This is a good entry level romantasy and I think it will appeal to middle grade and teens and could be a good introduction to the genre. Having read quite a few myself, I felt The Concealed had a few issues. The premise is very interesting and I liked the fast pace and the fact that strange/eerie things start happening the minute Cate sets foot in England. But I would have liked a bit more emotional investment in regards to the debate between staying in the human world or going to the new realm, it does feel a bit rushed. As does the romance, I think. It all happens rather quickly and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but I felt that there wasn't enough time or interactions to allow for such strong emotions or if indeed there is a mate bond thing going on, we don't get enough meat on that.
Overall, it was a fun and easy read and given that there is a second book coming, I'm wondering whether things will tie up nicely there.

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

Sometimes you just want a book where an American girl goes off to England to pursue higher education and ends up finding out she’s a princess from a magical realm who has to go back home to fulfil a prophecy and gets embroiled in a love triangle along the way. This is that book. It’s delightful and I’m very happy to have read it over the weekend - it felt like sitting with an old friend. There were a few bits that I felt were a bit off, but I think that’s simply because the tone is a bit lighter than the books I’ve been reading recently, which makes sense with the genre.

Thank You Netgalley, Aethon Books, and SK Horton for the advance copy. Out now and available in all formats. I purchased the Audio book narrated by Amanda Leigh Cobb who is one of my top narrators and they did a good job. However I did prefer reading the book with my eyes more. Honestly there wasn't anything new or special about the story and I know it's only book one and YA but it seems more middle grade-young YA. With that in mind I did like that Cate, although in the dark was willing to learn and fight. I will probably continue the series as there is room for growth and more story line. Everything seemed rushed in book 1 because Cate finally came of age where she could come home and fulfill the prophecy.

Unfortunately I have marked this as DNF at only 11%. I firmly believe you will know if you're going to enjoy a book within the first couple of chapters, and I had such high hopes for this one and really wanted to give it a chance. It gave me strong Ninth House but for teenagers vibes.
It just feels so rushed, there's no real build up or story setting, it's lacking that atmospheric tense style that I enjoy in these sorts of stories.
It is well written, and I do like Cate as a character, I just didn't like how easily she accepted the intensity of needing to be protected by a stranger she's just met. I think some relationship building, and a slower paced would have kept me reading.
I think for Middle Grade, it is good. But maybe not quite hitting the mark to compete with the YA world at present.

I wasn’t to like this one so much, I was intrigued when I first read the summary. About 25% into it, I lost interest. I’ll probably pick it back up soon, but for now it was a DNF for me.


📚 Tropes
Single POV
Love Triangle
Hidden Identities Revealed
Prophecy
Elemental magic

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I was intrigued. However, I quickly noticed a fundamental problem. Beyond the clichés that are abundant here and are used to advance a plot that otherwise would struggle to unfold over the various chapters, I found the writing extremely immature.

It is a true debut, and this is likely why there are so many points not at all covered by the story. Questions are raised, and information is given, but then they disappear into thin air as if they never reached the reader.

The plot itself is rather familiar: the protagonist is the classic girl who is different from the others and discovers she is special because she is the key to saving another world. It should be noted, however, that this is the first volume of a series, so some questions may be answered in the following volumes.

Still, it is probably a love story suitable for those who really appreciate the dynamic of the girl who is different from the rest of the world because, unbeknownst to her, she is part of another world, and thus readers are willing to look beyond the plot itself. For me, it was a bit of a disappointment. Initially, it seemed like a truly promising novel on multiple fronts...

📄 Coming soon on my blog a complete review, stay tuned!

It's been a bit since I've read a YA romantic fantasy book. I enjoyed how witty the characters were. This new fantasy world captivated me and made me want to jump right into the book. Exploring the new world with Cate as she sought her place was an enthralling experience. However, the portrayal of Cate's anxiety could have been more impactful and consistent throughout the entire story. The unique magic system in this book captivated me and set it apart from others I've read, keeping me completely engrossed. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would suggest it to YA readers.

Love Always, Catherine

Thank you, SK Horton and Netgalley, for my gifted copy.

