DNF 21%

I can’t explain how I feel about this book because I have no idea what the heck is going on. I’m completely lost in a dark maze with no sense of direction. It is weird how the writing is descriptive and yet vague. There is a lot of contemporary teenage chit chat then something about dreams, a ring and magical powers. First chapter was intriguing and love the cover but that’s all I liked. Like what is the purpose of everything? I’m always asking why? What is the connection? I don’t want to spend time trying to figure it out.

*Received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you for the arc!

This did end up as a DNF for me sadly! I adore the premise of this story but I really struggled to get into. I may give it another go in future but for now I can’t continue with it.

I liked the story, the premise was quite interesting and it kept me going forward. It was a bit hard to get into the story, but still I enjoyed it.

Being honest I DNF'd this book after reading 12 chapters.

The first chapter of the book completely threw me off. It starts with a scene where the reader has no idea what is happening and who the characters are but we keep reading thinking we'll find out more in the later chapters. But in Chapter 2 its a completely different person's pov. I guess the first chapter being confusing and slightly mysterious makes the reader want to read more to find out what was actually happening and how it was actually happening. But I felt like in the 10 or so chapters I read I couldn't really get a clear picture. I honestly couldn't get a clear picture of the magical "world" itself, describing the powers, history, people, etc.

Maybe that's my fault and I should have kept reading. Maybe it's my fault for reading this book and I wasn't feeling it at the time (I'm a mood reader so sometimes I want to read one thing, I start to read the book and find out I never wanted to read it in the first place).

If I ever go back to this book and attempt to read it again I will write a new review. But for now, this is all I can contribute.

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book needed some more work. I felt horribly lost through most of it and finally gave up towards the 40% part and just called it quits. This one was a mash of things that didn't matter and story lines that just didn't full fleshed out.

"The Prophet's Gambit" is the first book of a fantasy romance series, written by Ellie Evaris and currently in progress.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, the gorgeous cover and the captivating title. In theory, it seemed to have all the right cards to please me, which is why I started the journey with rather high expectations. However, from the very first pages, I sensed a wobbly and confusing development, which worsened during the narration. Unfortunately, I was not able to appreciate it and in the end it left me deeply dissatisfied.

The writing seemed choppy, chaotic, and vague to me. I found the descriptions nebulous, the dialogues rather absurd, and a general coldness. I don't know, the prose conveyed nothing to me except boredom and confusion. I did not feel the least bit involved,remaining mostly indifferent. The style, in my opinion excessively twisted, negatively affected the pace, making it exasperatingly slow. The chapters seemed to me to be endlessly long, provoking me with repeated frustration hits.

The story seemed superficial and deeply chaotic to me. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it gave me the impression of being a collage of randomly inserted pieces. On more than one occasion I had to read and reread certain scenes because I could not understand the connection. And in the end, I often didn't get it anyway. Okay, as it goes on maybe it gets a little better, but that does not erase the presence of little explanation or events clearly forced for reasons of convenience. The combination of these elements, as a consequence, prevented me from connecting and getting passionate about the story.

The characters, main and secondary, all seemed flat to me. The presence of several povs, in third person, in my opinion brings no benefit. I felt no characterization, no deepening, no feeling. It's a shame, because some of them had a lot of potential. Not only did I fail to get passionate about them, but even remained indifferent to their fates, to the romance that develops.

All in all, I found it to be a read with interesting premises, but with a poor development, which unfortunately I do not recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hidden Grove Books for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

To be honest I couldn't really get into the story... I had liked the cover and the title a little too much, so I think my expectations were a little sky high from the beginning. I'm sure it deserves a second read, but until then I will try to real a little different genres😊
Thanks for the author and net galley for the Arc! ♥

Not going to lie, the first two chapters made me very confused. I understan that the idea was to get an attention gripping first chapter but I honestly thought I was missing pages when I started reading. I liked the overall concept that the book was trying to tell but the story felt very jumbled up and made it confusing to follow, the characters felt quite flat for my taste and I understand that the author was trying to create tension between the two love interests to create a triangle drama but I just wasn't buying it.

