The world building in the book was really interesting. I liked the main character and the supporting characters but some of the writing felt a bit childish. However, the MC acted like an 18 year old which was a nic change of pace. She made decisions an 18 year old would make, which was rather refreshing in this genre.

So I’ve read this book before. At least 10 or 15 variations. The thing is that Valeria, the protagonist, doesn’t have any good qualities to her. It doesn’t make sense that these people all fawn over her. Seriously. She’s so immature and absolutely arrogant.

Because of that and some of the writing that is a bit trivial, I’ll have to give it a 3!

I felt that this story had a very good concept. A banished princess hid away in the mortal world. Where she goes back to the kingdom to find that it is not what was described to her. She has to fight for independence for the kingdom.

But in this story, I felt it was a little muddled. Details are a little over the place or incomplete.
There are points in the storyline where the pacing really picks up, then it plateaued to where I was losing interest in the story. I would say that part is when she got to the kingdom.

It was bad. I dnft at about 40%.
The Plot was messy and soooooo boring. I’ve gotten an arc of this from Netgalley. That is why I read the blurb, but I honestly wish I didn’t because it spoilers the whole 30% or so of the book. And that just made it even more boring than it already was.
I hated Valeria she was whiny and childish. Gideon was better written but he also was childish at times. I absolutely with great abundance hated The INSTA LUST SHIT the author pulled here, like TO WHOM is this Book catered towards??? children or adults??? It just didn’t make sense. Also there was this scene where Valeria and Gideon go to the tomb of her mother and they just MAKE OUT THERE…. LIKE YOU MAKE OUT IN FRONT OF YOUR DEAD MOTHER???!!!! after that I just couldn’t go on and dnft it. I do not recommend this book at all! The Book needs some serious editing!

I rarely read fantasy that meshes with real life as I feel it’s hard to pull off, but I do feel like this book does a great job. It never felt forced at any points and “real life” is referenced well during Valeria’s time outside of it.

There was a lot of plot in this book that sometimes it felt hard to keep up with what was going on, I feel like it could have been two books more fleshed out or even a longer novel.

That being said, the plot is very good. I was hooked with the blurb and I read this book in a few sittings because I was so engrossed. I’m intrigued to see what happens next and how some of the issues are resolved, so I will be reading the next book. A lot of twists and turns and revelations! I think one point to note is that a lot of information is dumped on our main character (and us as the reader) quite quickly, which is another reason why I think maybe the novel could have been a little longer.

The world building is very good, felt a little different to other fantasy books I’ve read, the realms were based on something the reader is more familiar with.

The characters don’t have too much room to grow in this book barring the main character of course. Valeria is insufferable at points and she makes reference to getting her revenge a lot, but I got the feeling that she was written this way on purpose. Despite her making such bad choices, the reader does really feel for her, especially in her grief and rage.

Overall, a good read and I’m glad I read it. I’ll be reading the next instalment for sure!

I had a difficult time rating this book. On the one hand it did invoke some of the ACOTAR feelings I had been missing, but on the other hand, I had some trouble with Valeria.

Being a reader who loves to try and figure out the big reveal, I did enjoy being completely surprised when it came. I really do love surprises!

So, Valeria… in the beginning I clicked with her but then suddenly I couldn’t stand her. She then got better, but then reverted back to some silly behaviour. I can forgive it, though as she is only 18 and I’m sure we can all remember not being particularly awesome people at that age.

The two main love interests were also done very well and I could understand her falling for either for different reasons.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- this was…something. the premise sounded amazing, but the execution lacked in places it needed to have that support.

- the characters were stagnant, and the main character kept making choices that made me want to just quit reading, and she never had a true moment of reflection. plus, the main character lacked the internal motive to fuel her actions, and the book really suffered from that.

- i really should avoid books that advertise in the style of SJM and kingdom of the wicked.

