Author: Auden Llyr
Series: Stand Alone
Category: Fantasy
Rating: ⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️
Goodreads Link

"'Have you heard the saying: Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. What your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character for it becomes your destiny?'"

Loren's world is turned upside down when she learns magic is real, her family is cursed, and she is being accused of murdering a man who practically crushes her to death.

"This revelation of my grandmothers had similarly set my mental balance off-kilter. The unquestioned rules that anchored my worldviews had been cut." - Loren

Before long she is forced to concede control of her life in a bid to direct the curse into the least horrible fairy tale, all while dealing with concussion symptoms and a continuing escalation of problems.

The premise of Spell Borne was intriguing but the book could have used a second round of editing for a more cohesive plot. Time jumps haphazardly between the chapters, which I found hard to follow, and characters are not as much introduced to readers but pop up to drive the storyline forward when it is most convenient.

There is significant and detailed sexual assault inflicted on Loren, and I was a bit surprised it was spelled out as much as it was. The book reminded me of a clean romance, light on the romance, but there was nothing light about reading about rape for tens of pages. It felt out of place considering the subject matter of fairy tales and genre.

The main characters were an eclectic bunch, if not over the top in their own ways.

Loren was a hot mess from the get-go. Somehow, with the reveal of magic in the world, her father shunning her for a younger woman, and a curse that is wreaking so much havoc in her life that she might need to get married, all she cares about is completing her thesis.

"Maybe I needed two lists. Things I could do something about, and things I couldn't yet do anything about." - Loren

I had a lot of sympathy for everything Lorem went through but it was hard being stuck in her head as she flits between moaning about inconsequential things or being hazy from a never-ending list of injuries. I liked her character more towards the end of the book as she finally starts standing up for herself and getting her life back together.

"Huh, being considered mentally unbalanced had its upsides too...My smile became a fraction more genuine." - Loren

Loren's grandmother, who experienced the curse herself as a sleeping beauty, is taciturn at first but it slowly becomes clear that she only wants the best for her granddaughter. Secrets are revealed that don't show her in the best light, but overall I thought she was the only one truly on Loren's side.

Connor, the resident brainiac who is studying the curse, acts like he is an awkward teenager in most of his interactions. He constantly lectures Loren while situating himself as the master manipulator for her new life living out a fairy tale.

"'Wow Connor,' Paulo snapped. 'You sound more upset that you don't understand what is happening than you did about what happened to Loren and Henri.'" - Paulo

Liam, Henri, and Paulo all play a part in either threatening Loren, trying to convince her to do something she doesn't want to do, and/or hiding behind the curse and not dealing with their own drama. Out of all of them, Paulo was the sweetest, but there wasn't much to his character outside of playing a part to appease the curse.

"'So, our current plan is basically to hand out and hope we start to love each other because it will fix things?'" - Loren

There was no love story, despite the fact that our main character does end up with someone in the end. With a host of male characters, the author kept readers guessing who would fulfill the requirements of the curse but the story ended with no tension or romantic build-up. There is a love scene but we are only privy to a kiss before it fades to black.

"In the seconds our lips touched, we wrote volumes containing both tragedies and joyful endings." - Loren

Fairy tale lore and the many different renditions of the story ended up being the most interesting part of the book for me. Connor's dialogue when he gets into explanations was very long-winded but the author certainly did a lot of research to write such detailed prose.

With too many fantastical storyline subplots added, Spell Borne's main plot about a fairy tale curse got lost, which was a shame. It felt a bit like playing trope bingo, blackout mode. The ending left a lot of questions still on the table. Though I have mixed feelings about this book, I'd be tempted to read another book set in Lointaine, if only to meet another one of the princesses and see the author grow into her writing style.

*Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Auden Lyrr LLC for this opportunity read rate and review this arc which available for purchase in April 16,2023.

This was different. It had magic, a murder mystery, a mash up of grimm’s fairytales, Disney princesses and a girl in the middle seeking to escape the curse laid upon her town in 18th century France. The trigger warnings for the book are laid out at the beginning which I loved.