4.5⭐️ rounded up.

Wow. I’m so pleasantly surprised and in love with these characters. The unique storyline & magic system, the multi POV, the burn so slow but so good. I can’t wait to see where this world leads. This book should be on your radar if you enjoy:

YA Fantasy Romance
Academia Settings,
Found Family,
Slow Burn,
Hidden Worlds,
Ancient Magic & Lore,
Magical Realism but also High Fantasy Touches
Discovery of Power.

This one will be sticking with me and I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy for my forever shelf. Ellie Evaris is officially on my list of authors I’d insta-read.

I received a free copy of this book from net galley in exchange for an honest review.

<spoiler>
LOCHLEN MY DARK TAROT PRINCE IM ROOTING FOR YOU AND I LOVE YOU 🃏🥺🥀🖤</spoiler>

I recieved a free e-arc through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.

I give this a 2.5/5. Underwhelming. The blurb for the book makes it exciting with magic and maybe a love triangle. But what I gathered from this book is teenage bickering with a dash of let's solve a mystery. It is very character analysis and inner drama and the plot is a back burner in this book. And the multiple povs seem to throw off the vibe of the book. It's a fun concept of a book but it didn't hit the mark. I got thrown off by random events happening that really did nothing for characters or plot direction it was just extra pages. I feel like I read the book and learned nothing about the characters and the confusing tier system of their magic. It probably will be explained more in book 2 but it kept being a random new note and this dream obsession mentioned in the blurb maybe lasted the first few chapters of the book and never again. It's very meh book that has a great outline with the blurb but never hit the mark.

This book… is going to be everyone’s next obsession. Like fourth wing level world building!! The magic system is really unique and I love the tension between ring havers and non ring havers. It creates a really interesting dynamic where magic havers aren’t only hated by non magic havers but also by those who can’t fulfill their magic with a ring which is an interesting dynamic. I loved the tension between Lochlan and Alis and his antihero attitude. The group of friends Alis finds will absolutely melt your hear. And this book had a top tier mystery about how Alis’ parents truly died (not a car accident after all it seems) that kept me very engaged. (Plus Lochlan in that scene placing the flowers made me cry.) This is one of my favorite books I read all year. Thanks so much for letting me review it!!

this book had a great premise but unfortunately this was all there was to this story. the plot was confusing, the characters as well, there were so many unnecessary subplots and scenes and the dialogues sounded extremely weird to me. the reasons why things were happening were unclear to me until maybe the 60% mark but not in a mysterious way where the characters are trying to figure out why, rather in a “we need the plot to move on so here’s some action”. our characters were extremely surface level, we never explored their emotions, motives and pasts at all, they really felt like 2d cartoons to me. finally, there was no world building or explanation as too how the magic system worked which , again, made this whole story confusing. 1.5⭐️

Title: The Prophets Gambit
Author: Ellie Evaris
Publisher: Hidden Grove Books
Publishing Date: October 17, 2023
Pages: 352
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, YA
Rating: ☆☆

Overall, okay… The book has a good idea, but poor execution. The synopsis sounds lovely and the cover is intriguing, but the story fell flat.
I found the story to be somewhat confusing for most of the book and the pacing was not very good. I thought about DNFing, but because the book was under 400 pages, I figured it may go somewhere and I would tough it out…
I don’t necessarily know exactly what I didn’t like or what turned me off, but the story definitely needed more world building to immerse the reader, and just generally more work building the story and the characters to really captivate the reader. It felt too thrown together?
Again, The book has a good idea, but poor execution.
I wouldn’t recommend, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hidden Grove Books for sending this book for review consideration! All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the world-building. It is unique and intriguing. I liked the writing style.I did have some trouble getting into the story. It was all very confusing at the beginning and I kept wondering what was going but I don't regret going on with it. The storyline is quite enchanting. I loved all of the characters They all have their imperfections which makes it all the more engaging and they are easy to connect with It's adventurous and magical. Certain things still don't make any sense but I'm hoping the next book would clear that up. I'd definitely be reading the next books to see where it goes

The Prophet's Gambit by takes readers on a captivating journey filled with dreams, secrets, and a hidden realm. The story revolves around seventeen-year-old Aris, whose fascination with dreams leads her to discover her extraordinary abilities and a destiny intertwined with a forgotten realm called Krysidia.

