I enjoyed this! I'm not going to lie, I was unsure of this because I haven't read many Viking fantasies/romances and the last one I read I didn't like lol but I am glad I gave this one a shot!

I did decide to listen to the audio I which for me I think ended up being a good move. The narrator was fantastic, I could listen to her speak all day haha. And I think listening helped so much with the pronunciations. If I had physically read, I think struggling through words in my brain would have slowed down and impacted my reading, like happened with the other Viking Romance I read.

So the audio was great, but do make sure you pay attention! There are a lot of names that honestly sound the same, so I had to pay attention to keep everyone straight lol. And speaking of names and characters, I really ended up enjoying our cast here! I enjoyed learning about everyone in the blood-axe crew and with this being told in 3rd person POV, we got to see not only our protagonist but other characters which I enjoyed.

Silla was a complicated FMC but I truly loved that. She is flawed and the way in which Demi Winters portrayed her I thought was done so well. There were some twists with her and some other characters. Some of which I predicted, some I didn't. So I had a lot of fun with them! There is some romance in this, but it is more plot heavy which I didn't mind.

With the plot then, it did keep me interested and wanting to know what would happen. And I thought the ending was intriguing. But I will say that at times it did feel long. I know it's called The Road of Bones but they spent a lot of time on this road with not a whole lot happening lol. So I'm hoping moving forward we get a little more of a fast paced plot, maybe we were just setting up the series and everything.

So overall I had a good time listening and if you are into Viking fantasies/romances, this is definitely one I would recommend you pick up!

The road of bones
4.75⭐️3🌶️

Adult Fantasy Romance
Viking inspired
20yo FMC
Dual POV
Journeying
Disabled Side cCharacters
Unique Magic System
Slow burn
Found Family
Complicated Characters
Secret Identities
Forced Proximity

Tw: murder, addiction


I should have read this sooner.

I heard about it through mutuals and it has been on my TBR for a long time. I was so excited to get an arc of it which made me hike it up on my never ending TBR.


This was such a refreshing read! The plot was intriguing. The world building was slow, but well done. It didn’t distract for the story, and never felted like an info dump. The magic system has only been revealed when needed. And usually that annoys me, or makes me think it’s not been well thought out… but in this instance, I think it suits the plot really well.

The beginning was slow to get into. I was waiting for the FMC to get to a decently capable point, and it took a while. But the further I read, the more I had to keep reading. The plot was surprising, the characters unique and I was so angry when the twist happened! That character better get what’s calming to them!!

The first PoV is the FMC and very compelling. Orphan on the run with a secret even she doesn’t know about.

The second POV introduces us to another girl… the enemy, essentially, hunting for the first FMC by the order of the mysterious queen.

Third POV is the blond mercenary with a troubled past.

4th POV is the mercenary crew leader who is as tight lipped and mysterious as anyone.

The beginning was hard to get into, I was waiting for the FMC to get to a decently capable point, and it took a while. But the further I read, the more I had to keep reading. The plot was surprising, the characters unique and I was so angry when the twist happened! That character better get what’s calming to them!!

The love triangle-ish had me on the edge of my seat! I was so intrigued by how the romance would play out.

Thank God I have an ARC of the second book… cause I would not do well with that cliffhanger and POV addition if I had to be patient and wait until February, when it is going to be released.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballantine, Dellacorte Press for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book. It has a bit of a red riding hood flair that I appreciated. The worldbuilding was well done, and the plot moved at a good pace.

The relationship dynamic had some Dramione vibes, but with a love triangle. It had some insta love elements that were confusing, but I was okay with it overall. This is one of those "everyone is hot" books, plus they're Viking-adjacent. There is found family, intrigue, and an evil queen.

This book is very bloody and violent. There are public stonings of witches or those thought to be magic weilders. There is public mutilation until de*th of anyone who openly protests or rebels. And some intense magical mutilation until de*th that occurs as well.

