Thank you NetGalley and the author for a copy in exchanged for an honest review

I love the cover, it’s what drew me originally to the book itself. The world building was unique to me, and I also enjoyed the writing style. The beginning was a little hard for me to get into, but by the middle it started to pick up. As a whole, I enjoyed it.

A somewhat interesting urban fantasy but the exceution fell short. The characters didn't gel well with me. They felt underdeveloped and not fleshed out like Alek for example, who I liked the most.

They felt devoid of character and lacked any substance, especially Aris and Lochlen. This is probably why the romance didn't work for me either which is a shame.

I continued on for the plot though which was at least somewhat enjoyable, if not vague with dream sequences. This made the overall story confusing and I was expecting more. The cliffhanger was expected but I still liked reading it play out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hidden Grove Books for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This book brought me back to being a 13 year old reading fantasy that I was naughty over by staying up way past my bedtime to read.

The first few chapters didn’t grab me and make me want to continue reading, there was a lot going on, multiple dreams and it made the beginning of the book very confusing.

The story got better the further you got in. A little gang of young kids trying to find a portal to a mythical place while all having their own little powers? Every twelve year old kids dream story, right?

There seemed to be some subplots in this book that didn’t come to fruition and seemed to be mentioned just to make things more mysterious. Nothing ever came of them though and I think those small details are what made this book lack for me.

Did I feel like a young teen reading this book? Yes. Do I want to read the next one? Absolutely. Let me escape to the simple stories of my early teen years please and thank you!

I was really intrigued by the plot to this one. It sounds fantastic - magical dreams that the MC can't remember?! - and the cover is just amazing. However, I think it just fell a little flat for me. Through reading it, the plot felt very confusing, almost as if we aren't given enough information to understand what is going on. It also reads almost annoyingly YA with characters behaving as children at times - just because it is YA does not mean it is enjoyable to read about bickering children. In saying that, I think that the magic system is amazing in this story and the atmosphere of the story. I also enjoyed the characters, when they weren't acting like children.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this one, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to Net Galley & Hidden Grove Books for providing the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled at the start and through the middle of this book, but the last third picked up for me.

It’s difficult for me to write a recap of the book because I had trouble following the plot most of the time. I started off being confused and unfortunately that feeling continued through most of the book. But since I’m usually a reader that focuses on vibes, I continued on. So I’ll share what I liked and some critiques.

What I liked:
- The characters! Their dynamic seems diverse and interesting, just wish I would have seen more.
- The world. While I’ve seen elements of this type of world in various other books, this was a fresh take on what I’ve seen.
- The magic system. Their powers being linked to descendants of the moon (familial) along with a physical talisman was very cool.

Critiques:
- Aris (fmc) and Alek (one of the male leads) made for a confusing reading experience. Both four letter names that start with A.
- I appreciate mystery in a book, but there was too much mystery for me with this one. There was mystery around multiple characters’ powers, very little access into the home life for Aris, late intro for some characters, etc.
- I don’t mind a love triangle, but was it really a love rectangle? I was getting vibes from Lochlen, Alek, & Mirai as well! Aris has been around for less than a month and is catching everyone’s eye 👀
- I also assumed dreams would be much more involved in the book, however, besides the opening sequence and some scattered nightmares, it didn’t seem like much of a pivotal point in the story? Maybe this is fleshed out more in the next book.
- The POV in the book was also confusing to me. Hopefully someone that’s more familiar with this than I am can explain why 😅

Rating is closer to 2.5/5. It’s unlikely I’ll read the next book in the series, but I would be interested to see what other books the author releases in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hidden Grove books for the opportunity to read a digital ARC of The Prophets Gambit in exchange for my honest review.

I was immediately drawn into the book by the beautiful cover art (for some reason it doesn’t show up on my kindle, which stinks because I’d have liked to use it for content) and the fact that part of the fantasy element had to do with dreams (something I am personally interested in)

This is a YA urban fantasy about a high school senior who finds out that she is a descendant of a magical peoples from an alternate realm through a new group of friends, who are trying to find their way back to that place. I love her found friendships, after her original friends were so awful. (A moment of appreciation for Mirai, how she is physically strong and can be explosive with her anger, but that she is so soft and caring with her friends). I think that each character had their moments where you got to know their good and “bad” sides. You even find yourself empathizing with and understanding why the villain ends up as they do. The magic system, overall writing style and pace all worked for me.

