Once upon a time, in the enchanting land of Spell Borne, there existed a fairy tale like no other. Auden Llyr weaved a mesmerizing tale called "Spell Borne," which ingeniously deconstructed the very essence of fairy tales themselves. It delved into profound themes of fate, free will, and self-fulfilling prophecies, while simultaneously exploring the haunting presence of trauma within the narratives that shape our history. Moreover, it skillfully addressed the lack of representation within the common zeitgeist, challenging the norms that had persisted for far too long.

At the heart of this captivating story was Loren, a young woman recovering from a painful concussion. Her journey unfolded against the backdrop of a family burdened by untold secrets, secrets that had been carefully woven into the fabric of Spell Borne's collective consciousness. As Loren delved deeper into her own past, she began to realize that the tales she grew up with were not mere bedtime stories. They held a deeper significance, reflecting the struggles, hopes, and dreams of those who had come before her.

Fate and free will danced a delicate waltz throughout the pages of "Spell Borne." Loren discovered that the lines between destiny and choice were blurred, and that one's actions could inadvertently shape the course of their own life. The self-fulfilling prophecies that had plagued her family for generations became a haunting reminder of the power of belief and perception.

As Loren confronted her own trauma, the story shed light on the larger narrative of trauma within society. It questioned the very foundations of the stories we tell, urging readers to consider the hidden narratives that have been dismissed or overlooked. It called out the lack of representation within the common zeitgeist, challenging the status quo and paving the way for a more inclusive future.

This was the first book I've read from this author and it was just okay. It was hard for me to get into and the characters didn't keep my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Auden Llyr for letting me review this book.

There are parts with too much telling. But there were also parts I really liked.

The beginning really got me hooked. There were so many questions I wanted answers to.

I loved the beginning, but as the story progressed I unfortunately lost my interest. The main character or something about her seemed just off in my experience. Or perhaps it was a few characters that didn't work for me.

I recommend this book to everyone who loves to read retellings and likes Disney.

Includes:
Fairytales
Content warnings at the beginning

I’m not really sure how to feel about this book.
It started really good and the plot had a really good potential. BUT, check TW, the SA kinda ruined it for me. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the intention of the Author about it, it just didn’t fit in the book for me. I know it should since all the Tales from the past are full of it, like the Sleeping Beauty, but as I said, didn’t work for Me. It felt wrong.
Also I don’t like the amount of use of the word “grinning”. Too much use of it.
But I liked the FMC, and her internal thoughts, they were funny to read. I wished I’ve seen more of the relationship between her and Grandmother, mostly after the Assault, but aren’t get to know how Grandma is! Also left kinda of open Loren’s relationship with her father. I wish there was a conclusion.
For the most it was an enjoyable reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Author Auden Llyr for this ARC and all opinion are my own.

Overall I enjoyed Spell Borne. I found the characters and the main plot enjoyable. The magical system was interesting and played to the childhood nostalgia associated with a lot of fairytales. I expected a bit more romance with how it ws billed but enjoyed it without that. My biggest beef was with the last chapter and the epilogue. It felt like a hard left into a crash landing and left me with a lot of questions and open plot points that would have benefited from being addressed further in this book even if a sequel is planned. It did not leave me excited to read more of a series. It left me confused and a little frustrated.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A SOLID 4.5 stars!

This book was enchanting, I will admit I'm a sucker for anything with a princess and a good twist on fairytales but something about this book just took both of those loves to another level. I could not stop reading this book once I started and was so glad I started it on a weekend so I wasn't bothered. The world was enthralling and rich with character that I found myself really enjoying!

DNF. This book was pretty confusing plot wise for me. I left like there were breaks between moments and no one filled in the gaps. It was not a smooth read. The beginning was exciting and intriguing and then the middle was just a bit bleh and I wasn’t able to finish.

I really wanted to like this and I liked the concept of it, but I the characters were very surface level and the overall themes of the book were just not lining up for me.

