thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book!
Joss Brevyn, the sole member left of her excutioner family, comes across Aric Kayden, an assassin that failed to kill his latest target, bleeding and clinging to life on the side of the road. Despite her career of taking lives she spends her free time healing and chooses to heal Aric despite his mysterious injuries. A connection between the two is built but their bond begins to be tested when they find themselves in each other's crosshairs in order to uphold their duties.
although the premise of this story was quite interesting the story telling was quite slow and not engaging. i found myself putting it down and not needing to pick it back up multiple times

The plot and characters of this book were good. They were well developed and I was enticed to keep reading. I enjoyed the budding relationship and tension between Joss and Aric. I would have given the books 4 stars but the ending was confusing. and the switch to the epilogue with the royals made me confused as well. I do look forward to seeing what happens to joss an aric overall 3.5 starts

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Joss, an executioner, spends her off time as a healer. Arik is an assassin who has been left for dead after failing to kill his latest mark. Both are controlled by outside forces—what will happen when one makes a decision that will put both of them in danger?

I really liked this book! The idea of a female executioner who comes from a long family like of executioners was very intriguing. It’s a brutal job, but I really enjoyed putting myself in the mind of someone who is forced to do the job chosen for them whether they want to or not.

Joss is a very strong FMC. I appreciate that even though she’s been forced to make hard decisions and go through heartbreak, she still remains a kind and caring person. Arik is still a bit of a mystery, but I’m intrigued to learn more about his backstory. I really enjoyed watching their friendship grow as he learned more about her life.

Overall, I loved the slow build of this world and its characters, and I’m excited to unravel the rest of the conspiracy and see what will happen in the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

4⭐️ I zipped through this. Very entertaining read. Joss has so much strength and you can definitely admire her as a FMC. Aric comes off as an entitled, shallow city boy up until literally the last chapter so he was meh for me.

I’m taking a whole star off for the writing and the POVs. It’s 3rd person, which is fine and whatever; but the perspective bounced around with no clear distinction that I got confused a lot with who’s POV we were reading through and super frustrated… I’m almost flip-flopping between 3.5-4 stars…. Anyways.

Still super entertaining, and a plot I havnt seen before. I’d consider reading the next one when it came out.

Oh! Also…. It’s considered YA but there’s some themes that I would argue make it more NA… just a thought, and know your triggers…

This started out really good. I liked the idea of a female executioner, given the job because of a family punishment. The assassin role was neat also as it had two main characters working to hide their true roles while also building a semi-normal relationship. I liked their engagement back and forth, but about 60% in it started getting wonky with the female just waiting for him to leave and the assassin thinking that everyone wants him to leave. Then the weirdo's in the masks were never explained - like why are they so stealthy? Why do they know so much? And then at the end we get introduced to a whole kingdom with a missing prince and brothers trying to over through brothers. It just went sidewise and felt like two completely different stories. It was a unique idea and the beginning portion was super interesting hence the 3 start rating. Hopefully the next book in the series lays a good foundation to let us know who this book is really about and give us a good idea of the characters.

I know it’s a trilogy but this fell short for me, I feel like as the first book is supposed to pull you in but I felt like it went from world building to nothing much else to all action for the last few chapters and it was just not for me.
Also being classified as a fantasy romance didn’t feel right to me, at least not from the first book alone. I feel it has potential and it will be a romance to remember! I just didn’t feel connected or into the romance!
Looking forward to seeing everything come together in book 2!

Not my typical go-to sytle of book. I wouldn't really clasify this as typical fantasy which was what it was described as. I however did really get pulled into the story and liked the writing style.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an advance reader's copy of this book. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

I loved this book so much. The writing is amazing, and the story was engaging and captivating. It was very interesting reading about a female executioner, and I found myself getting easily sucked into the world. Can't wait to read the sequel!

⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Dive into a gritty, dark fantasy with All the Dark Souls!

I was a little conflicted on where to rate this but eventually I settled on 3 stars and think that should be a fair judgement. Everything about this novel had so much promise and all of it was <i>good</i>, I just didn't find any of it <i>great</i>.

The world-building was amazing and you could really tell that Dunnewin had done their research and knew exactly where they wanted their story to be placed! I felt like the world building could have been spaced out a little better so that we didn't get paragraphs of information dumped on us every second page. It might just me a me thing, but my memory is shot and I prefer being drip-fed lore throughout a story rather than being beaten with it all upfront.

The characters were great - particularly Joss and her assistant, but I would have loved to see some more genuine development across the board. All of the plot points we progressed through were standard for a fantasy in this genre so none of the plot twists really threw me for a loop. Not that it's <i>bad</i> to reuse these tropes, stacks of authors do and do it well, and I think that if Joss and the rest had a bit more meat to them the twists would have worked perfectly. The romance in particular really fell flat to me and I've got my fingers crossed that the sequel is going to throw a Rhysand plot-twist at us and yeet Alric out a window for someone actually worthy of how badass Joss is.