Also- The love triangle in this book!!! I think anyone would have a difficult time choosing who they want her to end up with. I think the way they’re written is excellent, because they’re both multifaceted in such opposing and yet similar ways. I know who I’m rooting for, and that’s why I need more ASAP!

I really enjoyed this book! I honestly can’t wait to read the next one, and think it deserves way more hype than I have seen, because I haven’t seen nearly enough. I’ll be waiting for part two impatiently, because I KNOW things are about to get real. The only “negative” is that I wish there was more. This was very much so an introduction to the series, and book two is going to be so much more of that fantasy element, and even more character development.

I won’t include the next part in my external review but some places for editing via my kindle location:

Loc 4964 days hotage instead of hostage
Loc 5125 “he was holding her like he knew her and Aris c that feeling”

DNF 21%

I can’t explain how I feel about this book because I have no idea what the heck is going on. I’m completely lost in a dark maze with no sense of direction. It is weird how the writing is descriptive and yet vague. There is a lot of contemporary teenage chit chat then something about dreams, a ring and magical powers. First chapter was intriguing and love the cover but that’s all I liked. Like what is the purpose of everything? I’m always asking why? What is the connection? I don’t want to spend time trying to figure it out.

*Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you for the arc!

This did end up as a DNF for me sadly! I adore the premise of this story but I really struggled to get into. I may give it another go in future but for now I can’t continue with it.

I liked the story, the premise was quite interesting and it kept me going forward. It was a bit hard to get into the story, but still I enjoyed it.

Being honest I DNF'd this book after reading 12 chapters.

The first chapter of the book completely threw me off. It starts with a scene where the reader has no idea what is happening and who the characters are but we keep reading thinking we'll find out more in the later chapters. But in Chapter 2 its a completely different person's pov. I guess the first chapter being confusing and slightly mysterious makes the reader want to read more to find out what was actually happening and how it was actually happening. But I felt like in the 10 or so chapters I read I couldn't really get a clear picture. I honestly couldn't get a clear picture of the magical "world" itself, describing the powers, history, people, etc.

Maybe that's my fault and I should have kept reading. Maybe it's my fault for reading this book and I wasn't feeling it at the time (I'm a mood reader so sometimes I want to read one thing, I start to read the book and find out I never wanted to read it in the first place).

If I ever go back to this book and attempt to read it again I will write a new review. But for now, this is all I can contribute.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book needed some more work. I felt horribly lost through most of it and finally gave up towards the 40% part and just called it quits. This one was a mash of things that didn't matter and story lines that just didn't full fleshed out.

"The Prophet's Gambit" is the first book of a fantasy romance series, written by Ellie Evaris and currently in progress.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, the gorgeous cover and the captivating title. In theory, it seemed to have all the right cards to please me, which is why I started the journey with rather high expectations. However, from the very first pages, I sensed a wobbly and confusing development, which worsened during the narration. Unfortunately, I was not able to appreciate it and in the end it left me deeply dissatisfied.

The writing seemed choppy, chaotic, and vague to me. I found the descriptions nebulous, the dialogues rather absurd, and a general coldness. I don't know, the prose conveyed nothing to me except boredom and confusion. I did not feel the least bit involved,remaining mostly indifferent. The style, in my opinion excessively twisted, negatively affected the pace, making it exasperatingly slow. The chapters seemed to me to be endlessly long, provoking me with repeated frustration hits.

The story seemed superficial and deeply chaotic to me. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it gave me the impression of being a collage of randomly inserted pieces. On more than one occasion I had to read and reread certain scenes because I could not understand the connection. And in the end, I often didn't get it anyway. Okay, as it goes on maybe it gets a little better, but that does not erase the presence of little explanation or events clearly forced for reasons of convenience. The combination of these elements, as a consequence, prevented me from connecting and getting passionate about the story.

The characters, main and secondary, all seemed flat to me. The presence of several povs, in third person, in my opinion brings no benefit. I felt no characterization, no deepening, no feeling. It's a shame, because some of them had a lot of potential. Not only did I fail to get passionate about them, but even remained indifferent to their fates, to the romance that develops.