Thank you netgalley and the author for this ARC Read!

1 STAR

This was not a book for me. I didn't enjoy it, and I didn't have fun reading it. If I can DNF books, I would have with this one.

There is a list of warnings at the beginning, but I would like to point out that sexual assault (it's rape, let's not put it in any different terms) is a big plot point in the story, and there is a lot of victim blaming by side characters. If that is something that is triggering for you, and you manage to read this book that far, be careful.

The world building and plot are very much all over the place. I still have no idea how either the world or the magic system actually work. It's chaotic, and not in a good way. There is no flow to the story. The plot points are introduced, and then gone and never show up again without being resolved. Also, a lot of stuff just feels thrown in without being connected to anything, or like it's not in a proper order.Book 1 should be an introduction to the world, and a set-up for future books, and I honestly have no idea what this book did, but it wasn't that.

The writing style is not for me. I didn't like anything about it. I couldn't connect to the characters, or the story, or the world, nothing. Instead of being shown what is happening, everything is told, and from the POV of FMC who had a concussion and that is supposed to be (I think?) why she is so scatterbrained? I don't know, nothing makes sense.

There is not one character that I care about in this book. They all just feel very underdeveloped, and like they have one or two personality traits and that is it.


CONCLUSION

If this book went through some heavy editing it does have potential to be a fun read, but as it is now...it is not. I pretty much just pushed through for the sake of finishing it because I can't stand DNFing books.
However, there are a lot of good reviews for this book, and what doesn't work for me might work for you. I personally don't recommend this book, but a lot of others do. So give it a try and see for yourself.




Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was sent an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

TW based on what I’ve read: Sexual Assault

I could not finish this book; I tried. I spent most of the month trying to pick it up and keep going but in the end I couldn’t keep trying. The premise is great and a different take than others I’ve read of a similar type. However, it wasn’t enough to keep me intrigued.

I originally was very confused by the entire beginning of the book and thought maybe I was tired and just not comprehending what was being written; but it happened a few additional times later in the book and I realize it’s the writing. The on scene rape was out of the blue and too much. It felt more as a plot point in a way to move the villain story along rather than to add anything to the story. It was hard enough to continue on from that point but I tried.

The story isn’t horrible and I’m sure for some it will be a good read. For me I couldn’t get past the triggers and it took away from the rest of the story for me.

Spell Borne by Auden Llyr has a gorgeous cover and a fantastic premise. Unfortunately I almost dnf'd this book several times due to a boring/annoying narrator and a storyline that was rough and unfinished. Loren is built up as an asexual character who is running from a curse straight out of a fairytale. She is unfortunately not so multifaceted in action and felt very 2 dimensional at times. The ending of the book felt rushed and the cliffhanger was not effective for me. Overall I love the idea of the story but I don't feel like it was executed well.

TW: sexual assault (rape)

As a sucker for modernized fairytale retellings I really thought I would love this. I was definitely really intrigued at first but the story lost me somewhere along the way.

We immediately meet our main character, an art student who recently discovered that she has “the princess gene,” which means that the town curse is destined to turn her into a princess — any princess. Sleeping Beauty seems to run in her family though, and Loren struggles to avoid her fate.

I quite like the idea that stories change according to how society tells them, and the modern twist on it was pretty funny; I do think the meta-ness got a bit tiresome. The book kept talking about the “Disney movies” and this really broke my immersion.

I also think that the references to fairytales felt very surface level; they focused a lot on what princesses wore (Belle wears yellow so if Loren wears yellow they’ll move towards Belle’s story) and those elements just felt very irrelevant. It makes the plot seem very weak when Loren’s attempts to change her story is just what colors she’s wearing.

I think that also added to the weakness of character development. I loved that Loren was an art student but other than that her personality was a little murky and passive.

