Publish Date: February 12th, 2023 Number of Pages: 548 Pages Publisher: Alchemy Genre(s): Fantasy, New Adult Romance
Total Star Rating: 3.5 Stars
A true man won’t cut you down as you fight your battles, nor will he fight them for you. A true man will help sharpen your sword, guard your back and fight at your side, in the face of whatever darkness comes.”
— Helen Scheuerer, “Blood & Steel”
What It’s About:
The official synopsis:
Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, FromBlood and Ash and The Witcher, BLOOD & STEEL is an epic romantic fantasy with enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn spice, found family, and a sprawling world of magic and monsters.
With her death foretold, Althea Zoltaire only has three years to become what she’s always dreamed of being: a warrior legend.
Women are forbidden to wield blades, so she has trained in secret her entire life. Now racing against the clock, she fights to secure her place in the elite guild charged with the protection of the five kingdoms.
The sparring and hazing of the new trainees border on deadly, but even more dangerous is her growing attraction to Wilder Hawthorne, her unwilling warrior chaperone.
All around them, schemes are afoot and darkness looms.
Will Althea pass the perilous initiation test and take her place as a champion of Thezmarr – or will the invading evil snatch away her dream before it starts?
If you like fierce sword-wielding heroines and brooding, tortured heroes, you will devour this sexy, addictive fantasy adventure.
Blood & Steel is the gripping first book in the heart-pounding, epic romantic fantasy series, The Legends of Thezmarr.
~~~
This was a book that several of my fellow romantasy fans have told me “You absolutely need to read this one!” And I gotta say for the most part they were absolutely right! It was actually a really decent start to what can be a pretty epic fantasy adventure story!
It felt like a good mix of The Witcher and Throne of Glass in my opinion, both of which are amazing fantasy stories in their own right.
This story revolves around Althea Zoltaire, a young woman who’s destined to perish on her 27th birthday, so she’s trying to make the most of it until that happens, but also she’s basically going to also be like “Bitch, I don’t wanna,” and say fuck it all to that nonsense. Women are forbidden to go to arms as an actual warrior because of some historic event that took place before the start of this book, but Althea is “Fuck the patriarchy,” and tries just about everything she can to become one anyways.
In comes Wilder Hawthorne *drool* who is a master swordsman and who reluctantly becomes her guide/mentor and while they be doing battles outside with swords and shields against other humans and monstrous shadow wraiths, they be fighting them internal romantic feelings for each other while they also can’t stand eachother!
Oooooooo we loves to see it
~~~
It doesn’t matter who stands against you… What matters most is who stands with you.”
— Helen Sheuerer, “Blood & Steel”
~~~
What I Liked:
The Found Family Trope! You meet other characters like Cal, Kipp, Wren, and Torj who just make it feel like such a well rounded cast of characters, and I definitely say pay attention to the group relationships and dynamics, it’s just so wonderful!
The Slow Burn Romance! The romance between Wilder and Althea was so wonderfully done in this book…it was a slow-burn for sure, but man are those so satisfying when they finally give into their feelings! Thinking back on it, I loved seeing their relationship grow throughout the book and change like it did!
What I Didn’t Like:
It’s Very Slow Paced…It can be very slow paced throughout, or at least it was for me. It IS the first book in the series and its about setting the scene and introducing the world and building it from the ground up, and Ill admit my impatient ass would have me like GIVE ME SPICE ALREADY!!
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Conclusion:
Overall, this is an incredibly decent start to what could be considered another romantasy series to be considered a classic or a staple of the subgenre! I am hooked, and I think fellow fans of series like Throne of Glass, From Blood & Ash and even the Netflix show The Witcher–or maybe even the books too, I haven’t read those yet–will enjoy these!
I will of course be excited to keep reading these books to see how it progresses and to see what happens next!
Publish Date: March 26th, 2022 Number of Pages: 539 Pages Publisher: Independently Published Genre(s): Fantasy, New Adult Romance, Paranormal, Reverse Harem
***Warning!! This review contains spoilers for this book and previous books in the series, continue reading at your own risk! You’ve officially been warned!!***
To see my review of book 1 – Broken Bonds – Click HERE
To see my review of book 2 – Savage Bonds – Click HERE
To see my review of book 4 – Blood Bonds – Click HERE
Total Star Rating: 3 Stars
What It’s About:
The official synopsis:
They say to keep your friends close but your enemies closer; What if they’re one and the same?
The stable foundation I thought I’d built in the Sanctuary has been ripped away, and I find myself on the front lines of the war against the Resistance. I might have my Bonds on my side, but there are darker schemes in motion.