One of the strengths of this novel lies in the author's ability to create a mysterious and alluring atmosphere. The concept of dreams and their significance in the plot is intriguing, and it keeps readers engaged from start to finish. The chemistry between Aris and Alek, with his golden eyes and enigmatic personality, adds an element of romance and tension that heightens the stakes.

However, one area where the story falls short is in its pacing. Some chapters feel unnecessary and drag down the overall plot progression. While they may provide additional insight into the characters or the world, they detract from the main storyline, leaving readers eager to return to the central conflict and the quest to find Krysidia.

Additionally, the character development, though adequate, could have been more nuanced. Aris, as the protagonist, undergoes significant growth, but other characters could have benefited from more depth and backstory to enhance their motivations and relationships.

Despite these flaws, The Prophet's Gambit remains an enjoyable read. The author's imaginative world-building and the central mystery surrounding Krysidia create a sense of wonder and intrigue that will captivate readers who enjoy young adult fantasy. With a stronger focus on pacing and character development, this book could have reached even greater heights.

Overall, The Prophet's Gambit offers a thrilling adventure into a world of dreams and prophecies, with enough twists and turns to keep readers engaged until the very end.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this arc.

3.5 stars / 5 stars

Things I loved:
Loved the characters and the storyline.
World building was great.
Things I didn’t love:
First chapter could have been a little better to help drawn in the reader.
A little confusing at times.

Excited to see where this story goes.

Thank you Net Galley and Hidden Grove Books for providing me with a copy of this book for a honest review.

“The Prophet’s Gambit” follows Aris a girl with dreams she can’t remember and that doesn’t really fit in with her peers. One day she meets Alek and all his friends. They make Aris discover the truth behind her parents accident, herself and her dreams. Will Aris and her new friends be able to save their world?

Aris was quite a good main characters I wasn’t a big fan of her, but she wasn’t terrible to be into her head. The side characters were also quite good as well, especially the siblings.

The world building was super interesting, the tarot cards and dream based world were super unique and interesting and it made me want to know more.

The ending was great, although the final page was crazy to read, but definitely pulled me in into finding out what happens next.

I recommend this if you’re into found family, enchanting world building.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to both read and listen to the audiobook for this story.

I would recommend listening to the story and referring back to the ebook later. It's how I experienced it and felt like I enjoyed it more that way. It's a cute story with an interesting concept and would happily read the next installments.

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me. I got to 40% but I'm just not taking to the characters at all and the first few chapters inside dreams had been hard for me to get through as I wasn't hooked right away and didn't enjoy those chapters.

The book started looking up, for me personally, once the dreams were over but I feel like not a lot actually has happened so far and it feel strange we seen interactions with Aris and her friends a lot throughout but they mentioned her sister in one scene and they didn't even seem to acknowledge each other.

I do think the writing is good and I feel like people I know would like this but it's just not for me unfortunately and I can't motivate myself to keep reading. If I ever decide to revisit then I'll edit my review to update my thoughts.

2.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Hidden Grove Books and the author for the review copy, provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

The world building and character development needs refinement. Some concepts and characters are thrown at the reader without giving proper context or explanation. Leaving massive gaps in the story and character behavior. Ended on a cliffhanger without providing any answers to the questions posed in this book. However, now that some of the world building and character introductions are out of the way the rest of the books in the series may not have these same faults.

Love Triangle
Found Family
Paranormal
Quest