I will start off by saying I liked this book but didn’t love it. Some things I liked about it the FMC being older 30+ I did enjoy it’s something you don’t see often especially in a fantasy/romantasy book. I did like the character development and growth of Aelia through the story.

At times the story lacked world building and some points were a bit confusing. Also at times it felt like there were some context missing from the story as we started to be introduced to more characters.

Overall I liked this book but there could be some revisions and editing that could make it just a bit better.

“I love you Aelia. I loved you even when I hated you, and I will keep a space in my heart for you until the end of time”

Here’s the synopsis, my review will be below it🩷:

A queen turned mercenary. A long-lost love. An ancient evil reborn.

With her home kingdom destroyed and her family considered dead, Aelia Springborn makes a living, using her abilities to break minds for anyone with enough coin. Content to live a life in the shadows, her world is turned upside down when her former lover, Caiden Stormweaver, tracks her down at the edge of the world with a proposition she can’t refuse.... help him thwart her former husband, King Gideon, from obtaining the deadly army of the Alder King.

Review 🌸:
Let me start off by saying I have never related to a FMC before like I did with Aelia. Poor girl can’t catch a break. She a mature FMC (30yo) who is destroyed till she’s just the shell of the person she used to be. She deals with trauma from betrayal, loss & heartbreak & if that’s not relatable I don’t know what is.

I love love love how her relationship with both MMC’s is so different (i’m definitely team Tharan in case you’re wondering 😅). Caiden is her first love, the one she was forced to abandon. Tharan sees her for who she is & accepts her fully. She is stuck in a love triangle with these two amazing men who just want her to be safe & happy after everything shes been through.

The world building & character development was simply amazing. I felt like I was a little fly on the wall watching everything go on through my own eyes.

Safe to say this book is the perfect example of everything I love about fantasy. Magic, sylph, elves, mermaids, centaurs & even UNICORNS are in this book.
Just in case my ramble of a review wasnt enough… I’ll just leave these here for you 😉

🌸 Mature FMC
🌸 Love Triangle
🌸 One bed (eeeeek, I know 😍)
🌸 Morally grey MMC (x2 🩷)
🌸 “Who did this to you”

✨🌸This amazing book comes out September 17 🌸 ✨ it is a must have on your shelf 🩷🫶🏻

THANK YOU so much for giving me the opportunity to review this book early 🩷 @authorkwfoster ✨

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. I really enjoy romantasy books, and was looking forward to this one. I liked the idea of mind bending and thought it was a cool power. So...down to the nitty gritty...things I had issues with

-the world building is just not there. You kind of are all of a sudden just existing at places or in something.
-to build on that-the sudden facts also occur where all of a sudden the book states something and I went back and could not find anything related and hadn't missed anything
-Some characters had more depth than others and I feel like a book needs a good balance of plot and character development. We see what our FMC is experiencing, but even with Multiple POV the rest of the characters except maybe Tharan remain surface level. We don't even delve deeper into Aelia's scar and what she experienced while with Gideon.
-the jump at the end to the big emotions was a bit left field for me. The relationship needed more development to drop that.


The beginning of the book was a bit slow for me, but I'd say as the last third o the book started picking up. I enjoyed it. I will prob read the next one to see if the writer works out the kinks in this one. 2.5-rounding up.

I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
4⭐️
2 🌶️
💜Second chance romance
💜Love triangle (no cheating)
💜Addiction/Recovery
•Aelia Springborn was once a Queen. Now she’s a mercenary, battling ghosts of her past and numbing herself with a magical drug known as “dust.” When one of those ghosts, her first love Caiden, returns in the flesh, the two must work together to save the life of Aelia’s younger sister.

•KW Foster broke my heart with this one. It was beautifully heartbreaking. Aelia is a lovable character even with her flaws and her morally grey tendencies. Throughout book one, she starts to deal with her deep rooted trauma and is working through it. I was proud of her despite her being a fictional character. 😂 I also love a good love triangle, but I’m not sure what team I’m on. I think I just want all three parties to be happy because they’ve all been through enough. 😂 The epilogue had me tore it. I don’t know what to expect after that! I’m nervous in the best way! 😂
•I did find myself wanting more information on the politics and relationships between the slyphs, humans, and elves. However, after I finished reading, I found that the author has supplemental information on her website!
•Solid 4 Stars! I highly recommend reading A Curse of Breath and Blood! It’s available for preorder now and releasing 9/17/2024 💜 I can’t wait to see what’s next in this series!

I absolutely loved this book! I normally don't like when the POV changes but K.W. made it work! I love that Aelia is a 30+ FMC that isn't perfect. She struggles with loss, addiction, abuse, and is raw, gritty, and relatable. She literally kicks ass and takes names! The relationships between characters is addicting and leaves you wanting more. I cannot believe this is the author's debut! Knocked it outta the park for me. This book made me feel all the feels and my heart is aching for more!!!