All in all, I found it to be a read with interesting premises, but with a poor development, which unfortunately I do not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hidden Grove Books for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

To be honest I couldn't really get into the story... I had liked the cover and the title a little too much, so I think my expectations were a little sky high from the beginning. I'm sure it deserves a second read, but until then I will try to real a little different genres😊
Thanks for the author and net galley for the Arc! ♥

Not going to lie, the first two chapters made me very confused. I understan that the idea was to get an attention gripping first chapter but I honestly thought I was missing pages when I started reading. I liked the overall concept that the book was trying to tell but the story felt very jumbled up and made it confusing to follow, the characters felt quite flat for my taste and I understand that the author was trying to create tension between the two love interests to create a triangle drama but I just wasn't buying it.

4.5⭐️ rounded up.

Wow. I’m so pleasantly surprised and in love with these characters. The unique storyline & magic system, the multi POV, the burn so slow but so good. I can’t wait to see where this world leads. This book should be on your radar if you enjoy:

YA Fantasy Romance
Academia Settings,
Found Family,
Slow Burn,
Hidden Worlds,
Ancient Magic & Lore,
Magical Realism but also High Fantasy Touches
Discovery of Power.

This one will be sticking with me and I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy for my forever shelf. Ellie Evaris is officially on my list of authors I’d insta-read.

I received a free copy of this book from net galley in exchange for an honest review.

<spoiler>
LOCHLEN MY DARK TAROT PRINCE IM ROOTING FOR YOU AND I LOVE YOU 🃏🥺🥀🖤</spoiler>

I recieved a free e-arc through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.

I give this a 2.5/5. Underwhelming. The blurb for the book makes it exciting with magic and maybe a love triangle. But what I gathered from this book is teenage bickering with a dash of let's solve a mystery. It is very character analysis and inner drama and the plot is a back burner in this book. And the multiple povs seem to throw off the vibe of the book. It's a fun concept of a book but it didn't hit the mark. I got thrown off by random events happening that really did nothing for characters or plot direction it was just extra pages. I feel like I read the book and learned nothing about the characters and the confusing tier system of their magic. It probably will be explained more in book 2 but it kept being a random new note and this dream obsession mentioned in the blurb maybe lasted the first few chapters of the book and never again. It's very meh book that has a great outline with the blurb but never hit the mark.

This book… is going to be everyone’s next obsession. Like fourth wing level world building!! The magic system is really unique and I love the tension between ring havers and non ring havers. It creates a really interesting dynamic where magic havers aren’t only hated by non magic havers but also by those who can’t fulfill their magic with a ring which is an interesting dynamic. I loved the tension between Lochlan and Alis and his antihero attitude. The group of friends Alis finds will absolutely melt your hear. And this book had a top tier mystery about how Alis’ parents truly died (not a car accident after all it seems) that kept me very engaged. (Plus Lochlan in that scene placing the flowers made me cry.) This is one of my favorite books I read all year. Thanks so much for letting me review it!!

this book had a great premise but unfortunately this was all there was to this story. the plot was confusing, the characters as well, there were so many unnecessary subplots and scenes and the dialogues sounded extremely weird to me. the reasons why things were happening were unclear to me until maybe the 60% mark but not in a mysterious way where the characters are trying to figure out why, rather in a “we need the plot to move on so here’s some action”. our characters were extremely surface level, we never explored their emotions, motives and pasts at all, they really felt like 2d cartoons to me. finally, there was no world building or explanation as too how the magic system worked which , again, made this whole story confusing. 1.5⭐️

Title: The Prophets Gambit
Author: Ellie Evaris
Publisher: Hidden Grove Books
Publishing Date: October 17, 2023
Pages: 352
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, YA
Rating: ☆☆

Overall, okay… The book has a good idea, but poor execution. The synopsis sounds lovely and the cover is intriguing, but the story fell flat.
I found the story to be somewhat confusing for most of the book and the pacing was not very good. I thought about DNFing, but because the book was under 400 pages, I figured it may go somewhere and I would tough it out…
I don’t necessarily know exactly what I didn’t like or what turned me off, but the story definitely needed more world building to immerse the reader, and just generally more work building the story and the characters to really captivate the reader. It felt too thrown together?
Again, The book has a good idea, but poor execution.
I wouldn’t recommend, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hidden Grove Books for sending this book for review consideration! All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the world-building. It is unique and intriguing. I liked the writing style.I did have some trouble getting into the story. It was all very confusing at the beginning and I kept wondering what was going but I don't regret going on with it. The storyline is quite enchanting. I loved all of the characters They all have their imperfections which makes it all the more engaging and they are easy to connect with It's adventurous and magical. Certain things still don't make any sense but I'm hoping the next book would clear that up. I'd definitely be reading the next books to see where it goes