The story itself was twisty turns and mystery upon mystery as Loren fought her fate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

READ THE TW mentioned at the start before you dive in.

Honestly, I was interested by the cover and synopsis, but the lack of worldbuilding and descriptive proses was a letdown. Overall a decent read :)

The thought and premise behind this book really made me want to enjoy this book. Unfortunately the writing just wasn't for me. The inner dialog of the main character was just a little too chaotic for me. That being said, I loved the characters, they were well-developed but it took too long to get there. I understand that it is the beginning of a series so there is a lot of world building but honestly I was confused by how the Magic worked int heir world. I think if that was cleared up more then it would have been for me. Overall, it was a decent read but I really wish I could have enjoyed this book more. Also, check the trigger warnings because there are some sensitive events and themes.

Premise: In this world fairy tales are real but they come in the form of a curse where the “princess” of the tale must live through whatever tale the Magic has chosen for her. Our main girl Loren's family has had a history of being cursed with being “Sleeping Beauties. “ Loren is determined to break that cycle and take on another tale.

This has similar vibes to the tv show Once Upon a Time. There is a town where all of those who are born into the Magic live and those who try to leave can't escape it. This story centers around the struggle between fate vs choice.

POV: 1st
Tropes: fairy tale retelling (Sleeping Beauty, Beauty & the Beast, Little Red Riding Hood), forced proximity, forced relationship, fake engagement
Spice level: 0.5🌶️

This book claims to be NA but in my opinion it reads more like YA.

Before reading this book I would recommend reading the author's trigger warning page. There is a violent SA scene that happens on the page and it becomes a significant plot point in the story.

Likes:
☆ Our FMC is most definitely neurodivergent because I recognize a lot of similarities in the way this character internally talks (gets distracted mid-thought) to my own thinking. However, if you're someone who doesn't like a scatter brain FMC this could be a dislike in the writing style.
☆ LGBTQ+ representation
☆ this first book in the series focuses a lot on building friendships
☆ i think the magic system and world building were very interesting and unique
☆ i love the cover

Dislikes/could have been better:
☆ I was very thrown off by the immediate change in POV after the prologue. The prologue is told from a male perspective but then chapter one begins our story in our FMC's perspective. I didn't know until a few pages in that the prologue character and the one now telling the story were not the same person.
☆ Considering that this story has a cast a characters I think this book would have been more interesting to read if it was told in multiple POVs
☆ The pacing of the middle to the book is slow. Right around 30% I was getting impatient with the lack of major plot. The whole story centers around a "curse" and we still hadn’t gotten to the point where the FMC has officially entered the "curse." I often found myself skimming much of the middle because I didn't find any of what was happening to be critical to the plot.
☆ The flow of some of the chapters are off. While i was reading i was sometimes confused as to what was going on because I felt like there was missing context.
☆ I was confused as to who was meant to be the "end game" love interest for the FMC. I guess this was intentional? When it finally clicked who that was i was taken a little aback because i didn't sense any sort of romantic feelings between these characters. The sex scene at the end between these characters was so random and out of place. It was also fade to black which frustrated me since this is supposed to be a New Adult book. Also, as a Romance, in general, this book really didn't have much in terms of the romance factor for the FMC. I do acknowledge that the FMC mentions being Asexual early on but the main reason that I think most people would pick this up for is for the romance and it was severely lacking.

final thoughts: I am very confused by what this book was trying to be. My expectations for it vs what it actually is are not aligned. While I enjoyed it I think there's some refinement that needs to be done to it or at least some details that need to remedied in book 2.

*Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As I am seeing in many of the other reviews, please check your trigger warnings. If you are sensitive to graphic scenes of SA, you may need to skip this book.

Overall, I loved this book. It had a very unique fairy tale theme that I have yet to see in other books that I have read. I felt the beginning was a bit confusing as I was trying to get a handle on the premise of the town of Lointaine and the fairy tale magic that exists there. As the story develops, she meets Connor who is a bit of a local expert and mathematician trying to make sense of the tales and how they develop. As Loren is trying to discover what fairy tale her life will take on, they work together to try to skew her actions to a tale of her choosing. But not all fairy tales have happy endings for everyone.