Content: explicit, s*x dreams, attempted r*pe (thwarted) by a serial r*pist, language, very violent, substance addiction and discussion of family member who overd*sed, mind control, mass grave, d*ath of parent, tongue amd fingers removed

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

This was an amazing romantasy!
The characters, the world, the story, everything kept me interested and engaged till the end. Something a book hasn’t done in a long time!
Our main character Silla is on the run and to escape to the north, she hops into a wagon she’s not aware that is owned by the Bloodaxe Crew. A group of mercenaries that don’t take anyone in, she has to convince them to take her where she needs to go.
It was such a good story. There were plenty of things that were predictable but it was still enjoyable. The romance was complex and unexpected, a breath of fresh air in romantasy.
I can’t wait to read the sequel!

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

Alone and on the run, Silla Nordvig struggles to cope with the loss of her father while attempting to honor his dying request-make it to Kopa, to the safety of a shield house. To get there she’ll have to travel the perilous Road of Bones, a road even seasoned warriors are hesitant to travel. Along the Road of Bones, she’ll have to survive ruthless mercenaries, bloodthirsty warbands, nightmarish creatures, a gruesome murderer, and the Queen’s assassins-sent to drag her back to Sunnavik and her death. Grieving for her father, unsure of her future, and struggling to remember and understand the long-kept secrets of her past, Silla knows she cannot make this journey alone and is determined to win over the notorious Bloodaxe Crew and their leader, securing protection and passage to safety.

The Road of Bones is a Norse inspired romantasy with rich world building, a unique magical system, enemies to lovers, slow burn, and brooding male characters. The first in the Ashen Series, this book will have you turning pages well into the night and yearning for the next installment in the series.

After the man who she thought was her father is killed, Silla must make a run for it and hide, while trying to find her way to a place called Kopa. She must travel the Road of Bones to get there, a road not very safe. Silla finds herself amongst the Bloodaxe Crew, who she must earn the trust of in order to make her way through the Road of Bones, which is not only dangerous on its own, but she must also evade an assassin sent by the queen.

I love the cover for this, it matches the book quite well! Silla is not quite the lead I fully thought she would be when I read the summary for the book, but I enjoyed her character still. She is definitely an interesting character you don’t tire of, as are all the other characters.

I really enjoyed the Bloodaxe crew as well, all of the different members were compelling in their own ways. I loved the bits and pieces of Hekla and Silla’s friendship. The romance bits were thrilling as well, definitely a bit of a struggle with who to root for…

Overall it was a super fun adventure filled with plenty of danger and battle, laughter, a bit of spice and more! Highly recommend to anyone who loves romantic Viking fantasy. This one is definitely incredible and hard to put down. I cannot wait to immerse myself in this world again with the second book.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House- Ballantine and Delacorte Press for the chance to read this fanatic book!

“𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆.”

This book was a lot of things, but the main one for me was: ENTERTAINING I’ll be honest was I confused for the first 15%? Absolutely. With all the new names (super viking btw), places, and especially the Gods, I was a little lost at first. But after that!! I was totally hooked and needed to uncover the secrets that kept popping up.

Silla and her father are constantly on the move, each place a fresh start with new names and new jobs, but always together until they were attacked, and Silla has one option: run. Her goal is to get to Kopa, but she can’t do it alone. So, naturally, she hitches a ride on a random wagon, only to be found out .5 seconds later by the Bloodaxe Crew.

The crew includes two women, two grumpy vikings, and one golden retriever man. And no, this isn’t a reverse harem (just in case!).

Since this book is told in the 3rd POV, you get an outsider's view of each crew member's character development in relation to Silla, and we also get to see Silla’s growth from a damsel in distress to a confident, occasionally selfish woman. FREAKING LOVE THAT.

“𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆. 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔.”

The plot is pretty straightforward getting Silla from point A to B but The Road of Bones is anything but easy. I loved the romantasy elements, the world-building, and all the little plot twists and breadcrumbs, especially when that ending had me gasping.

tropes
🗡️ romantasy
🗡️ witty banter
🗡️ 3rd POV
🗡️ secret identity
🗡️ journey to safety
🗡️ grumpy x sunshine
🗡️ touch her and u **

things I liked ˋ°•*⁀➷
- the different personalities you see within the crew
- the 2 grumpy vikings (Jonas and Silla)
-"rolling in the furs" winkwink
- the "villain" is a woman warrior
- the cliffhanger ending

The Road of Bones is an amazing epic fantasy full of mystery, suspense, and secrets.

