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.

I love reading fairytale re-tellings so I was really excited about this one. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that this was connected to another book, so I was pretty lost in the beginning of the book. All of the jumps between the past & present confused me as well.

Overall though, this is a super fast paced, intriguing read!

✨Enemies To Lovers

✨Forbidden Romance

✨Fairytale Re-telling

✨Found Family



Thank you Lilly Inkwood, Net Galley and Harper Collins UK - One Mode Chapter for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I was sent a link for this and unknowing to me, it was a prequel to a book I hadn't read yet. It works as a standalone, but I definitely think I would have benefitted from reading The Kingdom is a Golden Cage so I had a better sense of the world etc. Still good, but I would recommend reading in publication order and don't do what I did haha.

✨Enemies To Lovers
✨Forbidden Romance
✨Fairytale Re-telling
✨Found Family

I love reading fairytale re-tellings so this book was an excellent fit for me. The storyline is unique, interesting and really fast-paced. I binged this book cover to cover in an evening and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.

I'd definitely recommend checking this book out!

Thank you Lilly Inkwood, Net Galley and Harper Collins UK - One Mode Chapter for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this rapunzel retelling.

It was an enemies to lovers' and forbidden romance.

This book was fast-paced and very easy to read.
The story was intriguing and entertaining, but there were a few times that I had to reread as I was getting slightly confused.

The highlight for me was the relationship between Blanche and Robert, I would have loved more of them

This book was very interesting. It would have been a 3.75 if not for the pacing. The pacing makes it a 4-star read for me, this book FLEW by, and I could not put it down. The plot was interesting and so was the magic system, but I felt that some basic world building was needed. I was very unsure whether to read this first or Lilly's other book since apparently this is the second book. The information was unclear from the publisher's email or Goodreads. The plot seemed kind of lackluster and dragged on for so long with going back and forth between the different time periods. I thought the switching back and forth was necessary to further the plot but could have been done better. It felt very choppy and not well thought out. There were some things in there that pertained to modern times, I thought this was a fake world and the use of Greece or modern words did not make much sense to the story. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the forbidden romance aspect and the characters as whole. I felt that Blanche was really great and her friendship that blossoms into love with Robert was the best part. I wish we could have gotten more of them. The ending was super interesting, and I am curious where Lilly will take the next book. I will most definitely continue to read this series as she definitely has me hooked.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can't quite tell if I should have read the first book for this one to make more sense or if this one can be read as a stand alone but I didn't realize this is technically the second book in a series. I definitely feel like I was missing some critical information while reading it but kept plugging along anyway. Conceptually this is a good book and has some interesting ideas such as mind walking and ghost walking so I definitely have to give kudos for that but overall the book fell a tad bit flat for me. The story goes back and forth between timelines which are clearly stated in each chapter but despite that I had to keep referring back to the chapter page to see where I was in the story. The enemies to lovers was done well and I liked the relationship between the two MC's. I am not sure if I would continue this series without going back and reading the first book just to see if I missed anything but this was good enough to keep me reading until the end just to see what happened.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the prequel to The Kingdom is a Golden Cage. The story is full of magic, intrigue, plotting and a dash of love. There’s also action with a battle scene. The world building is great which makes the story more interesting. I recommend this book to fans of the fantasy genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of the book.

“Mindwalking was nothing else than reaching out for a face I'd seen, a name I knew, and seeking the impression that the world had made upon that mind. But that was all that it was - an impression - not the absolute truth.”

I had a good time reading this book. A fantasy story with enemies to lovers, love triangle, found family and rapunzel retelling with mindwalks and ghosts and war and power plots that will make your head spin and you yourself constantly question the situation. The events in this story take place ages before those in the main book in this series and it is a standalone. I only had one issue with it. I felt more than once completely confused and at loss as to what was happening to whom and who was whom. This might be probably correlated to the fact that the entire book was written in chapters detailing the events of the present alongside chapters with flashbacks from the past. And since they happen to be side by side, there are many things you don’t fully understand until the last third of the book. It felt pretty much like the first fantasy book in a series that you have to get into and comprehend but made a bit more difficult by this decision. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story and the main characters and I feel like having read book one, before this prequel, might have helped me out a bit. I appreciated that we got to know more about this world’s story and past. It did clarify some questions that I had. Even though that ending was definitely bittersweet … I feel like I would have liked more. But it makes total sense in the grand scheme of things.

“'The Red Maiden.
There were other ways, Blanche. But you wanted them to know your name, even one you made up for yourself. You wanted them to worship you.”

'Welcome to the Fallen Court. Let's get to work. We have quite a few walls to tear down.'