This book was kind of meh for me.
The storytelling was all over the place, and there wasn’t much depth in terms of the characters and their individual relationships. The plot was fast paced, but not in a ‘keep-you-hooked’ way, and this made it quite confusing and frustrating to read. Even the emotions of characters in certain scenes, such as where Aelia encounters Gideon again, were very underwhelming! It just didn’t make sense, especially after the torture that Aelia had previously experienced at his hands.
There were some likeable characters, such as Tharan, and I feel like this story could be really good if there was just more depth in general. The world building needs to be more expansive, the politics and world systems could do with better explanations to avoid confusion and scenes need to be thought out more clearly rather than just jumping from one thing to the next, in order to help the book flow for the reader.
The book could also be proofread again as I did encounter quite a few grammatical errors which made it rather difficult to read by about 40% of the way through.
This book definitely has lots of potential, and I am genuinely sad that it did not live up to my expectations.

Thank you to #netgalley for providing me with the ARC of this book!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The story itself was fantastic. But the world building at time did feel a bit chaotic and left me having to reread sections. But overall, I did enjoy it.

This was okay, I liked the plot but it was quite predictable and the characters/ world-building we're quite one dimensional so I would of liked learning more about them and their inner workings. The book read very easy and not complex at all so I almost finished it within one sitting. I honestly wish it gave more because I liked the premise of a 30 year old FMC which seems like a lot of people too. The love triangle was messy and dramatic and kept me thoroughly entertained.

Breezed through this book not because I was too engrossed but because the writing was simple and the plot was SO predictable. Nevertheless, I am curious who Aelia will pick (love triangle) in the next book!

The story moves at a pace that is too fast even to make reasonable sense. One moment we are running on the docks. Next we’re indoors and it’s raining fireballs. A character yells run and we all..run?? Ngl the plot and inner circle dynamics do remind me of ToG now and then but of a much subpar writing.

A special shout out: fmc is 30 which I LOVE! Overall, the book wasn’t bad per se but it’s lacking in character development, backstory on all their relationships/gods/villains and any explanation on those feels like it’s winged along the way.

Thanks for the arc via NetGalley!

Aelia Springborn is a telepathic Queen turned mercenary who has escaped from the influence of an abusive, power hungry King and Husband. With the help of her former lover, old friends, and a new love interest, Aelia battles through political upheaval, addiction, trauma, and a magical deal she is bound to honor.

I received this Romantasy Arc in exchange for an honest review and it did not disappoint! I highly recommend reading “A History of Moriana and the World of the Mind Breaker Series” from the authors website for the best reading experience. My biggest questions while reading this Arc were about the political background, the gods, and the cultural/race differences between the Sylph, Elves, and Humans. Each one of those questions is answered in that excerpt and I expect the book will lead with this prior to the story starting once released in September.

Aelia is a relatable FMC who is struggling through a healing journey from a toxic past filled with abuse, trauma, and addiction. Mental health is a recurring topic throughout the book and the representation was raw, real, and impactful. The love triangle keeps you guessing and both MMC’s are extremely likeable, although I think I may be leaning toward Team Tharan. The politics and world building were super interesting and I found myself wanting to know more about the dynamics between the sylph, elves, and humans. I would love to see the different courts and characters explored more in future books. The epilogue is a major cliffhanger and I can say without a doubt I am invested!

This book has a lot of promise. I wished we dove deeper into character development though. It all read very shallow and I never fully grasped the characters and their identities. I loved how Aeila was 30. That was definitely refreshing. The romance was sort of all over the place; but that’s okay. It was messy but filled with lust, longing and drama.

This book was ok. I might have missed it, but I didn't realize this wasn't a standalone until the end, so I kept wondering how they were going to fit everything into one book. I didn't feel for the characters. Maybe because the love triangle seems a little forced - or maybe it's not even supposed to feel like a love triangle, but I don't know what else to call it. I get the ACOTAR marketing comparison, because I felt it several times...which to me wasn't a good thing because it wasn't like an homage, more like copy/paste. How Feyre flirts with Tarquin & eventually messes with his thoughts seems a lot like Aelia and Tharan. Tharan is similar to Eris (red hair, bit of a playboy, but has more going on than he wants to show publicly). Aelia's journey of redemption and "growth" (using loosely), seems a lot like Nesta. Aelia and another SJM character Aelin, sound similar. The Morrigan, which I realize is Celtic folk lore, so not just SJM's creation, but still, another overlap. I love romantasy, but I need something a little different to really wow me anymore. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC opportunity. Since it is an early read, I am hoping another round of editing can smooth a couple spots as well.

Thank you to NetGalley & the author K.W. Foster for this opportunity!!

One of my favorite quotes: “Hope is a dangerous thing. It blinds us to reality.”

A Curse of Blood and Breath was a refreshing and face-paced read. This was a strong beginning for a first book in a new world/series! I loved the mental health/addiction representation and the storyline for growth and redemption. The book was a perfect blend of fantasy and romance. It was intriguing to read both 1st POV and 3rd POV. I have to say, I’m definitely team Tharan and Aelia has my heart already!

We dive into this book meeting Aelia Springborn, our main FMC in her 30s. Aelia, a queen-turned-mercenary has a rare magical gift, a telepath and the ability to break minds. It was lovely to see her growth and development along with overcoming her addiction to the best of her abilities. I believe we are missing some key background components to throughly understand Aelia’s character as a whole.
I enjoyed meeting our two MMC’s along with the side characters, there was a perfect amount of history and description!