Can I prove myself and turn the tide to protect our most vulnerable, or am I nothing more than the monster they’ve always claimed I am? Will we make it out of this without tragic consequences?
* Forced Bonds is a full length reverse harem PNR novel with material that may be difficult for some readers. This book will end on a cliffhanger. It’s recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations.
~~~
So I want to start off and say that even though I did rate this book lower than the previous one, I did still massively enjoy it! I can still definitely see why this is considered one of the top paranormal romance series out there, and even the same in regards to popular reverse harem romance selections too. The characters are clearly the big draw and their dynamics and the balance amongst them is the major highlight, or at least it is for me!
For why I’d rated this one lower, in all honesty it just felt like a lot of it is beginning to feel repetitive in terms of plot and story beats with the main conflict of the Resistance. And maybe because certain scenes that I felt like should’ve had a higher emphasis or more attention given to them felt very glossed over. I of course go more into that further down in my review if you want specific reasons.
So as for this book, once again it continues immediately right after where book 3 ended, and what a doozy of a cliffhanger that was! Didn’t see that coming with Sage at all! J.Bree definitely knows how to make those cliffhangers sting and get you to want the next book IMMEDIATELY! So how will Oli and her bonds handle this shocking reveal and possibly bitter betrayal?? Well you gotta read it yourself to find out, you silly goose! I’m not going to spoil EVERYTHING for you!
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What I Liked:
The Cliffhanger Ending! Just as the previous book had a HUGE cliffhanger, this one also had a ginormous one that even raised my eyebrows and had me wondering, “how are they going to come out on the other side of this one??”
As Always, The Spice! Spice is always a plus and should almost go without saying for me.
Feels Like We’re Finally Getting Somewhere With Nox! I’m still very mixed on Nox, let’s be perfectly clear. Obviously he’s got some major past trauma that makes him the way he is and how he acts towards others and Oli especially. That’s understandable…but that doesn’t make some if not most of his words and actions acceptable is the difference. I always say it shouldn’t matter what you’ve gone through, it’s not hard to be a decent person, and so far Nox has only been the moody, almost bratty, d-bag that is only an antagonist who’s mission is to put down Oli at every opportunity that presents itself to him. He’s been my least favorite of the bonds. What I like about this book with him is it feels like it’s finally hinting at progress with Oli and us finding out what the freakin’ issues are and (maybe) how Nox and Oli can end up together in the end, cuz at this point I’m really not seeing it.
It Put A Major Spotlight Back On Sage! The shocking twist with Sage at the end of last book and the beginning of this one really saved this character which I appreciate! I was saying in my previous review that it felt like a lot of the minor/side characters outside of Oli and her bonded group were really getting brushed aside, so this brings Sage back into the game in a major way that I really appreciated!
More Emphasis on the “Bonded” Beings Inside Them! So at this point in the story, we’ve come to learn that the “bonds” are like entirely seperate beings that were dormant inside them. They’re like gods who’ve woken up and use them like vessels and its like a possession where they become a completely different person, well at least for Oli and the Draven brothers. so far. Oli’s Bond is a bloodthirsty bitch and I’m both terrified and kind of turned on by her in all honesty….don’t judge.
What I Didn’t Like:
It Felt Repetitive At This Point…The whole “resistance comes and attacks with a not so well thought out plan” and the bonded group saves the day or Oli goes into her bond state and sucks the souls out of everyone, then Nox makes her feel guilty afterwards…and the just no advancement part of it all with the Resistance in general ever since Oli was saved from the camp she was in at the beginning of the third book, it’s just feeling very repetitive to me…and maybe the stakes just need to raised faster than they are? And sure, its also probably so the author could keep the focus on the romance and the spice, both of which I appreciate, but I feel like at this point in book 4 of the series, maybe we’d have further development in this regard too?
A Certain Scene Felt Glossed-Over…Okay so spoiler warning for this point especially, but the bonding scene with Oli and Nox…it felt like there should’ve been a lot more buildup for that and that a lot of stuff that maybe went into it off-page that maybe should’ve been included actually! It was kind of a three-way scene, but not really? It started with Oli and Gryphon, but then Nox walks in and it’s obvious by this point that Gryphon is there as more to watch over and make sure nothing bad happens; he’s kind of like a chaperone? Yeah, weird to think I know…but this goes into Nox and his trauma that we still don’t know the specifics of, and if Gryphon was there in that sense, it’s obvious that it was discussed ahead of time on how to handle it, most likely with North. I feel like there would be some very mixed/conflicting feelings with all of this and the scene just sort of….happened and that was it? Maybe I’m overthinking it or overanalyzing it, but it was one of those things where afterwards I was just thinking to myself “That’s it?”