Despite a bit of cheesiness trying to play into the Disney themes around the fairy tales, the hero characters were loveable and the villains were deplorable just as all good fairy tales should be. I had alot of fun trying to decipher which tale Loren's life would start to take on and a bit of uncomfortableness at some of the more graphic scenes in this book. The ending seemed a bit abrupt but perhaps it was the magic at work? We won't know until book two, which I will definitely be reading!

I wanted to like this more than I did. Some parts of the book were suspenseful and then there were others where I was struggling to be interested and I was very confused by the epilogue, that came way out of left field, perhaps they are setting up for another book but it didn't fit for me.

The concept had so much potential and its clear the writer has done an immense amount of research on all the different tellings of these fairytales but I just didn't love it.

I did like the character development of the main character she shows you can take control and not have someone or something else dictate your life, that a princess could act how she chooses rather than someone choose for her.

I could not stop reading this. It was so good and I completely fell for this story and the characters. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
I just reviewed Spell Borne by Auden Llyr. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I really wanted to like this books. Sadly this book was not for me. Initially the synopsis sounds great but I unfortunately lost interest in the story and didn’t care for the characters. Thank you to Netgalley, Auden Llyr LLC publishing and Auden Llyr for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This book was so unique- I have never read this type of a take on a fairytale!
I very much enjoyed the heavy detail on different versions of fairytales and the clear research that went into it.

Make Sure to Check Trigger Warnings

After a traumatic event and moving in with her grandmother, MC Loren has just found out her family has been plagued by a fairytale curse for generations. To avoid being sucked into the Sleeping Beauty tale like her mother & grandmother, Loren ( with the help of a few town members turned friends) tries to steer the magic of the curse towards Beauty and the Beast instead!

There are supporting characters to coincidentally fill the roles of the fairytale characters, and the way magic and magical politics are woven into the story is very intricate!

It is clear the author has done due diligence when writing specific details, whether it be on the fairytales themselves, on plant biology or even just her references to things throughout the book!

I found that Loren was easy to relate to, in a few different ways, but especially the trying to please everyone all the time & keep the peace (hello enneagram 9’s lol). But she eventually reaches so much growth in this aspect and takes control of her life/fate.

Towards the end of the book, there was an undertone of being subjected to & trying to reject societal narratives and expectations. I loved that it wasn’t just from the main character either!

Overall, this book was very interesting, slightly tough to navigate in the very beginning, but after that it was like a mystery I had to keep reading to unfold!
Give this a read!!! I can’t wait for book 2 !!

Spell Borne by Auden Llyr is a unique blend of fantasy and contemporary fiction that is sure to delight readers who enjoy stories with a modern twist on classic fairy tales. The protagonist, a graduate student named Jade, finds herself trapped in a small town under a dangerous spell that threatens to turn her into a classic fairy tale princess. The world-building is well done, and the character development is solid, with a strong female lead who is relatable and likable. However, the pacing is slow at times, and some of the plot twists feel predictable. Overall, Spell Borne is an enjoyable read that offers a fresh take on fairy tales and will appeal to fans of both genres.

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 book was gifted to me by NetGallery, all opinions are my own.

DNF @ 30%
Love the cover and idea/concept. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get into the story.

I wanted to love the story. It reminded me of the show Once Upon A Time. But I couldn't connect with the story or characters.

***Thank you to NetGalley and Auden Llyr for graciously sending me the ARC to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

A story about taking fate into one's own hands. A story of resilience and believing in oneself.
This book does need spoilers, as a surviver myself I felt that the SA theme within the book is beautifully done, but it may be triggering for some. The way in which the incident and the aftermath is described is detailed and feels genuine.
The development main character in this story is wonderful, she is resilient without appearing cold. Like many of the characters she has depth and an interesting back story.
The plot was wonderful. I did start to find the idea that princesses must act a certain way, irritating after a while, but just as I was considering giving up, the plot pulled in a new direction, bringing new interest and depth to the story.
The story overall was heartwarming, the themes of friendship and support were wonderfully played out.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys fairytale retellings.

