One of the first Dark Romantasy(?) books I’ve read, one that is a reimagining of Arthurian legends. This wouldn’t be a book I would necessarily pick up by choice but I really did thoroughly enjoy! There was a mixture of action and adventure, magic, friendship, family love and just a little dash of that slow burn, which is killing meeee!

The characters are very well written! The FMC sometimes annoyed me with how 80% of her dialogue involved a question but they did help build the world and answer some questions that the reader might have. I just hope that we see more of her true character in the next book. I despised Arthur but the relationship that Morgan had with the other characters made up for the fact that I was very disappointed in Arthur. However, I think that’s because I’m use to the Arthur from the Merlin TV show so don’t take my opinion on that. Kaye on the other hand, my brave sweet sweet prince. Each side character showed their own individuality which isn’t something you always read! I don’t think I can talk about a certain character as I do not want to spoil for anyone else.

Kairos Draven however … take a bow sir. I loved him from the first moment he appeared, and the way he was so protective over the main character has me weeeeak.

The writing flowed nicely which helped me get through the slow building of the world, which comes along with most fantasy books. The cliffhanger has me itching for more and I can’t wait to indulge myself further into this world and the adventures that Morgan and Draven are surely going to come across.

I loved everything about this book! It‘s been a long time since I‘ve read such a good fantasy book. Definitely a monthly highlight and I need more!

I will be posting recommendations on Instagram und TikTok in the following two weeks (at latest!). I will also probably post in german since it’s my motherlanguage and many people in Germany prefer reading books in English. On international websites (like Barnes and nobles) I will be translating my review into proper english. Links to my posts will follow as soon as they‘re uploaded. I‘ve already uploaded on Amazon which will take a few days to get accepted.

I picked up this book on a whim because of the cover, the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover" is a lie. I really enjoyed this book. It is a unique retelling to an extent but offers so much. I am excited to read the rest of the series. It did start a bit slow which is why I only gave 4 stars.

This book was a twist on King Arthur. I love the details in the writing, and the author does a good job of propelling the plot along. I appreciated the elements of beast and could visualize the scenery. I enjoyed the love triangle ( until I didn't haha) I think there is a really relatable moral of this book that never change yourself or dull your shine for anyone else. Can't wait t read the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book! All I can say is wowwwww!! I loved this book! For fans of SJM, Rebecca Yarros, and Jennifer L. Armentrout!

It’s the King Arthur fae retelling we didn’t know we needed!
• ”Who did this to you?”
• Forced proximity
• Betrayal
• Hidden lineage
• slowwwww burn
• a little spice
• major cliff hanger!

I cannot wait for the next one!

While not super familiar with Arthur, Camelot, & The Knights of the Round Table, the obvious allusions to the original story still shine through (and make me curious enough to want to read the original once I finish this series). This story, however, is a feminist approach with faes, fantasy, and romance that keeps it feeling more modern and interesting.

It takes a little time to understand all the connections between characters, their various bloodlines, and the gender reversals, but that doesn't make the story too frustrating to follow. I would mention that there are DARK under currents from very early on. Blood rites, blood rituals, spilled blood, etc all come up often. The disconnection between the siblings and domestic abuse are also graphic.

The story itself is clearly a set up for a series. It takes its time to get going, the tropes are evident, and multiple plot points are predictable--but the pacing didn't bother me since the slow-burn is more believable than a rushed set up and there were still enough moments that kept my interest piqued. I'll happily continue to read about these characters.

Overall: 4 stars (I really liked it)

I'll tell my students about: language, LGBT+, parental death, violence/gore/murder, supernatural, trauma, physical abuse, rape (mentioned),

**Thank you to NetGalley & Starwater Press for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.** (posted to GoodReads 4/22/24)

I am not big on fantasy books but I did love Fourth Wing so I wanted to give this a try. I wouldn't really compare it to Fourth Wing but I still really liked it. I love the stories about King Arthur and Camelot so I really enjoyed this!

I really enjoyed this book. It has great world building and I enjoyed the characters too. I would like to see more character development in the second book that involves the FMC’s attitude and behavior evolve.

