"The Court that Bleeds Gold" by Zara Storm is an amazing debut in the romantasy genre that had me completely enthralled. Storm crafts a tale that's both familiar and refreshingly unique. From the moment Eleanor is thrust into the world of faerie, I was hooked. The blend of metallurgy and magic adds an intriguing twist to the story, and Eleanor's journey from reluctant pawn to a force to be reckoned with kept me turning the pages. While I wished for more detailed character descriptions, the chemistry between the main characters crackles with intensity, and I found myself rooting for them every step of the way.

Overall, "The Court that Bleeds Gold" is a gripping read that perfectly balances fantasy and romance. I'm already counting down the days until the next installment! Huge thanks to the author for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoy this book about Ella the gold weaver and Ruskins! The book was easy to read and has an amazing plot/world building. I really connected with the characters and I really love an MMC who’s grumpy but has a heart of gold 😉

This was a great debut book, a little bit rushed to be honest if it had more pages and the story were told with more depth I’ll give it a 4 stars. It has an amazing concept but like I said it needed more. It was very linear.

Ps: I would still read the second one

I really enjoyed the premise of the book as it was a very neat take on beauty and the beast and rumplestilskin. I thought the science aspect of it was interesting and enjoyed this new point of view. The spicy scenes were also excellent. This book was a solid 4 star however because I thought that the side characters were not fleshed out and developed enough. I also found the FMC's decision making and thought process questionable. I did find the book overall enjoyable and the writing was good. You should give it a try.

What a great debut! I adored reading this book! The Court that Bleeds Gold is the first book in a new dark fantasy romance trilogy. It features enemies to lovers, a wicked Faerie court full of trickery and bargains, a morally grey half-seelie/half-unseelie MMC, a feisty MFC with a talent for metallurgy magic (very cool), and a story with shades of "Rumpelstiltskin" and "Beauty and the Beast" to pour over.

“𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝑭𝒂𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆…”

This story has a great pace and even though we are familiar with the dangers of fairie bargains, the author Zara makes them feel fresh and new with her setting of a Fae court where truths (names) are dangerous. These courts are definitely filled with cruel fairies who like to play vicious games! Also, be on the lookout for clever references to characters in both fairy tales, as well.

There’s a good balance between the romance which is slow smoldering and the plot which kept me guessing. I needed to know why the MMC Ruskin Blackcoat (Rumpelstiltskin) agreed to Eleanor’s bargain and what secrets is he hiding from her? The whole setting is dark, atmospheric and deadly. The chemistry and dynamics between these two are so compelling.

If you’re a fan of fairy tale inspired romantasy reads, slow-burn romance with spice and plot twists - then you should definitely check this debut author.

I’m on a fantasy kick and this hit the spot! This was fresh and new with hits of why we love our fantasy books! Can’t wait for the second book

The Court that Bleeds Gold by Zara Storm is one part Rumpelstiltskin retelling, one part enemies-to-lovers and one part dark Romantasy, with a sprinkling of gold of course.

Eleanor makes a deal with a dark fae prince to escape a forced marriage to a gluttonous king and finds herself deep in fae territory without an ally in sight. Her captor, Ruskin, is interested in Eleanor's unique skill... she's able to turn ordinary metals to gold. Although it's not gold, he seeks, it's the exact opposite as it turns out...

Eleanor is pretty brilliant, and her quick wit and sense of humor is everything. Her banter with Ruskin is entertaining and strengthens the storyline. I'm interested in seeing the characters and their relationship, develop a bit more in the sequel. That ending is quite the cliffhanger, Zara, I hope you're deep into the next one already!

Thank you, NetGalley and Relay Publishing, for an ARC copy of a The Court That Bleeds Gold by Zara Storm in exchange for an honest review. I'm patiently awaiting Gold Weaver #2!

An amazing story! This was my first Rumpelstiltskin retelling and it did not disappoint!! I loved it so much! I loved how smart and sassy Eleanor is! And Ruskin is dark and mysterious! As a whole, the book was very well written and fast paced!

In this Beauty and the Beast-esque story, Eleanor calls on a dangerous fae to save her from a marriage to a terrible king. Though she is ‘just a peasant’, the king is set on keeping her hostage as his wife because she has this special new skill, spinning gold.

In making a deal with this devil called Ruskin to get away from the king, she is swept away to fairy, where she promises to help Ruskin with an impossible task. However the court is more likely to kill her than she is to complete her task in her lifetime. As the court intrigue heats up, so does her relationship with the mysterious Ruskin.

(While I wouldn’t classify this as dark romance, it is spicy, about 3 chilis peppers! Fyi to all the girlies who are sensitive to that! )

This book was a 3.5 for me! It will be a part of a trilogy, so I hope the author is setting up the characters for more growth. Sometimes they felt a bit flimsy. It wasn’t that I disliked them, rather I wanted more. Maybe there were some sub-plots that could have been added?

