A really good integration of sci-fi into the fantasy genre. I personally wouldn't call this a romantasy, but a sci-fi fantasy with a touch of romance. The mystery plot was what kept me hooked, but the romance plot wasn't for me unfortunately.

definitely not my favourite book.

it was honestly pretty predictable yet the motivations of almost every character but the fmc were unclear.
maybe that’ll be explained in the second book?

it could have benefited from better editing - there were quite a few spelling mistakes/incorrect words used.
the most obvious: BALONEY instead of BALCONY in one line. just pure laziness, i don’t understand how it slipped by.

i might read the next one when it comes out just to see what happens but i’m kind of doubting it.

Let me start off by saying the writing style of this book is awesome. Also, a sci-fi fantasy romance is a fantastic idea! We open with our heroine, Margot, sitting down to tea with a stranger but things turn sinister pretty quickly. She ends up being tortured by her tea server, blacks out, and comes to weeks later having been rescued by her allies. Margot learns that she had been kidnapped and tortured for information because she is the wife of the Colum, a king-like figure. Here’s what’s interesting: she has no memory of her life before the attack or during the attack! The story takes us through Margot’s journey to reclaim her memories and piece together what happened to her to stop the plot to destroy her people. There’s also a bit of romance and some steamy bits as she falls in love with the Colum (Milo) that she can’t remember.

While the writing was great and the story was riveting, it was not my favorite. The book was labeled as “dark romantasy,” and it mostly earns that genre. I’m not the biggest fan of dark romance and especially torture, so there was just too much angst, torture, and betrayal for me in this one. That being said, I will definitely pick up book 2 because I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! Fair warning, this ends on a cliffhanger, but it was a pretty juicy one. Like, I really, really need to know what happens next. Will I reread this book? If I did, I’d skip all the torture and just read the romantic bits as a refresher for book 2.

Thank you to Rose and Lavender Press LLC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This novel was a wonderful edition to the category of sci-fi/fantasy/romance. It sucked me in right from the beginning. It had amazing twists and turns that I never saw coming.

A huge thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for an honest review 💌

I was very lucky to receive and ARC copy of this book and I am so happy to have read it ✨ This is a dark fantasy / Sci-fi thriller following the FMC Margot who after being attacked has woken up without her memories and married to a ruler of two worlds 🪐 This book has forced proximity, true enemies to lovers, magic, found family, betrayals, dark fantasy elements, thriller elements, court and politics and spice. If you’re looking to dip your toes into a more sci-fi fantasy book then you’ll absolutely love this!! 🪐 I’m so excited that this book will be part of a series and I’m so excited for when this is released so I can get my hands on a physical book! ✨

Please make sure you read the content warnings before starting this book 🫶

I devoured this in a day (hours literally) this was incredibly well done and the TWISTS had me gasping like seriously still reeling from this and feeling weak in the knees ! This could be a favourite read ever! Without spoiling anything you can expect.. drama, tension, love, hate, betrayals *of epic proportions*, magic, heatttt, war and many more themes this truly has it all and was breathtakingly good!

Unfortunately my copy wouldn’t let me read past page 93 so all I got was the beginning when she has amnesia, everyone is acting weird and you know there’s gotta be some kind of twist coming.

This book is a dark and twisty enemies-to-lovers story between Margot and Milo. The action starts at the beginning and never lets up. The villains in this book are not just vile, they are pure evil. The story is set up so that you are never sure who to trust and what the truth is until late in the book. After finding out what is going on, I wanted to go back and reread it to pick up on all the subtle things that happen. This book ends on a cliffhanger, and I can't wait for the next one. If you are sensitive to triggers, read the content warnings first.

4 / 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised by this book! As someone who is a big fan of romanticy books, I am really excited to see where this series goes! I think it was quite a fast read as well which only proves to me that it is a book anyone could read and enjoy. I’ll get into my thoughts a bit more shortly, but here’s your little summary…

A girl wakes up from a coma not knowing anything besides her name, Margot, and the fact that she was a strong soldier and spy, but also the wife to the Colum, a royal leader. She knows this only because it’s what she’s been told. Her memory is completely wiped. As she wanders the palace halls (on a space ship), she is faced wondering what happened before and how she can gain her memories back. But as weeks go by and an enemy rebellion looms, she will need to try to recall what happened before and who she really is beyond the Columess.

