving, and her claim to the throne is in jeopardy. But not if Valeria can help it.
The overwhelming desire to belong and a craving for power has her making choices that make it harder and harder to guard her heart against the man who's bound to protect her, the god she's vowed to hate, and the darkness that's growing inside her. Only time will tell if the secrets she unravels and the alliances she makes will lead to the throne or the pyre.

A Realm of Ash and Shadow has the drama, spice and stabby energy of From Blood and Ash, the sexiness and thrills of Kingdom of the Feared, and the magnetic world-building of Sarah J. Maas making it a truly addictive enemies-to-lovers romantasy that will utterly captivate you until the very last page.

I was looking forward to reading A Realm of Ash and Shadow, but I’m sorry to say that it fell flat for me.

I was expecting some parallels between A Court of Thorns and Roses and Kingdom of the Wicked after reading the blurb, but at times it felt more like plagiarism than inspiration. If she had taken some of these concepts and made them her own, I think it would have turned out a lot better, and I would have been more receptive to them as a reader. The bond system in A Realm of Ash and Shadow is a mashup of the mating bond from A Court of Thorns and Roses and the bond from These Hollow Vows with nothing original to make it feel unique. There is also a story arc that felt like a blatant rip off of the plot of Kingdom of the Cursed.

The general premise was interesting, but I felt that most of the plot points were a bit half-baked in a way that made it hard for me to get invested. At times while reading, I found myself questioning if what was happening really needed to be happening, or if it was just an excuse to shoehorn another popular trope into the story. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good trope when executed well, but it has to develop naturally. There isn’t any of that natural development, so most of the tropes here end up feeling cheap and shallow.

I am a huge fan of enemies to lovers, but the enemies to lovers transition in A Realm of Ash and Shadow felt rushed and impassionate. Valeria decides she hates Gideon for a petty, minor reason, and then three seconds later, they’re head over heels for each other without any satisfying resolution to the conflict that made them enemies in the first place. As a result, Gideon’s character development is stunted. By the time we knew anything about his personality or motivations, those things were completely overshadowed by his love for Valeria. That being said, I did enjoy the bit of cheeky flirting we saw from him early on, and I wish that we got to see more of that side of his character.

“Despite everything I loved here, there was something deep down in the put of my stomach that called to me, beckoning me to Empyrean.
Probably my unresolved daddy issues. Ugh.”

A Realm of Ash and Shadow is written in first person from Valeria’s point of view. Valeria’s internal monologue felt less like real thoughts and more like she was directly narrating her own actions and explaining her every move, which feels incredibly unnatural. If her internal monologue was better written, I think her trust and commitment issues would have felt a lot more genuine, but instead her character came off as annoyingly sarcastic and melodramatic.

“Would he pepper my skin with tender kisses or would he wind my hair around his fist as he took me from behind?”

I was surprised by how sexual this story got for a YA book. I was really uncomfortable with the sexualization of Valeria given that she is a teenager just finishing high school.

Shortly after meeting Gideon, Valeria has intense sexual feelings for him out of basically nowhere. It seems like the author wrote in Valeria’s 18th birthday as an excuse to be able to sexualize her on a technicality, but it’s gross, not sexy. Given the target audience is teenagers and young adults, I feel that this characterization perpetuates the hyper sexualization of young women, and I think the author can do better than that. The actual sex scenes were vague and not too graphic, which I feel is appropriate for the genre.

Overall, I give A Realm of Ash and Shadow 1/5 stars. To be entirely honest, I would have DNF’d this book if I was not provided an ARC in exchange for a review. While it has an interesting premise, I just feel like there are so many better books in this genre that are a more satisfying read.

Lara, the author, did a great job in writing this book, i would say it’s FBAA’s child. And definitely worth reading if you enjoy the series. The plot twist throughout the book was *chefs kiss*, when you think you could trust that person, boom, you’re wrong, and when you thing that person is something, boom, wrong again.

Valeria is a princess that was exiled to the Realm of the Mortals after her father didn’t want the burden to raise her, at her 18th birthday she’s bound to return home, and that’s when her world starts to crumble, everything she was told about her realm was a mouthful of lies, and when she meets Gideon, one plan that was already in position, starts to come to life after she wants to help get her people to his original glory. But she faces a few bumps on the way, including being trapped in the Realm of The Forsaken with a god that thinks she’s the answer to his prayers.

The characters were amazing written. Valeria is badass who cares about everyone’s interest but sometimes forget about her own needs. She seeks to bring the best for her realm after learning that everything she had heard to be a lie, and Gideon is right next to her, ensuring she gets what she needs, and is fully devoted for those he cares for, including his princess. Although, I did wanted more of development between the couple, I think it was missing something, a little bit of story between them before jumping into love.

As far as Vemdour, he is one of the most well written villains, the story behind him was so fully detailed that it makes you want a book of his own. I don’t even know how to put him in words.

It’s an easy read, would recommend to +16, contains mild details of smut, and a full ride for a new fantasy world.

Thank you NetGalley and Sword and Silk Books for the eARC.

