Overall, Poisoned Empire was a fun read with a very creative setting and a plot that held my attention almost all the way through. I would probably recommend this book to friends who enjoy the adult fantasy genre, and will keep an eye out for the next in the series when it arrives.

The premise of Poisoned Empire is that most people born in the kingdom of Lethe have some sort of magical gift.. People with "elemental" magic think that's the best kind and that anyone with a different type is inferior. The emperor of Lethe has a bit of a drinking problem, so his son, Prince Belisarius (what a mouthful) is the one running things. The prince discovers evidence of a conspiracy involving the use of forbidden magic among high-ranking nobles, and for plot reasons, decides the best way to identify those involved is to invite all of the daughters of the nobility to the palace, under the guise of picking his future empress.

The book centers around two women, both bastard daughters of high-ranking nobles-- Selene, a poison mage, able to reproduce any type of poison she's personally experienced (and consume poison without dying, obviously), and Iliana, a metal mage, able to place various enchantments on different types of metal. Because their high-ranking noble dads have been mucking around in the aforementioned forbidden magic, they've each got one legitimate daughter out of commission. So, they kidnap Selene and Iliana and force them to pose as those legitimate daughters at the pick-your-own-empress contest, with the promise that they'll be rewarded and free to leave the country when it's all over. Of course, all of this goes sideways very swiftly.

Selene is the primary protagonist of the book, and that's mostly a good thing, because she's pretty fun and very inventive in coming up with ways to make her magic work for her. As is common with these sorts of books, plot obstacles do tend to move out of her way pretty easily, but she spends a fair bit of time getting into trouble and then trying to dig herself out. I enjoyed the build-up of the romance between Selene and Belisarius-- it was quite entertaining to watch him realize he apparently likes being bullied around, and her realize she's capable of warm fuzzy human emotions. I got pretty irritated with her at one point because I found her stance on a subject pretty unreasonable-- hereditary monarchies require heirs, and does Lethe not have turkey basters? That said, the ultimate wrap-up of this romance plot was a fun and interesting twist.

I admit I became less interested in what Iliana got up to as the book continued, just because she's not as strong of a character. Her romance subplot was very sweet and less fraught with misunderstandings, and there's a specific scene where she shows off her magic abilities that is pretty cool, but sometimes I found myself mentally tapping my foot and wanting to get back to what Selene was doing.

I do have a few points of general critique. First, the fact that elemental mages are convinced they're the best and everyone else is inferior just didn't make much sense, especially once we started seeing what other types of magic could accomplish. I didn't understand a caste system that puts people who can heal pretty much any injury, or accomplish what is basically mind control, or induce tons of physiological effects with a touch on the BOTTOM. As the book bears out, this is dumb, and I don't quite buy that a society would really end up the way it is at the start of the story. Second, I really didn't find that the detailed sex scenes added anything to the story; a fade to black probably would have done fine (I will credit the author that there aren't MANY of them, but I skimmed past them once it was clear that nothing plot-related was going on). Third and finally, a few things in the plot seemed to come out of left field or receive limited explanation. I didn't really understand how the book's Big Bad was suddenly there, where he'd been the whole time, or why he did the evil deeds that put him out of the picture in the first place. (Related to this point, there's a moment where a minor character's allegiance to the Big Bad is so blatantly telegraphed that his eventual reveal as a bad guy is no surprise.) Similarly, a big reveal about Selene's past was pretty clumsily handled and really didn't have the emotional impact that I think the author was going for-- my response was basically "Yes, very sad. Anyway..."

