Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

I really enjoyed this! Great worldbuilding and pacing—I was hooked early and kept engaged as the story went along with twists and turns. I also enjoyed that the author actually developed the side characters well and this made the world more rich and enjoyable. I look forward to the next installment.

This was absolutely phenomenal! This book came out last week and I already NEED book 2!
This was a PERFECT New Adult Romantasy! The story was the best blend of fantasy, romance, and high-stakes adventure. The political complexities of the different noble families and the rich history behind the kingdoms add layers to the plot and made everything feel so so significant. There were multiple twists that gave me a "HAH, GOTCHA"!
I didn't put this book down...read it cover to cover in about 7hrs.
ADD THIS TO YOUR TBR RIGHT NOW!

This was such a good read. The writing was phenomenal. I absolutely loved Cerise, Daerick, and Kian but my favorite character would have to be Blue. The side characters in this one were fantastic. I was not expecting some of those twists and it was really hard to put the book down. And that ending… I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

Thank you Brittany at Entangled for the #gifted widget of The Half King! This review is entirely my own thoughts and opinions based on the early copy I read!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

One of the things I'm noticing about about Red Tower fantasies is how easy they are to slip into, which is incredibly helpful for me when my ADHD is being a jerk. The Half King falls into pattern with Red Tower fantasies and I loved every second of it. This was such a fun and atmospheric read. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and am now dying for the second book to be released.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗕𝗨𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚: Excellently introduced and built up through the use of plot, dialogue, and character internal thoughts. At no point did the world building feel overwhelming or like it was taking up too much time. It was smartly done and well expanded on through out the tale.

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: Kian is a fantastic consent king ❤︎ But I'm definitely a Daerick girlie cuz his banter is top notch and his patience with Cerise deconstructing the lies The Order ingrained into her. As someone who is still recovering from religious trauma, I connected greatly with Cerise. I felt her story was done beautifully and with great knowledge of how difficult it is to unlearn the harm religious organizations inflict through grooming followers from a young age.

𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧: Unique and well thought out. Fast paced and gripping.

𝗩𝗜𝗕𝗘𝗦: This one is for the girlies with religious trauma and/or deconstructing from abusive religious upbringing. This one is also for all the women tired of being walked over, shoved down, and dismissed by men with overly bloated egos. F¥ck the patriarchy.

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
☆ Sweet, Consensual, Slow Burn Spice
☆ Unique Magic System
☆ Religious Trauma
☆ Feminine Rage
☆ Hidden Identities
☆ Hurt/Comfort
☆ Curses
☆ Political Intrigue
☆ Corruption

4 Starts for an enjoyable book!

One star removed for everything I wanted to know but never learned. I hope the curses are explained more in book 2. They seemed to feel like an afterthought instead of a real issue.

The love interest between the king and Cerise came about too fast. Them together was nice, but he was rude and mean at first meeting. Then one act of saving a friend and he's head over heels? It didn't seem entirely believable.

I do look forward to book 2 when it comes out!

Wow. I have some thoughts on this book.... To start off, I was really hoping to love this one. I typically enjoy Red Tower books, but for whatever reason, this one just seemed like it had way too many plot holes. I didn't love the characters. I felt like the main character grew way too quickly from being someone who was sheltered to someone who was on a quest to "save the world." There was so many things that just didn't make sense or add up. Especially the fact that she wasn't supposed to trust anyone and she just trusted pretty much everyone and told them everything. I didn't really feel any connection between the two main characters relationship. It felt too rushed and not really massaged out as well as it could have been. Honestly, this book felt kind of like a debut novel, but it clearly isn't. I do know that this book was apparently written in 2017, so maybe that could be it? It really should have been rewritten before being published...or at least heavily sent to an editor to fix some of the plot holes and whatnot. I honestly can't decide if I will be continuing to the next book or not. I might read it just to see what happens, but who knows.

Holy plot twists!!

The bread crumbs were so subtle and beautifully layed out throughout the whole book that I didn’t pick up on them until everything was revealed!!

The story started out a bit slower, but throughout the book it picked up and by the end I was hooked!!

I am absolutely impressed by the writing and how well thought out the plot twists were! Definitely recommend!!