Valeria Breault has lived her entire life in the Mortal Realm. Exiled by her father, the king of Empyrean, she knows she must return to the utopian kingdom as soon as she reaches her eighteenth birthday. Valeria never felt she belonged in the mortal world, but she wants proof that she existed in it and wants more than anything to go to prom and attend her graduation ceremony. When prom night turns into a nightmare, Valeria is sent to Empyrean earlier than she expected. She instantly feels attracted to her savior Gideon, who helps her understand that Empyrean is far from the idyllic realm she envisioned, and that her father’s cruelty goes well beyond abandoning her.

As Valeria begins to understand what she means to her people, she must venture into the Realm of the Forsaken as part of a dangerous barter with the god Vemdour, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, including her. Will she give in to his seduction for the sake of acquiring power? Will she fulfill her role as future queen and protector of her people?

Thoughts:

While I enjoyed this book, I initially had a tough time connecting with Valeria because of the way she approaches her relationships with most of the young male characters. However, I liked her awareness of her darker side, as she grapples with her bond with Gideon, and Vemdour’s schemes. As Valeria’s love interest, Gideon brings courage and hope to her life, but lacks depth. Furthermore, their chemistry is questionable. On the other hand, Vemdour inspires conflict and confusion in the best way.

From the side characters, Cayden intrigued me the most. His backstory reminds me of Anakin Skywalker’s, and I am looking forward to learning what the author has in store for him in the future.

The pacing felt slow during the first half of the book, and the story continuously fluctuates between YA and NA. However, the magical world is easy to understand and follow. As for the writing, I enjoyed the banter between the characters and the beauty of the prose as well as the vivid descriptions of the horrors at the Realm of the Forsaken.

Despite my reservations with some aspects of the book, I am curious to learn more about Valeria’s journey and the nature of her powers. I am also interested in this author’s future offerings.

A promising debut, "A Realm of Ash and Shadow" will be out this month. If you are a fan of fantasy romance and antiheroes, look no further, this book is for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sword and Silk Books for providing me with a free digital copy to review this book.

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You know how sometimes when a book is so good and then you finish it and you’re sad it’s over. That is me. I’m mourning finishing this book. This story is all about Valeria and her coming of age and figuring out where she fits in a realm she was once hidden from. She goes on some crazy adventures to try and get information to help her realm and ends up finding out a lot more truth about herself than she ever expected.

This book is full of adventure and mystery and romance. This book reminds me a bit of A Court of Thorns and Roses series which I loved. I loved the love interest plots and how that all evolved. I’m a bit nervous on how the next in the series will go based on that last chapter but I definitely am so excited to see what else comes from this storyline and I am so sad that this was published so recently because I am so ready for the next one!

Thank you Net Galley for granting me this ARC! Best book I’ve read in a while!!

Valeria has been raised in the Realm of The Mortals for 18 years after which she has to return home to Empyrean, which was supposed to be beautiful and utopian, but instead the realm has become corrupt with gross inequalities between rich and poor folks.

The story has fast paced non-stop action, the descriptions are sumptuous and gorgeous - so many beautiful dresses that I long to replicate.

I was reminded of ACOTAR, Crescent City and Buffy whilst devouring the book. The female main character is sassy and hot headed, makes mistakes for sure, which makes her more real, and will go to great lengths to protect those she cares about.

This book has been a guilty pleasure and a treat.

Thank you Net Galley and Sword and Silk Books for the free advance reader copy.

The book follows the main character Valeria, as she rejoins her realm and discovers many things she never had expected about herself. The book is very fast-moving, and as well as an original world that I have not read in other fantasy books before. There were moments where I thought that there was either too much going on, or that certain things were mentioned but just brushed aside. However, I still found myself enjoying every piece of information being given.
I am a little confused about the love triangle, but I hope to have all my questions answered in the sequel.

When Valeria is forced to go home to Empyrean from the mortal world she is raised in she is surprised to see that not all is what she thought it would be. In fact its not the utopia that she was raised to believe existed. Its a mess, people are hungry and dying while her father the king is thriving.