Firstly, I want to say that I actually quite liked Margot. Sometimes in these books, you find yourself disliking or even hating the protagonist female character. Cue Isla from Lightlark… I digress… but Margot, though she is described as weak, wasn’t bad! I hope in the next book she continues to grow and we can understand more of her backstory as a spy. I think she might end up like Juliette from Shatter Me (sorry for all the book references!) and will end up becoming a badass warrior princess. I think her character growth is already significant. Speaking of characters, I think each is quite different and has their own defining qualities. I mainly am speaking of Onyx, Crux, Knox, and Alarik. Milo as a male protagonist was not terrible, I think he had some good moments. But I wish I saw more growth between him and Margot. Like the time jumps each chapter didn’t show how their feelings grew towards each other. I want to know what was the turning point from being basically “strangers” to star crossed lovers. Otherwise, I think he too had some nice development!

I am going to keep this spoiler free (go read this book!!!), but I’ll allude to some later events. The plot twist or peak in this book was slightly predictable! I think as a reader who gasps at any plot twist, I was shook to the core, but if we are looking at this practically, it was evident what was going to happen when Margot finally gets her memory back. I think there were little things I wasn’t expecting, but for the most part, I think a reader can understand the whole “enemies to lovers” trope has some more meaning behind it. Nonetheless, I was still impressed and found this to be the big turning point for the book. I went from wanting to read it to wanting to read it AND continue reading it until the end. Speaking of the end? Shook!!

Let’s talk about the pace of this book. Where this book went from a 4 to a 5 mainly came from the pace. I wanted there to be a bit more world building and description about the ship. The whole book takes place on a ship (I think?) and we are in this dystopian scify realm. I wanted to envision it better and I struggled visualizing the realm and world. I think it would’ve taken up more pages and might’ve not been as action heavy, but it would’ve done wonders. Secondly, there were big jumps. It would be a month later in just a chapter and I wished there was more building. The ball came out of nowhere! But in that in between time, it would’ve been nice to see some more interaction between characters. Or something? I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting, but I wanted this longer (maybe I’m selfish and just wanted to keep reading more but…).

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. I know it is only online, but I hope this can be turned into a hardcover and be brought to bookstores. It has the ability to become a bestselling book honestly. The makings of a perfect YA book (I know it says it’s meant for people over 18, but the sex scenes are quite tame so I’m calling it YA). I think in the second book, there will be so much more excitement and I honestly think I would read it when it came out! I mean, genuinely it was fun and these are the type of books that get me out of my reading funks. Can’t wait to see more from this author!

I’m very grateful to have received an ARC of this book to review.
The first half of the book was a real struggle to get on board with. We meet Margot as she wakes up from a coma and her memories are completely erased. From the off, of course, the reader is pulled into a journey of Margot trying to recover her memories but there seems to be something more to the story that we are yet to uncover. I honestly couldn’t believe the twist when it happened, despite the fact I felt there was something amiss with how the book was playing out. I did struggle to get on board with the Margot/Milo hype, I feel they were so distant and wrong for each other at first that when they did begin to explore their relationship. The plot was brilliantly written, although I did find myself getting a little lost at times with the writing and descriptions. Very much looking forward to the second instalment in the series to delve deeper into the upcoming story and how it is going to unravel!
Thank you to Abelia Sumpter, Rose and Lavender Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book..
Author: Abelia Sumpter
Publishing date: April 09 2024
Publisher: Rose and Lavender Press, LLC

I really enjoyed the genre blend of sci-fi and fantasy that this book employed.
The book is gripping from the start, and the way we were introduced to characters one at a time to establish their relationship with Margot after her memory loss worked really well. The author does a great job of making you suspicious of every character, and making you nervous about how nothing is clear, and nothing is easy to guess until much later. More detailed setting descriptions would have been good to truly visualise each scene, but the interactions and events were enough for that not to detract from the story at all. Looking forward to the next book!
I would really recommend this to those who enjoy fantasy and are open to exploring sci-fi elements. The book includes violent and sexual scenes and the author notes the book is not suitable for those under the age of 18.

Wow. I was not expecting to like this as much as I did and I couldn't be happier. I am so intrigued as to what is going to happen next. While this book does end on a cliffhanger of sorts it breaks at a good point....right after breaking your mind. I was floored when a big secret was revealed as I didn't see it coming but clues were probably given in hindsight. The epilogue was also done very well and made me wish the next book was out already.

If there is one little thing that bothered me about this book it's the fact that it seemed like there was possibly some worldbuilding that was done in the author's previous series that this book builds upon. This does read as the start of a new series but feel if you haven't read the previous series you may be missing out on some details. I can't really confirm this since I have not read the previous series but I intend to now.

I think this book would appeal to readers who are just getting into the sci-fi genre as it's pretty light but does take place in space. The enemies to lovers is done well and there are many secrets to uncover. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book in this series. 4.5 stars!