Firstly I would like to thank NetGalley and Starwater Press for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.


Queen of roses is the 1st book in *Blood of a Fae* series , which is a dark retelling of Camelot-King Arthur-Morgana in a Fae world with subtle modernization.
It's a slow paced, world building book with amazing character development of our FMC (Morgan) and a Crazyyy (shocking!!!) Cliffhanger ✨ Aaahhhh can't wait to start the next book ASAP!!

✨Tropes✨
▪️Enemies-to-lover (getting there .. not yet there though 😏)
▪️ Morally Grey super hot MMC
▪️Epic quest
▪️1st person POV
▪️ Deceptions and heartbreaks

I loved that Merlin is a *PriestESS* and Lancelet is a training to be *Female Knight* .

I can feel this is a start to an AMAZING journey 😍



P.S. There are a lot of trigger warnings , so please be sure to go through them, they are given at the end of the book .


#netgalley #starwaterpress #briarboleyn

This book had me gripped from the beginning, hence why I read it in a day. A touch of King Arthur retelling with fae and magical properties. The mythical creatures featured are a perfect touch.

We follow our female lead as she embarks on a quest entrusted to her by her brother. The character development of our FMC is breathtaking as she navigates self discovery and uncovers truths that threaten to shatter the world as she knows it. Briars writing is beautifully descriptive and pulls you into the story. There are twist and turns throughout the plot that leave you guessing and mulling over to the end. Speaking of the end, we are given answers that provide the reader with enough to satisfy while the cliffhanger leaves you wanting more. Cannot wait to get my hands on the other books in this series.

Side note, the cover art for this book is simply stunning.

Tropes;

• slow burn romance
• forced proximity
• “who did this to you”
• enemies to lovers

Thank you so much NetGalley and Starwater Press for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book missed the mark for me unfortunately. There was so much going on but somehow none of it ever really had the impact I was anticipating. I had high hopes about a fantasy retelling of Camelot but I just wasn't a big fan of this one. It was a bit predictable in my opinion and the spelling and grammar mistakes I caught throughout the story really brought it down for me considering this book has been published for quite some time now.

This book was a miss for me. It shouldn’t have been. I love fantasies, and when I heard that this series was perfect for those bookworms who loved Fourth Wing and ACOTR, I thought this was going to be my next obsession. Unfortunately, that was not the case. And I think my struggles with this book are centred around the fact that this is a reimaging of the tales of King Arthur. I’m not saying that the author has done a terrible job at breathing new life into these classic tales; I’m just not a huge fan of King Arthur. I also don’t think that this series has enough similar qualities to compare it or say it resembles Fourth Wing or ACTOR. But that is just my opinion. Now, as I have said many times before, not every book is for every reader, and this book was not meant for me. There are good things about this book, and I will talk about them below so you can make your own decision about whether you want to read this book/series.

The author really knows how to hook her readers in. The prologue and first chapter of this book instantly caught my attention and made me want more. It’s not too often that a book can hook me in that fast and strong. Same with the ending, you are left on such a cliffhanger that you can’t help but want to know what is going to happen next. The writing and pacing of this book is pretty good. There are moments when I found this book lagged a bit, but overall, everything moves along at a steady pace. The world-building is good, and if you love King Arthur and his world, then I think you will enjoy this world that the author has created. This book swings into the sub-genre of Romantasy, which means it is a fantasy with a strong romantic element. I didn’t mind the romance because I do enjoy a forbidden, enemies-to-lovers darker romance. This is also considered a “new adult” book, meaning you get more spicy scenes. The characters are decent. I didn’t really connect with any of them. But I think that has more to do with me not liking the whole King Arthur reimaging.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read and review this first book in the Blood of a Fae series.

I really enjoyed this book! I really enjoyed the main characters and I loved the world building. It was descriptive and brought me into the world of Camelot.