I found this book to be entertaining and well written. It was easy to get caught up in the story and for the most part I really liked it. The world that Lara had built for us is rich and beautiful, she has done a wonderful job of clearly explaining how it worked, As I was reading I just couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next, However, at times Valeria seems very young, younger than 18. And while she was dealing with a lot of drama, she seemed wishy, washy as times. She really struggled to find her place in the world. Which, I am sure is some of the point in the book. I really do enjoy the angst of a character figuring themselves out. But in this case it came of as very young and at times frustrating.

Over all I would give the book 3 stars and say that if you like YA books that border on NA, you should enjoy this one.

2.5 stars rounded up

A Realm of Ash and Shadow is billed as perfect for fans of Sarah J Mass and Jennifer L Armentrout. However, it was not for me.

Valeria Breault has been living in the mortal realm, kept safe, for almost 18 years. All she wants is to attend prom and graduation before returning to her home. However, things go south when demons attack during prom, and she is forced to return home early. And things only get more interesting from there…

I’m gonna come out and say it: I felt this book had really bad pacing issues. The beginning absolutely draaaaged for me. I had to try 3 separate times to get into this book. The author does have a good eye for detail and good world building, however I just wish the book didn’t lag so much at times.

I will say the concept for the various realms was quite interesting and I was impressed with how she described the various places. As I said the author has a great talent for world building and writing about details in a scene.

Character wise, I was not a huge fan of Valeria. She came off as immature and selfish and I just found it hard to root for her. I understand that she is still relatively young, but I just felt like it was too much? She does grow as the novel goes on, but I just never felt a connection to her. The rest of the cast was fine. Gideon was amusing, Mistress Marjorie was a badass. Everyone else was kinda just there and didn’t overly standout or make a huge impression on me.

The last 20-ish% of the book are when things get interesting and there are several plot twists and turns that tie things up while setting up for the next book.

On the whole I just feel like this novel isn’t for me. It might be perfect for a reader closer in age to the main character or someone who is more interested in world building as opposed to characterization. I am undecided if I will give book 2 a shot, but we’ll see.

Thanks very much to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great world building! Really sucked me in. Awesome plot and history. Some unexpected twists and turns. Really makes you think about the blurred lines between good and evil, light and dark. The only reason I didn’t rate this a 5 was there were a couple of parts of the story that went too fast in my opinion, and I was not a huge fan of the prom scene (it felt a little cheesy) but overall this turned into a great book and I read it completely in three days!

Okay, so I had to sit for a while on this one before I wrote my review. Usually, I'm quick with my reactions, but for some reason, I couldn't put my thoughts into words.

First of all, thank you to NetGally for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

So we follow Valeria, who is pretending to live a normal, mortal life here on earth, all the while she's been training to be princess of another realm. On prom night, she's attacked by demons, and the oh so handsome Gideon comes to help her... and promptly take her back to her horrible father.

For me, the storyline moved a little too quickly for my liking. In a way, I feel like the author could have slowed down in certain places, fleshed out certain moments in time, and gave me a chance to catch my breath. Because a LOT happens in this book. Like, I wished we had more of Vemdour in the Realm of the Forsaken. I'm all for the sexy demon lord, like, let's be real. He was my favorite character. And I wish a lot of her time with him was seen vs. being told she's been there for months.

I liked the way the love triangle is set up (oh yeah, didn't you know? There's a love triangle in this book) and the way it's explained... I can get behind it. I'm hoping the next book will have more scenes with her being conflicted between the two of them since I think she picked the wrong one so far. But maybe that's just me wanting more villains to get the girl.

Either way, it was a crazy story with a lot of action and a lot of plot, and I can't wait for the next book to find out what happens next.

The premise of this book is good. The world building presents an interesting idea - a handful of different realms working together or fighting with each other. However, the main character is written poorly. She is the 2010s "pick-me" character who can only feel "hate" towards her hot male enemies. The "bond" is poorly explained and too heavily mentioned throughout the novel, making it seem abnormal. However, I do believe that Buckheit had room to improve and do great things with her future works, as this novel shows that she very clearly cares about writing and wishes to advance her skills.