~~~
Conclusion:
Overall, I did enjoy this book in the series and I would say I’m enjoying this series a whole lot! Obviously, the series is far from perfect and there are things I like and don’t like about it, pacing mainly being the main critique I have, but now I’m adding repetitiveness to that too. At this point in the series, book 4, I’d think and hope we’d have been further along in some of the plot/conflict going on with the Resistance and make them feel like a more fleshed out threat. At this point, they just feel like that annoying thing that’s keeping me from my romance and my spicy scenes…which I feel like if they became a more credible threat it would help push these books to be viewed as even better than they already are!
The romance and the characters and the cast dynamics are the main highlights and things that I love about these books! I love talking with others who’ve read them and seeing who’s their favorite guy of the bunch and their reasons why. Personally, mine is probably Gryphon and North has become a close second. Gabe is up there too, I’m a sucker for those golden retriever jock type characters…and he’s a shapeshifter which has always been the magical ability I’d want if I had one.
Obviously, I will be sticking with the series and keep reading cuz once again there’s a major WTF cliffhanger that has my eyebrows raised to the hairline and I have to know what happens next and how Oli and the Bonds possibly get themselves out this particular mess….
Here is my post with my fancast/dreamcast of the romantasy series that literally dropped like a gigantic dragon onto the scene in the summer of 2023, the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros!
I’d known about Fourth Wing way before it was released, but WOW it is actually insane to see how much this book had blown up since its release date on May 2nd, 2023. It’s literally took over the bookish community, and its had so many people talking!
We loves to see it (for the most part)
The story is about a girl named Violet Sorrengail, who’s off to war college! This war has been going on for over 600 years, and there are four quadrants one can go into for the cause: flyers, scribes, healers, or infantry. As someone with a chronic illness, she’d been under the impression she’d become a scribe like her long lost father, BUT her mother is the head general and surprises her when she’s actually sent off to become a flyer! And to make matters worse, the son of the rebel leader her mother executed back in the day is one of the first people she runs into there as well…
Obsessed. I am obsessed with this book like so many others!
***Also a friendly reminder that these are how I VIEW the characters in these books…I never said you have to agree with me, but you definitely don’t have to be an internet troll and trash my opinions on here. Please keep things respectful, or by all means go make your own website and share your own fancast choices over there! I promise I would NEVER return the favor if someone was rude to me on here…
Warning:: This post does contain MAJOR SPOILERS so read on at your own risk!
To see my review of book 1 – FourthWing – Click HERE
To see my review of book 2 – Iron Flame – ClickHERE
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Here’s my Fancast/Dreamcast of the Empyrean Series so far:
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Violet Sorrengail: Sophi Knight
Image courtesy of the actress’s IMDB profile
Sophi Knight is exactly how I pictured our FMC of this book series. She’s a young Canadian actress who’s so close to the actual age of the character, but she is 5’7” so maybe a little taller than Violet, but I still stand by this choice! If they can make Tom Cruise look taller than he actually is in his movies, they can do the opposite for her I’m sure!
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Mira Sorrengail: Phoebe Tonkin, or Lyndsy Fonseca
Phoebe Tonkin, image credit not available
Lyndsy, image courtesy of the actresse’s IMDB profile
Both of these actresses are pretty recognizable I’d say; we know Phoebe of course from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, and Lyndsy has been in so many shows like Kick-Ass and a list of CW/Free form shows too! They’d both be great choices to make a great older sister in Mira in my opinion.
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General Lilith Sorrengail: Rebecca Ferguson, or Lena Headey
Rebecca Ferguson, Image courtesy of facts.net
Lena Headey, image courtesy of yahoo! movies UK
Whoever plays General Sorrengail has to be cold, ruthless, and have a resting bitch face that can shake you to your core. Rebecca Ferguson can for sure do just that. She’s played powerful women before in the new Dune movies and has a calculating, ruthless presence that would be perfect for Violet’s mother! Another amazing choice would be Lena Headey, aka the iconic Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones.
~~~
Rhiannon Matthias: Keke Palmer
image credit not available
Gotta give this character to my girl Keke Palmer, I would absolutely love to see her as Violet’s bestie and fellow dragon rider!