Now for some additional positive thoughts. Even though Selene seemed to be able to do almost *too much* with her particular gift (distance poison bombs, really?), she came off as a realistic person with flaws, so I was able to relate to her most of the time. The author generally did a good job in fleshing out side characters, including the other empress candidates and people in the service of the emperor; I particularly liked Marduk, as well as the emperor himself. I found Selene and Iliana's friendship to be very believable because it seemed like they really understood each other, which in turn made their motivations more realistic. The author clearly put a LOT of thought into how different types of magic could be useful in this world, and it was fun to see characters with different powers play to their strengths, I appreciated the glossary at the beginning of the book, although I think context provided definitions for most of the terms in-story, and the inclusion of content warnings was a new concept to me outside of fanfiction-- although I chose to skip them so as not to spoil anything, I know some readers will find them useful. Finally, although this book is the first in a series, it does not end on a cliffhanger and I felt the plot had reached a satisfying resolution when I had finished reading. I appreciated that the author wanted to tell a complete story in this book, while leaving open that further adventures were possible and likely if a reader wanted to spend more time with the characters and setting in the future.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Two Laurels press for the opportunity to read rage and review this arc which is available July 12,2023.

I come at you with another romantic steamy fantasy heist book about two discarded women who are arrested by their scheming noble fathers who also tossed them out at birth.

Selene is a black-marketeer who has poison magic and is one snarky cynical woman. Iliana is a genius metal mage. They’re forced to impersonate their half siblings and are carted off in fancy dresses to the capital to vie for the hand of a prince.

It is a mystery with spice in a fun wirld that I can’t wait to visit again when I buy it myself

This was such an amazing book. It was so fast, the romance was everything and the magic system was so well done. From the very first page, the story had me hooked. I do wish it was longer, everything happenes so quickly, I wish I had a little more detail from the first part of the book before the synopsis of the book actually started. But it made me keep turning the pages, and I could not lift my head up from the book. Every chapter kept you hanging. The book used the debutante trope in a new way with the four characters and I loved how it was done. The book made laugh so much, especially a certain white flowe scene.

Selene is so tough and jaded, she’s gone through so much. She loves Illiana like a sister, and she loves hard. She’s fierce and the protector of the group. Illiana is the softer of the group, she cares hard and isn’t afraid of her feelings. She screams sunshine and butterflies if only she had a better childhood. Both of their powers are so cool, I just loved it.

Belli is stubborn and puts his kindom ahead of him, it’s his priority over everything. Selene has come and just uprooted his entire belief system. He’s a great and honest emperor. Marduk is like Selene but more mature and that just made him a great balance to Illiana. He holds his own and is a stable person, and I loved that about him.

Each of them had their own growth and it was so fun and interesting to see how they changed throught the book. I loved the shenanigans and scenes they found themselves it, I don’t think I can highlight enough how funny some scenes are. I truly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the arc!

This book needs a really good editor and several rounds of tweaking to become a real star. It felt unfinished and rough around the edges. Chapters would end abruptly and the transition from scene to scene was jarring, leaving me rather unsatisfied because of the lack of disclosure and details. I gave up making sense of the plot. Why and how certain decisions and plot points were made. Also had a ton of spelling and grammar mistakes. It was unperfect yet I had fun. I was forgiving because it's an advanced copy and a debut from someone I haven't heard about. Once you look over the flaws, you'll find yourself having a fun time. The writing was easy to read with good vocabulary. The characters, albeit confusing in their arcs, slowly became endearing. It's weird and will have you contemplating the smallest things but it grows on you idk

It's a romantasy and while the romance had its moments, its the platonic and familial relationships that stood out. The two besties, Selene and Illiana, were polar opposites in looks and personalities but loved each other so fiercely. When Selene went to kill Marduk in his sleep because he was getting close to illiana because she didn't want anyone to come between them... Oh, Selene. She was my favourite main lead, hands down. She was the not-really-anti anti hero. Tiny, quick girls with sharp tongue and poison skin >>> Her outward hard shell, not letting anyone in was a lovely side to her. When she went looking for a memory erasing spell when Belisarius stopped getting annoyed at her and she desparately wanted him to go back to hating her sjjdjdjd Not everyone will like her but I did!

