I was pleasantly surprised by this book. To my mind, this was the perfect New Adult book; it fits perfectly into the category. There is a bit of spice but it’s not wildly graphic and the writing is on an upper YA level. While it was more predictable, this story was absolutely gripping and had me still thinking about it the next day. I think the dynamic between Reyna and Hellbringer is interesting and I want to KNOW what is going on!!!!!!!! The last section of the book has motives entirely up in the air. Definitely will be reading book two.

'Blood Beneath the snow' is a gripping fantasy that thrusts you into a world where the powerless royal daughter Revna must enter a deadly competition against her own brothers to save those she loves most. The unexpected dynamic between Revna and the notorious enemy general "Hellbringer," who kidnaps her for his own mysterious agenda (which I am here for), evolves with perfect tension, transforming from captor/captive to something far more complex as they navigate political machinations neither fully understands. The training sequences occasionally dragged, which I normally LOVE training sequences so a bit of a bummer. However, I was obsessed with the royal family dynamic that avoids one-dimensional villainy with siblings that had genuine depth and complicated motivations that had me invested in them. That cliffhanger hooked me and I am READY for book 2.

I definitely enjoyed this! The world building is amazing! and at times it was familiar and then new which made it entertaining. Revna is such a strong protagonist and I enjoyed learning everything through her perspective. I am ready for the next one please and thank youuuuu!

I thought this story was alright. Revna is a God Forsaken the only royal member of her family without magical abilities. Her parents look at her differently sort of like a black sheep and she is in a arranged marriage to another kingdom to a Prince which she turns down. Her father wants to pass on his crown and in order to do that all the siblings compete to the death in the bloodshed trials. Revna gets kidnapped by the enemy to help end a war. And ends up having feelings for her captor. I think things were rushed and not explained thoroughly for me. I wished some names could've been more thought out more like Bloodshed Trials, Hellbringer, God Forsaken, God Blessed they seemed so basic to me. The ending does end on a cliffy so I'll have to see if I want to read it for this duology.

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Blood beneath the snow just didn’t work for me as a book. The concept, the characters, etc., all felt a little too familiar. I’m not saying that the worldbuilding/plot wasn’t unique, just that there’s nothing that made it really stand out or special. Basically, this one was boring to read. I didn’t get attached to any of the characters which made the plot hard to get invested in it. I truly did not care if our FMC succeeded or not.

I honestly couldn’t recommend this book to anyone. It’s predictable, cheesy, and boring.

Thank you so much to Ace Books, PRH Audio, and Netgalley for providing advanced copies of this book! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

A debut fantasy romance that lived up to my own inflicted hype. This definitely won't be for everyone but the relationship dynamics, world, and magic were just my taste.

If you like an underdog heroine, overthrowing the crown, and opposite sides of the war romance - this is definitely one worth checking out. Just know that this book is bloody and brutal. There are no punches thrown here.

The heroine, Revna, is the only person in the royal family without magic. Making her an often abused outcast and pawn in their never-ending war. After she refuses to follow through with the marriage of alliance and commits herself to be a part of the Bloodshed trials, she's captured by her kingdom's greatest enemy.

But of course, he turns out to be much more than she thought.

Alexandra Kennington was able to make me connect with side characters who had very little actual on page time. The magic system was unique (albeit with some slight unexplained holes - why was her brother's power always on while the hero could turn his on and off?). And the ending was absolutely brutal in the best way.

I've had quite a few misses with debut fantasy romances this year (which I think is in part due to the fact that they're being pumped out left and right) but this one definitely hooked me. I'm excited that it's just a duology and can't wait for the conclusion.

Revna is an embarrassment to her family and kingdom - a godforsaken, magicless princess in a family full of magic-wielders. Her only asset is her ability to be married off so her father can gain political allies in a never-ending war. But Revna isn’t a meek young girl to be pushed around. She is rebellious and befriends the outcasts and other’s without magic in her kingdom. But when her father has had enough, he puts her two closest friends’ lives at risk, and Revna decides she has had enough. She asks to compete in the Bloodshed Trials, a fight to the death among the royal siblings, where the last one left standing will take the throne.

But before the trial begins, she is kidnapped by her worst nightmare, the Hellbringer, general of her country’s greatest enemy. But soon he reveals his purpose in taking her - there are people who want her on the throne, and it is his job to prepare her for the trials and train her to be ready.