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Ridoc: Taylor Zakhar Perez
Image credit not available
I don’t remember a whole lot of Ridoc’s looks being described, but I’ve seen some fanart of him, and it seems people are viewing him has Hispanic/Latino. I’m all for it! He’s kind of the comedic relief of the friend group, and I adore Taylor who was in the movie adaptation of Red, White, and Royal Blue! One of my absolute favorite books
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Jack Barlowe: Alexander Ludwig, or Arthur Becari
Alexander, image courtesy of mensfashionpost.com
Arthur, image credit not available
Alright when we met the psychopath Jack in this book, I was having total flashbacks to “The Hunger Games” and pictured Alexander as him. I couldn’t help myself, and it’s didn’t help that Jack was described as blonde 🤷🏼♂️ The next guy is a model with probably no acting experience whatsoever, but MAN does he look like Jack Barlowe to me!
~~~
Xaden Riorson: Flamur Ukshini
Image credit not available
Xaden has been confirmed by Rebecca Yarros herself that Xaden is POC, and so I pictured this gorgeous guy I’ve been following on Instagram for some time now! He just needs to maybe pack on a little more muscle, but hey, Taylor Launter did it for Twilight!
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Dain Aetos: Leo Suter, or Kilian Isaak
Leo, Image courtesy of the actor’s IMDB profile
Kilian, image credit not available
This guy is the singular reason why I want to watch that Vikings: Valhalla show…I mean, LOOK at him! And as a grizzly, hairy Viking warrior?! *swoon* he also seemed to fit the character of Dain when he’s all cleaned up, like in this pic. Kilian is a model I discovered on Instagram who’s also got the looks of how I imagine this…..wonderful character.
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Amber: Sydney Zmrzl
Image courtesy of the actress/model’s IMDB profile
This one could honestly be anyone, Amber was a very minor character. So honestly this could come down to just personal preference.
Liam: Chris Bednarik, or Leo Woodall
Chris Bednarik, Image courtesy of the models Instagram profile
Leo Woodall, Image courtesy of Forbes.com
Alright, I would be TOTALLY fine with either of these cute guys playing Liam, and yes, I made sure they both have the dimples too. That was like a requirement! Chris is a fitness model, and Leo was actually in season 2 of “The White Lotus”
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Imogen: Cheree Crowley
Image courtesy of tuttowrestling.com
I always have at least one WWE person in my fancasts because WHY NOT? When I got the description of Imogen having pink hair, it reminded me when Cheree (aka “Dakota Kai”) had a similar hairstyle as well!
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Garrick: Wolfgang Novogratz
Image courtesy of Getty images
By the time we reach book 3, we have a somewhat decent idea of what Garrick looks like! Rebecca Yarros is stingy with the character descriptions so it’s hard to come up with folks until physical descriptions are dragged out to help describe these characters…
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Bodhi: Zayn Malik
Image courtesy of nogunk.com
The guy I picked for Xaden kind of looks like Zayn, and since Xaden and Bodhi are actually related, I thought this made sense! I mean, Harry Styles is trying to be an actor…why not Zayn too?
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Tairn (Voice): Chris Hemsworth
Image courtesy of encyclopedia Britannica
If not Liam Neeson, Chris would be an excellent voice actor choice for Tairn! I just imagine him with his deep, booming Thor voice would do wonderfully at this!
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Sgaeyl (Voice): Charlize Theron
Image courtesy of Vogue
Imma give credit to my friend Kat for this pick, and when she suggested it I was immediately like YES. Charlize has such a sexy voice, I remember how she did a crazy good job as the evil queen in “Snow White and the Huntsman” (or literally anything she does), and thought she’d make an excellent voice actor for a dragon like Sgaeyl as well!
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Andarna: (Voice): Mandy Moore
Image courtesy of health magazine
Picking a voice for Andarna was difficult….would you pick an actual child to voice her? I was wondering Ariana Grande for a hot second, but nawww. I love Ari, but she wasn’t who I imagined Andarna sounding like. Then it hit me: TANGLED! Mandy Moore did such a great job as Rapunzel, I think she’d also make a great choice to voice Andarna!
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…now for book 2 – Iron Flame – Here Are New Additions:
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Brennan Sorrengail: Sam Claflin, or Oliver Stark
Sam Claflin, image courtesy of the Wallstreet Journal
Oliver Stark, image courtesy of The Wrap
Honestly, both these actors I could totally picture playing the Sorrengail brother whom we believed to be dead all this time! Both just give me the vibe that Brennan also gives off.
