Crown of Ivy and Glass follows Gemma Ashbourne, the youngest of three sisters and member of an Anointed family tasked with protecting Gallinor against evil magic. Due to her sickness around Magic and being the only family member not in possession of some magic herself, Gemma’s sister Mara is taken in her place at a young age by the Warden to become a Rose warrior, one of the protectors of the Middlemist. For years, Gemma grapples with the guilt she has carried that her sister was taken and not her, as tradition dictates. After a particularly harrowing attack while visiting Mara, Gemma decides to lift everyone’s spirits with a party, using the occasion to also serve as a distraction for the Rose warriors to do their protective work. At the party, Gemma meets Talan, a handsome stranger from another land, and embarks on a new journey of bargains, family feuds, lies, demons, magic, and romance.

Claire Legrand has such a unique way of weaving her stories together, but I found the pacing of this to be much slower than her previous fantasy books. There was also a lot going on and I kept losing track of the different story lines. And while I appreciated the realness of the characters, I often times found myself getting frustrated with Gemma’s lack of maturity. I wanted so much more from her character! I am hopeful that her growth will be more evident in books 2 and 3 of the series.

Overall, Crown of Ivy and Glass was not a bad start, but I have high hopes for the future books in the series.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an audiobook arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first book by Claire Legrand and I didn't find it fit the hype that it was marketed as. Bridgerton meets ACOTAR and all I got was the recency-esque sad sister story of Gemma. The narration was more juvenile than I had expected and didn't find that it fit the adult debut feel. Im not a fan of instant love in books, it gives me the ick and Gemma and Talan's insta attraction/love just made the story die for me. Maybe will come back some day but the tbr is too big to give 20+ hours to this.

3.25/5. Releases 5/9/2023.

Note: I am reviewing the audiobook.

For when you're vibing with... real world issues in a fantasy context (in this case chronic pain), flirty heroines, soft boy heroes (with a twist), and a dash of darkness.

Pretty and vivacious Gemma Ashbourne is the only member of her powerful family without magic--and with a secret even she doesn't fully understand. It doesn't help that her family is embroiled in a blood feud with a rival clan, and she's functionally useless in the conflict. Until the handsome Talan d'Astier, his own family ruined and destroyed by a tragedy years ago, proposes a deal with Gemma. He's after the demon that supposedly began the blood feud--and if Gemma helps him redeem his family's honor, he'll help her stop the conflict. But killing a demon is much more difficult than Gemma even imagined, especially as she's drawn further and further towards Talan....

So--this is Legrand's adult fantasy romance debut, and it's been met with controversy. I didn't hate it; in fact, I'd say I really liked some aspects, where others were more mixed for me. I think she did swing here, and not everything hit. But I'm locked in for the next book... especially if it does what I think it might do.

Quick Takes:
--I actually really like the fantasy world here. Its structure is not too complicated, but it relies on some good, old-fashioned tropes (creepy forest, terrifying children, fairies, demons, power that is a bit on the "be careful what you wish for" side) and there's a nice cultural balance. I like the parties, I love a blood feud, I enjoy the fact that it isn't a flat "everyone is the same everywhere" world. This is where I'll note that I overall enjoyed Evelyn Rose's voice performance, but I'm not completely sure about the accent choice for Talan. However, I do like that there was a choice at all. Whereas Gemma sounds a bit more standard posh-ish British, Talan has a bit of... Mediterranean...? Influence? And then the rival family, the Basks, sound more Northern. It's a nice touch. I buy that these people would have different traditions and approaches to things.

--Gemma is not only unable to perform magic; her body rejects magic around her and causes her immense pain. I really liked this aspect. Her chronic pain isn't easily managed, and despite Gemma being confident of her appeal, flirty, sexually active, all that--she struggles. She hides it. She's ashamed of it. She hates her body because of it. She struggles with suicidal ideation. I just really appreciated this unvarnished look at pain in a fantasy setting.

--This is what I would call a romance, though it is the first book in the series and not everything is resolved at the end. Therefore, the central romance is where I'm going to focus... and I was really back and forth on it. Talan and Gemma are kind of instantly struck by and attracted to each other--I hesitate to call that initial attraction "instalove", but she does fall hard and fast and I know people take issue with that.


In some ways, I actually did appreciate that Gemma fell so quickly, because it does make sense that she's desperate for relief from her pain, not only physically, but emotionally. For reasons I'll be vague about, Talan can help on both fronts, and it's no wonder that she falls so hard. And I will say, I do think that later in the book, we get some payoff for Gemma's heavy emotional investment in him, in a form that I liked quite a bit because DRAMA.