This was a fun easy to read story. I found the characters were interesting though their romantic interaction somewhat forced and jarring. The story was written with a fast pace and some readers may not like that. Despite this I enjoyed the tale and think that many young adults would enjoy this.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Concealed by SK Horton was a 4/5 star read for me. The characters were fantastically written and I could relate to the female main character, Cate, quite a bit. What really tripped me up while reading this was that things seemed to happen in dramatic succession starting right on page one. There did not seem, to me, to be much down-time plot to the story. It seemed like there was a constant battle or running by the characters throughout the entirety of the book. Although there was some good character development through these battles, it seemed like the majority of personal character development came from the battles or the constant running from danger by the main characters. The relationship development between Cate and Lucas seemed consistently back and forth, which I do believe was the intent and it was written well, just a tad confusing.

There is something to be said about letting a mystery and a secret unravel on it's own and the premise of this book started strong with Cate being transported from the arguably unmagical realm of England and Oregon to a new world.

For a debut novel, I will say it's an honorable try but there are a lot of overly used tropes such as "the ordinary girl now being the chosen one" and portal to another realm, etc. was it fun? Sure. Was it imaginative? A bit. I think I could have enjoyed it more if I believed the characters were more at a middle grade level or early high school. I am not certain I fully buy the college age and/ or coming of age and moving into adulthood. I does feel more in the real of YA and tries to bounce back and forth between the age ranges.

Overall, I think it was a cute book and would love to see how the author develops more in their writing journey. I think the book could have done with another round of editing to smooth a few things over and be a bit less cliche but maybe that's what they were going for. I suppose I was just hoping for something a bit less cookie cutter and a bit more unique when it came to love interests, protagonists, and conflict.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s the first book in a young adult fantasy series. This book gave me Throne of Glass vibes!

I really love books where characters find out a secret about their identity. In this book, Cate believes she is a normal girl, growing up in Oregon, and then going to college in England. However when she gets to her university she finds out that she is not who she thinks she is - she is actually a princess from a magical world, who was hidden away because of a prophecy about her.

This book has a love triangle, and while I don’t normally enjoy love triangles, I thought it was very well done in this book, and I really enjoyed reading about it! I still don’t know which love interest is my favorite😂

I also appreciated how Cate’s anxiety was talked about throughout the book! Especially with the change of being in a new world and the pressure of having a prophecy about her, it makes so much sense that she would have anxiety, and was a really great example of anxiety representation in fantasy!

I definitely recommend reading this book if you like to read young adult romantasy!

Tropes:
- Portal to a magical world
- Rival kingdoms
- Found family
- Hidden identity
- Young/first love
- Love triangle

“Whenever I hold you, I never want to let go. When I’m not with you, it’s as if I’ve lost something.”

This portal fantasy has everything I look for in a fantasy read! 🩵

I couldn’t put this book down and devoured it, love the story and blend of the modern world with another realm. The MC’s give off Edward-Bella-Jacob vibes from Twilight series and I’m here for it!

I recommend this book for anyone who loves fantasy and Romantasy or even someone who is trying to get into fantasy reads.

Thanks to Aethon Books, SK Horton & Net Gallery for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I really liked the way this one began, and was confounded as to why it didn't seem to have very good reviews. Unfortunately, after about 25% of the way in, I began to lose interest and started to see some of the shortcomings others had commented on... There's nothing wrong with it, per se, it just felt loosely tied together and somewhat repetitive. The characters and situations all felt like things I'd encountered in other novels, and just couldn't hold my attention. Ultimately this one wasn't a good fit for me.

This was a very interesting, and entertaining book. It was quick and easy to follow. The characters were great and are relatable at times but at other times the FMC was kind of bratty. Event though she's bratty, she's incredibly relatable; experiencing a sense of not fitting in and struggling to meet others' expectations. The concept is great, the magic system is interesting but there was something missing. The male interests were boring though and had no personality or chemistry. I'd still be willing to read the next book to see what happens with the story! A great book for YA lovers.

3.5 stars.

This was a fun and easy read and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes. I did find some parts of it quite predictable - love triangle, miscommunication and the big saviour ending - but I still really enjoyed it.

The pacing is fairly quick for the most part so it felt a bit jarring going from modern day England to another universe within a few short chapters. I also found the romantic relationship a bit unbelievable because it happened so quickly, going from "he's so cold towards me" to "I think he loves me" way too quickly.

I did like that not everything comes easy to Cate. She's clumsy, awkward and anxious rather than being the perfect heroine straight away. This makes her character far more believable and a lot less annoying than other female characters set up to be the saviour of the world.

I'm hoping the next book will have less teenage angst about boys because I want to learn more about the world and the magic system. We're given a brief history but the world building could definitely be improved.

