DNF. I really had a hard time with the writing style. I found it clunky and lacking in structure. There were several instances where I found myself confused from the writing. The world building and plot were also confusing. I also didn't really care much for the main characters. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

I started the first two chapters multiple times, listening and reading again and again, unable to figure out what was happening.

The blurb did not give me a context to fully understand the beginning and the book started in a place that left me confused and feeling lost.

Nonetheless, once I soldiered through I found myself sucked into a terrifying world. Astraea is an excellent character and her relationships with others felt real. I felt her emotions and confusion throughout. Nyte was sexy and intriguing.

I did find this is be incredibly predictable with me muttering about what would happen several hours before I reached that point in the story.

Nonetheless, it was highly enjoyable and I want to read more in this world.

Thank you to Net Galley and Tor Publishing Group for eARC.

I’m going to be honest. I struggled with this book, and even restarted it three times after making it to about 10-15% of the way through to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. It was really difficult to keep track of what was going on at times. It felt like there were a lot of plot lines that would just stop mid-plot and move on to something else. Astrea was an interesting FMC. I didn’t dislike her, but found a lot of her actions to be unrealistic. She never asked questions about anything that she should have which was strange to me. Nyte was mysterious and mostly spoke in riddles. The chemistry between Nyte and Astrea was palpable and the best part of the book for me. I think some additional character development for Astrea would have been really helpful along with a bit more editing to clarify the plot.

I listened to the audio and enjoyed that it was a dual narration. Both narrators did a good job, but it was more difficult to discern between characters voiced by the male narrator.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ALC.

I am not able to finish the book before the publication date, but I am currently 20% through the book and greatly enjoying it. I am curious to see where Astraea's story goes and learn more about the world. Once I got through the first chapter or two, I was hooked. I look forward to seeing the final copy on release day!

The idea of this story is super fun! And the spicy scenes were written well.

Besides those things i felt maybe a bit conflicted about this book. I did enjoy reading this and I absolutely cant wait to read book 2, however i do feel that the story was slightly confusing and i just felt a lot like there were scenes plot parts that i have read before in different series which put me off a bit. I think Astraeas character development was nice and i loved reading how she found her own confidence.

The plot twists in the ending were nice and the cliffhanger was a nice ending and setting up for the next book. I have hopes for book 2 since this book does have potential for sure! I just maybe feel like it didn't reach its full potential yet unfortunately.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy in exchange of an honest review.

I had a really hard time getting into this one. At 20% in I felt like I had no understanding of the world or how any of the characters were connected. I didn't really know what was going on and this made it difficult for me to want to pick it up again.

While this one wasn't for me, you may enjoy if you like dark romantasy and books loosely inspired by Greek mythology.

DNF @ 20%

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing the ARC.

Oh boy, I really wanted to like this one, but it did not work for me.

I spent a lot of the book confused, mostly because I felt the prose and world building were very overwrought and did not deliver much in the way of substance. The female lead was incredibly naive and didn't know it. Naivete is one thing, but when characters are so naive, they miss obvious things in front of them and it becomes painful for the reader. They male lead did not have a lot going for him either, and he very much felt flat to me. There was no chemistry between the two fo them, so their story never quite seemed believable.

This book held a lot of promise initially, but ultimately, it didn't work out for mem

I am absolutely in awe of this book.

From the very first page to the last sentence of that cliffhanger, I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down.

I am obsessed with the storyline and the romance. Starlight and Nyte are everything and I love that they are polar opposites that fall in love against all odds - or do they. The lore was well written and I cannot wait to read more about the history and what happens next.

This is your next romantasy obsession, and I cannot wait for everyone to be sucked in.

This one was so, so good. Great world building and an intricately woven story of deceit and betrayal. Astrea has escaped one bad situation and found herself in a few others. As she takes Cassia's place, she realizes that there is so much more to the kingdom and the war than she ever knew. She also realizes that there is a part of herself she's desperate to uncover. As Nyte guides her, we learn so much about the past and present. There were so many twists and surprises, I cannot wait to start book 2!

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this arc.

I really did enjoy this book. I loved the male main character, but had some issues with the female lead. She was hustling too naive for me. She had her moments, but I think she could have been so much stronger by the end.

I enjoyed it…until I realized how much it was like From Blood and Ash. The ending is what made me go from a 4 to a 3 star rating. It’s not a bad book, and I know it can be difficult to not have heavy influences from other books. However, when you have a type of maiden, vampires, <spoiler> ASCENDED and a male lead with a hidden identity….</spoiler>it’s just wayyyy too similar for me.