Overall the characters had promise and the world was great. I have high hopes for the sequel now that we (hopefully) had most of the worldbuilding out of the way. With the novel's short length this felt more like a setup than an actual installment and I'm really hoping that the sequel gives us exactly what I was missing from this one.


<i>Thank you, NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc copy of this book.

4/5 stars

Things I loved:
Loveee dark fantasy aspect
Two povs
Love that a woman is the executioner
Things I didn’t love:
Character development- felt like there was a lot of internal monologue rather than real life conversation between characters.
Action only happened in the last few chapters

I am excited to see what else this triology will bring.

Twisted, exciting, dark story to lose yourself in.
Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Thank you NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


All the Dark Souls wasn't terrible - but it was, unfortunately, pretty boring. For being only 202 pages, it really dragged at certain points. I've never read another book by this author, but there were some odd moments to me. I think the author would've benefited from doing a bit more showing instead of telling - there were several descriptions of someone being annoyed/mad/sad, only for the author to then literally say that they were annoyed/mad/sad. While I understand getting the point across, it felt a little tiresome at some point.

I also had some qualms with their societal structure. Firstly, everyone is stunned that there is a women executioner - which is interesting because the author did not display in any way that the society was sexist, other than showing every man being surprised at a women executioner. I feel like we could've benefited from seeing why society cared, and showing some emotion about this. Instead, we just got a lot of people acting shocked and then immediately getting over it.

Secondly, why are executioners TORTURED and murdered when they can't kill someone in 3 tries? Why did they settle on THREE tries? Why do they have to be tortured? Why aren't they just fired, or excommunicated? I feel like torturing people who had a bad day is pretty dramatic, and I didn't feel like there was a satisfying explanation for why anyone would agree to these rules - and why executioners weren't running away left and right.

All in all, All the Dark Souls wasn't horrible, but it wasn't a book I'd necessarily recommend, and I will not be reading future books in this series. I would perhaps give this author another try, though. I did think they invested a lot of energy in their world-building, which I appreciate.

I loved this book! At 166 pages it was easily read in a day but A.M. Dunnewin did a fantastic job at building a world, characters, a little tension, and a lot of drama in this story. To be an executioner let alone a female and the last of her line Joss is one amazing woman. I won’t give spoilers but I will say the twists and turns this story took left me hooked from the first page!

i was pleasantly surprised by this read! the plot was intriguing but the author did a great job of telling this story. enjoyed it so much i preordered the sequel!

This was a really nice short read. It threw me right into the action and immediately into a world where nothing would go according to plan. There was lots of twists that I enjoyed and the characters were great.

Joss was an interesting character I wanted to know more about, she held a lot of burdens and I felt sorry for her. Then Aric, I didn't see much of his character but the parts I did see were interesting.

That being said, I kind of wanted more. I would have liked for the stakes to be higher, and to truly understand Aric's terror at failing. And more emphasis on the prince story line.

Overall, this was a fun read.

All the dark Souls is a fast paced dark fantasy which follows Joss, who is an executioner and Henrick her assistant . The pacing of this book is good as it sucks into the story quickly without being too wordy with the world building like most fantasy books. I liked Joss's character and I especially love her and henrick's relationship. I don't really understand the relationship between her and Aric. I understand Aric sees her as his beautiful saviour and that Joss finally found someone that learned who she was and didn't run away but I don't really feel the romance blooming between them.
Overall, it was an ok read. I look forward to the rest of the series, to see how the plot develops.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was really excited to read this book after reading the summary. It has such a unique premise that I had never read before and I also liked reading the author's explanation at the end of how she learned about the subject. I enjoyed reading the story overall. But, I did have quite a few things I thought could be improved.

Things I liked:
- the atmosphere. I liked learning about the town, the jail, and the nobles. I liked that they went into a lot of detail about the logistics of her job as both a healer and an executioner. Although, I do wish we got to learn a little bit more about everything.
- I loved Joss and Hedrick. Joss was such a badass and I truly think she was a great main character. The way she took care of her family, held down a horribly depressing job, and still managed to care for others the way she did was excellent. Hedrick was also great. I loved hearing his story and how Joss's father saved him. You can really see the way that empathy was passed down from father to daughter. I also loved how protective him and Joss were of each other without adding any sort of romance. It was truly a great portrayal of a platonic relationship.
- I also liked Quinn's character and would have liked to learn more about him.
-The story of Joss's sister Celine was devastating and added so much to the respect I felt for Joss. It was a really creative idea from the author. I like that each of Joss's siblings/father had very different, unique stories and it felt authentic in the way they were described.

