Member Reviews

A huge thanks to Netgally and Renee Dugan for letting me read this book before it was published in return of an honest opinion.

A Story Spun in Scarlet follows Audra Jashowin, a storyteller who cannot finish her stories. We start by meeting Audra when she is on her journey to Krylan. When she arrives at Krylan she starts working at a Tavern where she meets Jaik Grissom, a supposedly farmer. But what they were not expecting is that Jaik, in a strange way, allows Audra and other storytellers to finish their stories. After they start their journey to discover the reason why stories have no endings.

This is a very light of the beggining of the book and now I will go into my review.

A Story Spun in Scarlet was actually an okay book. I thought that i would be DNFing it in the beggining but I did end up going with it and actually finishing it. I wanna start by talking about the writting style if the author. It was not for me, too many descriptions, that could get a bit too much, and not many dialogues. Actually it was the writting style that made me give this rating to the book and not a higher one.

But besides the writting style. I did enjoy the story it was quite nice and I liked the premisse of it. I just feel like it did not come to the point where I would like it to go. The characters were nice, I felt like they had nice chemistry but other than that I felt like they did not have much depht or a lot to them.

I really liked the magic system envolving storytelling, I felt it was almost a breath of fresh air and somewhat different from the books I normally go for.

What I did not like, besides the writting, was the end we basically ended up in the same way that the book started, with the characters not knowing each other, or at least Audra not knowing Jaik and their friends. I don't like when book are a full circle, I prefer when books leave something open, specially when they are going to keep going (don't know if it is a stylistic choice from the author though).

The second thing I did not like was the many tropes I found in it, meaning forced proximity, single bed (this one happens a lot actually) and chosen one. I felt like they were a bit too many to be in one single book!

The third thing that I noticed was the fact that the book was kinda devided. What I mean with this is that in the first like 60% of the book we mainly follow the characters trying to understand why the stories have no endings, but from there I fell like it almost focuses on the relationship of Audra and Jaik and, to me, it was not very appealing.

The fourth and last thing that I wanna say is that in one chapter where Audra was unconcious she still was able to tell everything that was happening and this was one things that I really did not like in the book. Because if she was unconscious how was she able to tell us what was happening?

But besides all this I think that the book and the idea are really promising.

I am not sure yet if I would want to keep going with the series! It depends on the path that the book takes! And although this book was not for me in a certain way it might be for you!

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I really enjoyed the world but found it was almost too descriptive and dragged out a bit. Still a good read!

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A story about the magic of storytelling. Audra is a storycrafter who is on the move. For a reason no one knows, storycrafters have lost the ability to finish a story. Until one night meets Jaik and finishes her first story. The story follows them along their way to finding answers to questions they each have.

This is a high fantasy book so be warned. I feel like it won’t be for everyone. This is for people who love world building and lyrical writing. It is a longer book and for people who don’t like those things it will drag.

It’s a beautiful story though. I loved the uniqueness. The magic system revolving around storytelling is so poetic and I really love it. I also loved ‘Luck’ being a whole thing in this book. The writing was good. Long winded but good. You feel everything. You feel like you’re there in the world and you feel all the emotions.
There’s lots of twists and turns that take the book in a different direction. There’s no spice but the love story is still amazing. I loved Audra and Jaik. They make you want to root for them despite their flaws. As the story goes, you learn they have lost memories and how intertwined everything is.
(Also for just a little side note, I really loved the way Jaik helped Audra ground herself. Asking her to list 5 things you see, 4 things you feel, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, 1 things you taste. So good!)
And the ending was beautiful. I thought it was perfect.
Overall this is good fit for high fantasy fans who are looking for a unique story.

🖤
Close your eyes. Let me tell you a story.
🖤
Thank you NetGalley and Renee Dugan for the ARC. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

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I really wanted to enjoy and like this book but I simply didnt find myself invested in the characters or the world so I DNF’d around 20%. I am giving this book 3 stars because the author is an excellent writer this book just simply wasnt for me.

