3.5 ⭐️

three ‘not bad at all!’ stars.

this reminded me a lot of Keeper of the Lost Cities, thought the world building was definitely weaker. But it was the same thing. A girl who ‘never quite belonged’ in the human world, gets swept away into a magical one where she’s the promised savior, compete with a love triangle consisting of a blond and a brunette.

anyhoo, while this wasn’t anything special, it was entertaining, to say in the least. It’s one of those books that’s labeled ‘fantasy’ but is more romance than anything. Kinda like The Selection (tho that’s technically ‘dystopian’). The writing was good, and I liked the main character! I’ll probably read the next one to see what happen!

if you like a good fantasy romance and don’t mind a cliche plot, (the prophecy *cough* check this one out!

happy reading <3

I truly enjoyed this fantasy, coming of age story. It has a love triangle, magical powers, scary villains, and a prophecy. The main character is a strong female who was adopted and earned her way to a prestigious school on scholarship. I hope that there are more stories from the other side of the portal!

This book was good! I thought that it started off slow but it got so much better. I loved the characters. I will be interested to see what happens in the next book I feel like there is so much that happened at the end! This was a great young adult fantasy romance and a quick read!

This was another book of almost. I almost loved the characters. I almost loved the world. I almost understood it.

I wish there was just a bit more work done on this because I really saw the potential in it. The main love interests have that belittling dynamic that I have read about so often but it just didn't work for me. That being said, I would be interested in reading the second book to see if the author improved any aspects because I do like the basics of this story.

I love dark academia and the backdrop it provided for this fantasy was really fun. A bit of a long read but I loved the characters

The concealed: This has the absolute potential to be a great and interesting story but it needs to be fleshed out more. The pacing is off, the love story forced, the main love interest is patronizing the main character just as bad as everyone else, and the relatability of the main character misses the mark. She's all over the place. If someone would take this back to the drawing board it could be a 5 stars story because it's interesting, innovative and unique.

“The Concealed,” by SK Horton

I really liked this book. The MC is a hot mess first and foremost important. Her flaws and bad decisions are such a big part of the story. Her having two potential love interests was great because I definitely picked a side early on. The world building was interesting but sometimes a little confusing. The ending did feel a bit rushed, but I cannot wait until book 2 is published. The biggest thing about the book is it is adventurous, there was a ton to see and learn and the world being similar to Old Britian was interesting. 4 out of 5 stars.

-Alternative Dimension
-Magic
-Prophecy

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the next one.
Cate moves from the USA to study in England there she meets two boys who will turn her life upside down.

This book is the perfect mix of romance, action, and fantasy. There are fantastic sprinkling of humour and pop culture (even a cheeky Taylor Swift reference!). I can’t imagine there being many categories this book doesn’t fulfill at one point or another.

My only complaint with this book would be that Cate seemed to accept what Lucas and Daniel were telling her too easily for my liking in the beginning however, this meant that Horton could focus the rest of the book on the main characters art of the story.

All in all, a thoroughly good read!

First of all I want to thank NetGalley for gifting me a free copy of this book!

I gave this book 2.5⭐️

Let’s start with the things I loved about this book. The pacing made me fly through this book. It held my attention all the way through.

The story was also interesting. It wasn’t original but it was entertaining. The magic was basic and therefore easy to understand. The writing was simple which I also loved. Overall these points made this book a perfect read before bed when your tired and don’t want to read something dense.

Now to the things I didn’t enjoy. Cate the main characater keeps saying she is akward and she is weird. I have no idea where this is coming from their is literally no evidence for it. She is super social and has no issue with standing up for herself or the people around her. So I don’t really get it.

The pacing held my attention but was a bit too fast their was little explanation of anything and the characters didn’t really get an development. They were pretty basic and boring.

The romance was the most cliche I have ever read. The amount of times I rolled my eyes. Boy oh boy I cringed so hard.

Overall I can just say this was not a very original basic YA fantasy romance. If I read this many years ago I would have loved it.

So if you love YA fantasy romance and you don’t need the slow burn, a fully developed plot and character development this is the book for you.

To be honest I will read the second book if it comes out because I want to know where the story is going and because it was such a fast read.

2.5 stars. As this is a YA novel I am not going to review it on my personal preferences entirely. If I had read this book in 8th grade I probably would have given it 5 stars.

The Concealed is a YA fantasy novel revolving around 18 year old Cate, who is off to study in at university in England. From the moment she touches down in the UK things are not entirely what they seem. She meets Lucas and Daniel, and continues to find herself in danger. She then discovers she is a princess from an alternate universe, where Lucas and Daniel have been sent to bring her back. The novel then continues on her journey to her homeland while dodging the evil Ember people. This novel has themes of found family, enemies to lovers, and spilt beliefs.