Overall, the ending and the epilogue were set up phenomenally for the next book instalment!

I think this book/story has such great potential. There were some moments where I had to go back and re-read because the sentence structure was confusing me. I do like how the story played out and even with the ending, I am excited to see how the next book will answer some of the questions I have after finishing.

Really enjoyed this. A great little love triangle, a 30 y/o FMC which was refreshing and relatable rather than the standard teenagers we constantly get!

The world building did feel a little bit chaotic. I wonder if maybe this would have been better as a longer book or split into more as it felt quite a lot was put into one but I’d recommend giving it a go

First of all I want to say that I loved the way the author balanced plot and romance throughout the book, for me she developed these two points very well. Now I can say that I am totally team Tharan.

Unlike most people, I LOVE a good love triangle and this one didn't disappoint. The two romantic interests (Caiden & Tharan) are good options so you feel confused like the protagonist to choose one of the two but I decided and I'm 100% team Tharan (please be the endgame 😭)

Extra point for the FMC being 30yo, I'm really tired of teenage FMC's with super older love interests so this one was *chefs kiss*

I did not want this book to end.

Aelia Springborn is a strong fmc who overcomes a lot of hardship throughout the story, her character development is beautiful! She has a complicated love life, with devastating deals being made, and makes sacrifices for those she loves. I spent so much time rooting for her despite knowing the outcome, and still being devastated for her when it inevitably happened. The men in the book are so charming and respectful (except the villains) they make it easy to adore them, and so easy to understand Amelia’s actions!
The ending was a beautiful culmination of the lessons learnt along the way, and felt so cosy, with a shocking final two pages that set the stage for the next book perfectly.

1.5 ⭐️ I just felt confused for the majority of this book. To begin, the world-building was nonexistent, and I felt like I was constantly introduced to new people/places/courts without having any idea how they fit into the greater political scheme or where they even were in relation to each other (a map would've helped). Secondly, there was a significant amount of missing context behind all of the character's relationships with each other that were completely glossed over or only alluded to without getting any more detail. I was expecting more and more to come to light, but nothing ever did. It felt like I was reading the second book in a series (and if that's what this was, it still wasn't giving me enough background to understand the foundation for anything). The love triangle didn't even feel like a love triangle, because there was significantly more telling than showing when it came to describing ANY of the character's emotions.
Thank you to Aetheon and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.8 Stars rounded up to 4 below!

There's a few editing mistakes and thing's spelt wrong and words written wrong (I think if an editor had another look at it that would be good! - at one point in the book (closer to the end) it says Caiden's name when it should be Tharan.

That being said I really enjoyed this book it was a simple world to understand and I liked how we went straight into the story rather than having to have pages of world building. I really like the main character Aelia I really feel like she goes through a journey in this book and you can see how she grows which is nice. I like how instead of there just being enemies to lovers we have a passed love who has turned enemies but they've found their way back to each other. I wish we could get more of Caiden and Tharan's POV and what they are thinking (think this could be good for book 2). I like how Caiden did actually get his memories wiped (even though this part made me cry) because it had all the feels and was written really well. I'm interested to see whether his memories come back and if they do I want him to fight for Aelia as I actually feel she lowkey deserves better than Caiden.

Tharan is everything 😮‍💨 I absolutely love the relationship between Aelia and Tharan. I love that they can be completely honest with each other and I feel as if Tharan loves Aelia as she is now and they are growing together and sharing all of their scars. Whereas although I do like Caiden I feel like he loves the old Aelia before her trauma. Can’t wait to see what happeneds I want more Aelia and Tharan, I feel like there relationship is more special.

I'm intrigued to see where the plot goes in the next book. What happened with Aelia's sister as she seems to be double bluffing in the epilogue?! Will Caiden remember Aelia and fight for her? What will happen with the sceptre? Overall, I did like the book and would read book 2!

Quotes I loved:

“I’ve wanted to kiss you every day since the first time I laid eyes on you”

“I love you,” I said, looking into Caiden’s blue eyes. “I know you won’t remember, but I hope your heart keeps the memory your mind won’t.”

“I will find a way back to you” He kissed me passionately. “I love you, Aelia. I loved you even when I hated you, and I will keep a space in my heart for you until the end of time.” A promise he couldn’t keep.

“I closed my eyes. Nothing like having your romantic history laid bare in front of your current lover, your husband, and your ex-lover, who’s mind you erased”

“You are beautiful to me, Aelia Springborn. Your scars are a testament to your strength. Wear them with pride.”

I did not love this one. I liked the idea of it and there were parts that had me engaged in the story, but overall the book did not deliver for me. The world building felt disorganized, and the actual storytelling felt more "tell" than show, which meant that the pacing felt very weird to keep up with. The romantic plots felt rushed with and I was not overly invested in any of them, aside from the second male love interest.

I did like that FMC was in her 30's and I appreciated her very real struggles, it just needed so much more to feel explored. I did like the idea of this book, but without the depth the story concept deserved I think this one falls flat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aethon Books, all opinions are my own.