I received this ARC for free from
NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this book because it had so much potential. The story points and aspects were great. I just felt like the world building was lacking it could have used more descriptive scenes, Throughout there was a lot of info dumping at random times I felt could have been presented better. The actually story was great and I enjoyed the MC. I would definitely read more stories set in this world and/or continuing this story line. It was a fun read.

I wanted this book to be so much more than it was. It was a good read, but the world building was a little messy at first. The beginning of the book (prologue and chapter 1) were disjointed from the rest. The book started to get pretty good and I was very interested in Loren’s fairy tale. I wanted to know how it was going to turn out, and I liked seeing the roles each character played throughout. There were several grammatical errors and misspellings that I had a hard time moving past, and the ending felt rushed. I am interested to see where the series goes from here, and I will be picking up the second book!

Loren is supposed to have the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale and at some point she'll sleep for a 100 years, months, days, or seconds just like her ancestors. In order to prevent that from happening she must change her tale and act accordingly as the princess that she chooses to avoid her original tale as Sleeping Beauty. I loved the premise of this and anything Disney, I'm all in, but it fell short for me. I found myself confused majority of the time and the inner dialogue bored me, I found myself skimming most of it. The politics of the Magic was also too much for me, wondering if it could have been explained in a simpler way. The one thing I am most disappointed in is the ending, only because we get all this detail of the politics and the magic and the tales but then when the ending reveals something I found important about Loren's tale it's just point blank, here it is. I wish we got more! This is the first book, so maybe in the second book it will explain it further? This is not a bad book at all, I did enjoy most parts of it just wishing somethings were a little different.

ℕ𝕖𝕥𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
𝒮𝓅ℯ𝓁𝓁 ℬℴ𝓇𝓃ℯ 𝒷𝓎：
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

“𝒮ℴ𝓂ℯ 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓈ℯ𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒪𝓃𝒸ℯ 𝒰𝓅ℴ𝓃 𝒜 𝒯𝒾𝓂ℯ“

ᴀʜʜʜʜ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴅᴏ ɪ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ʙᴇɢɪɴ?!? ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴜᴛɪʟɪᴢᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴅᴇᴘᴛʜ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ sʜᴏᴡs!!

ᴛʜᴇ MCs ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ʜᴀs ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄᴜʀsᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴀ ʙʟᴏᴏʟɪɴᴇ ᴄᴜʀsᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀᴜsᴇs ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴛᴏ ɢᴏ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴏᴡɴ ꜰᴀɪʀʏᴛᴀʟᴇs. ʟᴏʀᴇɴ’s ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ sᴇᴇᴍs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴘʟᴀɢᴜᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ sʟᴇᴇᴘɪɴɢ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴄᴜʀsᴇ ʙᴜᴛ sʜᴇ sᴛʀɪᴠᴇs ᴛɪ ᴛᴜʀɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴅᴇs ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅs ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇᴀsᴛ.

ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇʀ ɴᴇᴡ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅs sʜᴇ ᴛᴀᴋᴇs ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏʟᴇ ᴏꜰ Bᴇʟʟᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴇxᴄɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡ Lᴏʀᴇɴ ᴀʟᴏɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ᴘᴀᴛʜ!

ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀs ᴅᴇᴘᴛʜ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀʏ sᴏ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛᴀʙʟᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇɴᴛʟʏ sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴇᴠᴏʟᴠᴇᴅ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ. ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ Lᴏʀᴇɴs ɪɴɴᴇʀ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀɴʏ ᴛɪᴍᴇs ʟᴀᴜɢʜᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇʀ.

𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝟺.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔! 💜

🅠🅞🅣🅓: 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚕?

#jayjaypjkwreads #thebookishcrew #readingisfundamental #instaread #readallday #readersofinstagram #bookaholic #booksarelife #bookworms #bookaddicts #bookpost #womenwhoread #bookdragon #lovetoread #bookstagram #booknerd #booksofinstagram #bookreview #bookishphotography #readersgonnaread📚 #bibliophile #whatimreading

Definitely check trigger warnings!
Big TW for SA.

