A romance with an intriguing premise that’s hampered by an unfortunate lack of substance.
Boyles delivers a steamy fantasy romance series-starter that features an initially fake relationship and plenty of magic.
As the only witch in her family without any powers, Addie Thornrose of Nashville, Tennessee, is used to magic-wielding guys breaking up with her over it. It’s why, after her most recent boyfriend dumps her, she decides to swear off men. The only problem is that her grandmother’s sudden death has endangered her family’s magic, and to keep it from disappearing, Addie and her six sisters must marry—and soon. As Addie is the oldest, her family decides to throw a ball to help her meet potential suitors. While attempting to sneak out of the event, she runs into Feylin, a handsome man whom she previously met under unpleasant circumstances (which involved her accidentally throwing up on his shoes). Addie can’t stand him, but when she runs into her ex at the ball, she’s glad when Feylin rescues her by pretending to be her new fiancé. Then she learns Feylin is a fae king, and his declaration of their engagement has accidentally induced a powerful spell that prevents them from moving too far apart from each other. The only way to break the spell is to see the marriage through, which means that until the wedding, the pair will have to pretend to be head over heels. Boyles offers an easygoing storytelling approach that makes for a fast read: “It’s easier to pretend to love Feylin than I ever imagined,” Addie narrates at one point. “Which is annoying, I might add.” However, this casual manner also has its downsides, as the worldbuilding and character development ultimately lack depth. For example, Addie and her family are said to be from the South, but it’s easy to forget this, as there are few signs of it, other than the occasional use of the term y’all. Also, the instant sexual attraction that the main characters feel early on makes their continuing dislike of each other come across as rather forced.
A romance with an intriguing premise that’s hampered by an unfortunate lack of substance.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
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