This book surprised me with its engaging pace and unique magic system. While it started slow, it quickly picked up, offering a well-executed love triangle and addressing dark themes, though potentially triggering. The cliffhanger ending left me eagerly anticipating the next installment. However, the story fell flat, with confusing character motivations and unresolved plotlines. Despite this, the unexpected love interest, political intrigue, and tension between characters added depth. Overall, a quick and enjoyable read with room for improvement in character development and world-building.

This book was confusing and intresting at the same time. I enjoyed the main character, I liked her empathy but I felt she lost it as she slowly seemed to forget why she was in the palace at all. The other characters were quite intresting but they really switched up their personalities at random points so it didn't feel very realistic.

The idea of her revenge plot really interested me and it was disappointing when this slowly tapered off and we were left with her mess of a plan. I don't understand her magic, though I suppose she doesn't either and the elements of history were intresting but SOOO info dumpy it made it hard to fully pay attention.

It was a great concept and I think it needed better plotting, and editing. (there were a lot of issues with speech marks that I found annoying) The Cerise is an intresting idea in need of a better execution and a more consistent storyline.

3.5/5

Overall I enjoyed the story and thought it was an interesting plot. It did seem very rushed though and I wish it had been longer with the storyline better developed. Some of the choices the main character main were confusing and I think the fast pace of the story contributed to that. I will be reading the next book but I hope it isn't as rushed and there's better character development.

Thank you netgalley for the arc.

I loooooovee the prose in this book. It was like reading poetry chapter after chapter. The nickname “little bird” was so swoon worthy. The writing was very enjoyable and fantastical . I will say that it started extremely slow and took me a moment to get into but once the plot picks up I couldn’t put it down. My only other issue was the love triangle. I hate love triangles. But I will say the author did a great job of making both love interests likeable.

The fantasy novel receives a 3 star review for its imaginative world-building and intriguing premise, yet its execution falls short. The author crafts an immersive realm filled with mystical creatures and magical elements that spark the reader's curiosity. However, the convoluted plot overwhelms at times, with too many characters introduced too quickly without proper development. While the protagonist's quest to overcome a dark force threatening the land provides an epic backdrop, the stakes feel diminished by the confusing and slow-moving storytelling. The villain lacks nuance, coming across as generically evil. Still, the richly described setting and sprinkles of clever humor offer glimmers of enjoyment for fantasy fans willing to overlook the narrative shortcomings. With tighter plotting and characterization, this concept and setting could have transported readers; instead, the execution hampers its potential. The novel ends up a mixed bag with inspired world-crafting weighed down by haphazard storytelling. Overall, it shows promise but misses the mark for a truly engaging fantasy adventure to me.Personally the world building seemed to take more of a priority, in this first installment. I would definitely be interested to read another to see the development with the situation and characters.
Thank you Net Gallery for the opportunity to be an ARC reader and posting my honest opinions.

I didn't the like the first half of the book at all. The story didn't make any sense to me and there was almost no worldbuilding in the beginning, then you finally got a few explanations towards the end.
Reading the first words, you immediately got thrown into the story. I really thought at first that it's a sequel and I missed something, but no, suprisingly not.
Most of the book was sadly quite uninteresting and the FMC's emotions and feelings were barely described. The love interests were alright.

2 ☆ stars

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

2.5 stars rounded up.

Khiara Hargrove has almost completed seeking revenge against the soldiers who killed her family. Using her powers as a magical, but highly treasonous, red haired Cerise (witch), she has tracked down Graves, the last soldier she has yet to kill.

“My hair makes me something unholy.
A daughter of legend.
A monster to be feared.
And killed.”

But when things don’t go according to plan and her childhood friend becomes cursed and subsequently taken to the castle dungeon, Khiara is forced to enter the Culling. This competition for the handsome prince’s proposal will get her into the castle to save her friend, but at what cost? Khiara must hide her identity as Cerise as she becomes entangled in unexpected love affairs and dangerous politics, all with her greatest enemy lurking in her midst.

“I’d rather see the teeth of my enemy than be stabbed in the back by their knife.”

This was a fun read! Very much a popcorn book, perfect for turning off your brain and just going along for the ride.

I do wish it was given another round of editing to smooth a couple things out. The story was set in a fantastical, fairy tale kingdom, yet there were several anachronisms that ruined the immersion- off hand references to photographs and refrigerators, as well as phrases like “mean-girl vibes” and “let’s be real.”

The pacing was also very strange, with the entire book taking place in about a week. Even worse, the first half of the book is just two days, which gives the story a sort of off balance feeling. While each scene is entertaining, things happen often because the plot says so, with many sequences overly convenient and heavily plot armored.

The romances- because at the end of the day, this is a romance- were actually baffling for me. This book is a love triangle (Love pyramid? Love asterisk?) between the three male leads and Khiara. I had no idea what to expect at any point between them. There is definitely fun banter and tension in this book! And I enjoyed it! But each relationship seemed to swing from enemies-to-lovers to friends to major-red-flags to soulmates, on repeat, at random. Again, this was dictated more because the plot demanded it than actual reason or change between the characters, but I digress.

“This is my chance.
My one shot to make people see me as more than a feared Cerise.”

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the sequel, as this book ends with an intense cliffhanger and plenty of loose threads to keep readers guessing. I would recommend this for fans of the burgeoning romantasy genre, and for readers who enjoyed King of Battle and Blood and These Hollow Vows.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 stars
🌶️🌶️ spice

What an epic cliffhanger?!? I’m going to be in despair until I find out what happens, that was not how I expected the book to end!

