Oh my god, I loved this book. I get the wonderful fortune of reading ARCs rather frequently, and there are few that have gotten me as excited as this first installment to a new romantasy series filled with so many of my favorite tropes AND plot twists.

The novel follows Jaylyn, a talented human dancer making do as a bartending waitress in a human tavern, while all the talented “Assigned” humans are Placed in jobs up in the sky kingdoms where Fae, elves, and other manners of immortal and inhuman creatures. When Jaylyn is discovered by an elf and brought to the clouds to be Placed among the Fae, she gets more than she bargained for in so many ways.

Listen. I mean it. This book has it all. A love triangle that isn’t really a love triangle because duh (I’m looking at you, ACOTAR). A strong heroine who works hard to earn any strength and skill she has. Found family with the most lovable slew of side characters. Big identity reveals. Fated mates AND star-crossed lovers, though both tropes are turned on their head. Some really great steam and tension. And action, war, and magic powers that are so easy to get invested in. I loved Jay, and I also loooooved Kal, her sentry turned friend turned… something else (I’ll leave it to you to read and find out what!).

I raced to the end of this book, and am on the edge of my seat for the next. With unique magic systems, characters you root for, intricate lore created amidst the characters, and a protagonist I didn’t want to yell at all the time (which can be a big deal with this genre), I give this book 4.5⭐️

*Thank you again to NetGalley and Victory Editing Co-op for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

A beautifully written fantasy romance. Everything I love, a beautifully imagined world, characters I'm rooting for, romance, fae...
Very much enjoyed reading this book, and I look forward to the next book in the series!

This one just wasn’t for me. Although it has a good foundation and entertaining moments, it was hard for me to connect with the writing. It was very surface level and lacked depth. I had to push to finish. The main character started off great, but she shifted from strong and confident to a whiny frantic mess. I didn’t like the progression from instalove to all out obsession, or the internal monologue that came with it. The world building was good but came off as randomly placed info dumps that didn't fit well for me. The side characters were the best part in my opinion.

Overall I really wanted to love this one but it fell short for me. I won't be continuing this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Magnamour for the eARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have struggled on what to rate this book for a while as I love the Romantasy genre & the world that was built but I didn’t love it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it and never once thought about DNF’ing this book.

The world building is solid and I love the story created by the author. However, I do wish some of the information given to us to build this world was spread out a bit.

As for the next couple of “issues” it may just be a me problem.
Insta love is one of my least favorite tropes and watching the main FMC instantly fall in love to the point where it’s an unhealthy obsession with someone she barely knows is off putting.
The FMC started off strong for me then quickly turned annoying. She also had no real struggle to find powers that she is apparently not even suppose to have?

Overall, I liked the story but feel like it could’ve been developed better.

This book was just okay for me. The writing and storyline felt surface level, lacking the depth I expect from fae fantasy stories. While there were some aspects I liked, such as the decent world building and introduction of characters, there were also several plot lines that didn't make sense upon closer examination. For example, the disappearance of Starlight was a major plot point in the beginning but is never mentioned again. Instead, a new conflict involving a brother and mind-controlling the king is introduced. Additionally, the book fails to deliver on the promises made in the synopsis regarding the star planet and its magic. The lack of background information on the Starlight kingdom and its powers left me wanting more. The majority of our time in the Starlight kingdom is filled with Jay's internal monologue about trivial matters, which became tiresome. Furthermore, the book is misleadingly labeled as a dystopian fantasy when it is simply a fantasy story with a separation between the human and fae worlds. The huge love triangle that occurs was not mentioned in the synopsis and is one of my least favorite tropes. If I had known about it beforehand, I probably would not have read this book. Overall, while the initial synopsis captures only about 30% of the story accurately, the rest takes a different direction entirely.