Overall I do suggest the book, especially since I suspect the sequel will reveal things that are long overdue and force characters to take action!

Clever and witty human who isn’t afraid to stand up to fae who can easily kill her? ✅

High fae prince who will steal your heart despite his reputation for being dark and dangerous? ✅

Hilarious and loyal besties? ✅

Eleanor, through her love for alchemy, learns how to create gold from other metals. While her only plan is to use this knowledge to provide food for the people she cares about, her secret soon gets out and the human king declares that she must marry him so he can claim all the gold she makes. Seeking to avoid such a fate, she tries to escape the castle before the wedding. But when her escape route doesn’t go as planned and she is left with no good options, she has no choice but to speak the riddle that brings about the mysterious and dangerous fae known to make deals with humans in their times of need that do not usually end well for the humans. And it just so happens that he has a problem only a gold weaver can solve. Or so he thinks. He soon learns that he may actually need Eleanor for reasons entirely different than what he intended. And she learns that Ruskin might be dangerous for reasons far different than she ever expected.

“𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙢𝙚,” 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙮, 𝙢𝙮 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚. “𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚.”

𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙠 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙨, 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.

“𝙊𝙝, 𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙒𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚.” 𝙎𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙥𝙝𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙭 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 —𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙩.

This is a great first book that definitely keeps you turning the pages and wanting more! Eleanor falls right into place with Ruskin and his friends, but there is a past that threatens to ruin the fragile trust they worked so hard to build. I definitely enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read book two!

I adore this book! This is a great debut for a fantasy trilogy I see myself loving. It definitely is for the fans of Raven Kennedy (at least in my eyes) and the world building in this one was just amazing! The characters were great and I got a connection to them very easy. Can’t wait for more!

The court that bleeds gold is such a captivating debut novel, and first in the Trilogy- The Golden Weaver.
A definite slow burn, the characters kept me interested and there were elements of a certain folklore retelling!
This book had fantastic world building with intricate descriptions of beautiful scenery throughout.
A definite reccomend if you are a fantasy fan!
Loved this one! Can't wait for book #2

My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Disclaimer: I received a review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thanks, Netgalley.

General Thoughts: I was very intrigued by this book that was pitched as a retelling/ode to Rumplestiltskin and Beauty & the Beast. I've never seen that combo in a retelling and I also loved the idea of seeing a Rumplestiltskin retelling.

This one caught my interest from the first pages and kept it until the end. The author did a great job creating intriguing characters and world. I am very curious to see what will happen next.

This book was a fun romantasy that was well written. If you like romantasy, then definitely give this one a try.

Spice Meter: ❤️‍🔥.5 Not that detailed or frequent.

Romantic Tropes
-romantasy
-high fantasy
-a kingdom in peril
- Rumplestiltskin/ Beauty & the Beast retelling
-fae
-dislike to like

You can also find me on Insta @mylastromancenovel.

This was a very simple starter fantasy story. I liked it as a quick, fast, easy read. It was entertaining and made my day enjoyable. The plot was simple so nothing that stood out to me. I did not feel there was enough world building or character development but overall this was a fun, quick read.

For a Romantasy this one is just okay. If you read lots of the genre this one won't wow you. The narration felt repetitive at times and the writing got a little corny here and there with the relationship and plot points. I don't have a desire to pick up the next one.

Rating: 4/5
I received eARC for my honest opinion.

This is like a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, but only a girl is the one who can do it and might I say this book is great. If you like books that have magic, enemies to lovers, alchemy, Fae and humans, breaking cures and so much more you need to pick up this book and read it.

I really enjoyed that in this book you don’t just have a small glimpse of the plot line, but you will see the plot, and still have amazing character development as well. I loved that it has everything I love in fantasy romance books but at the same time so much more as well. I loved the action, the trying to figure out what is next or who might be doing it, I loved the romance, the magic, and the Fae.

I thought the world building was done well, the pace of the book great (slow where needed and fast when needed). I really liked the darker side of fairy and seeing the good vs evil in this book. I loved getting to piece together where Eleanor lived in the human realm to where Seelie and Unseelie live. I loved getting to figure out who was out for who and why they were.

I loved the characters in this book. I thought Eleanor was a badass and didn’t just completely fall head over heels for Ruskin. I loved that she still was able to think with her head and not that other part of her….. I found her to be funny, smart, reliable, and honest to the ones that she could trust. I loved that she was scared at times but did not let the “bullies” get under her skin so much to show it until she would blow up at them and give them a taste of their own medicine. Ruskin was a great MMC, he was just as I would picture a grumpy Fae, who didn’t want to let anyone in, but he came around and started to open more. I loved how he would take care of Ella and made sure that everyone knew not to mess with her or else. However, one of my favorite characters was Destan, I found him to be so funny and I would love to have a friend like him.