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─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
✧。 4 enchanting stars
╰─▸ ❝ Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review ❝

─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
➶ I've honestly never read a book written by Renee Dugan but I'm glad that I finally have.
➶ Her writing style is amazing, its enchanting, lyrical, poetic and full of emotion
➶ The plot was plotting
➶ The length of the book seems intimidating but time flies when I read this
➶ The epilogue left me stunned, can't wait for the sequel
➶ I found the characters really enjoyable and interesting
➶ No spice, just kissing moments
➶ The atmospheric world building >

- I genuinely recommend this book

(Posted on Goodreads), once again, thank you for the opportunity

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Audra Jashowan is what this novel calls a storycrafter. However, like many other storycrafters, she’s unable to finish her tales.

This story had an incredible hook, I was sold in the first chapter, captivated by the story. I thought it was incredibly interesting, something I hadn’t really heard of before.
Then it became a lot of that.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jaik and Audra. Also Lio was amazing (my favourite for sure, she breathed a lot of life when included.) however, the prose was incredibly heavy. After the shock of the intriguing first chapter, I found that I was kind of suffocated with the descriptions. I would like to add im a much more dialogue heavy reader, and then there was way less of it than I normally see in books here.

Renee Dugan can really paint a beautiful picture, so I’m not trying to poke the witting style. I’m just not sure it was my thing, as sad as I am to say that. For people who are very interested in the settings of their novels, of feeling like you can literally breath in their air and see the magic, this is a great book for you. Even I can see that. This book had a fantastic premise (the story-crafters were so cool. Unlike much I’ve seen in fantasy.)
Unfortunately the writing style is not to my preference, but I hope this book is able to find its audience!

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Thank you to NetGalley, author R. Dugan and Wave Walker Press for this eARC.

I love this book so much!
The writing is beautiful, the characterization is great, the story develops beautifully, the magic system is so cool & interesting and the slow burn romance is everything I want it to me!
The only reason it's not a 5 star read is because it takes the book ~20% to actually get started. Before that it's just a lot of descriptions and info dump.
4.75 stars

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Let me tell you a story about a fantastic book with stories within the story. Stories that on their own are highly enjoyable, and creative. Stories that add to the story that is already wonderfully written and so fun to read.

I seriously loved this beautifully written book. This book about a storyteller who has lost their ability to finish their stories, along with all other storytellers is a big book. It took a while to read, and maybe was a little too wordy at times, but what follows is the main characters’ quest to find out why everyone lost that ability. Full of adventure, a slow burn romance, action, magic, thrills and the best stories within the story, this book delivers for an amazing fantasy book. Great plot, well developed characters and just so enjoyable, I highly recommend this book for any fantasy lovers out there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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3.75 stars.
I received an early e-copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a fun book! I really enjoyed the world-building and the concept of Storycraft. It's a very unique magic system. The characters are great. Audra and Jaik are fab, and I loved the whole idea of them forgetting but still finding their way back to each other. Galan is a piece of work though!
I felt like the story dragged a bit in places, and some chapters could have been edited down a bit. The flow seemed a bit interrupted sometimes.
Overall though, this was a really fun book and I enjoyed it :)

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In Mithra-Sha stories can create magic. They can grow crops, change weather, and even build homes and roads. Well they used to be able to. A few years ago all stories lost their endings and Mithra-Sha has been suffering since. Audra Jashowin is a storyteller trying to find a place to belong after her family rejected her. She is trying to find a purpose when she ends up in a new city and meets Jaik Grissom. Suddenly her stories have endings. And soon they are on the run. They set out looking for answers and hiding from a bounty on their heads. Their journey will send them all over Mithra-Sha and will uncover secrets that will change the world.

Well this was a hefty book. I didn’t realize how big before I started lol. My biggest criticism of the book was that it was overly descriptive. I found myself skimming through some of the paragraphs. The story hummed along at a slow pace. The magic system through the storytelling was unique and I thought it was funny when Jaik asked why not just say we leave the city. I liked the chemistry between Audra and Jaik. He is very supportive and definitely did his best to hold her accountable. I figured out Audra’s secret pretty early, although not Jaik’s. Overall I struggled keeping focus with the book and thought it would have been better if some of the extra description was cut out, but I did like the book. The last few chapters and the epilogue had my emotions in a chokehold. If there are more in the series I will be getting them.