Of the two ships, it's pretty obvious which one I liked best. Illiana and Marduk were sweet but bland. I expected a little more resilience and stoicism from a seven foot beast. He quickly became putty. Happy for them but ehh I did not care much. Onto Selene and Belisarius. I would describe them as annoyance to lust to love. Their transition to love was pretty quick too but I liked their dynamic more. I was shipping hard by the time she left him.

I have to say the book 2 snippet at the end made me completely forget this. It was too good. Book 2 features one of the half sisters who Selene calls Carrot, and a completely new character. It starts with Carrot seething with hate for Selene and let me tell you, I'm seated for a true villainess. No details as to the release date. The premise from the author's website:

<i>Mages of Oblivion Book 2
Fae Prince Mereruka's throne is only six siblings away and he's found the perfect villainess to help whittle them down. He cons her into wedlock but surviving matrimony and homicide means persuading her to plot the competition’s demise—not his.</i>

3.75 stars

Selene and Iliana are the bastards of high nobles. They each have magic but not the coveted elemental magic of their bloodlines. Selene is a poison mage, able to synthesize any poison she has ingested, and Iliana is a metal mage who can enchant an arrowhead to always find its mark.

The girls live on the run from town to town, trying to escape their fathers who are hunting them down to kill them. One day they end up caught, and they are forced to impersonate their half-sisters and go to the bridal show at the palace to parade around as potential brides for the prince.

Iliana had the advantage of being raised by her mother and stepfather in a loving environment, and this is made obvious by her personality, which is a lot less impulsive and bitter than Selene's. Selene is a trouble maker, always down for a scrap, happy to poke the hornet's nest and see what happens.

I quite enjoyed both characters and how dedicated they were to each other. The romances were kind of meh. I would have preferred they be built up a bit better. The story was interesting. The magic system was intriguing.

The twist toward the end was kind of lazy honestly, and I feel that if it was reworked and this book was polished a bit be

This was endearing, heart-felt, and action filled from start to finish!

I enjoyed the romance/spice, magic system, world-building and characters. Everything was so well done and bingable. This is one of my favorite Fantasy Romance books of the year.

TYSM for the opportunity to be an ARC reader! (I will be including this in a weekly book giveaway around release date to help promote it! @hauntedhousebooks on tiktok)

I really enjoyed this action packed novel, both for the plot and the characters and I would recommend it to others as a very good read if the reader enjoys this kind of book. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

I think I forgot how much fun a book can be until I read Poisoned Empire.

The synopsis hooked me, the prologue ensured that I kept reading, and the rest of the book cemented its place on my list of favourites. This book is a masterpiece.

Firstly, the prose is magnificent. In the beginning the introductions and backstories felt a little but like an info-dump but I didn't mind because everything was so well paced, concise, and engaging. This book is pure chaos and hilarity wrapped up in a very neat package with some really touching moments that add depth to the world and characters.

Our protagonists, bastard daughters of the nobility, a master of poisons and the best metal mage on the continent, are kidnapped and drawn into a plot against the Emperor and his son, except their loyalties do not lie with their fathers, so why not aid the Prince?

This book has shenanigans galore, it's abundant with moments that made me laugh out loud, and the quality of the prose and pacing had me turning the pages at a furious rate.

If I can convince anyone to read anything, I hope that it's this book.

Perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash or Throne of Glass that want something a little bit lighter (and better written), it's The Princess Bride level of delightful. Cannot recommend this enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Poisoned Empire tells us the fascinating story of Selene and Iliana, two bastard born mages with unmatched powers. Reading about their entanglements, romances and discovering their truth path was truly enjoyable.

Summary:

Poisoned Empire tells the story of Iliana and Selene, best friends with magical powers who are trying to flee Lethe.

The two are captured by their estranged fathers who are plotting against Prince Belisarius. The two are forced to imitate noblewomen and participate in the bride show to try to win the Prince’s heart.