Over all I felt the novel was very rushed as Cate starts university and then just a few days later is traveling to the Terra Kingdom with Daniel and Lucas. There was a hint of a love triangle towards the beginning of the novel I wish was developed and explored more as well as the enemies to lovers plot line between Daniel and Cate. Though this is a fantasy novel, Cate was raised in the modern world, so there are many moments that take you out of the story due to the writing style and dialogue on her end. This is not the most groundbreaking and beautifully written fantasy novel, but I feel someone of the target age range would enjoy the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Aethon books for the chance to read this advanced copy.

If you like the YA chosen one trope, this book may be for you. I enjoyed this book, and will absolutely read future installments in the story. My only issue is with the backstory. Cate mentions and thinks multiple times about how awkward and odd she always was growing up, but there's no real evidence of that. The magic system felt interesting and different from others I've read and kept me hooked.

I'm grateful to NetGalley and Aethon books for the chance to read this advanced copy.

Thank you very much to NetGalley for the ARC!

Cate is a young woman who has always felt out of place, and when she arrives in England for college, she only feels stranger. Shortly after encountering two very handsome but very different young men, she learns that she is at the center of a prophecy from fantastical land - not to mention royalty.

I'll admit that I struggled through the middle of this book. There was some pacing in the second act that I didn't feel quite matched the pacing of the rest of the story, and I had a hard time feeling connected to Cate when I knew very little about who she was and what was important to her prior to arriving in Terra. I felt I learned more about Daniel and Lucas much more quickly.

There are some very sweet moments between Cate and her two love interests, though it really did not feel like enough trust had been established for her to trust them so quickly, which is perhaps why I felt the pace toward the beginning moved at a steadier clip than in other parts.

The Concealed

🌸 Thoughts 🌸

That first chapter was soo creepy— the taxi *shivers* if you know you know.

This was such a nostalgic read for me not because the content was similar to anything I’ve read before but mostly the feeling I got from it. It was very reminiscent to when I binged read Twilight in junior high. I loved that book. it was a book that helped me foster a love for reading. I feel this book could have a similar reaction to younger readers definitely within the 14-17 category would eat this up.

This book is young adult with a few fun tropes thrown in, chosen one, enemies to lovers, and awkward but loveable main lead. Cate is such a relatable kid, I feel that many younger girls would see a bit of themselves in Cate. This poor kid whole world gets turned upside down, but she still keeps chugging away at it, that kind of tenacity is a great character trait. She trusts way to easily and falls in love in the same breath but, that kind of naivety is something so refreshing in a main character— she wears her heart on her sleeve, and it’s her undoing.

The world building was one of my favourite things, such a fun and interesting world!

I liked the overall progression of the book I felt the first half went by quite quickly where it slowed down in the middle and picked up again, I do wish it was longer to help develop the relationships more, but I understand that this is the first book in a trilogy! So more fun to come.

Not sure about this one. I felt confused… a lot. The pacing was kind of bizarre, slow as molasses one minute and then strung out on speed fast. It’s also, very YA which I don’t think I was ready for. The premise was a decent one but it didn’t work well for me.

This was a 3.5 stars for me, but rounded up to 4 for the rating system. There was a lot I liked about this book and some things I think could definitely be improved. The main issue I had was actually getting into the book. The beginning felt so rushed. I kept saying to myself, "Why is Cate trusting these random guys she has known for 5 seconds?" When Daniel takes Cate on a hike after barely knowing each other, I thought, "What are you doing, Cate?!" I was frustrated that she was so cavalier with her safety. I felt like there needed to be a slower build up of that trust with both Lucas and Daniel. Give me the reasons why she has that trust instead of just telling me that she feels safe with them. The frustration I felt during the first few chapters was the reason it took me so long to actually finish the book. I kept putting it down and going to other books because I didn't want to read something that frustrated me so much.

Once they got through the portal, I was much more into the story and finished it within 2 days. I still felt like there could have been more character development, as well as more description of the magic and prophecy. And some of the dialogue seemed stilted. But I did have to remind myself that this is a YA book and I'm not the target audience. I'm also not a huge fantasy fan anyway, so I went into it already not sure how much I was going to enjoy it. Like I said, once they got through the portal, that's when I was really hooked and invested in the story. So I think if the beginning was developed more, the entire book would have hooked me from the start. I would like to see where the series goes and I may read this as a buddy read with my daughter to see what she thinks as well.

Thank you to SK Horton for this ARC copy. The are my honest opinions.

Thank you NetGalley, publisher, and author for the opportunity to review this title.