Where I more struggled with this love story initially was... him? Talan is what I would call a soft boy, a beta hero (cinnamon roll.... may be incorrect) and I generally don't warm to a lot of heroes in that vein. He's emotional, he's not super effective in a fight (though he's not ineffective), he's beautiful, he's more of a gentlemanly courtier than a rake. I was not only the Talan Train for a good while, and if you aren't on that train, you may not get Gemma becoming so smitten with him so quickly. I just thought he was kind of a shallow, weak love interest.

However...... While there were still some things that didn't fully come together with Talan's characterization (I feel like Legrand held back in an effort to write A Different Kind of Hero than what people may have expected) I... I don't know, man. He kind of won me over? I think that Talan was so different from what I generally see in these books--not tough enough to be a warrior hero, not mean enough to be a bad boy, not nice enough to be a Morally Righteous Good Choice--that he kind of Stockholm Syndrome'd me into liking him. Though I will admit, a lot of that was because he seemed pretty good in bed. Like, he'd cry, and he'd have a fever, he'd give her three orgasms in a row--in the end, I kind of feel like I was picturing a mixture of "Hozier" and "anime Howl from Howl's Moving Castle" and I... had my quibbles, but I was not... mad.

--This book does have some pacing issues. I'll be real--I know this is a fantasy romance, but it's still a romance at the core, and I personally don't know that many romances need to be over 400 pages. I think this really could've been a cool 400. Cut down some of the supporting cast scenes; snip it down to setting up the next couple, maybe; put more focus on Talan and Gemma's story. There was a whole section where they were separated right after I finally gave up and admitted they'd won me over, and that was a bummer.

--Gemma's dad: hot? Just putting that out there.

--As I said, this is a romance with some loose threads. However, though I would not say there's an HEA--it doesn't stand alone, there are two more books, and by God if you slowly convinced me to root for this fantasy Harry Styles and the woman who loves him, I better fucking get their HEA at the end of the trilogy--I think we've really gone as far as we can go with the romantic arc for Talan and Gemma. They're in love, I don't think they need any more internal threats (external threats are another thing) and as long as I see them happy in the end of the series, I'm good. I don't know what Legrand's plan is for the other two books. Gemma has two sisters, though, both of whom get pagetime that makes me feel like I understand their general internal conflicts. I feel like there are two ways in which the next book could go with a new love story. And I'm really hoping she takes the way that I felt was teased kind of heavily in this novel. But either way, I guess I'm reading the next one, so as much as I did have real issues here... she won? I guess that's all that matters.

--This book does have what I think of as first book syndrome, which is another reason why I hope Legrand focuses on other couples next, though I did end up liking Talan and Gemma. It feels like she took the path of least resistance with the first couple in her romance series--which is what I see so often in romance series. So I'm hoping that the next two really expand on this world, and offer two more couples, both of which are heavier in terms of like... I don't know. Internal conflict? Progression? Gemma and Talan really did give me "young love", and I'll go with that for a first book, but I need more for the next two.

The Sex Stuff:
And here's where Talan won me over! (And in another way, but that's a whole thing.) I really liked the sex in this book. It's not super sexy heavy, but the sex is pretty explicit. From what I recall, there's at least one good ol' d'Astier fingerbang, a dry humping scene (which ends so hilariously that I did in fact squawk) and three full scenes with the whole shebang. Talan goes down a lot, which is good, because I don't know if he's good at life in general otherwise! Generally, though, the sex did feel very "aww, these two crazy kids", and I appreciated that it was in many ways a distraction from how much Gemma's life sucked. Sure, there are curses and shit, but if Talan is gonna fuck you facedown into the mattress, you can check out of all that for a minute. On that note! Talan is totally one of those soft boys who's like "and now I'm gonna tear it up", which I did tip my hat to.

A mixed bag, yes. But I am intrigued by the series, and I was entertained. For me, a book being messy but interesting is a lesser sin compared to a book being more even but boring. It had rough patches. However, I think there is a very real potential for a stronger second installment. I'll be waiting.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with a copy of this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks are an eARC and audio copy of A Crown of Ivy and Glass!