I thought this was a really solid fantasy debut! The story was really intriguing, especially the magic and everything we learn about Revna’s history. I thought there was great world building overall, with things being explained in a captivating way. The pacing did get a little bit off at times, with it having a slower start and really building well in the middle, but then coming to a pretty abrupt ending. As this is a debut, it didn’t bother me too much though. I’ll also add that this was marketed as ‘trials’ but it is really only one fight to the death and not really what I think of as ‘trials’. Still entertaining! Just a little bit different of a concept.

I enjoyed the relationship in the book a lot! It was a fun captor/captive romance and they had some great energy and chemistry. I really enjoyed all of the training sequences! It is a bit fast for an enemies-to-lovers as their lust hits pretty fast, even while they are hating each other. I personally like a little more hate and tension before the feelings (even lust) come into play, but overall I still really loved them together and their dynamic.

I also really enjoyed her relationship with her brothers, both the ‘good’ ones and the terrible ones. They were written with such dimension and I loved the changes we saw (in some of them).

I NEED to know what happens in book two! This built up really well to a big ending and had lots of hints of things that we will hopefully learn (WHAT DOES HER BROTHER SEE NOW). I cannot wait to find out what happens next!

I DNF'ed this book at about 10% of the way in. The language was too repetitive, and some of the descriptions just seemed to fall flat. There were also multiple sentences that were grammatically incorrect. Due to these reasons, I could not continue reading this book, as it just was not for me. I do think the concept is very interesting, and stands out among other romantasy books being published right now, however I do not think I am the intended audience for this specific book.

I loved the idea of this book but unfortunately I wasn’t fully captured while reading. The chemistry wasn’t there between the main characters and felt forced. The trials could’ve been a more important aspect to the story, though I did enjoy the twist at the end.

I was so excited for this but I ended up dnf-ing it because by the time I got to the training sequences it just felt so repetitive and I was not feeling the chemistry in the romance. I do think this book will appeal to some romantasy readers though.

I thought the story was developed well and the secondary characters were crucial to this story although I didn't love them all. I thought Revna's relationship with her brothers was interesting and was glad that they weren't both horrible human beings. I do wish that when things are revealed for Revna, that because of her prior relationship, there wasn't such fear and anger toward her from those who used to love and trust her... but what can you do. There is plenty of action in this book but I will say I thought the training portion of the book could have been condensed...although maybe it just felt long to me. I don't know - it felt like it dragged at times.

Thank you for the chance to read early!

I was so excited for this but it was very slow. The middle was so repetitive with the training. There's instant lust but I didn't see the chemistry between them. The relationship dynamics with the FMC and her family was interesting. I think this book is good for people who like the famous romantasy tropes.

As far as debuts go this totally packed a punch! There's so much romantasy coming out right now it is hard to stand out, but this one really worked for me!

My favorite part was the family connections and the brothers. They felt fully dimensional and that's something that I really commend.

The pacing lulled at one point, but not in an unforgivable way. And the slide to the end was amazing. I was fully invested and bam, bam, bam.

I think this is a great fantasy read for any fan of romantasy trends.

I tried to get into this book, but I fear I had to DNF this due to romantasy fatigue and I didn't quite take to the story. It just felt like an amalgamation of a bunch of romantasy tropes, and while I love a snow setting and a classic tournament, I couldn't quite finish this one. I know die-hard romantasy girlies will eat this up, I just don't think this one was for me. I am so thankful to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

**𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒂 𝑲𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒐𝒏 (𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 & 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝑫𝒖𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 #1)

Release Date: March 11, 2025

4.5⭐️3🌶

Revna is the only Princess to her four Prince brothers. All of whom, are "God's Blessed" with magical powers of different sorts. She was born "God Forsaken" and her mother and father would never let her forget it. At the earliest possible opportunity, her father arranged a marriage to a Prince of a neighboring Kingdom in order to gain a needed alliance to win the war he's waging against the Kryllian army.

The Kryllian army has one significant advantage, The Hellbringer. The Hellbringer was god's blessed with the gift of killing people at the flick of a finger, and Kryllian on the battlefield to its full advantage.

Revna wants to make the world a better and safer placed for all the God's Forsaken; however, she must compete against her God's Blessed brothers in a under of trials and win in order to get the crown for herself.

Themes/Tropes:
🍁Falling for your kidnapper
🍁One bed trope
🍁Masked man
🍁Shadow daddy
🍁Lost Princess
🍁Unrealized potential
🍁Evil King
🍁Kidnapped Princess
🍁Priests using their power for Evil

TW:
✨Family disownment
✨Verbal abuse
✨War/battle scenes
✨Training sequences

3.25 stars rounded up.