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Syrena Cordella: Lauren Cohan
Image credit not available
Lauren has been a WB/CW actress for many, many years with being on shows like “Supernatural” and “Vampire Diaries” so she’d definitely fit in with this new fantasy setting with dragons and gryphons! I think she’d be an excellent casting choice for the lead gryphon rider
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Colonel Aetos: Christian Bale
Image courtesy of Just Jared
Christian Bale could crush absolutely any role he plays, and I absolutely know he’d do amazing as Dain’s evil father in this series. Christian has such a wide range of characters under his belt, and some are downright twisted in the head, so I think I’d really enjoy seeing him as the villain in these books.
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Sloane Mairi: Scarlett Leithold
Image courtesy of Men’s Journal
Scarlett is a model, and her statuesque looks totally remind me of Sloane! I’m not sure about her acting abilities in actuality, but as far as looks go, she’s exactly how I pictured this important character whom we meet in book 2, Iron Flame!
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Sawyer: Daniel Portman
Image courtesy of the actor’s IMDB profile
This choice I’m not 100% about in all honesty…but I also don’t think there’s much physical description of Sawyer in general in the books, or I’ve missed it when it’s mentioned. Since its a dragon riding college, why not have the guy who played Podrik Payne in the number one dragon show ever made so far, “Game of Thrones” also make an appearance in here?
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Aaric Greycastle: Alexander Breck, or Cody Christian
Alexander Breck, image courtesy of the model’s Instagram profile
Cody Christian, Image courtesy of Bello Mag
Aaric was probably my favorite of the new characters introduced in Iron Flame, especially when we learn his big secret! I pictured him looking like either of these guys or maybe even NASCAR cutie Charles LeClarc!
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Burton Varrish: Christoph Waltz, or Michael Keaton
Christoph Waltz, image courtesy of the actor’s Wikipedia page
Michael Keaton, image courtesy of Deadline
This character was like Umbridge and Joffrey level horrible…an absolute menace who made your blood boil whenever they popped up in the book. Christoph Waltz has a way of playing wonderful villains that are both obnoxious but still absolutely terrifying, just like in “Inglorious Basterds” and “007: Spectre” and who I pictured as Varrish. I could also see Michael Keaton too though, who I feel is more physically intimidating.
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Viscount Tecarus: TBD
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Jesinia Neilwart: Josephine Langford
Image courtesy of TV Insider
She looks so sweet and innocent! just how I pictured this silent scribe who always is willing to help out Violet in tight spots.
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Catriona Cordella: Elizabeth Gillies
Image courtesy of IMDB
Ever since she iconically played Jade in the Nickelodeon show “Victorious,” Liz can SLAY the mean girl role and even just has that mean girl look to her (sorry if she’s an actual sweetheart, it’s the eyebrows and she’s just that good of an actress).
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Professor Devera: Rosario Dawson
Image credit not available
I saw someone else propose this fancast choice and LOVED it and immediately agreed with it!
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Professor Kaori: Daniel Dae Kim
Image courtesy of Deadline
Despite recently playing the ruthless Firelord Ozai in the live-action version of “Avatar the Last Airbender” I see Daniel playing this professor in all honesty too, who gives me the total opposite vibes of the Lord of the vicious Fire Nation.
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Commandant Panchek: Daniel Brühl
Image credit not available
For some reason, this actor from Captain America: Civil War” came to mind for this slimeball of a character, but I say he could definitely look the part!
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…So there you have it for now! Expect more characters and fancast choices to be added as the series develops because this is going to be a 5-book series!
Publish Date: February 15th, 2022 Number of Pages: 805 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury Genre(s): Fantasy, New Adult Romance
***Warning! This book review contains spoilers for this book and the previous book in the series, so continue reading at your own risk! You’ve officially been warned***
To see my review of book #1 – House of Earth and Blood – Click HERE
To see my Fancast/Dreamcast of the series – Click HERE
Total Star Rating: 4.75 Stars
His smile broadened as he walked out. ‘I never would have met Bryce. And every horror, every nightmare … all of it had been worth it for her.’“
– Sarah J. Maas, “House of Sky and Breath”
What It’s About:
The official synopsis:
Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal―they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.
The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri’s power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels’ plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what’s right. And they’ve never been very good at staying silent.
In this sexy, action-packed sequel to the #1 bestseller House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas weaves a captivating story of a world about to explode―and the people who will do anything to save it.
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Okay, so it’s only been about a month and I think I NOW can say I’ve gathered my thoughts on this book that has actually stolen my breath away! This was easily one of my most anticipated book releases of 2022 since its been two years since we’ve ventured with these characters and experienced all that happens in House of Earth and Blood.