Okay, I'm just going to say it... this book was a real struggle to get through :( :(
And if you know me, you know I really hate saying that, but it just felt... all over the place, everything was confusing, and sometimes I wondered if the author lost the plot somewhere (or maybe it's just so big, I can't see it anymore).

Worldbuilding:
There are four realms: the Realm of the Mortals, Empyrean, the Realm of the Forsaken (think Hell), and the Realm of the Divine (Heaven). Mortals are playthings for gods and demons alike until one god fell and created Empyrean, which you could compare to utopia.
We meet up with Valeria, the lost princess. She has been exiled to the mortal realm by her father after her mother died and is waiting for her 18th birthday and graduation to return to Empyrean and her throne.
Things go seriously wrong at prom when demons attack, and she gets kidnapped by a handsome stranger, Gideon, with whom she shares a connection.
However, upon reaching Empyrean, she finds that not everything is as she was told...

So yeah... I mean, that sounds good, right? So, of course, I raised my hand for an advanced reader copy :)

Scenes and environments were well described throughout the book, but it feels like a lot of setting the stage took up a serious chunk of the book.

Character development:
I didn't like Valeria at all. I'm sorry! I think she's an uncaring, naive, and selfish b*tch. So close to anger and violence for the slightest reason. All she does is search for an excuse to grab onto the power. No, no, she didn't resonate with me at all.
Gideon is a straight-up good (and handsome) guy, and he cares about Valeria. While I would want him to be more assertive and less forgiving, he's okay.
Malachi, I liked a lot. No nonsense and a giant flirt, what's not to like? :D
And then we have the big bad... Vemdour, god of the Forsaken. Sigh. Yeah, let's leave it at that. That guy has so many layers... I wouldn't know what I would do if I were the one facing him.
But actually, I think that Mistress Marjorie was the biggest badass of them all :D I loved her.

Pacing and flow:
The pacing was a bit like a rollercoaster, starting slow, picking up the pace before tapering off again and the grand finale at the end.

The book:
The book was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There are sexual scenes, but more fade to black.
It has 476 pages (though it really felt like way more), is spread over 43 chapters, and is told from Valeria's point of view.

Final thoughts:
I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book, courtesy of NetGalley. While the heroine didn't resonate with me, I hope she will grow as the series progresses. Unfortunately, I found this one too messy and confusing to continue the series.

A Realm of Ash and Shadow
Laura Buckheit

⭐4.5 ⭐

“You’ll need to embrace that you aren’t a mortal. You are a princess with power, and that…that could very well be something that takes what’s already inside of you, everything dark and vengeful, and draws it closer to the surface.”

A Realm of Ash and Shadow was a wild ride; taking us on a journey, up and down hills that were exciting, heartbreaking, and filled with surprise. We follow our lost princess, Valeria, on her quest to gain power and search for unconditional love in some very interesting places. She struggles with internal and external conflict regarding her position, her people, her choices, and, most of all, herself. This book was captivating throughout and, towards the end, I had a very difficult time putting it down.

I wanted to like the book. The cover is beautiful and the blurb sounded promising, but as the story unfolded, I liked the main female character less and less. I realize she is only 18, but she came across as younger and really self-involved. I found myself skimming just to be able to finish the story. Gideon was the only male character that had any sense and was likable.

I think there was potential for a good book, but it just didn’t happen for me.

Thank you to NetGalley Lara Buckheit, and Sword and Silk Books for the eARC.

I absolutely loved this book. I've been craving an enveloping fantasy novel that can't be put down and this is it. I love a bada** FMC who makes no apologies for who she is. Valeria thinks for herself, is witty and can kick butt. Her loyalty is unwavering (sometimes to fault) and I just loved following her journey. The world building in this book was well established and immersive, I could easily get lost and forget I was reading, which to me indicates a great fantasy book - escapism. The politics and relationships were well established and detailed without info dumping or feeling daunting which I appreciate. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series and I can't wait for it to come out.