My biggest issue with this book, though, is the way the rape is handled. It’s sort of sudden and feels almost like plot convenience. It really seems like “another part of the fairytale.” The perpetrator becomes the villain in the story and I don’t think the book ever gives it the emotional weight that that the characters need. Maybe the writing style is just unable to achieve that, but it also just feels like the book wanted to make it an opportunity for the fairytale to change, which I think isn’t the right way to approach something so traumatic.

Other than that, the writing style became really confusing for me; I think this meant that the world-building was a bit weak; I found that I had a lot of questions around the rules of the curse and sometimes wondered if I’d skipped a scene when things were unexplained.

Overall, I think there’s a really good skeleton of a story here. The premise is interesting, and the fact that Loren is an art student warms my heart as an art student myself. I just sort of wish the story was…something else.

A big thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for granting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Spell Borne is a story about a young woman, Loren, who is forced by apathetic magic to play out a fairytale story thanks to her ancestry. The premise of this book was fascinating and thought-provoking— the “magic” of the world is fueled and built on the collective consciousness of society, so naturally it likes to gravitate towards common fairytales well-known across the world. For unclear reasons, the magic tends to coalesce around one particular town and family tree, which is why Loren gets caught up in it. Her particular line tends to follow one fairytale in particular— Sleeping Beauty— which both her mother and grandmother fell prey to. Knowing that Loren is beginning her fairytale journey, she and the people around her attempt to take control of the narrative to see if they can sway the magic to allow her to live out a different fairytale.

While I loved the concept of this book, the story was a bit tough for me to get through. The entire book is told through the inner-monologue of the main character, and I personally found her mannerisms and personality to be very annoying. She has a lot of one-worded exclamations like “ugh!” and “ick!” that would mentally toss me out of the story. There was a lot of “telling” Loren’s feelings through her inner monologue— I would have loved to see more “showing” her emotions externally.

I felt as if the prose was a bit all-over the place; some of the dialogue felt stilted and forced, but there was also a lot of beautiful, descriptive imagery that I really loved. During the main scene when things really started to take a turn for the worst for Loren (please see trigger warnings!!), while what Loren was going through was horrible, the writing surrounding the scene was incredibly thought-through and eloquent.

One thing that really got to me, however, was how the main character drops that she’s asexual out of nowhere and then proceeds to continuously talk about how one of the people close to her was so “yummy”. As someone who identifies as asexual, I appreciated the inclusivity of Loren’s sexuality, but i honestly didn’t see the point in having that bit of information. There was definitely a lost opportunity to include a lot of decent inner-struggles surrounding her sexuality.

Excellent world building with strong characters and a well developed setting. The plot was paced well and kept me entranced while reading.

The cover made me think this would be a stunning spin on the Once Upon a Time vibes I got from the premise of "Spell Borne," though I do think there were interesting moments throughout the whole story, it failed to deliver. Someone on goodreads wrote "first draft energy" and I agree. A thorough revision of the plot points or flow of the story would help make each chapter truly relevant, I think? Also, please please please, if you read this, take the trigger warnings very seriously.

So well written. Is a great fantasy book, and the author really describes the setting as if you are there. I would recommend clearing a afternoon to read the whole book because it’s that good! This is great example of a fantasy novel that just draws you in and does not let go!
This book was gifted to me by NetGallery, all opinions are my own.

Massive trigger warning for fully detailed SA on this one.

This is gonna be hard. My hopes for this book were so high, you don't even understand. I was so excited for this Once Upon a Time inspired book.

For starters, I felt like the book had no end goal.

I was hooked at the start by all the science like explanations of the magic and then after that, I felt like I was reading the version of a dating tv show where they dress you up nicely, give you a makeover, and start placing you in random dates with people you don't know. I was entertained at the very least, so I kept reading.

After all of that (which was basically the first 50% of the book), the SA happened. I cannot explain to you how disturbing it was to read that as a woman who fortunately has never been in that situation. I am not one to like when SA is implemented into stories but I feel the amount of detail that was included on this one was distasteful. A fade to black would have done the same job if the SA was really necessary for the story (which I personally think it wasn't).