Rating 4 stars
*I received a review copy from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review

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This just didn't pull me in the way I hoped. I liked the stories Audra tried to tell better than her own journey. It unfortunately wasn't a win for me.

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I received this as an ARC from NetGalley and Wave Walker Press. . I will leave an honest review for this book as there are elements I like and elements I did not like.

I must say the idea of a story teller not being able to finish a story in the first few chapters broke my heart. But as the story progressed I found myself struggling to relate to the characters and care for them.

Then the pacing of the book is extremely slow. It takes a long time for anything to happen and for anything substantive to occur you need to make it to chapter 10 at least and that is a long time to read for any plot line to develop.

However, the world building and descriptive nature of Dugan’s writing kept luring me in and I did eventually finish this book. It was a chore but I did it. Am I glad I finished it? Yes. Will I recommend it? That depends on the person. I wouldn’t rule out Dugan’s work and I am intrigued to see how their writing develops in the future.

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R. Dugan's "A Story Spun in Scarlet" is an engrossing narrative that skillfully blends themes of suspense, romance, and mystery. The narrative tracks the mysterious Audra. R. Dugan's lyrical and captivating writing style from the first page drew me in. The characters give the story depth since they are likable and well-developed. All things considered, "A Story Spun in Scarlet" is an engrossing book that will have you gripped until the very end.

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In this world, Storycrafters are a gifted people with the ability to bring the their stories to life. They play a crucial role in their world, making sure that no one in is left in poverty, harvests are always plentiful, and all people are safe and happy. That is, until all stories are left without endings and storycrafting ceases to exist at all. Audra is a Storycrafter. While eager to keep in touch with her craft, she has all but accepted the new reality and is happy to live a quiet life serving food and drinks at a tavern. One day, a humble farmer walks into Audra's tavern and somehow, some way, with his presence she is finally able to finish a story. It is there that Audra's life unravels and she becomes desperate to understand where did all the endings go and is this stranger to key to bringing them back.

This book includes:
- unique FMC who goes on a journey of discovering her role in the world
- supernatural storytelling
- unnatural monsters
- beauty in quiet moments
- high stakes fight scenes
- slow slow burn (romance is s subplot, this is not a romantasy)
- heart shattering memory loss

"A Story Spun in Scarlet" is a gorgeous story. I have never read anything like this before and I read at least 300 pages every day. Audra and Jaik are written in a way that is so honest and lovely and flawed that it almost feels like I know them personally. After reading their story and crying along with them, maybe I do. It took me a second to get into this story because it does begin with Audra living her quiet life, but in the end, I feel like the juxtaposition from her quiet life vs her quest to saving Storycrafting is so important and so crucial to her growth. Also, I cant say much on the topic without spoilers, but the big reveal! OMG! I had an inkling of some of the pieces of the twist, but when it all clicked into place my mind was blown.

I seriously cannot recommend this book enough. I'm gonna have to post a whole TikTok on the journey these characters go on and I HOPE everyone takes a chance on "A Story Spun in Scarlet." If you love complex characters, races against time, and unlikely heroes you will love this book.

I received this ebook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Wave Walker Press, and R. Dugan for the opportunity to review this book. This review is also available on my GoodReads - check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863 and a review will be going up on my tiktok @WelcometotheAtlas by the end of next week.

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Received as a free arc copy via netgalley.

Unfortunately would have been a DNF if not for the fact I felt obliged to finish it so I could give an accurate rating

Incredibly slow starting, not much develops in the story in the first 50 or so pages.

The stories pace does develop in the second half but it's not worth it overall in my opinion.

I was really exited for this one, I loved the description but it didn't live up to expectations

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This book. I’m not sure. There were many parts I enjoyed and many that dragged. Unfortunately it’s gets rather wordy and repetitive, but 35% really pulled me in. And about 10 minutes later back in a lull of descriptions. I loved the prose and the characters and the ending but could have been cut down a third.


Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC! This is my complete honest review.

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DNFed at 31%.
This book was just not clicking with me. There was just something about the writing style that actually made it difficult for me to read. I think there was too many dense paragraphs of descriptions, and it was kind of jumping all over the place, so I just could not follow the story. I honestly don't even know what the plot is or what the characters' goal is. A lot of the dialogue was kind of weird and unnatural. It didn't really sound like anything people would say in real-life and I know that a lot of fantasy books like to add their own world-specific cuss words, but it just got really ridiculous at some points--like just say fuck and get it over with. I don't really know how old the characters were supposed to be (I think 20s maybe??), but they were just too immature for my taste and I could not get myself to connect with them no matter what. I also did not like the relationship between the two MCs. At the point I DNFed it hadn't become romantic yet, and even though I know that's where it was heading, I did not feel any sort of chemistry between the two.
I will give the book 2-stars on NetGalley because there really is a lot of potential. The premise is incredibly interesting and nothing I've really seen before. I wanted to like this so bad and it could be so much better if there was just some more editing done to kind of clean up the writing and make everything more concise.

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great story amazing plot and one of my favorite read this book is a solid 4/5 in my opinion. I hope the authour continues to write amazing books like this. I look forward to reading more of their work

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Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I'm giving this story a solid 4 because despite a few things, it was a very enjoyable and a fun read! I loved the magic and epic feel of it.

I did feel like it was a very slow beginning, but if you stick with it, it's worthwhile and I found myself getting lost in the world once I settled in. There were parts that I found myself skimming just to get to the action. A good editor with some scissors probably wouldn't given this book a 4.5 for me. It is a very long book, but if you're looking for something to hang out with for a while, then I suggest this one!

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Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. 4.5⭐ rounded up.

I will say, I have never been more grateful to have stuck it out and given this story a fully proper chance, even when I was close to writing it off after such a lackluster and draggy start. Let me suggest all readers to at least hold on till Chapter 10, which is when this tale truly picks up and never slows down again for me. It almost feels like a reward for not giving up after long, drawn out sentences that could use some editing, and chapter after chapter with mostly exposition.

Once our heroine Audra meets the co-lead of the story, Jaik, this tale truly turns around. I am utterly captivated by the magic and romance that Dugan painstakingly takes over 550 pages (in this particular eARC) to weave. If you're going to use this many pages, I'm expecting great character development and a well-written romance that didn't rush to achieve. Fortunately, it exceeded all my expectations. This is a Magic Quest-styled fantasy built on a foundation of a deep, soulmates-type love story. Yes, the romance is that integral.

From early on, the reality-warping magic system that relies on storytelling intrigued me. Dugan uses the page length effectively by giving us multiple mini stories that Audra tells aloud as a conduit for her power. I'm especially impressed with the revelation that these stories were selected for a reason, despite being set up as seemingly random. Midway through the novel, a mystery unfolded before my eyes which upped the stakes and urged me to keep turning the page to reach the answers. And the resolution did not disappoint!

I also commend Dugan for giving us a wonderfully complex heroine that grapple with extremely human flaws. Audra does possess compassion for others, but acknowledges her bouts of selfishness of wanting recognition for her efforts. It stems from her abandonment issues and deep fear of rejection, having been cast off by her loved ones in the past. Her PTSD and deeply rooted insecurity are major plot points that I feel are handled well. Want to read of a perpetual people-pleaser who learns to fight for her voice? You've got her. And I do so love that it when a female protagonist gets a male love interest who uplifts her in every way. Jaik is a treasure, deserving of Audra's (and my) time and investment. I could use a little more slowburn for this romance, but it was still fleshed out well enough for my enjoyment. They spent so much time together! They bantered well! There was mutual respect grown!

The prose was lovely to read and overall I had a great time with Dugan's writing style (albeit those pesky long sentences!). She knows how to slip in intense tearjerking moments that make this book one of my faves of the year... and it's only just February!

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