I was very into the way these main characters were developed - they leaned away from stereotypes, there was room for grey area. You’re left not knowing who you can fully trust and where it’s going, which makes for an exciting reading experience. Not to mention having two love interests! This was seriously giving Dorian, Chaol and Celaena vibes.

Without giving any spoilers, I did see that identity reveal coming as soon as an alternate name was mentioned. One is a nickname for the other so I do wish it had been something completely different to make the reveal more impactful.

I do wish the book was slightly longer so there was space for some more world building. The plot focused on a few key moments and avoided big info dumps, which I appreciated in a first installment of a fantasy series. Not a whole lot happened, it wasn’t plot dense, but I feel as though it’s setting up for a larger story arc to come. I really enjoyed this book far more than I expected, a great start to a new series and will definitely be continuing this one.

Tropes:
🗡️Marriage Trials
🗡️Forbidden Romance
🗡️Secret Identities
🗡️Two MMCs (not really a love triangle though)
🗡️Enemies (ish) to Lovers

I liked the magic, romance, plot and characters! This was a good one! It was super fast paced for me. I really enjoyed it! Definately recommend!

Thank you for the ARC!

3.5

I really like the premise of the series thus far; witches and hunters and magic! I’m loving Khiara she’s very strong and opinionated and the lore of the world is very interesting and can’t wait to learn more. There does seem to be some type of potential love triangle and hm not really into that but I’m excited to see what happens with one love interest specifically. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

I received an ARC from Netgalley

To say this book confused me but had me gripped is an understatement. This book moved in such a fast pace for only taking place in a week. At times I felt it hard to keep up with what was happening and if anything I feel I am left with more questions than I started with.
However, will I be reading the second book? Definitely

This book originally started out slow so I was a bit skeptical, there also was not a lot of spice for my preference at the moment. Overall though, I believe it was well written and was a quick nice little read. I am looking forward to the next one!

I definitely did not think I would enjoy the book as much as I did. The romance was confusing, I could not decide who I wanted the female lead to end up with. The story in all had a lot of random things happening and random characters appearing, I hope the sequel will make it make more sense. The cliffhanger the book ended on made me want more as soon as possible.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and BooksGoSocial for the ARC of this book.

With a lot of buzz going around in Instagram about this book, I set myself up for a nice, weekend read about how a witch--or how Bailey coined it: Cerise--would inevitably take revenge for her dead family... While also adding in some of the elements from the very famous The Selection series. I now realize it must have been the love triangle and nothing more.

First, my greatest pet peeve in romantasy books that I discovered years ago while reading From Blood And Ash: using modern terms in an otherwise medieval setting. I'm really having a hard time imagining "mindfuck" is a word coined in a time when there is no electricity and people killed women for being witches. That, and "bills" (in the context of paying one's bills like electricity, water, heater, whatever). Did people in the medieval era have a corrupt government and ridiculously high cost of living too? Must have been because of a certain pandemic. Needless to say it took me out SO MUCH when I was reading.

Second, the FMC. I liked her so much until I didn't. Khiara advocated for women and their rights. She's a no-nonsense kinda gal that would stab you if you breathed wrong in her direction.

She also had a traumatic experience (I could only assume the R word, but I won't ever find out now) that made her so aversed to touch and intimacy, particularly a man's penis, and coitus. As quoted from the book:

"I don’t like when men look at me because looking leads to touching and touching leads to sex, and that will never happen. I’ve experienced one penis in my life. One horribly crooked, purple-veined monster that was disgusting enough to make me never want a thing like that near me again."

Understandable. As someone who had experienced SA in her early years of existing, I'm finally finding something we have in common... Until the contradictions happened.

Khiara DOES NOT like being stared or looked at by the opposite sex. Even if it's her self-proclaimed best friend, Ezra. Quoted from the book again:

"Ezra's dark gaze sweeps over my body approvingly and lingers on my exposed legs longer than any of my other assets. His hungry eyes make my skin crawl. I have to resist the urge to hug myself because that look, the one that says I'm a prize no other can have , reminds me of Graves."

There are similar things she has told us as well, such as feeling sick when being touched, shying away from romance and love because she's meant to die (or she assumes there is a risk) during her revenge.

But then she gives us THIS.

"I swivel, purposefully pressing my ass into Ezra’s lap, and shift to where he is the sole object of my attention. I drape one arm around him, mimicking what I saw Sage do with Harrison earlier, and play with the little black curls at his collar."

Whatever happened to feeling sick? Nevermind that she had to pretend to like and pet him, or else her cover is blown, because 2 paragraphs later she becomes "too feisty" by talking back to them and blows her cover anyway. No, she did this because she is "angry":

"I cross my legs at the knees , left over the right, so that my skirt exposes the freckles of my thigh while concealing the dagger and strap I am hiding. I should stop here and not tease Ezra with what he’ll never have, but I’m angry , and I want him to feel my frustration."

I got whiplash. Who are you, Khiara? What do you really stand for?

And did I mention right before this happened, she met a scarred and handsome man in the woods? She didn't even cringe when he touched or flirted with her because, well, according to our FMC, he's "HAWWWWT 🥴":

"I turn too quickly and step on the hem of my cloak. Embarrassment has my cheeks flushing red as I realize I’m going to fall, but before I can kiss the ground, a strong hand steadies me and pulls me close. “Are you alright?”the man asks, his breath a warm whisper on my skin. My heart flutters and an annoying heat paints my face a new shade of red. I don’t know what’s happening or why I feel this way. I want this man to touch me. Anywhere. