Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

What a fun fantasy romp this book was. Did it read exactly like a DnD campaign? Absolutely. Was I mad about it? Not in the slightest. In fact, I was delighted by this party-based adventure with elven druids, an elven sorcerer and a human ranger
SPOILER INCOMING.... (okay, actually a werewolf ranger) END SPOILER
where the group had potions, spells, and even a sort of leveling up system. The characters were also quite lovable and I enjoyed their banter back and forth.

The pacing while they were traveling was a little funky. The story frequently used phrases like "two weeks passed..." to describe the passing of time on their journey, which did take me out of the narrative a bit. I think it would actually have been nice to include some of their day-to-day travel instead of glossing over the events of a few weeks in favor of skipping to a destination.

However, all in all, I greatly enjoyed this novel and look forward to the next installment in this story!

This was a good time! Kind of hard to follow at times towards the beginning as I’m only somewhat familiar with the species and classes used and had to look some things up to be able to better understand some of the characters, but I enjoyed Kiana’s journey.

I would like to thank Blackstone for providing a digital copy of this novel. Kiana is a young Druid and the daughter of the Amarra kingdom's High Druid. Hoping to restore the five druid orders, Kiana leaves her kingdom to join with her sister Ravainy. They are joined by Reyan, Aravel, and Tash in search of an artifact known as the Shiver Seed. They must find it before the Deep Ones gain access to it and use it for their own personal gain.
There were some good moments in this story. I enjoyed the interactions between Kiana and her dad at the beginning and conclusion of the story. Kiana's motivations were well intentioned and as the reader, I wanted her to be successful. I commended her for wanting to earn her way to a high standing among her people rather than merely inheriting that good standing due to who her dad is. The novel does a decent job of worldbuilding. Mentions of the original five druid orders and existence of corresponding trees helped move the story along and did not feel out of place. The relationships between the main characters felt pretty organic for the most part. In the end, this is a hopeful, fun fantasy read.

⭐️: 2
DNF. I tried to get into it, but it didn’t hold my interest Maybe I’ll give it another chance at a later time.

Nothing specific stood out to me to give this a better rating than what it has. I gave it a shot despite the cover not being to my liking the more I looked at it, but this book is not bad and is written well.

I liked the premise of the book and I started really enjoying everything, the magic, the creatures, the romance.. It did fit perfectly... It was nice it made sense algo we have celtic and druid mythology and we don't see that often..
This personally for me was a very good example how books are indeed political and that is very important to me

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I loved the writing style and the cover is what made me pick it to read.

This was a fantastic book! I loved the high fantasy and the diversity of the magical creatures, the well developed magic system and the sprinkling of romance throughout ( that didn’t over take or distract from the main quest ). The MFC was mature, smart and communicated things clearly throughout the story which made her super likeable as often MFC in the fantasy genre are written in way that makes them seem naive and immature.

If you’re looking for a fun, easy fantasy read for this time of year, then this is perfect!

Kiana (FMC) is about to become High Druid. She sets out on a ‘mission to save the world’ vibe quest. She has to find the shiver tree in order to stop the deep ones from gaining power. No fantasy quest is ever quite so simple, as we know and she comes face to face with Giants, Yetis, Warewolves, Dragons & Shadow Wraiths along the way.

The plot was so action packed and fun, I loved it! It’s less heavy on the romance and more around the magic and world building, however it’s so simple to follow along.

Such a magical & fun read for the winter months!🥰

*The Shiver Tree* by Holly Searcy is an immersive fantasy adventure that combines rich world-building with a captivating story of self-discovery. Kiana's journey to reunite the Druid Orders and protect Amarra from dark forces is both engaging and well-paced, filled with vivid landscapes, druidic lore, and powerful magic. The tension between Kiana’s idealism and the political challenges she faces adds depth to her character, while the mysterious Shiver Seed and the ancient enemy lurking in the shadows create a thrilling sense of urgency. Searcy's imaginative storytelling makes this a highly enjoyable read for fans of epic fantasy!

I liked it! It was a bit outside of my normal type of book. I read a lot of Romantasy and this is more high fantasy with just a little sprinkling of romance.

Once I got past that difference, I really enjoyed this storyline. Kiana is awesome, and I love how smart she is. Not only that, but she was a great communicator (a really easy way to my heart), and was mature enough to vocalize what she was trying to do.

This adventure was really cool and I love where this story is going. This was a good set up, and I think I'd enjoy the sequel even more than the first.