This is a captivating fantasy romance that weaves together elements of magic, mystery, and intrigue. The story is set in the Allied Realm, where the noble houses are cursed due to a betrayal against the goddess. King Kian Hannibal Mortara, faces a unique curse that causes him to fade into nothingness at night, a fate that will become permanent on his twenty-first birthday.

Cerise Solon, an acolyte with no magical abilities, who arrives at court amidst a web of secrets and lies. Her interactions with King Kian are filled with tension and chemistry, I love them . The plot is a mix of political intrigue, romance, and fantasy elements that keep the reader engaged.

Melissa Landers' writing is immersive, creating a vivid world with complex characters and a rich backstory. If you love slow-burn romance and dark fantasy you will find The Half King to be a compelling addition to your bookshelf.

This book was absolutely fantastic! I have been struggling to read for months and I tore through this book. It felt so fresh and so new! A great take on a Romantasy! I really loved the religious tones in the book and the magic system! I can’t wait to read what comes next!

The Half King was a new adult romantasy set in a fascinating world. With a shadow daddy, a fierce heroine, and lots of adventure, this book was so easy to devour. Each of the characters stood out, and I was interested in learning how their world worked. And trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. There was a twist I didn’t see coming that played so interesting into the story. Especially with what we learned in the epilogue! But unfortunately, I was never able to connect to any of the characters. And that greatly affects my enjoyment of a book. So, if you adore romantasy with some spice, here’s hoping you end up loving this book more than me!

I just finished The Half King by Melissa Landers, and I’m officially hooked! This was my first read of Melissa’s work, and it definitely won’t be my last. What I loved most about this book is the captivating world-building and the rich, immersive storytelling. The characters are incredibly well-developed, and I found myself deeply invested in their journeys. The blend of adventure, romance, and political intrigue kept me turning the pages, eager to see what would happen next.

Melissa’s writing style is engaging and vivid, making it easy to visualize the settings and feel the emotions of the characters. The themes of loyalty and courage really resonated with me, adding depth to the thrilling plot. If you’re looking for a book that combines action with heartfelt moments, The Half King is a must-read! I can’t wait to dive into more of Melissa Landers’ stories!

Ok this is definitely an upper level YA romantasy and when you take that into consideration the book is great. There is some non-closed door spice, but I wouldn’t call it egregious. But it’s a story of a girl who’s entire life has been a lie and she finds herself in the court of a shadow daddy who is basically a golden retriever for her. Together they manage to go on a quest to find a dagger needed to help end a 1000 the old curse. With that being said there was a couple things I didn’t see coming, but some I really did. I would still recommend it and will be patiently waiting for book 2

Landers pulled me into this story right from the very first chapter, and I was caught up in the action, magic, secrets, and romance until the very last page.

Cerise has a typical fantasy trajectory: plucked from obscurity, catches the eye of the tall, dark, and handsome character, discovers her destiny, and saves the day. But while the formula is familiar, Cerise's story has so many unique elements. From her backstory to her character development, the path Cerise found herself on was anything but ordinary. With many of the main cast of characters in their early 20s, Cerise's journey did have a lot of "chosen one meant to save the world" elements that I usually find more in YA fantasy, but Landers included so many other elements to this story that I didn't once mind any of the tropes that were used in this story.

I thought all the characters in this story were well written. Each one had their own strengths while also leaving me to question their motives or intentions at least once. I loved not being sure about how any of the characters would react to every new situation, but I especially loved being able to root for my favorites all the way to the end.

There were a lot of elements that went into this story. From rising up against the accepted norm, to undoing curses, to commentary on blindly following the group dynamic, this story ended up being so much more than just a girl saving the people she loves. I was truly wrapped up in Cerise and Kian's adventure from start to finish, and highly recommend The Half King.

“What do ladies want more: brains or brawn?”
“Neither. The goddess achieved perfection when she created women.”
-Melissa Landers

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to @entangled_publishing for the eARC of The Half King, I of course had to put it with my gorgeous @fairyloot edition that arrived recently.

