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.'