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.

The world building in this was wonderful, but the actual plot was very hard to follow and I found myself quickly losing interest. I would have liked more backstory and a plot that was a bit more fleshed out.

The Shiver Tree is a fantasy adventure story set in the world of Amarra, where Kiana, the daughter of an elven High Druid sets off on a quest to rebuild the fractured druid orders. During her quest, she uncovers a deeper mission: recovering an ancient and powerful relic from monsters known as the Deep Ones.

I can tell that The Shiver Tree was written with love and passion. It reads like an excellent DnD adventure set in a rich, well-developed world with interesting history and conflicts. If you are familiar with Dungeons and Dragons or Lord of the Rings, the races and magic present should be easy to recognize. That said, the druidic magic that Holly created is an interesting and unique twist on the usual fantasy magic systems. Druids gain tattoos of trees, where each leaf represents an amount of power that can grow or vanish with use.

Amarra is a rich, compelling world with a history I would love to know more about. Kiana's companions are well-written characters with interesting histories. I was particularly interested in Tash, the romantic interest. The romance/relationship between the two doesn't take up much space in the plot, and I didn't mind.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, especially the second half. The first half was a little bit lore-heavy, which might be off-putting to inexperienced fantasy readers. There is plenty more of Amarra and the quest left to explore in a sequel, which I am looking forward to.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing, Netgalley, and Holly Searcy (you're still my favorite boss!) for the eARC of this book.

This is an incredibly entertaining fantasy with a diverse cast of species and characters! It totally captures that quest feel, making it super engaging. The magic system is fascinating, and I’m eager to dive deeper into it. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and i’m hoping there will be a second book. If you're a fantasy fan, you should definitely check this one out! Thank you NetGalley and Black Stone Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC..

First, thanks to the author and NetGalley for this ARC!

I'm not sure what I expected going into this, but it fell a bit flat. There's a lot going on in this book, and nothing really stood out as new or overly exciting. I'd say it's interesting enough, and I like the characters and the D&D influence, but this feels like a story that's been told time and time again. The world also felt a bit overly complex at times, and if this was intended to be a series, the worldbuilding should've been spread out a bit more to not overwhelm the reader (especially as this appears to be geared more towards a YA audience).

Something I did like, however, was the magic system and how we saw the differences between different kinds of users. And even though I did say the worldbuilding was a bit much at times, it was clear the author took the time to build a rich world that I'd enjoy learning more about.

I'm also not sure if this was an issue with the ARC but the formatting was all over the place and made reading a bit difficult at times. I'm not docking any points off for that given this is an advanced copy, but I do hope that all gets addressed in final editing. Would I read further books in the series? I think so. It was definitely interesting enough to keep going.

I want to thank NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book.

This book was really good people. Can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy. I gave it 4 stars.

Characters:
The characters were all lovable in their own way. They all fitted just right in the group. They all had their own knowledge that helped in their quest. Also they all had their own distinct personality which I truly loved.

Plot:
It was pretty good. The story was a typical quest story but fairly original with all the elements in their. It also wasn’t very predictable. You knew as much as the main character so you couldn’t really play out wat was going to happen.

World building:
I think the world was a bit to big for this fist book. A lot of things that were mentioned weren’t explained. For example their are to many creatures to count in this book. A lot of them are mentioned like oooh there lives that creature we shouldn’t go that way. But then there is no explanation what kind of creature that is and why you shouldn’t go through their piece of land. Also the magic systems are explained but I would like a bit more. Like what is the language for the spells and why is it that and where does it come from. Also what is arcane magic exactly and how does that work. For the rest the world building was fine en really well done. I think it was just to much for one book to take on. Loved everything about the Druid’s and their history.

Romance:
Just an ordinary romance. Nothing special. Fairly cute. Also a bit out of nowhere. Love at first sight sort of trope.

Writing:
Very good. Beautifully written. The sentence structuring is just so well done. The only thing i can say about holly her writing is she loses me sometimes. I have trouble following her writing. Especially in action scenes. A lot happens at once and she writes it down like that. That is the only criticism i have about the writing

Conclusion:
Very good book and I can’t wait for book 2. I also want a hardcover of that beautiful cover.