This book is written so beautifully. It was such a fun read from the beginning to the end. The only downside of the book is that some parts were predictable, but even those parts were still written in a way that I still enjoyed reading them.

I was NOT expecting to love this book as much as I did. The cover absolutely drew me in and the story had me in a chokehold. If that's not enough, there are curses, secrets and a shadow king. The FMC could have been more assertive, but overall all, I was entertained.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. The world building wasn't a struggle and I enjoyed the characters and their journey. When I finished I wanted more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Man.. I wanted to like this so bad. I just didn’t care. Felt generic and underdeveloped.

This was just the first few chapters of this book but I can easily say I will definitely be buying the book to finish because WOW. This story blew me away almost instantly and drew me in so quick. I can’t wait to get my hands on the full book and finish the story!!!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This short snippet of The Half King definitely kept my interest! So many secrets and the world building was easy to follow so far. It was a quick 4 chapters. I'm curious to learn more about the curses that affect each noble family and the end of chapter 4 which ended in a cliffhanger makes me want to continue the story. It seems like it's going to be a great romantasy and I'm excited to see how Cerise plays a role in breaking the curses and saving the king.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled Publishing, and Melissa Landers for the ARC. Opinions expressed are solely my own.

So I said this briefly before—I only saw the 40 page preview so I can't really make a judgement based on that small of a preview,

I like this book so far, but for some reason, the copy that was sent through NetGalley was only the preview.

So I can only review what was given within the preview

It seemed like a world that is really reliant on the rulings of not their king, but the religious leaders, and that the religious leaders hold the majority of the power.
You only really shown the minimum world building within the preview, purposefully so I believe because our FMC Lives within a separate and segregated cast of society, the second born children. Your life and livelihoods are tied to not only your families, economic status, but their family name, and most importantly, birth order. Royal families are also all cursed by their goddess.
All in all, it’s a very interesting intro, I’m not quite sure why only the preview was available on NetGalley, but I really enjoyed what I read so far.

This book had a captivating premise, featuring curses, shadow kings, and evil priests, but unfortunately, it failed to live up to its potential. The curses were underdeveloped, and the shadow king's presence was minimal, leaving me wanting more. The romance was overly sweet and lacked banter, feeling like insta-love. The female main character was too meek and lacked backbone, making her less relatable. Overall, the story was disappointing due to its unfulfilled potential, but it was still a decent read.

This book is sooo beautiful in person! its sprayed edges and inside character art work is so nice to have. I absolutely plan on buy the hardcover for it as soon as i can. This is was just a sample of the book but I can definitely can see what's the buzz is all about on TikTok.
Thank you NETGALLEY for the preview!

The Half King, has a unique and promising world built around curses that four noble houses have been inflicted with; due to their conspiring and rising against the goddess. The first born in each of these families must be the bearer of their houses curse. This was such a fun and interesting concept that truly had me excited to read this book.
As for the curses, each unique to their house — The worst falls upon Current king, as he has the unfortunate role of disappearing when night falls and it will eventually claim his day hours until he has vanished all together.
The FMC is sheltered and naive, but not so much so that she isn’t engaging and likable. Cerise is thrust into the palace where she must determine who is enemy or friend — is she there to save the cursed? From the beginning of the book her pious nature seems to be unshakable and as she goes through her journey while she does evolve and find her strengths which I am always for!
The romance happens quick, more of an insta love, I’m a bit more of a slow burn lover so it felt a little rushed to me and took away a bit of the believability.
The characters felt a bit childish at times, more towards a YA feel but honestly I didn’t mind it at all. I do however wish there was more of the half king himself and felt the pace was a bit rushed in some aspects not fully allowing me to bond with the characters themselves.
I read the book in one go, it was a fast and easy read, which I found engaging enough to be interested in what book 2 will hold.

Really into this so far! I can’t really give a very good rating or review on just 4 chapters but I will be seeking this out to finish (sneaky sneaky! lol) I like the main characters and world building so far, so I’m excited to see where this goes.

Not leaving external reviews at this point for only four chapters. Will review it as I normally do once I’ve read the entire book.

Thanks to Entangled and NetGalley for an preview of this book.

I was surprised to see that this was a preview of the first four chapters and not the full book. Though admittedly a preview on NetGalley being accessible to anyone with an account is actually a great idea in terms of marketing a book and building an audience. This is especially true if your first chapters manage to hook a reader which in this case I was hooked from the first few pages. After reading this preview in full, I immediately downloaded the audio book version on Audible. There are curses, a unique magic system, and a mission to save a dying king. There is a lot to like and I am excited to find out more.

Goodreads link has my full review!

I am so intrigued with just this preview. The premise is promising and I am itching to get my hands on the actual book.. I love Cerise already, just wish she wasn't 19 years old.

This is just a preview piece, and I am ready for more. I need to go pick this up and read the rest of it as soon as possible. This grabs your attention right away!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC preview.

Only got the first snippet of this book, and I was hooked, so I’m continuing it across Audible. The twists and turns and the hook straight into a moody Half-King cursed with an impending doom had me hooked from page one.

Loved to read the preview of this book. I'm looking forward to read it completely. Such a good piece by Melissa Landers. I totally recommend.

This preview was interesting, but I don't think it's something I'd pick up after the preview to be honest. The story didn't grab me the way I thought it would.

Hmmm... I'm still unsure about this even with the preview. The stopping point was of course perfect and left you right where things start to get interesting so I can see myself picking it up just to continue!

Shadow king - grumpy, angry, and maybe going to die shortly after dispersing into shadows.
Female Lead - idk what she is classified as yet, but she seems really helpless giving 2/10 damsel in distress equalling a 0/10 chance of me liking the character hopefully that changes.

First of all, this book is gorgeous. The deluxe edition with sprayed edges is *chefs kiss.* I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this whole story.