Valeria Breault is the long-lost princess of Empyrean. Exiled from the realm by her father eighteen years ago, Valeria has been raised in the Mortal World while being trained to eventually come back and take her rightful place at the King’s side. Upon her return, Empyrean is no longer the fabled haven that it once was: a class divide has ravaged the world and the rich are thriving off of the poor’s losses, and the King does not care. Now, with a rebellion brewing, Valeria needs to trust herself to become the leader her father never could be, while realizing that her feelings for her gifted soulmate, Gideon, will only make her stronger.

I received an ARC for A Realm of Ash and Shadow, and I really enjoyed Valeria's character while reading this, as well as the entire cast of side characters. Gideon, the love interest, was cute and gave good vibes, but unfortunately felt a little flat for my taste. I really liked the bond between the two, especially at the beginning of the novel, because it made hidden feelings so much more fun! Also, there was some really good commentary on class divides throughout the entire book. Some aspects of this book that I didn't love was that the pacing felt off and I felt like I was being ping-ponged around a bit at times. Most noticeably was with the romance, because while I loved Valeria and Gideon together, I prefer my romances to take a little more time, although their instant attraction and connection does make sense due to the soulmate trope being used.

Overall, I had a really fun time reading this and this is a great debut fantasy novel!! 3.5 stars!

A Realm of Ash and Shadows was a read all about intrigue. The marketing was aimed exactly at me, throwing in other names like From Blood and Ash. While I was captured into the unknown through the first 100 pages, I quickly grew restless till the end. I felt uncertain of where this book was going throughout my read. Every time I meet a new character it always seemed like they were a possible love interest. By the end I was certain we settled for one, but then it shifted back to another. The main character just felt unstable. Her actions and responses to problems were very surface level. It all rested in anger and having no thoughts on consequences to any of her actions.
I can understand the audience who is going to love this book. There is dark godly magic, a fire-filled main character and uncertain love interest that will leave you on your toes. If you enjoy shorter fantasy romance that is still semi-set-in modern time, I recommend giving this book a try.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for early access of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks for letting me read this ARC!

As a woman in her mid 20s, I usually stray away from MC’s who are coming of age in the series. Valeria is relatable, determined, resilient, and messy all at once. The world building is intricate and well done. I never had to go back to reread to figure out what was going on, where the characters were, and that is because Buckheit’s writing is clear and concise.

There are multiple love interests, morally grey characters, and enemies to lovers and back to enemies again. There is a love triangle that I can’t decide if I love Gideon or Vemdour more.

This is Buckheit’s debut novel, and it is shocking. It is well written, developed, and overall an amazing fantasy read. I can’t wait to buy a physical copy, and I will be writing book 2 in my calendar!

DuuuUuUuUUUde this book took me for a ride in a good and bad way. Good, because this book was incredible. It was one of those books where you read the first page and you just get that feeling that settles in your bones that says, "Yep, I'm gonna love this book". Bad, because this book has me feeling so many conflicting feelings and has left me reeling and I will continue to reel until the second book comes out.

A Realm of Ash and Shadow follows Valeria, the mortal-raised, lost princess of Empyrean, returns to her realm to find that it is not everything she learned it to be. Valeria must fight for her kingdom while learning everything she knows is a lie. Filled with secrets, dark magic, betrayal, lust, and power, A Realm of Ash and Shadow will have you hooked from page one. Valeria is in constant battle with wanting to be loved, wanting power and revenge, and wanting to be something, someone. She has such a fun sense of humor and although she doesn't always see herself how she really is, she is undoubtedly a badass.

Now, back to my conflicting feelings. I am literally mentally ill because I was almost instantly team villain but then I was back to team golden boy savior. I keep going back and forth and I can't decide which is exactly why I need the second book immediately because I need answers.

Lara Buckheit, I thank you for causing me the pain only the best books can inflict. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC, all opinions are my own.

A Realm of Ash and Shadow is being compared to the sexiness of Kingdom of the Wicked, and while both stories have their sexiness, AROAAS brings the whole shebang. Kerri Maniscalco better watch her back because Lara Buckheit's Realm of the Forsaken is the home of true deviants. Lara vividly describes an entire universe of gods and monsters, without the frivolous adjectives of some popular authors. If you love stabby heroines, women like Poppy (FBAA) don't hold a dagger to Val, who is more relatable to real world women than most FMCs. I found Val to be messy, and therefore realistic, like Feyre and Nesta (ACOTAR). I cannot even begin to describe how swoon-worthy Gideon and Vemdour are, move over Rhysand and Wrath. Even the side characters are fully fleshed, looking at you Malachi.

AROAAS is going to launch Lara Buckheit up with the great fantasy writers and while I’m waiting for my physical copy to arrive, I will be itching for the sequel. If you like betrayal, found family, a training montage, and a love triangle, I highly recommend AROAAS, not only for the tropes, but because the tropes are packaged in evocative prose and world building with close attention to detail.

5 stars. Period.

This was a tough one to rate. While I found the first half of the book to be somewhat forgettable, the second half really hooked me in. The world-building was well done, and the fantasy elements were intriguing. What really captured my attention, however, was the turn the plot took in the second half.

While I'm not usually a fan of love triangles, this one kept me guessing until the end. The emergence of hidden darkness, the introduction of morally gray characters, the sizzling romance, the secrets, deceptions, and dark magic all added to the excitement and kept me turning the pages.

Overall, while I found the book to be a bit uneven, the second half more than made up for it. I'll be curious to see where the next book takes us.