A great read and what a ride this book was. I read it in just a few sittings and found myself thinking about it for a while after I'd set it down. Very much looking forward to more from Lara Buckheit.

This is a fast paced, action packed novel. The main character is fun a feisty morally gray heroine. The book had lots of twists and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the next novel. If you like fantasy romance- this is a book for you. Def. 4.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, Publishers, and Lara Buckheit for gifting me a copy of A Realm of Ash and Shadows in return for my honest review.

3/5 stars
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.

First, I want to say please take a look at that cover! It is stunning, love the look and the design of it. I also really liked the writing. The descriptions that she uses are phenomenal! You really felt like you were part of their world.

Valeria was not a very likable character to me. At times I found her stupidity to be overwhelming and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I think she wanted her to come off as badass but in fact, she just came off as annoying and obnoxious.

I also really didn't like the pacing, in the first part of the book the pacing was so slow. I was reading and was shocked I still had 75% of the book left! Then the climax was too rushed and many areas seemed unbelievable.

This book has so much potential, it just needed a few tweaks and then it would have been bumped up to a 4 or 5-star read.

A realm of Ash and Shadow was a fantastic premise that left me confused more than anything. Many Thanks to NetGalley and Sword and Silk Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

So the story premise sounds like a great fantasy novel with worldbuilding, characters with depth and everything and it does kind of do all these things, but not as I expected.

The first half of this book felt like an absolute slog to get through. I love worldbuilding in fantasy, but this felt like it was written in the sense of an info dump of world information with no rhyme or reason as to what was disclosed first. It was really slow paced and took me a very long time to kind of build myself up to read as it felt like a never ending mind map of lores that all connect in some way but weren’t sitting in the right order in my brain that made me have to keep going back to reread sections.

It does definitely get better over halfway through on this front though and the pacing picks up and I started to get more invested.

Character wise- I struggled to connect to any of the characters however they were written well and all had some development throughout which was definitely a bonus.

I would like to say- this is one of the best writing styles in a first fantasy book in a series that left such an impression on me. It was genuinely beautiful, it entranced me to push through that first half and keep going to be honest it was amazing.

I’m extremely curious to see more from the series as this had such potential, and I do think if the second half is anything to go by that it will get better- it’s only the first book!

I found this to be a bit too much like it was trying too hard to be a SJM novel. I mean the title itself is very similar to ACOTAR… I just found myself turned off by the similarities and callbacks to SJM works.

This was a quick and easy read for me. I think this would fill the void for a lot of people looking for their next fantasy/YA read. I liked the FMC but felt like she could be a little naive, however I did like a lot of the side characters which really surprised me. Overall enjoyable.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book!

If you are a lover of SJM or FBAA I feel like you would really enjoy this book!

I really loved the plot of this book, it wasn't so heavy that you have to think whilst reading and concentrate however it was very fun, fast paced and exciting!

I also really loved the romance element within this book.

This was a good read.

The first section of the book felt pretty slow for me and as it went on I was feeling more call backs to SJM things than I would have wanted. I know not everyone would say that but it is a personal thought. I think the book could have been a little more polished, but I had a good time and would read a sequel.

Valeria was insurable towards the end and it was a big turn off.
This was a good book and I enjoyed the plot. I know the author can only go up from here so I look forward to her books in the future.

I wanted to like this one but it was not for me and I did not end up finishing the book fully. There were a few plot holes, and the pacing was off. As for the story, I did not enjoy the jealous teenage drama and insta-love. I hope others enjoy it though because the writing itself was beautiful and sassy female main characters are all the rage right now.

I enjoyed this book. I liked that the plot was unpredictable, but the MC does make some very poor choices. HATED the king(good job, Lara). Mistress Marjorie was chef’s kiss! I loved her character. What happened to Cayden was so messed up - Framed, hated, banished, enslaved?!?! We all fell for Vemdour(again, good job, Lara). Such an evil dude. While the story pacing was a little slow, I did love it! Thanks for the ARC!

Although the cover is pretty, I, unfortunately wasn’t captivated by the writing or plot, Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read this.