This was interesting take on the Fae. The world building was concise and remained focused on the central themes of the plot. The Fae live in the sky - from what I could gather (with my limited ability to visualize while reading), was that the lived on floating islands about the planet. This book was also characterized as a dystopian fiction, which is accurate. The humans on the planet below are slaves to the Fae above. The different countries are not aligned on their views with regards to the treatment of the humans and as such are rather mistreated. There are breading camps too.
My favorite part of the story is actually the lovely story, which is a subplot and very well done in my opinion. There is an initial Romance between Jaylyn and Prince Aster is quick and they become fated mates, but it is also fleeting. As Jaylyn is captured also right after the bonding. Fortunately, she was also captured with her broody (sort of enemy) bodyguard. You can see where this is going, right? I say no more.
While captured we also meet two other prisoners, and they are an absolutely delightful addition to the duo - now quartet.
This is a fun read with adventures abound, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, intriguing politics, and a unique take on the life with and around the fae (from what I have read, any way).
Many thanks to NetGalley and Magnamour for a digital arc of the book. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

Into the Skies is a typical romantasy, that has about .5🌶️ and a love triangle(ish)

Jay is forcefully removed from the human lands by a fae spy and is taken into the skies to become one of the Placed. With this, she is turned (again read: forced) into becoming a Made Fae, and her mate of course is Aster, the fae Price of Starlight. They have instalove attraction, and although he spent time courting her, he tells her after she is a changed Fae that they cannot marry and he will have multiple fuck buddies in hopes of an heir. In an outing, they are attacked and Aster abandons her. Not to worry, her broody sentry, Kal, comes to her rescue. They are abducted in the battle and are locked away in a dungeon. Eventually, they escape, find out she has powers (which apparently made fae cannot have), learn secrets about each other, etc etc typical romantasy stuff. We see a bit of Kal’s powers, but honestly us hearing about how he can feel HER feelings this entire book got a bit redundant. By the end, she has even more powers than she started out with, but again, made fae can’t have powers? This is a huge plot hole until explained, hopefully in the next book. The ending is a bit anticlimactic and rushed. I really didn’t understand what they were fighting and who they were fighting for. I think this book was just Fine, but the writing and storyline were very surface level. In such an overwritten genre, fae fantasy stories need more.

There were many things I liked in this book. The world building was OK, and it was relatively easy to follow the types of creatures and general power hierarchy of the kingdoms. I really liked the way the author introduced all the characters. Sometimes with fantasy novels, characters are all introduced at once and I can’t remember 20+ people and their powers. With this book, they’re sporadicallly introduced and immediately incorporated into the story. You can really learn who the characters are and their relations to each other. That said, we only ever see the characters who are immediately on the page. We don’t even hear of Aster or anyone from the Starlight kingdom for more than half the book.

The overall synopsis of the book is misleading in my opinion. This book is marked a dystopian fantasy book. This isn’t a dystopian book at all, it’s literally just a fantasy book with the human and fae world separated. It does not mention the HUGE love triangle that occurs, and it’s one of my least favorite tropes. If I had known, I probably would not have read it. The GR synopsis summarizes about the first 30% of the book, and after that it’s completely different.

I really wanted to love this book, but I probably won’t be continuing on with the series. This would be a good book for someone just getting into the romantasy genre, and likes just a tiny bit of spice that doesn’t really do much for you as a reader

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Jaylyn is a tavern barmaid who, after not being placed on her 18th year, gets taken to the fae sky kingdom above her home after a particularly moving dance performance while she is working. She is instantly wrapped up in the fae prince who puts her under the care of a grumpy sentry who she can’t seem to crack. Jaylyn has no idea what is planned for her, but instead of asking any questions when she is alone with her prince she moons over how beautiful and wonderful he is.

I can’t explain much more about the plot without giving away some of the twists. I will say that this may be the first time you are rooting for someone OTHER THAN the fated mate though. The book started a little slow and a lot frustrating. Jaylyn seemed very damsel in distress-y and I was so frustrated that she wouldn’t start asking any questions and was just sitting around waiting for something to happen to her. However, it picked up and got much better after the attack. The second half was much better than the first, though the epilogue leaves you a little underwhelmed.

It maybe wasn’t the most well-written piece of fiction I’ve ever read, but it had some good time moments and I would continue the series.

⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️ - there are some scenes, it isn’t closed door or even really fade to black, but there are no graphic details, we know it's happening, but don’t feel like a participant in the act.

It is easy to fall into this world and become part of it. The details and descriptions are beautiful, the characters feel like friends, and the romance is everything! Jay is such an easy character to root for and you feel her emotions along with her as the story develops. This is a must read fantasy romance that will have you captivated and wanting more!

Jaylyn is a human that lives in Loya, where balance is important and humans and fae have soulmates. However, in this balance the fae are superiors and the humans serve to all the fae needs. On a human's 18th birthday they have the opportunity to be placed if they have some type of unique ability such as beauty, dancing, singing, etc. Jaylyn was not placed on her 18th birthday and she was content on living her life, until one day a fae saw her dance and she was presented to the king and his family for placement. Once placed, she found she also had a soulmate, Prince Aster Raellen. But after unforeseen circumstances she is separated from him. As she tries to make her way back to him she finds out fae truths that were hidden from humans.

While the summary of this book is fantastic, this book was not for me. The world-building of the dystopian world of fae and humans was very unique and well thought out. But no matter how much I kept reading I wasn't happy with the book. I was barely able to finish the book. I'm not particularly a fan of insta-love, it almost feels forced and like obsession and not love itself. I hated how much Jaylyn was obsessed with Aster and this went on for more than half the book.

I gave the book 3 stars because the story development was very fantastic and unique. For any future readers, I still recommend that everyone should read this especially if they like dystopian fiction, or any books about fae and humans.

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

What a ride. I love Kelsey Humphreys and her Heartlanders series so I was curious when I saw she was crossing over to Fantasy Romance.

This is fast paced. If you like the pace of TOG or ACOTAR, this is not for you. You are thrown into this dystopian fantasy realm fast and hard and the romance follows shortly behind that.

There's a handful of interesting characters and the magic system is intricate and unique. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves the romantasy genre.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What can you say about a book that was marketed for ACOTAR fans and completely missed the goal by a mile? I don't want to be mean, but this was so, so disappointing. Let me touch on three things that really bothered me. Note that there are spoilers, so if you don't want to know them, don't continue reading.

The World-building - Everything you needed was there. The author had every last detail planned out and explained. But the execution was severely lacking. It was an info dump at the start, making it an extremely slow first few chapters as we're desperately trying to get a sense of the setting as readers. Instead of sprinkling the world-building as we read, the author decided to tell us everything at once. That's how you lose readers at the beginning of your book. Romantasy does allow for a bit more info-dumping than other sub genres, but overall, I know very few romance readers who are willing to sit through several chapters of history, politics, and society. Spread it out. Make it make sense as the reader is moving through the story. This just showed me that the author either never had beta readers or the beta readers didn't do their job.

The FMC - I loved her in the beginning and was highlighting a lot of her lines, finding her funny and relatable. However, as the story progressed, she deteriorated into a whiny character led around by her inexperienced libido. I was fooled by the first MMC to be introduced as well. Seemed like a nice fellow, albeit a bit spoiled and self-important. But when he aggressively pursued her and they had their first sex scene, it became quite clear that he was going to be the eventual antagonist of the story. He was extremely selfish, caused her a lot of pain, and even after that, our FMC was still dreamy over him. So he takes her virginity, knowing that the next phase of the story involved an extremely painful process that makes her immortal and reveals her mate. He knows it may not be him but couldn't resist being with her. Lovely man. Then when he is revealed to be her mate, he ends up being an even bigger scum of the earth by saying he will never marry her as he is a prince and she is not a true fae since she wasn't born as one. He will still have to marry someone else (possibly several someones), but they can still be together, so it's all good. Even though she will be his mistress. Then an attack happens, he abandons her, and she gets saved by our true MMC, who she has been treating like crap for a while. Even after saving her, now all she can think about is our first MMC, despite the fact that he is the literal worst. She calls the second MMC names and is generally awful, but he's so hot and sometimes she slips in her regard for him. It is all just so completely juvenile and read as YA more often than not. Which brings me to my third and final gripe...