I will continue to read this series. Again, I did enjoy it. I liked Nyte way more than Casteel (sue me). If I had not read From Blood and Ash before this, I probably would have gave this book a higher rating.

Let me start by saying the premise of this book was really good, fantastic actually. And I truly wanted it to be a five star read. But that’s okay, because four stars isn’t bad, it’s just an “I wish there was this.” And for this book, I just wished it was a little less drawn out and there was a little more emotion to the characters. The star? The forbidden love? Heck, forbidden communication? The who did this to you? All really well done. And then climax and ending? That was A LOT, both in good and bad ways, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t like being overly mean in reviews. I know people like what they like and just because I didn’t enjoy something doesn’t make it innately bad. So I’m going to keep this review short and just say I was so disappointed. The plot had so much promise but for me I found it poorly written, confusing, clogged with way too many superfluous points and full of characters that just made no sense and acted in ways I couldn’t follow. It’s a no from me.

This novel envelops you in a mystical world full of adventure and trials. The writing was a tad hard to follow the first 20% of the book and I often got confused on which character was speaking. The story, while similar to other novels, does make you fall in love with the villain. The author did bring the romance, that is one thing I will never forget!

To give the book another chance, I will be purchasing an edited copy and perhaps have an even better experience reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-arc.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for this advanced audiobook via NetGalley.

I wanted to like this book. The synopsis had so much promise. It had a lot of potential for world-building, different creatures and gods, and a cool magic system, but I felt like we got a minimal explanation for any of those things.

I did not find the FMC or MMC likeable. They had no chemistry to me. Basically I just felt like <spoiler>the FMC became obsessed over this mystery man she had a 2 minute encounter with. I swear for 60% of the book I thought she was hallucinating.</spoiler>

The saving grace in this book to me were the side characters. I found the other contestants, Astrea's best friend, and even the servants far more interesting than the two leading characters. I think that was the driving force for me finishing this book.

I know this is a really popular book on booktok/bookstagram, but I was sorely disappointed in it. The writing was so disjointed and unnatural to read that I struggled through the whole book. The plot feels forgotten throughout and the characters fall flat.

While the world building is of some interest, the overly wrought prose makes it hard to get into the plot as I spent most of the time trying to dissect the sentences. Overall, not for me.

This book wasn’t for me. I just didn’t feel connected to the story or characters. I normally love witches so I was a bit disappointed. There was a lot of political intrigue which was also not my thing.

Thank you for the ARC! I loved this book so much honestly.

You can’t trust anyone or anything. Humans, fae, vampires, celestials and who knows what else have been in conflict for centuries. Secrets hidden, identities stolen, histories forgotten. This book had me questioning everything and annotating everything.

This is a really good example of how to write an unreliable narrator. Our FMC not only can’t remember who she was before the last 5 years, but is also being challenged by her own senses (I’m not going to spoil what I mean by that.) She is doing everything to survive regardless and her character development and growth is beautiful. From being a kept in a gilded prison to going on a deadly adventure!

The MMC Nyte is definitely the dark, broody, shadow daddy that I wanted him to be. Question is , is he just morally grey or is he straight up a villain? That is what you have to read to find out! Either way, I really enjoyed his character, especially towards the end. If you like banter, you may like Nyte.

The end cliffhanger had me gasping! I need more immediately! I can’t wait for book 2 next year! I definitely want the special first edition for this book because I loved it that much! I can’t wait to continue the series!

This was a fun book! I enjoyed the new aspects this book brought to the genera. Mainly that it wasn't enemy to lovers (though I will always love that troupe) and the puzzles. Some of the twists are a little obvious but I also read way too much fantasy. Took off a star because the audio book had Jacci Prior doing most of the book and all the female presenting characters and Corvin King doing the male presenting. Corvin has a great voice but he didn't really change his voice between characters. I got lost a few times but did always figure out who was talking after a second. Overall a fun time and I'm excited to find out the meaning of that dang cliff hanger!

I was very much looking forward to this book, but quickly realized it wasn't for me.

What I liked: I liked the side characters more than the two main. The side characters had more depth and range of emotion than the two main characters.

What I didn't like: I don't think I've ever read a more predictable book. I called the ending almost to a T within 30 pages. I don't know if that's what the author intended by including the preface that early laid out the entire plot?

The tension was good, but our MMC fell so quickly that his whole character was just praising our FMC. Truly, both of them were boring.

Nyte seemed to contradict himself every other chapter. Will die for her, will burn the world down for her, but then the next chapter, "we can't be together because it'll end worlds." Choose a side and stay there please.

I do think there are tons of romantasy fans that will eat this up, Raven Kennedy fans especially.

Thank you to Bramble Netgalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.