But there are secret and devastating plots at hand and Selene and Iliana are more at risk than they realise-they will have to make difficult choices. Which will win-their heads or their hearts?

Review:

It was great to read a book which is founded upon a friendship between two female main characters. Selene and Iliana are a great pairing.

Selene is independent, feisty and ferocious which a quick tongue and comebacks that had me laughing out loud.

Iliana is the softer of the two - loving, loyal and fair. There is a real love between the two of them and you can tell they’d do anything for each other.

Belisarius is a sensible character whose attitude seems much older than his years. I loved the dynamic between him and his father.

The plot was great and I didn’t anticipate the twist at the end.

I would have liked more of the back story for Iliana and Selene to be included in this story.

I found the developing relationship between the two main characters and their love interests happened quickly and at times it lacked depth but you could still sense the real feelings between them.

The steamy scenes didn’t do much for me-maybe because I didn’t quite get the chemistry between the characters.

This was an enjoyable read but would have liked to understand the characters and their stories a bit more

3.5. This had the potential to be a four star read but I really didn’t like the twist. The first 3/4 were so promising. Despite the disappointing ending, I will definitely read whatever this author puts out next. I enjoyed the characters and her writing style suited this type of story.

Thank you netgalley and Two laurels press for the Arc of Poisoned Empire by Elyse Thomson.

Absolutely jam packed with everything you could ever want from a book. Where this wasn’t my usual read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The author is a clear talent and I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series. 5/5

I had such a great time reading the book, a longer review can be found on my GoodReads account!
A fun, fast-paced book that begins when the prince, Belisarius, tries to discover an uprising by inviting all the possible key players to a ball under the pretense that he needs to find a bride. It has a friendship between a woman who can create poisons and one who can wield metals with her will. A ball where a prince and the poison woman tease and fall for each other even though they really don’t want to need each other. And, romance blooms between the gentle, metal enhancer and an intimidating commander who is best friends with the prince.

I love Selene and Iliana’s friendship so much. It’s the type of sisterhood that can only appear after trusting someone completely and living with them for a while. The two women know exactly what the other is thinking about and will do anything to protect each other. Also, Selene and Beli were so fun. I like how neither of them knew what to expect from a relationship, and neither of them planned to fall for the other. Lastly, Iliana and Marduk's relationship was so sweet. They truly stole the show. It was written so well, and I was melting when I got to their scenes.

The magic system was really cool! I really like the powers of the main characters and their endless possibilities, especially because the two main characters were strong women. Selena can produce any poison she tasted before. It’s so cool to see her having to digest horrible poisons that could kill the average human. Moreover, Iliana can enhance metals and I LOVE how her power was acknowledged by the book and was used to turn the tide of the war.

The book had a bit of everything, and I will recommend it to those who love fantasy romance books!

Court intrigue, romance, and magic blend perfectly to create this lush and engaging story!

Our story starts with two close friends on the run from their fathers. They of course are captured and are expected to compete for the prince’s hand in marriage. The girls were not brought up in their families’ noble traditions and are soon discovered by the prince and his trusted advisors. Of course, the prince sees this as an opportunity to help weed out any traitors in his court and utilizes the girls to help him. But will both parties get more than they bargained for?

I loved this story. I loved the magic system. I loved the characters. And I loved the pacing.

The magic system was easy to understand and it felt different in some ways too. While you had the big six magic types, there were other types that were seen as “lesser” in the world, but really those were the most interesting. Selene’s was my favorite. There is a lot you can do with poison when you can fully control it.

With multiple POV, there are several moving parts to keep track of, but it didn’t feel overwhelming at all. I loved the contrast between the two relationships as well. One was sweet and just felt like a warm hug, while the other was sassy and full of passion.

This really is great if you like fantasy and romance, and don’t want to choose. I cannot wait for the next book and to come back to this world again!!

Thank you to NetGally and Two Laurels Press for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.