Overall, it's a fun book that I couldn't put down.

📚The Concealed by SK Horton📚

⭐️⭐️1/2

✨Tropes✨
🌙Single POV
🌙Love Triangle
🌙Hidden Identities Revealed
🌙Prophecy
🌙Elemental magic

✨Summary✨
Cate has done it. She has made it to England to pursue a degree in British history. Everything is going great, until a strange man tries to kidnap her. And that’s just on her journey in between the airport and the university. She eventually makes it to her school and things seem to be going well. She likes her roommate and her classes don’t seem so bad. Plus, she seems to have caught the attention of not one, but two hot guys. However, more and more incidences continue to occur like the one on her first day. This causes Cate to find out information that may become world changing.

✨Critiques✨
Cate accepts that she’s from a parallel universe (and a princess) a little too fast. She denies it for a minute, and then decides to leave everything behind. It would have been better had she at least slept on it before accepting this new reality.

Cate’s reactions seem too much at times. For example, when she finds out her birth mother died right after she was born. Her reaction was extreme, even for an eighteen year old. Her mood swings pretty aggressively. It’s to speed things along, so not everyone may find it annoying, but it felt rushed and unnatural.

It’s fast paced. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing, and some readers may not be put off by it. However, I enjoy a little more development, groveling, slow burn, etc. therefore, the fast pace felt a little overwhelming at times. That being said, this may not bother all readers, this is more of a personal preference for me.

The ending felt abrupt and rushed. Almost like a tv show that ran out of time. The lead up within the last chapter was actually pretty good, but the way the ending just drops off gave an unresolved feeling, despite the author wrapping everything up.

✨Elements I Loved✨
A little bit for the same reason I didn’t wholly enjoy this book, I actually liked that it was fast paced. It’s nice (and frankly rare these days) to find a romantasy book that is a quick read.

🪄Standout magic features🪄
I love the elemental magic. Cate can talk to animals because of earth magic. Daniel can grow plants at will due to his earth magic. Lucas can control the air and can glide.
I also like that they can have more than one power, especially Cate since her parents are from different kingdoms.

👩🏻My Recommendation👩🏻
If you’re looking for a quick, fun little romantasy novel, this is one that can be read in a day or two. It has familiar themes and tropes, but it’s just different enough to be worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author, for providing the ARC.

I had to DNF this book 20% through. The pace was too fast, and it just didn’t flow for me. This might just be my personal preference, and it might be a great read for someone else

🏰 Royalty
🏰 Hidden Identity
🏰 Magic/Powers
🏰 Prophecy
🏰 Dragons

"Sometimes destiny is written. Hers was concealed."

"Concealed" is an extraordinary young adult fantasy novel, releasing on June 11. The narrative centers around Cate, who embarks on a journey from Oregon to London to commence her university education. However, shortly upon her arrival, her life takes an unexpected turn as she becomes the target of multiple attacks. These events lead her to discover that her existence is far more intricate and enigmatic than she had ever imagined. The real question is can Cate fulfill her destiny

The interaction between the three main characters was quite entertaining. Lucas and Daniel clearly did not understand Cate's American references. The author effectively portrays Cate's anxiety, and I appreciated how she would recall random facts to calm herself.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I really enjoy the idea of a secret world unbeknownst to ours in need of saving. The savior trope is a really fun fantasy story to tell, I just wish that the main character did not feel like she tries so hard to be different. The whole "I'm not like other girls" or "nobody knew who I was" trope is a personality flaw to me irl, so seeing it in a main character kind of gave me the ick. That being said, this was a fun debut novel and the author's writing can only go up from here!

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

2.25 Star

Few things to say about this book. I definitely think it is for young readers and I do think many will enjoy it. I feel this book was written more middle grade yet YA when it came to the romance.

I think the pacing was definitely a little too fast. It felt very rushed.

The FMC is falling for a MMC like 20% in saying she's in love with him after a week of being around each other. They just felt so young and the romance just didn't match the age they felt.

There are just so many things that needed to slow down. Her choosing to just follow these people through a portal after only talking about it for like 4 minutes. Her falling in love. Her being attacked.

All in all I think the plot definitely has potential and this would definitely be a great middle grade read if the romance was toned down a bit and just less of it. The magic was good. Dragons. Fighting.

Tropes:

-Love Triangle
-Prophecy
-Hidden Magic
-FMC is not like other girls, Doesn't Belong, Clumsy, Needs Help with Everything