I can’t wait for the next book to come out because I am dying to know what will happen next.

I want to thank NetGalley and Relay Pub for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Zara Storm for giving me a complimentary copy of The Court that Bleeds Gold in exchange for my honest review.

This book very much tickled my Beauty & the Beast retelling fancy, and I really enjoyed seeing the chemistry between the FMC & MMC unfold. It was beautifully written, with an incredible balance between plot, world-building and chemistry/romance!

Thank you Zara Storm for such a great read! You are now on my list of new favourite authors!

I really liked the story itself here. The power the Fae have and the dichotomy between them and the humans was believable and harsh. You have a tortured Fae prince that is nothing like what he presents himself as and so many webs of secrets in the background to sort thru. People who are not what they seem, animals going crazy for unknown reasons, and a single human alchemist thrown into their world to save it. It all really worked for me. So the reason for my rating simply came down to Eleanor. Far too often she would make such stupid decisions based on assumptions or because she jumped to conclusions and it really pisses me off when characters do that. Not to mention how it's a personal pet peeve of mine when a character finds themself in a completely unknown world (for whatever reason) and the very first thing they do is try to escape. How. Fucking. Stupid. Literally have no idea where you are, where you're going, how you're going to get there, what's out there that will kill you, who's out there that will kill you, but sure....you go and run away first chance you get. More than once Eleanor's choices have her put into situations where she's cruelly tortured for another's pleasure and I just couldn't feel bad for her because she really brought it on herself. And anytime I was really getting into it and thinking that she had finally smartened up, she goes and does it again. So frustrating.

Okay, so. Eleanor is from a super poor village and has been working really hard on trying to make gold so that she can provide for her father and hopefully make life better for her village. Her life is no longer hers when the local egotistical asshole, who thinks she has to marry him, throws her under the bus when he's caught by the king's men and tells them she can make gold. Spoiler, she can't. Not yet anyway, but she's close. And because she's close she actually says she will as long as the idiot isn't punished. She's a way better person than me because I would have called him out on his lies and let him deal with his own fate. Anyway. When she succeeds, things get worse when the king decides she's going to be his wife. Eww. She plays along for a while planning her escape but when it all goes to hell, she's left with only one chance at freedom. Reciting the rhyme that will call one of the most powerful Fae to her and making a deal with him. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't word it precisely enough and now she's bound to him until she fulfills her part.

I really quite liked Ruskin. I love my fictional men powerful, violent, and possessive. He checks those boxes for sure. Ruskin needs Eleanor's particular skills to save his kingdom. She can make gold from something else, so surely she can do the opposite as well. Right? Too bad he won't just simply tell her what's going on and gives her the barest of information. Making things harder is just how unsafe it is for her at his court. Both physically and emotionally. Ruskin portrays the ruthless ruler who kills on a whim, especially when Eleanor is threatened, but she also sees a different side to him. The side of him that never wanted to rule in the first place. The side that still mourns his mother and is just trying to protect his people. These two were definitely drawn to the other from the start, but I don't feel it's quite insta-love levels. Eleanor especially fell for him more and more with every truth she learned about him.

When we finally learn exactly what is plaguing Ruskin's kingdom, it explained so much and was an interesting way to have gone about it. The thing is, though, as soon as Ruskin told Eleanor everything, it was so easy to see what really needed to happen to save them and that gave away what was going to happen in the end anyway. But getting there was actually still good. Eleanor suffers (again) for her choices, but wow did it surprise me how far she would go to protect Ruskin in the end.

Which is why the ending kind of pissed me off. Like, WHY!? Why does Eleanor keep jumping to her own conclusions about everything. She constantly gets mad that Ruskin won't tell her something or thinks he brushed her off, but these two don't really ever actually discuss these important things she's thinking about. He can't tell you what he knows if you don't tell him what actually happened! It frustrated me to no end.

Still. I would definitely check out the next book given the chance because I really did like Ruskin and I truly hope that Eleanor will finally grow the hell up and act as smart as she should be.

Was it truly new? No. It felt like reading a mismatch of every hit ever published in the past 4-5 years.
But I enjoyed reading it. So 4 stars it is. I won't be upset that it was a mismatch like this. Good atmospheric read at the very least. Let's see how this series will progress.

I absolutely loved this book. It reminded me a lot of ACOTAR with the story and the way a human got sucked into the far realm and fell in love. The only thing I didn’t love was that I feel like the love with Eleanor and Ruskin went too fast - it felt kind of forced but either way I knew they’d be together and loved them together! Definitely excited for the next one to see what happens!