From the first chapter, I was deeply enthralled in the story of Silla’s fight for safety. The harrowing journey that awaits her is fraught with danger and despair. This humble kitchen maid must find the strength and cunning to survive the Road of Bones. But as her enemies are multiplying, and her web of deceit pushes her allies farther away, Silla will need the help of the gods to save herself from a fate far worse than death.

What an incredible read full of adventure! I ate up the pages as fast as I could, stayed up late reading until I could no longer keep my eyes open, and gasped as each secret was revealed! There are twists and turns and so much subterfuge! Hold onto your seats and pay attention, you might miss something!

This is an absolute masterpiece. I highly recommend The Road of Bones and can’t wait for the next one!

3.5 Stars!

When I saw that an ARC was available to request for this, I was so excited because it was already on my anticipated release list.

I love that we get Vikings in this one. The world building, characters, plot, and multiple POV drew me in immediately. However, about 50% in for me everything seemed to slow down. The first half of the book was building and building, and the ending of the book didn't match that for me. With that being said, I did like the characters and the plot for most of the book. It's a debut and the first book in the series so some of this was expected. Of course, I will be picking up the second book when it comes out because I am eager to see more from the characters and what happens next.

The Road of Bones has:
- High Fantasy
- Multiple POVs
- Forced Proximity
- Vikings
- Evil Queen
-Found Family
- Intrigue and Mystery

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for this ARC!

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

If you’re looking for a great book with some really hot Vikings, great character development, found family, fun magic system (and it’s interesting too), romance, politics, mystery and hidden identities this is a book you should pick up and read.

When I received this book, I was so excited to dive into it, and it didn’t let me down at all. The plot does start off a little bit slow but don’t let that make you put the book down, because the author is just letting you get a feel for the world building and letting the readers get to know the MFC. The book does pick up, and it does not stop, I loved that it was fast paced, but you still can understand everything that is going on. I liked that we didn’t get an info dump in the book, but you will get pieces throughout the book on what is really going on but when you think you have it all done, boom that ending will blow you away and all I can say is I cannot wait to read book two. I loved that Winters knows how to write a book that will draw you in with the beautiful world building and the characters in this book will have you loving them. I liked that it was multiple POV, and I didn’t have a hard time knowing what character was talking/thinking. However, I found the characters in this book to be the real stars for me.

I found Silla's character to have the most growth in this book, with her past and not really knowing anything about it and starting to figure it piece by piece and to have the plot twists and turns that help her finally realize who she is and what powers she has in her. I loved that even though she would get knocked down, you will always see her get back up and try again. I liked that she would find some happiness even in the darkest days. The romance in this book didn’t feel forced to me but was just another layer in the plot and WOW what a twist that was. I really don’t want to write too much about it because I might give out spoilers but seriously, I didn’t see that coming and the ending with Rey I didn’t see coming as well, but honestly, I am so happy that it did turn out that way. I can’t wait to read the next book to learn more about the magical system and to see what the other characters are going to do.

I need book two and soon please!!!!

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to review this book

This book started out a bit slow for me, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. While some of the turns were a bit predictable, I found others to be very surprising, and the ones that were predictable were still done well. I thought the characters were richly developed with enough revealed to make you interested, but enough withheld (or revealed later in the book) to keep you guessing.

After losing her father, Silla is forced to travel North to evade those who killed him. She crawls into the wagon of a band of warriors who travel the road of bones frequently and charms her way into a ride. She has to win over the leader of the Bloodaxe Crew, Rey, who is disinclined to help her in any way, but ends up doing so against his better judgement, along with the other members of the crew. Silla’s journey North is harrowing - filled with adventure she never expects, violence she detests, and romance she finds along the way.