Things I think could be improved:
- Arin felt like a very boring character to me despite the fact that he was an assassin for hire. I didn't feel connected to him at all and I felt like his POV was my least favorite. Honestly, I felt more intrigued when we didn't know his story at all than when we learned about his other life.
- Honestly, I didn't need the romance subplot. I didn't feel a ton of chemistry between Joss and Arin and I think I saw Joss as more of an independent character. I really didn't like that she immediately forgave him for the betrayal.
- I also found it super unrealistic that Arin could barely get out of bed the chapters before and then all of the sudden was chasing his target around town, using a crossbow, and committing murders.
-the introduction of the royal family at the end was abrupt. It felt off to be introduced to so many new characters at the end, especially because at 96%, you learned about new troubled relationship dynamics that I felt we would have benefitted from hearing earlier. I would have enjoyed their POV from the start.
-I felt like this book was an odd length. I know there are more books to come, but I still think it would benefit from being shorter or longer. I think if it was longer, it would have made the romance subplot more authentic by giving it more time to grow and it would have given you more time to connect with the characters. Or, if it was shorter and some unnecessary details were cut, it would have had the makings of a great, direct short story.

Overall, I am giving this book 3 stars. There were a couple of critiques but I still really enjoyed reading it and it felt immersive. I will definitely continue the trilogy and there are a lot of things that I hope will be expanded on in the next book.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023, in part because I can't resist stories about executioners and in part because I'd been seeing it all over my Instagram for the better portion of last year; the marketing for this book is beautifully done, and the back cover blurb is superb.

Joss is a female executioner. Aric is an assassin who failed to hit his last mark. When Joss finds Aric on the side of the road and nurses him back to health, neither reveals the truth...and as a new execution comes up, their secrets begin to collide, placing them on opposite sides.

Based on this, Joss sounded deliciously conflicted, Aric sounded broody, and their romance seemed like the star-crossed, lovers-to-enemies storyline of my dreams. I was delighted to get my hands on a copy, courtesy of NetGalley. And then I was, regrettably, really disappointed.

My main complaint was pacing. I still love the bones of the story, but felt it suffered due to its length. Coming it at just under 170 pages in my e-ARC, over half of that was backstory, spent fleshing out the day-to-day of Joss's job and Aric's slow piecing together of his memories. In a longer book, this could have worked, but in a book this short, it left me questioning when I was finally going to get to the "chain reaction" that the author promised would happen. Things definitely picked up in the second half, but by that point, I was already disengaged.

The one thing that kept me turning the pages was the amount of care Dunnewin put into crafting her world. In the author's note, Dunnewin credits a history book with sparking her interest in executioner families, dynasties, and politics, and I think her fascination with the subject shows. Her story is meticulously researched and rich with details; I admire her characterization of Joss and assistant Henrick, especially how she chose to give Joss a noble heart in spite of what people might associate with her profession. I think her portrayal of a female executioner was nuanced, balanced, and not too anachronistic within the medieval setting. I also think her writing style is compulsively readable.

Thank you to NetGalley and A. M. Dunnewin for providing this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Joss is an executioner, Aric is a hired assassin. Finding Aric beaten within an inch of his life on the side of the road, Joss brings him to her home and nurses him back to health. A friendship and budding romance begins to develop, but then things go ary that put them professionally in each other's crosshairs.

I am so thankful this is part one of a trilogy because it left me on the edge of my seat wanting more of the story. I am fully invested in what happens to Joss and Aric.

I felt the character development was great but could have used a little bit more conversation between them. A lot was unspoken as the characters seem to be caught up in their internal monologues. What is shared about Joss's tragic backstory was insightful character building. Aric's past is shrouded in mystery.

I liked how the points of view alternated between Aric and Joss revealing what they are thinking about one another.

If you're a fan of dark fantasy, suspense, and a pinch of romance add 'All The Dark Souls' to your TBR. I'm anxiously looking forward to books 2 & 3 of this trilogy.

*I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

When Joss and Henrik find a badly injured man at the side of the road, they take him home with them, as they have done countless times before,. It should be straight forward, heal up and move on. The only trouble is Joss is the town's executioner and he is an assassin. Unbeknownst to them, their next job happens to be the same man. What could possibly go wrong?!

I love the portrayal of Joss and her role within the town, the backstory which has led her to this point. The fact she isn't a hard faced executioner and the compassion she has within her is a very fresh take. The plot itself is great, drip feeding enough detail to make it a "just one more chapter" kind of read. The slow burn romance is so well written. Cannot wait for the sequel!