I did have a few issues with the book:
- the ending felt incredibly underdeveloped. I wished it was longer so some of the plot twists/reveals could be explained more. It was briefly mentioned that Morgan had a memory of her mother running her through Numeros, which I wanted a whole chapter devoted to that memory and Morgan and her mom's background. And Odelna's goddess reveal? And Draven's physical traits coming out? So much I needed more about!!
- In the first half of the book, Florian and his storyline I found completely unnecessary. The tragedy and trauma that Morgan has was already there from being Fae, from her mom/dad, and her terrible brother. I felt that adding Florian to the mix was trying too hard and brought too much darkness.
-where 👏 was 👏 the 👏 romance. Vesper came along at the 60% mark and was a predictable facade. I was looking for more relationship and romance from Mr. hotty with a body, Draven. Maybe that gets explored more in the next book but I was thirsting for more. Not even spice, just some chemistry between these characters would have sufficed.

Overall I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to more from this author!!

After being disinherited from becoming heir to the throne, Morgan Pendragon is forced to navigate life with her tyrannical brother, Arthur, as King of Camelot. Morgan finds herself thousands of miles away from home in search for an ancient sword with Captain of the Royal Guard, Draven. Queen of Roses is a great mix of action, magic, and a slow burning romance. I look forward to reading Morgan’s character arc through the series. This book has left Morgan and company in search of Excalibur, the ancient sword, after it falls into the wrong hands. Can’t wait to read what’s next in Morgan’s journey.

A gender-bent retelling(ish) of the world of Camelot, with a twist! This first book drew me in from the get-go, teasing out an enemies to lovers, powerful FMC, brooding dark MMC, and a world of magic and fae that is reminiscent of tales we've read before, but with so many additional layers.

Fans of From Blood & Ash and the like will enjoy this first book of a longer series. I'm certainly excited to see where it goes from here!


TWs include assault

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing book! Can’t wait to read the others. This book will have you hooked right from the prologue. If you’ve been wondering what your next fantasy read should be then look no further for you have found it! If you like the From Blood and Ash series, then you’ll love this! (May have triggers, look at the back of the book if you are worried.)

Dark fantasy’s are my favorite. Queen of Roses has great world building and character development. It is a bit of a slow burn and was hoping for more. I am looking forward to the next book in the series and hope we will get more of the love story!

hank you NetGalley and Starwater press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantasy romance following Morgan, the half- fae sister to a cruel king. She is sent on a dangerous mission to retrieve a legendary weapon to save her kingdom from war.

The book is separated into two halves, Book One and Book Two. Book One was so boring, I almost gave up. The world building wasn’t very interesting or detailed and a lot of it could have been cut out. I definitely dragged through it but I am glad I didn’t give up. Book Two was exciting and I couldn’t stop reading. The ending is a cliffhanger and left me immediately wanting to read the next book.

Overall I liked it but wish the beginning was much shorter.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of Queen of Roses in exchange for an honest review.

This story has SO much potential but unfortunately it missed the mark for me.

I found the writing to be choppy and too longwinded - so longwinded/over descriptive that it felt like the storyline was hindered at times with pages and pages of info dumps where the story wasn't moving. I found it to have too much telling and not enough showing, which became frustrating as the book went on.

With all of the over descriptions in the book, I was surprised to see the magic system just appear and then be so glossed over. I have so many questions.

The FMC at the beginning of the book feels very different to the character in the last two thirds of the book. At the start she's portrayed as quite strong and is in training, then as the book goes on, we see her make some really stupid decisions and suddenly becomes this weak character who is unable to fend for herself.

The love interest was pretty bland and had no chemistry with the FMC.

It's such a shame as you can really see what the author is going for and it could be an amazing romatasy as there's so much potential with the story. If it was edited to cut down some of the over descriptions, and some more chemistry/personality given to the MMC and a bit more plot, this could be such a good book.

Rating - 4/5 🌟

Thank you, Briar Boleyn and Netgalley, for the eARC of this book!

So I went into this book very blind as I had a friend say it was one of their favorite books. So, finding out it was a retelling of King Arthur, Camelot, and Excalibur, but with Fae, I knew it was going to be great!

Draven is obviously my pick from the beginning when you meet him! The lore behind his story was so interesting, and he was just mysterious and sexy.

I'm excited to see where this story continues in the next book!