This book was certainly worth the high page count, and I can’t wait to read the next in the series. Perfect for fans of romantasy with a detailed fantasy world, magic, and forced proximity, The Road of Bones is an incredible story. By halfway through, I found myself very invested and eager to keep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Delacorte Press for the ARC of this book!

🍃 Book Review 🍃

The Road of Bones by Demi Winters
🍃
This book was the romantasy of my dreams. It checked absolutely all of the boxes. It’s got magic, Vikings, reluctant allies, found family, secrets, lies, betrayals, secret missions, an evil queen, and an angsty, tension-filled romance. Silla is a great protagonist. She is sunshine personified. She hums, saves animals, and is very trusting, sometimes too much. But she’s also a survivor. I loved her character arc and where she ends up at the end of the book. And don’t even get me started on the men in this book. Both are possessive, protective, dangerous, and damaged Viking warriors. Jonas is completely unavailable. He’s a hardened heartbreaker and won’t let himself care for anyone, but he calls Silla “Curls” and insists on protecting her. Rey is tall, dark, morally gray, brooding, and bossy. He threatens Silla and tries to get her to leave his band of warriors, but he also calls her “Sunshine”, steals books for her, and teaches her to fight. They are both top tier book boyfriends. This book sucked me in from the first page and didn’t let up until the very end. If you want a high-stakes romantasy bursting with action, complicated politics, a unique and lush world, and a delicious chemistry-filled, slow burn romance, go read this one. I can’t recommend it enough and need to pick up the next book immediately!
🍃
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️
🍃
Read if you like:
▫️Vikings
▫️magic
▫️enemies to lovers
▫️great banter
▫️found family
▫️multi POV
🍃
Thank you to Dell Romance, Delacorte Press, Random House, NetGalley, and Demi Winters for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily..

I will say I started this book on a heavy slump and the first 20% didn’t really help with it but that could have just been the slump talking. As soon as I got over it though I really flew through it and the last 15% has me very excited to read the next book!

We follow Silla who is on the run from the Queen’s witch hunters and witches who seek to capture her. She seeks to escape via the Road of Bones and joins with a group of Viking mercenaries where she tries to prove her worth and get their protection. From witch hunters, monsters, and even her own crew, Silla has to learn to confront her own demons and mysteries of her path in order to learn how to live to see tomorrow.

I did like Silla’s relationships to the different members of the crew and how they developed overtime. The magic really came in toward the end of the book and I’m really excited for that to expand in book two. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and will definitely read book 2.

This was really incredible, I ate it up in one day! The characters, the plot, the writing, I have only good things to say!

I’m really not sure how to summarize it without spoilers, so I will leave the publisher’s synopsis to that job.

I loved the plot, the secrets and twists! There were a handful of times I truly gasped out loud at something. It was the most fun I’ve had with a book in a while! The Viking-setting and inspiration was really neat, and very immersive. The characters were unique and fleshed out, for the most part. I’m not positive if this was supposed to be found family, I don’t think I’d give it that classification YET but it could be depending on what happens next.

The romance was nice and confusing and nice again and then more confusing. You will understand once you read it!

Our FMC was a treat. Girl had a ROUGH hand and I think she did a great job and I really appreciate that she was kind and true to herself and did her best with what she had and learned when she could. She was a sunshine character in the best way. I’m so so excited for the next book.

There are a couple spicy scenes but nothing very explicit and the romance is secondary to the plot, which I really enjoyed!


I received a copy of this from NetGalley. Thank you!

Silla is an unassuming girl working in the kitchen of the Jarl of the town that is her newest home. Every few months her father and her pack up their lives, choose new names, and run to a new town and find work in order to escape religious persecution.

This book is a mix of Vikings, religious persecution, and the Salem witch trials and Silla is stuck in the middle.

For me the first 15% of this book was incredibly slow and hard to stick with. Once I passed that point the book was interesting and then slow on and off. The book is overall extremely repetitive with how Silla acts towards her romantic interest and vice versa.
The themes of this book are very adult focused but the writing itself feels focused on a teen audience. Some parts of the book were also very obvious in where the story was going and what the author was setting up.

