Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

The world building for this book was really interesting & the romance was sizzling (but could we have more of it please?).
I didn’t realise this was a prequel till I started it, but it was still an alright read. It did feel like there was a little bit missing but I still managed to follow the story. More context would have been nice!
I raced though it as it really caught my attention because I wanted to know what happened with the two main characters. I liked how it played between the two different timelines.

The idea of the gifts were superrrrrr interesting too!

The Fallen Court was an interesting idea, but I did find it a little cringey at times. It didn’t quite strike the right balance of a symbol and also an actual thing. I did enjoy it still!

It reminded me of ACOTAR book 2 & 3 as one book!

Overall, a good read!

You may want to hit check out on your cart with this book if you Fairytale Reimagining, romantasy book, forbidden romance, and found family tropes.

Each night with her rare ability, Blanche wanders the minds of enemies at her brothers request. When she is asked to find a leader of mercenaries she finds herself keeping secrets that will put her in danger and exiled. When war happens will she be able to trust the people around her or will loyalties be put into question.

The Good, The Bad and The Yes Please:

Rise of the Fallen Court is a Rapunzel retelling with some magic twists and a war aspect. I found the beginning of the book was tougher to get into, the world building and character development was hard to connect with but as the book drew on it got easier and I found a groove.

This book has a dual timeline which initially was hard to grasp until I really understood the premise of the story, but I enjoyed the unique way of building up the storyline this way. I enjoyed the relationship that built between the main characters and the forbidden romance is something that is one of my favourite tropes so I was all over that.
The concept with magic and how the mind walking was described captivated me from the very beginning.

A big thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter and Lilly Inkwood for allowing me to have an ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Reviews have been posted on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-_fn54SIxZ/?igsh=MTNyaDBpNm53cDludw==

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6779940445

And will be posted on Amazon on Aug 30th

3.5/5

After having read this book, I learned that it's technically a prequel, which I wasn't aware of before reading this book. So now I am not so confused about my confusion.

Overall, this was a pretty good fantasy with a fast-pace, an enemies to lovers situation (always love me one of those, as we all know) and a found family (which I am also ALWAYS a sucker for)!

This story follows multiple POVs and with multiple timelines. And it was those timelines that really were the most confusing part for me. There was just something about the way that they were done that I lead me to be unable to keep track of what was going on and when. Don't get me wrong, the chapters do let you know what timeline you're in, but I just kept getting confused.

I think my confusion made it hard to get invested, so this ended up falling a bit flat for me.

An interesting plot, leading me to finish it in about a day.

I'm not sure if I'll go back and read the book that this one is a prequel for (I'll have to think about this book for a little bit to figure that out).

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman_ review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly wrap-up.

This book was amazing! The plot was very interesting and the main characters were very well written and well developed. I would highly recommend this book!

The pacing was so fast, and I couldn't put this book down. The backstabbing was almost Game of Thrones good; the plot was interesting, and the characters were fully developed. The enemies to lovers were actually enemies to lovers. Absolutely obsessed.

Rise Of The Fallen Court is such a good story. I loved every single second of this book. I rated it 4 stars because I couldn't put it down for a second. Loved it.

The concept of this was so fun! I also loved the magic system here, but unfortunately I felt a little confused during it so I couldn’t fully get lost in this read. But I look forward to trying another book by this author in the future!

I was really looking forward to this book.
Blanche, a rare mind walker is coerced into using her talents by her brother, the King in order to spy on his enemies. However the constant switching of time frames made the plot confusing and as such I could not get engaged with the plot or the characters.

Although this book has quite an interesting plot, the writing style wasn't for me and the multiple time jumps make it difficult to follow at times. Not my favourite fantasy by any means!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

There’s just too much going on in this book.
The chapters jump back and forth . I felt confused most of the time. It was just too wordy. The premise of the book sounded good.
If you like epic type books this one might be for you. I just couldn’t get into it.

Rise of the Fallen Court follows Blanche, a rare mindwalker serving her brother, the king of the Red Kingdom, by infiltrating the minds of his enemies. When tasked with spying on the mercenary leader Il Condottiere, Blanche uncovers secrets that threaten her life and the kingdom’s stability. Exiled to Mora's Tower, she must hone her powers and decide if she can trust a mercenary whose loyalty is for sale.

I only read the first book in The Red Kingdom series, The Kingdom is a Golden Cage, about a month ago, and I was thrilled to see the sequel released so soon after I read the first book. I jumped at the chance to read it on NetGalley, and it did not disappoint!