This story overall could have a more developed plot with its characters and setting, but it sometimes it was confusing or vague with pacing issues, lightly inconsistent character development, and an okay climax. Despite that, there's potential for improvement and expansion in future installments, should the author choose to pursue a series. Additionally, the narrative falls short in fully fleshing out its magic system, particularly concerning the element of air and the realm of Caelum. I wish I would’ve seen more. The depiction of air magic was underdeveloped, that left me having a hard time understanding its mechanics and limitations. I wished I saw more of that. While the portrayal of Caelum's land was interesting, it lacked exploration of its culture, society, or unique magical properties. This oversight detracts from the narrative's overall depth and complexity.

For the characters and character interactions, it could have been developed better. In the premise, it alluded to a possible love triangle, and it was made obvious from the beginning that it wasn’t leaning towards that and was more of an “insta-love” story. However, that is a personal taste of mine. The relationship between Daniel and Cate undergoes an inconsistent evolution, starting with Daniel's aloofness and swiftly transitioning to forced flirtation and affection. He kept explaining to Cate that he was trying to push her away, but it only happened on the night of the party, and when classes started the next day, that action to push her away instantly was gone. I could see the idea of a Romeo and Juliet that the author promised in her premise. But also, for me, it felt that their romance lacked depth and authenticity, giving in to a rushed development. With Daniels betrayal, I hoped that he would have come to her with his plan to pretend to still be under his father’s orders. I saw more chemistry between Lucas and Cate, and wished there was possibly some more interaction between them. Lucas was gone for most of it, which allowed the growth of Cate and Daniel.

The prophecy was mentioned, but not really explained. Why was she the one? What other powers did she have? I wanted to see more interaction between her and her father and how that plays into the prophecy.

I wish there was more time being spent at the palace training and focusing on her, rather than the journey from the portal to Terra. And the same thought with Daniel and Cate on their dates before they went through the portal.

The ending fell very flat. The final climax battle action scene was vague because Cate didn’t really do much with her powers and when she did, she didn’t realize she was doing it since she passed out. Seeing her being confident and in control of her powers would’ve made for a better character development.

All that being said, I still found it entertaining and tropey, but I can definitely see potential for future novels if she wanted to expand this series. The ending leaves the plot open-ended for the readers to forge their own path with the characters.

I did really like this book, some parts did feel a bit rushed and a lot was squeezed into a book, but I was very eager to finish it!

2.5 stars, rounded up. I found the world itself fairly interesting and was definitely left wanting to know more about the politics and overall history of the world. Maybe that will be explored further in a future book of the series. The overall plot sequencing, structure and where to cap it off was done well. The book’s subtitle is “Heir of Earth and Sky Book One” (which I just now get the reference for, nicely done). So, I am assuming there are more in the series planned. In a lot of planned fantasy series, it often feels like the major plot archs are mapped out so poorly across the entire series where a book will end with basically nothing happening and the characters spending their time journeying to the next thing or have too much action packed into it and not spaced out well across the series. I don’t feel that way with this book. It was reasonable to have all the major plot points occur in one book. The writing was also very accessible. The way it was written reminded me a lot of the fanfictions I would read in high school, in the best way possible. It was very easy to ust eat up in one sitting.
However, there were some issues. The pacing is off and makes it a little challenging to believe. The way Cate so very quickly and completely trusts Lucas and Daniel, both of whom she only just met, and trusts them with her life when she’s been targeted by other unknown individuals was really hard for me to believe, (not a spoiler, it happens within like the first 3 chapters). There were other pacing issues beyond just relationships developing far too quickly, but I can’t explain them without spoilers. Though I agree with the number of plot points that were in the book, it felt like some pieces should have been longer, especially the beginning journey to the world and the final arch. I’m not sure if there was a publisher limit on the number of pages that impacted this, but it certainly felt that way, especially when the middle arch had the adequate time paid attention to it.
Overall, it was a fine book. I don’t know that I’d pick up another in the series, but it didn’t feel like a waste of time either.

NETGALLEY ARC

The concealed

Care heads to the UK for college and ends up in trouble, attacks and attempted kidnapping!

Two boys who seem to hate each other but want to protect her. At this point the pace picks up and very quickly they end up in a parallel universe with lots of trouble on the way to the destination.

The pacing was fast which I like but some problems seem to be resolved too quickly?

There's a lot of tropes happening in this book at the same time but doesn't mean it isn't hard to follow.

Definitely a YA book for those interested.

I would have loved to see more character development but otherwise I enjoyed this ☺️

The Concealed
by SK Horton

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy, teens & YA

This sounded like a fun read but I gave up on it at about 30%.
I found the characters very flat and uninteresting, I just couldn't connect with them. The plots were rushed at one moment then dragged out and didn't really seem to do anything for the story.
Maybe its me, I'm way past the YA target, but I have enjoyed some great reads in this genre. Sadly for me this wasn't one of them.
As always though, what I don't like about the book could be what makes it perfect for you. We all want different types of stories thankfully, so make your own mind up.

Stars: Two, just not one for me sadly.

ARC supplied by netgalley and publishers