This book has such a fun premise and I was so excited to read it!
Some parts of the dialogue early on are a little clunky and could do with some refinement.
(“I can grab a notepad if you will need to draw pictures for me?” I smiled as I said it.)
Seriously though I could not put this book down!!!!
I loved every second, and honestly had to stop myself from pulling an all nighter to finish it.
I really hope the author does more in this series as it’s such a fun, interesting, and unique world.

Spoiler alert:

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I also hope that Loreen’s Dad pulls his head out his a** at some point soon because that was some appalling behaviour!

Synopsis:

Loren believes this semester would be a breeze – merely concentrating on her thesis and attending seminars. Plus, who wouldn’t appreciate spending time in a charming, small hamlet like Lointaine? However, as it turns out, Lointaine is a town right out of a storybook, quite literally. The enchantment that governs the town is resolute in transforming her into a princess – the type that gets hunted by homicidal huntsmen, violated while sleeping, or forced to do chores for their stepsisters. Needless to say, this is not her idea of a good time. The local fairytale expert warns her that trying to dodge the fairy tale is perilous and she can’t afford to take this chance, especially since she’s already in hot water with the authorities.

Trigger Warnings:

Death. Gore. Violence. Sexual Assault. Sexual Violence. (IF YOU ARE A SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVOR I BEG YOU TO TREAD CAUTIOUSLY WHILE READING THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT IS NOT JUST MENTIONED IN MERE PASSING BUT IN VIVID REALISTIC DETAILS)

Thoughts:

My feelings about Spell Borne by Auden Llyr are incredibly conflicted. At times, I found myself deeply engrossed in the plot and the thrilling suspense it offered, while at other times, I felt as if I couldn’t continue reading. First and foremost, the world-building in Spell Borne was absolutely incredible. Auden has a gift for crafting a vivid and enchanting universe with her words, and it truly was a magical experience. I was deeply impressed by the extensive research that Auden had conducted to construct such a well-crafted plot. The incorporation of scientific elements into the storyline was another major highlight for me, and I greatly appreciated her efforts in this regard.

However on a personal level, I found myself questioning the necessity of certain aspects in the story, as I felt that Auden could have explored alternative routes to reach the desired outcome. This is not at all an insult to her writing in any way whatsoever but a thought that crossed my mind many times while I read through. While initially I did appreciate the author taking time to explain all the versions of fairy tales and the dresses and costumes specific to each fairytales, after a certain time, it lost it’s appeal and became burdensome. Even the scientific justifications became dull and felt unnecessary as the story went on as they served no purpose for the story progression.

Another thing I want to address is about the trigger warnings for this book. I believe there should be heavy trigger warnings, especially for rape because as a gang rape survivor who was drugged on a date just like Loren was, the graphically realistic way the author described that specific scene took me right back to that day. I am not sure whether Auden is a sexual assault survivor or whether she took her time to interview a SA survivor and she wanted to bring attention to the brutality that takes place during such a traumatic experience but the details were very real, and the shock and the numbness that comes afterwards they were explained so realistically. So I was extremely torn whether to applaud her or chuck the book out of a window, especially given how it took place was so sudden and unexpected.

Regarding the characters, I found Loren to be an outstanding protagonist, with her unwavering determination and resilience truly captivating me. Similarly, I was quite fond of Connor’s character as well. However, I do feel that there could have been more interactions between Loren and Connor, as his presence seemed to fade away after the first third of the book, making the conclusion feel mechanical and unconvincing. Kella was an exceptional character, and I must admit that I was disappointed with the way Auden handled her absence when Loren needed her the most, without surrounding her with male characters right after her rape. It felt as though she was just a device to satisfy the author’s desire to delve into fashion history.

To conclude my review, like I initially said, I am really torn about this book. I loved it and I hated it. Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, I would. Would I read the next installment? I might not.