The Mating Bond - This was just...bad. The way it's explained is that they have this instant connection to each other, but the problem is with how that connection is characterized. The FMC is constantly thinking MATE in her head, to the point where it gets annoying to read. It's almost like she has this other being in her head calling out for him, and it's so odd to read about. Every time she starts thinking about the second MMC in the story, she yells out MATE in her head and suddenly goes back to being gaga over the first MMC. It read like a bad Wattpad story at this point, and I couldn't stop laughing every time I would read about her mind shouting MATE every few minutes.

Overall, I think the story itself had a lot of promise, but this author needed help with editing and beta reading to do it justice. I would definitely give this author a try in the future, but sadly, this debut book missed the mark completely for me.

I have to say, I was disappointed. Despite finding myself enjoying a couple of the side characters, I felt that the main character lacked depth. Focused on wanting to return to her fae mate for a majority of the book, Jaylyn did not contribute much flavour to the plot other than being the main character. There were moments I enjoyed, such as the last quarter of the story, however I had to push myself to finish this book. The story has potential but unfortunately did not manage to reach it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

On Loya, the fae rule the plant from their floating cities far above where the humans live, well more accurately survive. There are lucky humans, those who are exceptionally gifted, beautiful, or intelligent who are chosen to be Placed and are taken to the skies at 18. Jaylyn Hoste is not one of those humans.

But she is content with her life and wants her life to stay the same. She wants to look after her younger brothers, dance as a barmaid at The Whistler, and spend time with her friend Welton. It is not until some truths come to light that she questions her choice to simply be content. And one night, a royal spy wanders into her tavern, and her life is irrevocably changed.

I loved Jaylyn's POV. Her inner monologue felt so natural and often times made me laugh out loud. Her development throughout the book was astounding, and I am excited to see how she continues to grow. The additional POVs popped in and out perfectly, and there was one that I hope we get more of in the next book! I could not get enough of her banter with Kal. LOVED Min and Goody. They were such an incredible addition to the story and Jaylyn's relationship with them only made me love her more. Min and I definitely share a similar love for a certain character, so I definitely felt a connection with her bubbly spirit.

The world-building of Into the Skies is intricate and intriguing. In the beginning, the pace was a little slow. The details of the world were at times confusing, but given the POV is generally Jaylyn's this makes sense since there is quite a bit she doesn't know or understand. It made it feel that we were really on this journey with her as she learned more about her world and uncovered the secrets kept from her kind for so long. About halfway through the book, I was hooked. I cannot wait to see what is in store for Jaylyn and her friends in this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Magnamour Press for the chance to read this!

This was the first book by Kay Humphreys and it was a good read. Will I read next book? Sure, it has a very interesting plot. a unique story line. The characters well developed with good secondary characters! I loved Min and Goody! They were comedic relief to this action packed book. The romance is slow and angst filled as it was Jay I'm sure! I want to see what happens next!! The only drawback was the start was quite slow with loads of info, sure it is necessary as this was a dystopian romance but the proper/right placements of details can make it fast paced and interesting as well as it took me some time to get to the action!

Overall 4.5/5. I am rounding up because this book was just SO good. Easily one of my favorite reads of the year so far! Just STUNNING! It reminds me a lot of the dynamic in the These Hallow Vows series and 100% has ACOTAR and ACOMAF romance vibes. Kal and Jaylyn are one of my new favorite book couples. I can’t tell you how often I squealed with delight at their romance. The spice is light and tastefully done.
Goody and Min might just be my favorite side characters ever. They give such a fun balance to the story. Goody reminds me of Groot. The relationships and characters are easily a 5/5.

4/5 goes to world building. There was a lot of intense world building at the start, and our main character is quite literally swept into chaos and the reader along with her. I was getting very confused about the setting and couldn’t quite capture the sky city in my head. But later on we learn about Loya and its people via Min, which was such a clever way to give us a better idea of the world. There were a few small plot holes that I noticed, but they weren’t too distracting or I feel they might be resolved in book 2, which I am already DYING to read already! The book is listed as dystopian fantasy but I’d say it leans more on the fantasy side. The ending seemed a bit rushed and the letter to Welton leaves me with a lot of anxiety for my favorite couple. I can't wait to see how they tackle the challenges ahead! I have high hopes for book two! February can’t come fast enough!