Overall: would recommend if you are into high fantasy adventure

The Shiver Tree was interesting. This is a unique fantasy story set in an engaging world, with a wide range of species and an intriguing magic system. It really captures that classic quest vibe, focusing more on adventure and friendship than heavy romance or political themes. I enjoyed following the main character, Kiana, as she faced danger and fought to protect her home. Though there were moments where the world-building felt a bit awkward, and some of the wording used pulled me out of the fantasy immersion. I did however really enjoy the magic system of the druids’ tattoos, I don't think I've really seen anything similar in other fantasy books.

I received an ARC from Good reads.
This book was interesting.
It had everything in it - elves, werewolf's, druids.
While I read the whole book, nothing really stood out for me.
If there was a second book I probably wouldn't pick it up quickly

I had high hopes for this book; the cover is lovely, the blurb sounded interesting, and it’s in a genre I usually enjoy. Unfortunately it turned out to not be quite my thing, though it does have its good aspects (I particularly enjoyed some of the details around how the druids’ magic worked). The world seemed unfocused and overstuffed to me, with not enough time to truly explore all of its threads and storylines. The prose was wordy and sometimes a bit overwrought, and often told the audience information when showing might work better.

Ultimately, I would describe this as a first offering by an author who shows a lot of promise, but may need more experience and editing to better polish future works.

I LOVED this!

First off, it was so refreshing to have a story of a druid FMC. Not that I don't like a good assassin character(there's a lot of them), but it was so fun to follow Kiana's journey. I have been playing a druid on World of Warcraft for a decade, and it was one of the main reasons I opted in to read this ARC. The lore and world building around the druids and their Order did not disappoint.

The plot itself was a solid fantasy adventure, and had pretty good pacing. I would say that the first half of the book was a bit slow for me. There is a lot of world building and character stuff to establish so it was totally understandable. When I hit around the 45% mark, things really picked up and I was completely invested. There were also surprising moments all throughout, which is something I really crave in my reading, and I got to feel all of the emotions which is another big plus for me.

I truly think anyone who enjoys fantasy games like DnD or World of Warcraft will really feel at home reading this story and diving into this world. It's my understanding that this is a debut novel, and I can't wait to see more from this author.

3.75 stars.

First of all, this was an enjoyable story once I got into it. I must admit though, there was a LOT of detail in this story and it was possible to sometimes get lost in it. The book could benefit from a list of characters and creatures in the beginning of the book, along with an explanation as to what some of the creatures were. Sometimes, an enemy creature was introduced with no warning and very little explanation, it felt like the creatures were somewhat “thrown” suddenly into the story (example..the brain-like creatures).. they seemed somewhat out of place with the rest of the beings in the book. Might I suggest changing what these creatures are, to fit in more with the vibe of the book. Elves, magic, fantasy… brain-like creatures just doesn’t seem to fit that vibe and feels out of place. The story telling and the imaginary world of the book was good though, I just felt the book was bogged down in a lot of extra details that sometimes lost me. Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC (advanced readers copy)

Shiver Tree had so much promise, I was immediately intrigued by the premise but unfortunately it really did not deliver all it promised. There were far too many disjointed and ill-thought out elements all mashed together for me. I nearly DNFed at least 10 times but I hate DNFing so I ploughed through, which on reflection I’m not sure was the right call.

It’s a fast paced adventure but it was lacking any substance that could hook me. I kept wishing things would pause for a moment so we could actually get to know the characters, or the world, or the culture but instead it felt like we were rushing headlong through this complex world with no time to actually take anything in.

Overall this book had far too much going on, none of which felt substantially explored or which really came together. It either needs to be three times the length so there can be some added depth or hugely edited down as it just doesn’t seem to work in its current configuration.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

This one was not for me, I could not get into the story. Don't let that deter you, I might not be the correct audience

The story follows Kiana who goes on an adventure, after fighting losing battles with her father about their world and what they should do. Kiana is strong willed, determined and fierce. She isn't afraid to go after what she wants and with the help of Snow, Tash and Ravaini, she conquers a lot throughout the book. It's fast-paced and filled with so much action, you'll never get bored reading it. The story is unique and told well, Holly's writing is easy to get on with and moves the plot along really well.

I have, however, only given this story 2 stars because despite the good that is within the novel, I didn't fall in love with it but don't let that deter you from the book. Holly's story-telling and writing is beautiful and this story wasn't for me but it could be for you.

A special note to the art work for her book - you can find that on her Instagram or her website - it is simply stunning.

I thought this story started off in kind of an odd place and lacked enough of a backstory to know what was going on. A lot was going on and a lot of species were in the world so the story quickly became muddled. It was hard to get the overall sense of where the character or story was going.