It’s quite the sequel to say the least! Old characters get new depths added to them, there’s a plethora of new characters who add so much to the story, there’s tons and tons of twists and turns, the plot somehow gets deeper and deeper, and lets just say that ending will freakin’ BLOW YOUR MIND like it did more me at 2 in the morning!
In this book, the story starts up again a few months after the catastrophic events where the glass gates are opened with portals to Hel and the demons are let loose in the city and countless people are injured or killed. Bryce and Hunt are just trying to ignore the thinly veiled threat of the overruling Asteri and their watchful eyes, and are just trying to live their normal lives and continue to be together under more mundane and normal circumstances. Things aren’t that easy, as they learn about rebel movements in place and secret weapons being found that could turn the tides of this possible war on the horizon (lets be real, we know it’s happening, has it never actually happened in a fantasy book you’ve read?)
This is also quite a substantial book and is easily one of her thickest titles to date, but it doesn’t feel that way as you read it; she has this way of connecting you to all her characters in such a way that you could literally read them talking over sports while drinking in a bar and you won’t get bored.
Speaking of the characters, that is such a major highlight of this book! Characters you met in the original book are back and have so much added onto them as the story develops that they still feel so fresh and real, even though you may not like as many of them as you get to know them! I don’t remember the last time I was so jealous of a character being surrounded by so many amazing male characters, but here Bryce is with company like Hunt, Ruhn, Ithan, Tharion, Flynn, Declan, and even a new character who is a lot more than meets the eye!
Thats the other thing about the new characters: there’s a lot of them, and ALL of them serve a huge purpose to the story and the many twists and reveals that come your way! I love the cast so much, and no surprise, SJM has truly created a wonderful array of them for us to enjoy.
One thing I can definitely critique is that we were promised a lot more spice in this book….first of all, I wasn’t a fan of the idea of Hunt and Bryce keeping things slow and trying things out on a platonic level–a horrible decision, really–and I thought we were promised like 500% more sex in this book! Well technically there’s more sex in this book than the previous one, but the amount we were promised sounds like there was supposed to be even more than what we got in A Court of Silver Flames…I’m not saying we don’t get any, we do and it’s great and it makes me happy when they go at it, but I was hoping for more in this regard.
And of course that ending……..oh my goodness, I can’t say any more because I risk spoiling it, but just holy shit that has to be the best way to end this book or any of her books! I need another SJM new release NOW!
I say anyone who sticks with the series all ADORE this book, it’s so much better in every way, I wish I could sound like I wasn’t just gushing about this book, but when my only critique was that there wasn’t enough spice in it, it’s hard not to! This book was phenomenal!!
Males will always try to control the females who scare them. Marriage and breeding are their go-to methods.”
– Sarah J. Maas, “House of Sky and Breath”
What I Liked:
THAT ENDING! I think I speak for the whole dang fandom when I say that the way this book ended was probably the most epic, most exciting, most mindfuckable of an ending that she could’ve come up with! I know It’s said a lot as we all finish books, but holy shitballs do I need the next book NOW!!!
Things Get Spicier! Bryce and Hunt finally get their heads out of their own butts and into each others genitals! Yes, I went there…….but so did they *wink*wink*
The Twists! Sarah J. Maas continues to surprise us readers to no end as more and more gets revealed! Danika and her extra-curricular activities that Bryce had no idea about, new characters who thicken the plot, Family tree’s revealed, The Underking, the Asteri, and even Hel itself and the Demon Princes have information all exposed about them that really raise the stakes! Plus, ALL the new characters have so much to add to the story in different ways, like there wasn’t one random addition, and they all had more going on beneath the surface to make this book even more addictive…
The Multiple Romances! In Book 1, the romance was definitely all about Hunt and Bryce, and while it still shines a light on their relationship plenty, there were some other relationships also formed! Some were more alliances, but for some male characters, there’s definitely some sparks (or flames) flying!
Buddy Reading It With My #Bookstagram Friends! I joined Bookstagram back in October, and I’ve made some truly wonderful friends while being active on there! We finally did our first successful buddy read together with this book, and it was so much fun to come up with theories and guess who was behind the many mysteries that raised questions, and of course, gush about the sex scenes! Brit, Kay, Laura, and Emily – Nothing But Love for my Wolfpack ❤
What I Didn’t Like:
Where’s The Smut?…So yeah there are sex scenes that finally happen in this book, but weren’t we promised like 500% more sex in this book? Umm, I think the decimal should’ve been moved over a few spots…I mean, there was so much sex in A Court of Silver Flames that some got cut out! What we got between Hunt and Bryce (and even Ruhn a few times) was hot and spicy like how I like my food, but with the promise of more, I felt like the quantity didn’t meet expectations.