(It gets spoilery in the next paragraphs, beware if you want to read the book, I won't give names though)

Afterwards, it was just pure chaos. The FMC "ends up" with another character with which she barely talked or knew. Said character came out as gay later on, and the author used a premise I did not like at all. You can not make a gay character say, "it's okay, i'll be in this heterosexual relationship with you, the magic will just make me straight" and be okay with it. I refuse to believe you can be okay with that.
Also... the ace rep was sketchy at best. I know sexuality is fluid but as someone on the ace spectrum it just didn't feel right.

But lo and behold, this wasn't over. I have to say I sped read through the last 25% just to know who the FMC would end up with and I was not surprised it was the first MMC that was introduced into the story.

I actually liked their relationship at the start but then when the other MMCs started appearing, he started disappearing, and therefore I thought he'd just be in the sidelines. But no. The FMC decides she needs him to get her tale finished and so they end up in bed. Yup. It is NOT a happy ending, there is no couple happening in the end, just what seems to be an open ending for the next book.

I am really sad I didn't enjoy this book as I hoped to. And unfortunately I don't see myself picking up the next instalments.

Thank you NetGalley and Auden Llyr for the ARC, even though I ended up reading the book through Kindle Unlimited because it had already released.

This is another one of those stories that I just couldnt connect with it. I felt that it fell really flat and it was just kind of all over the place. I ended up DNFing this one around 40%.

Spell Borne follows Loren, a woman who finds herself thrust into a world of Fairy Tales in the magical town of Lointaine. The magic seeped within the town is intent on turning her into a Princess but Loren does not want to let go of the future she had worked so hard to bring to life.

This was such an exciting concept, I loved how the author explored old and new fairy tales of various kinds. There are so many versions of each tale included, along with lesser-known tales! It was extremely interesting. I wished there was a larger focus on the magic parts, rather than analyzing it scientifically. It took away the magical feeling the book had.

The first half of the book spent its time on the science and how it all functioned. There was tons of information dumping that took a long time to wade through. I had to read over it more than once to fully understand what was being explained. Despite that, I still could not recall the information. It took me away from the story, the world and prevented me from connecting to the characters. I had thoughts about DNF'ing it but decided to continue with it since the concept really took hold of me.

Since this took place in the first half of the book, it made it a struggle, later on, to really care for Loren's story since there was a lack of connection with her character in the first part. I would have loved it to be centred around her dealing with this sudden change. Speaking of Loren's character, this was also something that I struggled with. Her initial reaction to the discovery of her being intertwined with this magic fate changed quickly within a few pages which took away the tension. Throughout the novel, her character felt very wishy-washy. She always bent to the whims of others regardless of speaking otherwise. I would have loved more actions rather than unfollowed through explanations.

The other characters; the love interests, her grandmother and friends, felt quite flat to me. This might be due to the fact people followed their "fairy tale roles" but I would've liked to see more dynamic qualities.

In the end, I found myself enjoying the suspense and intrigue in the last half of the book. While it had great potential with an amazing concept, it fell flat for me.

Received as an eARC from NetGalley. A solid 4.5-star read that breaks down the fairy tale genre. First for anyone thinking of reading this PLEASE check the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. Now this story starts with a death that leads to helping the protagonist find her fairy tale. With a family that has been recreating Sleeping Beauty for generations, Loren was wanting a new one to be a part of or better no tale.
With a town that has magic affecting everyone, whether they know it or not, and multiple princes and princesses, what would one do to have a Happy Ever After?
I look forward to the next book and seeing the tale that will be spun again.

This book quite honestly threw me for a loop! I was enthralled with Loren from the first page of this book and continued to be drawn into her character as the story progressed. Watching the characters struggle to understand themselves, their own Stories, and the social aspects of Lointaine kept me coming back for more each time I put it down. This book truly was something else and I loved every bit of it.

I want to thank the author and their publishers for allowing me this ARC and to share in the story.