I had a very difficult time getting into this book. It took me forever to read. I've liked some of Legrand's other titles, but even in the Empirium trilogy I found the main character really annoying. I appreciate what she tried to do with chronic and mental illness, unfortunately most of the time it came across as disingenuous. This was Legrand's first Adult Fantasy book. However, I don't feel like Gemma was mature enough and the narrative reads like YA. The love interest was boring. And the relationship was very insta-love. My eyes were literally rolling with their first interaction. The marketing on this book is really strange. I don't understand why every female written fantasy book needs to be compared to ACOTAR. It's okay if a book is it's own thing. Just because there is magic and romance, does not mean it has to be SJM adjacent. I do not recommend this. I think this book needed to go through another round of editing.

3.25/5

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Gemma is not a likeable heroine. She is shallow and vapid. It makes it so difficult to be compassionate towards her and everything she goes through.
There was not one moment in this book where I trusted Talan. Even once we knew the truth of his past, I still was wary of him.
The romance between Gemma and Talan seemed flat. It was completely based on physical attraction instead of any deeper connection.
I really wanted to like this book. The plot was interesting and the writing was beautiful but the characters just didn't hold up. The book was also entirely longer than it needed to be.

📚What I enjoyed. This book definitely has an interesting premise. I like the portrayal of inner conflict within Gemma as well as the frankness used to describe her chronic pain and anxiety. Gemma is very vain which is not often prominent in a main character but allows lots of room for character growth. I really enjoyed the world building and the magic system. I think it has potential to be a great book series as the first half of the book was pleasant! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 The second half of the book took a turn. Personally I felt that the sexual content felt forced, out of place, and unnecessary. Also the story tended to drag on in many instances and takes some strange turns. Overall it wasn’t cohesive but as I said the potential is there. It has ACOTAR vibes which many people love so if this all sounds good to you go for it!

🎧Now onto the narration which was, in my opinion, excellent. The dialogue and range of voice was great. The production was seamless. As somebody with a TBI, who has to rely heavily on audiobooks and text to speech technology, I must say the audiobook itself was very well done!

🔔Contains: self harm, sexual content, chronic illness, violence, and anxiety

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Dreamscape for this audiobook ARC

#ACrownofIvyandGlass #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel and now the audiobook. The book is excellent, especially if you enjoy fantasy novels. Claire Legrand has a way of making you feel a part of the world building, as if you are there.

There have been a lot of rough reviews for this book…and the ones I’ve read aren’t wrong, but I think there is a future in this series if the problems are fixed in the sequels.

It starts slow with a lot of world building and character introductions, which is okay and expected! One thing I really liked was that the main character, Gemma, was allergic to magic in a world full of magic. It was a nice touch. I’m not sure I’ve seen that before, and I found it intriguing. Another positive was a well done “twist” about 3/4 through, but I won’t mention specifics because of spoilers. One last positive for this book were the characters of Farran, Gareth, and Ryder. I definitely hope to see more of them in the sequels.

Unfortunately, there were several things I didn’t enjoy. First, while I appreciate the attempt to include this very real side of mental illness, in my personal opinion, the self-harm storyline was not handled well. I won’t go into reasons why for spoilers sake. Second, the immense pain Gemma feels seemed to come and go with no good reason (she is always near magic and thus should always be in pain), I’d rather read about her masking that pain instead of it just coming and going. I loved that she wasn’t whining or complaining, as well as her reaction to Talon’s magic, but SHOW us her masking. There is no way she was not masking her entire life. Third, the writing felt far more YA, and I was surprised to see this was an adult romantasy (at least until it became obvious). There are more, but I’ve seen enough reviews covering those topics that I don’t feel the need to rehash them here.

I don’t like writing negative reviews, I truly don’t, but I also feel like I need to be honest. I loved this authors Empirium series and have hope the issues in this first book will be fixed in the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an arc of this audiobook. I apologize if misspelled any names or locations, I read this via the audio narration. Thanks to narrator Evelyn Rose.

I was given an Arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted an advanced copy of this book so bad, but once I got it I was so disappointed!

This is supposed to be an adult book but the entire thing felt like it was written like a YA with a tiny touch of spice. That’s not a huge problem for me because I enjoy YA but I absolutely couldn’t stand the main character! She was obnoxious and bratty and spoiled! There was absolutely nothing likable about her. She keeps talking about changing but she never does.

This being said it made this very hard to read! This book did not live up to my expectations. I thought there would be more action but I felt like we spent the whole book following Gemma on her spoiled little excursions which half of them felt like they had no purpose towards the plot.

This one definitely fell flat for me!

DNF after two chapters.

I was really excited about this one, as I have really loved some of the author's other work. Unfortunately, this did not work for me. I found the writing to be too juvenile for an adult novel, the FMC to be immature and vain, and struggled to take the audiobook narrator's masculine voice seriously.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review,