There are spoilers below, so reader beware. :)

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The enemies-to-lovers-to-whatever they are now was done pretty well. A lot of the storyline was compelling, and Revna's arc was an interesting one. There is a lot to really like about this book.

Also, the last 25% of the book is an absolute rollercoaster, and was by far my favorite part of the book. It was devastating and heartbreaking and satisfying all at the same time. Seeing Revna be a total bada** was awesome.

My primary issues with the book stem from what felt like a drawn out training montage as well as unfulfilled promises. When reading the blurb for the book, it felt like the blood trials were going to be much more involved throughout the plot than they actually were. So when Revna doesn't even get accepted into the trials until 40% of the way into the book, then the trials don't happen until 90% of the way in, I felt a little misled, though it was still very enjoyable.

I wish I'd known going in (and this might totally be on me) that the blood trials were less like the Hunger Games and more like a sparring match (with more death). One is extensive, with multiple days and multiple opportunities for victory, while the other is just a matter of who can overpower whom at the right moment. If I'd had better set expectations, I think I would have enjoyed the beginning more.

All of that being said, this was a great debut from Alexandra, and I look forward to seeing what else she can do. Her writing is strong, her prose is good, and she made me feel things for the characters and the stories that she created, all of which lead me to believe she's got a good long career ahead of her.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5/5
This book was way too long. That middle 30–40%? Just the same stuff over and over. The fantasy parts were super interesting and had me hooked, and it actually hit a bunch of my favorite tropes. But the romance? Yeah… not doing it for me. I’m usually pretty easy to please with romance but this one didn’t feel believable at all. Still, the ending had me hype so I’ll definitely be reading the next one.

😮‍💨
Thanks NetGalley for the arc

This book starts off well. It does stall a bit in the middle, but it quickly picked back up. The ending was very satisfying and leaves the reader waiting for the next book.

Blood Beneath the Snow is the debut Romantasy novel by Alexandra Kennington. If you’re in your Fantasy Era this year (2025), you’ll definitely want to read this book. The synopsis caught my attention and compelled me to dive in. Just a fair warning: the story ends on a cliffhanger, and I'm uncertain when the second book will be released.

Blood Beneath the Snow follows the main character, Revna, who is considered godforsaken, meaning she is the only person in her kingdom without powers. Her family treats her poorly, with the exception of two of her brothers, because they view her as weak. Her father even prefers to send her away rather than keep her around, and in this book, he tries to arrange a marriage for her. However, Revna has other plans. Tired of being mistreated for her lack of powers, she refuses to marry. Instead, she decides to compete in trials against her brothers with the aim of winning the crown, which she knows she has no chance of winning.

Revna is kidnapped by the Hellbringer, the enemy of her family, just before the trials. He has his own reasons for taking her; he wants to train her to compete in the trials, hoping to improve her chances of winning. However, as she spends more time with the Hellbringer, she finds herself increasingly intrigued by him despite the fact that he is her enemy.

Blood Beneath the Snow had me hooked from the very beginning, largely due to Revna's character as a rebellious princess who is determined to defy her family. I appreciated the strength she displayed; even though she doubted herself, I knew deep down she had a real chance of winning the trials—especially after working with the Hellbringer, who turned out to be an intriguing character. Like Revna, I was eager to discover his true identity despite his questionable actions throughout the book.

The book primarily focuses on Revna's concern for her friend, who her father has imprisoned, as well as her training with Hellbringer, rather than on the actual trials themselves. However, this didn't deter me from reading; I was eager to find out whether Revna would triumph against her brothers. The challenges that Revna faced before the trials were incredibly difficult for her. Now, as far as romance, there was some, but it's not the focal point of the story. I have a feeling there will be more in the second book.

Overall, a great start to the Blood & Souls Duology, and I can't wait to read the next book, especially with how Alexandra Kennington left the story toward the end.

What to Expect:
♥️Romantasy
♥️Slow Burn
♥️Enemies to Lovers
♥️Captor/Captive Romance
♥️Forbidden Romance
♥️Forced Proximity
♥️Morally Grey MMC

3.25 stars - The concept of this book was so interesting but sadly ended up falling a bit flat overall. The initial set up was unnecessarily confusing and a lot of the major plot points were drawn out which made the pacing feel off. I really liked the concept of all the different powers and I'm always down when the main character is trying to overthrow a corrupt government/religious order, but Revna was so whiny it was difficult to root for her. Additionally, while I assume we'd get answers to any unanswered questions in book 2, the ending of the book frustrated me so much I don't know if I'd want to read the next one which just made the unanswered questions all the more annoying.

Thank you to the publisher for the free book - all opinions are my own.