Into The Skies dives into a world where Fae are at the top of the food chain, living in the skies, and the other species (humans, elves, hobbits) answer to and serve them. Humans can be "Placed" (given a spot in the sky working for the Fae) at 18 years old if they are chosen, which is seen as a highly desired job by the humans. Our FMC, Jaylyn, is not chosen to be Placed at 18; but her life gets turned upside down when an Elven spy sees her dancing at her place of employment and brings her to the Fae, believing she should have been Placed. And once there, she discovers her mate, secrets unfold, and crazy shenanigans are had. Jaylyn ends up a prisoner in an enemy kingdom, and she and her motley crew work together to escape and find themselves on a journey back to the Star Kingdom and her mate.

The story is told mainly from the POV of Jaylyn, our fierce, emotional female protagonist, but we also get snippets from other characters as well which I really enjoyed! This story is fairly short, but A LOT happens, and I was surprised with how well paced everything felt. The found family aspect we get with Jaylyn, Kal, Min, and Goody has my heart. I love the comraderies and affection they have for each other. The romance we see with Jaylyn's mate is definitely instalove, but then we also get slow burn, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers with Kal. I think Kal is so freaking adorable and I love him to bits (Min and I were on the same page throughout the book). Jaylyn was a little annoying at times, specifically with how much her jealousy of Lana was talked about, but I do think she grew tremendously from the start to the end of this book and I'm excited to see her continue to develop in the next book as she becomes more confident in herself and her and Kal's relationship. I found the plot twist to be predictable after some of the information revealed by Kal as the story progressed (but I'm also the kind of person who loves to guess at what is going to happen every step of the way and will overanalyze every detail given). But even with it being a bit predictable, I am absolutely itching for the next in the series! It definitely feels like a mixture of ACOTAR and a bit of Hunger Games, so if you enjoyed either of those series you will enjoy this! Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

In a world where humans are bound to surrender their lives and goods they make to the Fae in the sky, Jaylyn teeters on the brink of a life-altering decision: marry within the confines of the human realm or submit to a fate of perpetually bearing offspring in a controlled facility. However, her life takes an unexpected turn when her exceptional dancing abilities cause her to be whisked away to the realm of the Fae. She starts falling for Aster, the Prince of Starlight, and his flirty, charming ways but it becomes more complicated.

“Into the Skies” by Kay Humphreys is a great book with amazing worldbuilding. I like the number of species in the first book, with Fae, humans, elves, and hobbits. It’s an enemies-to-lovers with miscommunication. The miscommunication part was my absolute favorite part. I must admit that Jaylyn, the main character, grated on my nerves initially, appearing somewhat spoiled, especially considering her impoverished background. By the end it was super good, and I saw a lot of promise with Jaylyn’s character that I cannot wait to read the second in the series. 4 out of 5 stars because the mc bothered me for so much of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It felt very original and very distinctive compared to the other romantasy books that I have been reading.

There is quite a good amount of world building in this book. I liked the fact that there are a lot of fantasy races within the book. I also loved the idea of the sky cities. It made the world feel very distinctive.

It took a little while for me to get into this book, which is why I settled on giving it four stars. I was unsure about the romance at the beginning of the book and almost stopped reading as I just wasn't enjoying the romance. However, I kept going because I loved the world building and I am so glad I did. I don't want to give any spoilers but this book has a very original take on a soulmate story, which I really enjoyed.

I enjoyed the writing style and it was very easy to read. Once I got about 50% into the book, I was gripped and I couldn't put it down. It is also an action-packed book, which I really enjoyed. There is plenty going on to keep you hooked.

I can't wait to find out what happens next in the series. The next book, With the Winds, is due to be released in February 2024 according to Amazon. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for that one to be released.

Thanks to NetGalley, Kay Humphreys and Magnamour for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.