Tharion Was Pretty Shady…I love mermaids, and especially hot mermen, but Tharion was making some questionable decisions in this book, and exhibited some less than stellar behavior, like I was finding myself not happy with him and some of the things he did. Just shady behavior…..
All The Tightening Balls…Laura in my Bookstagram Wolfpack pointed this out so then I couldn’t not notice this, but when SJM was writing about a male getting turned on, several times there was a mention of his balls tightening in arousal….LET ME tell you all who read this that this does not happen, if anything we get a hard-on, but our balls don’t tighten except for if we’re freakin’ freezing and the temperature is dangerously low…so not hot, no pun intended. Women authors who say this in romance/erotica need to cease and desist!
The Book Got Spoiled Before It’s Release Date…Now this doesn’t affect my overall rating of how much I enjoyed this book, but all I can say is there’s a special place in Hel for those who leaked the book and gave major spoilers before the book even released is unforgivable! Some A-holes even tried to sell books from BAM (Books A Million) a week early for well over $100 dollars…I hate people sometimes.
Conclusion:
Overall, House of Sky and Breath exceeded expectations of how this story continues, there’s hardly a bad thing I can say about it. The world-building continues, there’s no info dumping like in book #1, the romance was much more present and was with more characters besides just Hunt and Bryce: Ruhn even has a little somethingsomething happening on his end too!
The ending of this book is quite literally mind-blowing, and like I said before, I am in desperate need of a new SJM book like NOW, I hope we don’t have to wait years for any answers to what I saw as the final scene in this wonderful book.
It’s by far the best book of 2022 for me so far, I’m so looking forward to how this story keeps developing! its ahhhh-mazing
Publish Date: October 1st, 2020 Number of Pages: 289 Pages Publisher: Independently Published Genre(s): Fantasy, New Adult Romance
Total Star Rating: 3.25 Stars
Does it really matter if your cage is solid gold when you aren’t allowed to leave it? A cage is a cage, no matter how gilded.”
– Raven Kennedy, “Gild”
What It’s About:
The official synopsis:
The fae abandoned this world to us. And the ones with power rule.
Gold.
Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold.
Even me.
King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe.
Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.
Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong.
Because these bars I’m kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I’d never left.
Author’s Note: This is a fantasy romance m/f story. There will be monarchs and magic and fae and steam and violence and all the feels. This book contains explicit content and mature language not intended for anyone under 18 years of age. This is book one of three in the series, so that means it won’t be tied up in a bow at the end. In fact, the bow is probably going to be tossed right off a cliff. But it’ll be worth the fall.
~~~
Gild is the first installment of an adult fantasy series called The Plated Prisoner that revolves around a loose retelling of the mythological royal figure: King Midas. To be honest, I’m not too familiar with the whole story of him besides how the story is from ancient Greek origins and the obvious fact that whatever he touched with his hands turned to solid gold.
I picked this title up because there has been quite some hype as of late surrounding this series on social media like Bookstagram, BookTok, and in my personal reading circles, so when I saw the first two books at my local Barnes & Noble, I was happily surprised and immediately picked them up!
This story takes place in a realm called Orea, where there are six kingdoms, and King Midas rules over the sixth kingdom, Highbell. In his Golden Castle is the caged woman, Auren, who the story actually revolves around. She is Midas’s favored, his prized possession, his ring to rule all rings, his pet, so you get the picture…
Somehow, she’s able to live in her fully golden body and even has her own silken ribbons that go down her spine that can move on their own and can feel things like pain and touch. She was the victim of child trafficking and was homeless until Midas rescued her, and for ten years she lived in a golden, gilded cage in his castle and shows her joy and gratitude of being his even though her “savior” keeps her in a golden-caged prison.
King Midas is coming up with a plan to take over the fourth kingdom, the most powerful of them all, which is also ruled by a figure known as King Ravinger, or King Rot. There’s also hints tossed in about how long ago there was a seventh kingdom ruled by the Fae, and how Orea was actually co-founded by humans and Fae, but the Fae betrayed them about 300 years ago and cut the bridge between their worlds and disappeared…but perhaps some of their magic was left behind?….who knows!