What I loved most about book 1 was its complexity and originality amidst a sea of fairytale retellings. Book 2 delivered even more in that regard. Initially, I was surprised to find that this book is set 44 years before the events of book 1, but by the end, everything clicked into place. The time shift made me rethink what I thought I knew from book 1, and as soon as I finished reading, I revisited both the character list and the final chapter of The Kingdom is a Golden Cage with a new perspective.

This book featured a dual timeline for Blanche, and my only critique is that occasionally in the later timeline, Blanche lapsed into memories of things that happened in the earlier timeline. It didn't happen very often, but on one or two occasions I did have to skip back a few pages and realise that Blanche was just remembering something we hadn't seen in the earlier timeline and that we were in fact still in the later timeline.

The romance in this book was another highlight, and that final chapter completely threw me! I've definitely accepted the fact that I can predict nothing in this series - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley, but this is my voluntary and honest review.

I unfortunately could not get into this and did not finish. The writing style wasn’t for me and I didn’t enjoy the characters at all.

The Rise of the Fallen Court hurls us into the dangerous world that Blanche must navigate, banished to the tower by her cruel brother the king. The novel smoothly flits between past and present to build up the tension and insight into our imperfect heroine who has Mindwalker skills that she must conceal and use wisely. The drama ramps up, passion sizzles, and the stakes are higher than they originally seem. The tantalising ending promises many strands to come which I can’t wait for! In short, exceptionally well written and gripping with a layered approach that is highly satisfying.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc, but I could not get into this at all. I wasn't aware this was a prequel of sorts, so that's on me, but I also just didn't really like the characters and found myself not wanting to pick this up at all.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review

3.5 stars rounded to 4

I have to confess, I had no idea this was technically a follow-up book to The Kingdom Is A Golden Cage as this wasn't mentioned anywhere in the NG listing. That's probably on me for not researching it first - if I'd known I might not have applied as I didn't love the first book. However! I actually ended up enjoying this one more than book one. Whereas the previous book felt it was trying to cram too much into a relatively short read, this standalone set in the same world felt more polished. Even though there was more than one timeline which did confuse me a few times, it still felt like an easier and more entertaining read.

I think you'll enjoy it if you loved book one, and I'd recommend the series for those who love fairytale retellings and fairly easy reads. Don't read it without reading book one, because I think you'll be missing a bit of context!

I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this one at first, for some reason my brain was struggling to get to grips with who was who, and what was happening when. About a third in thought, and after spending a good amount of time focusing on it, I got to grips and started to absolutely love it.

I’m pleased I persevered with this one - it’s more than likely just where my head was rather than the book itself to be honest, but for me, this is a story that needs a good sit down and time devoted to it in each session.

I absolutely loved it in the end, and the ending was wild. I would like to see the “after” explored a lot more - rather than just that end chapter, and I feel there’s a lot more to be said - can we have a second? Can we have some short stories from the other characters leading upto this book?! This could go on and on..

My thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

While this is technically the second book (or prequel depending on how you look at it), I believe that the majority of the story can stand alone.

It does alternate between flashbacks and current time, so if you are not a fan of that, it might be best to skip this book. I did enjoy this book and the different little pieces that came together in a different way than I expected.

Solid Rapunzel retelling with hints of historical notes (author note explains some choices). I'm interested enough to pick up the first book and see if it helps to deepen my insight into this book.

I received this book as an ARC.

I could not get into this story no matter how hard I tried. I found the main character to be unlikeable, the side characters to be questionable, and the story to be dull.

Besides everything listed above, I think one of my biggest issues with the book is the fact that almost every other chapter was a flashback. While I understand that the author was trying to provide a backstory on choices made, I did not enjoy the jumps nor did it endear me to anyone but perhaps Robert.

Definitely not my cup of tea.

An okay Rapunzel retelling.
I felt very confused during the majority of this book and I feel like the overall world-building needs some work.
It would also have been helpful to know ahead of time that this was a second book in a series (a kind of prequel to the first book).
Overall, this was a unique, fast-paced Rapunzel retelling with a forbidden, enemies to lovers romance that is extremely easy to binge read in one night.
Recommend if you are looking for a new fairytale retelling to dive into.

When I requested this ARC from NetGalley, it wasn't mentioned anywhere that it was a prequel to a book that had already been released. While Rise of the Fallen Court worked as a standalone novel, I think I may have felt more invested in the story had I read Book 1 first; I was somewhat confused throughout the novel, like I was missing something but couldn't quite put my finger on what.

As far as pacing goes, this was a very quick read; I finished it in one sitting. I liked how the enemies-to-loves trope was written, and I enjoyed the found family aspect of the storyline. The multiple timelines confused me, though, and I had to keep going back to previous chapters to see what exactly happened last for that specific timeline.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins: One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.