When Silla’s father was killed, his last words sent her on a mission to travel the extremely dangerous Road of Bones to get to a safe house in Kopa. She’s unsure why, but the queen is desperate to find her and she’s running for her life. Silla lucks out and sneaks into a wagon owned by the Bloodaxe Crew who agree to help her get to Kopa. But the queen is ruthless in her pursuit and Silla is in constant danger.

The Road of Bones is a fantasy with twists and turns throughout. It started a little bit slowly for me, but did pick up the pace about halfway through. Silla’s character was really interesting in that she was so incredibly naive, but was also really strong and able to keep so many secrets. I ended up loving Rey’s character. Overall, the world building was well done, and I enjoyed the romance that was included. I’m excited to see what happens in the next book!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The Road of Bones was a fun romantasy. I enjoyed the characters, the banter, and the world building was intriguing. I can't wait to read book two! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok/Goodreads.

The Road of Bones is the story of Silla, a girl who is on the run after she is attacked on the road with her father. In her escape she hides in a wagon of the Bloodaxe crew - a crew heading North to investigate mysterious deaths and creatures.

The primary issue I had with this book was the repetitiveness in the early chapters/first part of the book. There is a lot of travel and camping. This does allow us to learn more about Silla, as well as the members of the Bloodaxe crew. My favorite is Hekla and her humor/protectiveness over Silla.

The story really starts to get going in the second part of the book - The relationship between Silla and Jonas is a strength of the book - he cares for her while not truly knowing who she is.

There are multiple POVs in this book which I think helps us learn more about these characters' motivations.

I am so happy I have a copy of the second book so I can jump right in after that ending!

I came across The Road of Bones by Demi Winters as I was scanning NetGalley and when I read the summary I was intrigued. I'm always interested in a good Fantasy but when you throw Vikings into the mix, I'm on board. Now, I did have this book on my TBR shelf, but I'm going to tell you, thankfully when I cracked this book open I happened to be on vacation because I couldn't put it down and I've been telling everyone I know who will listen that they need to read it. Not only because it is good but because I NEED someone to talk to about it.

Winters starts this book out with a bang and pulled me in from the start...Silla Nordvig is our fmc and she is on the run. We find out very quickly that she and her father have been moving from village to village but we don't truly know why and unfortunately as they are headed on their way out of their most recent village, Silla's father is killed and Silla is on her own trying to survive. What she doesn't understand is why the queen of Iseldur has sent warriors to bring her back to Sunnavik and based on her father's last words to her, Silla is determined to travel the Road of Bones and get to Kopa and the safety of a shield house.

After barely surviving her first stretch of travel, Silla overhears a group discuss their travels and she sneaks into their supply wagon. What she didn't count on was that the wagon belonged to the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. To make it to Kopa, she has to win over Axe Eyes, the crew leader, while not falling for the Wolf's handsome face. As she finds herself getting closer to the whole crew (and slowly winning them over), the queen's hunter is on her tail and is determined to bring her back to Sunnavik no matter what it takes.

Like I said, I couldn't put this book down. There is non-stop action in this book. Whether it is the danger of traveling the Road of Bones and coming across the various monsters there or trying to escape the queen's assassin, the Bloodaxe Crew and Silla are always facing some sort of danger along their travels.

As for the characters, I love a book that has me feeling all the things for all the characters and this book did this for me. First, there is Silla. I won't say a lot about her backstory as I don't want to ruin anything here but she is put through the ringer here. That said, she doesn't ever give up and I love that about her. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments where she questions everything and doubts herself just like anyone who has gone through what she is going through would but she always tends to sit in it for a moment and then pull herself back together. And despite all this, Axe Eyes still refers to her as "Sunshine" which compared to him is probably fair.

Wolf/Jonas - He values family and loyalty so that is a plus but I have a lot of feelings here and I can't say anything for fear that I will give anything away and sway someone's thoughts. That said, I had high hopes for him and I will talk about him more in my review for book 2.

Axe Eyes/Rey - As grumpy as he likes to come across, he truly is a protector and while he likes to pretend he doesn't like Silla around, he also doesn't truly want her gone and when things go wrong, he is the one who tends to come through for everyone. Again I won't say a lot here as he has some secrets that are revealed and feed into the next book.