Now, some of you might be wondering why I’ve given it a lower score out of 5 stars, and you better believe it that I’ll tell you why:
I had some pretty mixed feelings overall about the book, and not even because of the more darker themes and trigger-warning instances–no, that content actually kept me pretty interested–but merely because of how this book is extremely light in action and plot; it’s all set up to introduce the world, the characters, the main character’s current predicament, and give you the hint of magic that will hopefully come more into play later on.
Here’s my quick input on the trigger warnings: there is murder, there is sexual assault, there is rape, there is heavy misogyny and sexism, there is bargaining others for sexual favors without their consent…
Personally, I wasn’t triggered by these instances in the story…to be honest I thought it made the story more interesting, BUT I also understand that not everyone enjoys that sort of content or wants to read it, so it’s fair to give a warning to this sort of thing.
AND before cancel culture comes for my ass, just to clarify: just because I’m not triggered by this happening in the story doesn’t mean I’m okay with rape/sexual assault or condone it in anyway! Put your pitchforks and torches down and keep reading…
It’s funny because it’s not like this is the only book that has the sort of “setting the scene” formula in the books I’ve read…The Hunger Games had this too with Katniss Everdeen taking her sister’s place in the 74th annual games and being frisked off to the Capitol and seeing the corruption and greed and danger firsthand, A Court of Thorns and Roses with Feyre being introduced to the world of Prythian and the lord of the spring court, Tamlin….yeah, I’m sure most of us on here know how that turned out…but anyways you get my point! The first book is merely set-up for character intros and world-building, then the actual overall series plot doesn’t really come into play until the sequel.
Back to Gild, the beginning was actually pretty decent with it starting literally right in the middle of some action…and there were some unexpected twists thrown in too that impressed me, I felt a mix of reactions to Auren and how obviously brainwashed she was by King Midas, but the midpoint was the big slow drag for me. I was seriously wondering why people were hyping this book so much, but my bookish friends kept me going, and I did some research that suggested the author does this on purpose to show you how mundane Auren’s life is before the plot truly begins. The last 30 % of the book actually really saved it for me and definitely leaves off on a cliffhanger! A lot of danger, a lot of new characters, and a lot of twists!
Sure, there wasn’t really a plot to go off of, nor really a sense of resolution in any way, but it sure makes you curious to grab the next book like IMMEDIATELY because, seriously…with an ending like that, what could happen next?!
~~~
Men making deals on the behalf of women never seems to go very well for the women.”
– Raven Kennedy, “Gild”
What I Liked:
It Wasn’t Afraid to Get Dark! So this is the dark side of my Gemini coming out, but the trigger warning content actually was a highlight for me and raised my brows in curiosity and interest rather than dread or cringe. King Midas has a harem of “saddles” (or sex slaves in all honesty), and even Auren is considered one even if she is always kept separate from the others while in her cage. Since they’re still slaves, their bodies aren’t even their own and decisions get made without their consent, and this is reminded to you several times throughout the story. Like any popular dark fantasy show, there’s plenty of bloody betrayal and blood shed as well. There’s even a cruel death of a certain character that was cruel because of how the corpse is treated after their death…
King Midas Story Gets Some Attention! I personally haven’t really heard of any King Midas retellings that have gotten attention like this book has, or if there are many others to compare to at all, so this fact makes the story actually stand out in this way alone. I like that its a more unique retelling of a classic story that hasn’t gotten as much attention as say…Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid, or even Hades and Persephone.
The Ending! Like I said earlier, the end of this book absolutely does a 180 and saves the whole story! As soon as a specific character and his soldiers make their first appearance, you know things are about to get a whole lot more interesting!
What I Didn’t Like:
Very Lacking in Action and Plot…While I loved the other books that have the formula of being mostly set-up for the next books in the series, this book was a little weaker in that sense just because not as much happens to make it feel like a stronger book as a standalone. At least The Hunger Games and A Court of Thorns and Roses stood stronger on their own!
Not A Whole Lot of Romance Either…There are some sex scenes that happen, but that doesn’t mean there’s a whole lot of actual romance happening in this book either. The only thing that even comes close to it is actually pretty toxic because Auren is brainwashed by King Midas and its all a textbook example of Stockholm Syndrome…I’m hoping the next books have more in this regard as the story continues.
Conclusion:
Overall, Gild by Raven Kennedy was a good but not great read, BUT from the urging of my bookish friends and from several other readers on social media AND reading the ending of this book as well, my interest to read on spikes up like I just chugged three Redbulls back-to-back!
Everyone says the next books, Glint and Gleam, are so much better and so much more happens, so with that in mind and how those sequels really do get much better in my experience, my final words are:
Goodys.Blog 