I was so excited for this one. And while it wasn't the worst, it wasn't my favorite either. The plot was way too complicated and way too confusing. The synopsis drew me in, but the actual execution of that plot was over my head.

I wasn't particularly a fan of this book. There were many times where the plot was confusing and difficult to follow. At the beginning I wasn't fond of Valeria. It was very much high-school drama and she was unfortunately annoying to me. which i think is a big part of my dislike for the book, cause how can i enjoy it when the main character is infuriating? so i think this tainted lense just ruined the rest of the book for me.

This was such a good read! The novel is plot driven where Valeria goes on a journey to find out more about herself and her past. The plot twists in this made me so pumped for the next book! I have mixed emotions on Valeria as a whole cause I wasn't sure if I liked her or not as a character.

"A Realm Of Ash and Shadow" isn't a bad start to a series, but there were some things that had a big impact on my lower opinion of it.
The author's writing style is not difficult to read, but I had gone really slowly through it, as there are quite detailed descriptions that start disappearing over the course of the book. The story has a strong start that sets a really good dynamic already in the first 20-30 pages, which unfortunately, is lost after. The world Buckheit has built is well thought out, and its story is interesting. It is clear that she had thought about it, because it shows the depth in the explanations of how it works. In the first 1/3 of the book, the action is smooth, while at the same time not too sluggish - it moves at a good pace to keep the interest going. Shortly after the middle, however, the dynamics got so lost, that you wonder if you have picked up another book. The political conflict is well developed and on-site written - it brings more life to one of the storylines and makes the story tenser. However, the “wow” effect was missing for me.
I wasn't able to connect enough with any of the characters, even though I found their stories interesting and I liked them. The characters themselves are deep, but they are not well built, because they very quickly changed their character and attitude according to how the author wanted the story to continue, which I do not think is the right approach.
Valeria is a terribly indecisive character, she seems to have no opinion of her own and generally she is all "I go where I somebody tells me to", which at first was not visible, but once she showed it up, it only made her more and more irritating with each new decision. She threw herself to every new male character and tried sleeping with him, because you see, he was THE ONE, but I think she found THE ONE a few times, so I don’t think it counts. Some of her reactions are terribly unrealistic, as she forgets too quickly about the people she claims to love and who she supposedly cares about, when she knows they are suffering.
The sexual tension and chemistry between her and any other of the characters was greater and more interesting to follow than that between her and the protagonist. I had a favorite from the male characters with whom I think they would’ve been a very strong couple, but he, like the other characters, suddenly changed his behavior. Most likely, it will be known whether there will be an opportunity for them as a couple in the next book.
The story managed to surprise me with some of its moments and twists, with others - not so much, because they were obvious.
The climax was very rushed through and underdeveloped. Exactly the moment that was supposed to be the strongest, was terribly weak and ended as if in seconds after the long action through the rest of the book and the increasing tension.
The end remains open for the next book, but I have not yet decided whether to continue with it, given that this one has not managed to grab me enough.
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Rating: 3.5/5

I loved the premise of this book, it had similar vibes to other fantasy books & series I have loved. However I spent the majority of the book incredibly confused, the history of the Realms and the connections of some of the characters was insanely confusing,

The main character often seemed quite silly and some descriptions of her thoughts felt like they came out of nowhere, also some plot twists seemed forced and thrown in at the last minute to explain away plot holes elsewhere which is very infuriating as a reader.

Epic world-building, unpredictable and kept me on the edge of my seat. Action-packed with swoon-worthy male characters to boot. I cannot wait for the second installment as the cliffhanger has me on the edge of my seat months later! Fantastic writing.

The story is well-written, easy to get into, and interesting to read.
I enjoyed the characters and the world was explained well enough.

It is not a new favorite, but it was a fun read.

Now this was a very interesting read! The concept, while not original in fantasy, was so well produced. The character arcs and the world building was tight—I finished the whole book in a night. Loved the ending, can’t wait for more

This is an interesting story. I honestly was intrigued by the synopsis however I think that it didn't gave me what I wanted and felt like this could have been better.