This book has a bit of a mixed review from me, there were some parts I really loved like the adventure and magic, plus that everything was created by a goddess. However, the contrast to that was some of the things that I think weren’t developed quite enough. There is a very insta-love feel to our couple, and by the end I felt less like this was a ‘kick ass woman power’ kind of book and more of a ‘I hate men’. Which is fine, and can work! But it left me a bit disappointed.

“My spirit doesn’t belong to me anymore. It belongs to the girl with too much love inside her, the girl whose light scatters the darkness. My spirit wants the patron saint of ugly pups, toxic frogs, and foolish half kings.”

Hands down the best part of this book was the interesting world building! Five noble families way back when decided to trick their goddess into mortal form so that they could kill her. It doesn’t work and instead she curses each of these families with different curses, and it only affects the first borns. Our king (and love interest) changes into shadow at every sunset, by the time he reaches his 21st birthday he will disappear entirely. Another family will gain all the knowledge of the universe and go mad, another has uncontrollable rage… you get the idea. I found the curses so interesting, and it pushed the story forward because we had a set deadline in order to save some of the characters.

This book also focuses heavily on an organized religion. Our main character, Cerise, is the second born and has been given to the church for training to be an oracle. I’m not an organized religion kind of person, and this book definitely highlighted some of the reasons why. The priests have a lot of power over people not only in the church but also outside of it, and they abuse that power a lot.

I DNF'ed at 20%. The writing style didn't appeal to me and I didn't understand the main character at all. At 20% I should have some sense of who she is, but she did confusing things like blurt out inappropriate remarks. I saw no reason to trudge through the rest of this.

I struggled with getting into this book. I liked the idea of the curses and that's what drew me to this book but it seemed to drag on and I wish we got more. The characters seemed younger than they actually were and that took me out of really getting to know them. I did think that the two main characters lacked chemistry together and I couldn't get into their relationship.

While this book did have some cool world building and an interesting idea for the plot, I was bored pretty much the whole time except for the last 20%. There were some surprises and twists that I enjoyed. I am still looking forward to having this book on my shelf.

The Half King is a book that delivered a lot of surprises along the way. I was a little nervous about a story that tackled religious indoctrination, but this book packs a powerful punch, showing how easy it is for people in power to mislead others when they twist things to suit their own agenda. There is a testing aspect to this story, but in spite of that, it doesn’t feel like an imitation of other stories that include testing. There are a lot of original elements to the story that set it apart, and that starts with the curses. The King’s curse is one of the most original I can recall from any book, and it was both fascinating and terrifying. Somehow, Landers found something worse than death or pain to curse someone with.

The personal elements of the story were also compelling. I want to avoid spoilers, so I'll only say the family secrets are all too familiar for some, and yet still weren’t what I expected.
I’m always looking for intriguing stories with original elements and characters that make me care about them. Personally, Landers delivered all the essentials for a fantastic story. I was completely hooked while I was reading it, and I don’t know what to expect from book 2, but I know I’ll be pre-ordering it the second it’s available.

The mystery behind every pair of eyes, the magic, romance, and darkness around every corner will suck you in so quickly you'll be shocked you've arrived to the end. I couldn't put this book down. I had to have more. I loved the characters and how they handled this world around them. The twists at the end had me in absolute shambles. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to read this ARC by @entangled_publishing. It was so amazing!

A goddess betrayed, a king who is cursed and a second-born daughter destined to save them all? Sign me up. Like no really, sign me up like last week. What I expected from The Half King and What I got were two very different things in all the best ways. Melissa Landers really delivered on this one, and I regret not reading anything by her sooner.

In a story with rich word-building, an original magic system, and jaw-dropping twists, The Half King was a breath of fresh air in the fantasy world. There are characters we will love to hate, in my honest opinion, an ending that I did not see coming. The slow-burn is burning, and I quickly fell in love with our FMC and MMC. I spent half the book picking my jaw up off the floor, and the cliffhanger at the end has me eagerly awaiting the second book in the duology. 10/10 a must read for 2024!

This book was so thrilling and gripping. I mean it was on the edge of my seat almost the whole time while.readimg it. Kian and Cerise were amazing. The magic and world building was phenomenal also that ending had me crying and whooping at the same time. This book deserves more than 5 stars.