Rest of the Bloodaxe Crew - The rest of the crew are a great supporting cast and help to move the story forward.

Ultimately, this book was one that did a great job of combining the character's stories with the overall plot and there is an underlying story here. It's not just about Silla trying to get to Kopa. The queen of Iseldur is up to something and while we only get snippets of what the queen wants Silla for through her assassin/hunter, there is definitely something bigger at play. Admittedly, it wasn't a surprise to me as to what Silla's background was but I also couldn't help from feeling all the feelings for Silla as she starts to realize what she is up against and what that means for her. Also, it's a harsh world that these characters live in and Winters did a fantastic job of putting it down on paper and getting me absorbed into it.

If you're looking for an adult fantasy to pick up, consider grabbing this one. It has a great story, strong writing, solid world-building, and well-developed characters. Plus...then we can talk about all the things. The next book, Kingdom of Claw, comes out early in 2025 so you won't have too long to wait to see what happens with these characters. I'll definitely be picking up the next books in the series to see what happens for these characters as this book/series has me in a chokehold.

4.32!

Uff it's been such a long time since I have been this satisfied with romantasy which also had like 600+ pages and like I wasnt bored for a single second, I binged this every chance I got. Usually when I read a romantasy or a fantasy im more interested in the plot or the storyline which was very prominent in this book however the romance swept me off my feet 🤭 maybe because it was a love triangle(ish) and I got my way 🤭 but honestly it was so well written that i'm shocked at how no ones raving about this book because it's easy to read, gripping, angsty with fun banter and of course Viking inspired so like?? what are you guys actually waiting for?? because I'll be diving into book 2 soon this was honestly one of the best surprises of the month. The thing I like is the balance it maintains and how it's essential for both the romance and the plot because like if you go in just for the plot you'll find it very slow but if you go in just for the romance it'll feel very long so the balance between that made this book so much better.

The characters, we have Silla our main character and thank god she wasnt an obnoxious brat because that is getting way too common, she was a little naive but she also had everyone fooled lmaoo so that was very fun to read, her journey overall was so enjoyable and the transition that her character goes through with how her feelings evolve and change were the pinnacle of this book for me, I enjoyed that part so much. Jonas was one of our MMC's and eugh I didnt trust him one bit nor did I like him, he was a rat and I didnt like him + he reminded me a lot of those conservative men and bleckh like I liked him at the start and the middle but then everything just did a complete 180 and I moved on. Rey 🫦 He was THE man, I loved him so much and honestly this would be the perfect slow burn and hate to love that we might witness because like??? the tension and angst between them and the way they would be staring at each other thinking that the other doesnt know and AHHHH I loved the dynamic and banter that these two shared I loved it. He was certainly wayyy better than Jonas.

Romance was so good and so hot, I'm rooting for Silla and Rey but some of the scenes that Silla had with Jonas were so hot I cant even lie but ugh I didnt like him, he didnt think and was very impulsive and got her into trouble way too often and then there was Rey the one who was considerate and the one who actually was rooting for her and wanted her to get the thing that she wanted done, done. I loved the banter between Rey and Silla and the moments between them were so 🫦 I cant even lie. The romance itself was very well written like you'd be sucked into it and thats what I liked about it and I heard it was getting compared to ACOTAR and I dont think it's similar at all maybe the idea of it? but overall it's different.

Plot & Worldbuilding, was so entertaining to read, the plot. it was very engrossing and the things that were slowly being unraveled were so frustrating because I just wanted to know :( but I loved it and LMAOO the way Silla literally lived in denial because I lost my trust in her with the way things were being revealed left and right but it was a fun part. The only reason the book isn't a 5 is because I feel it severely lacked when it came to the world building and the magic system, there's very little of it, maybe we'll get more of it in book but we got like pinches of it considering the length of this novel, I didn't mind it that much because I enjoyed this book a lot but the absence was felt as they are an integral part of this genre.

Overall, I would recommend it.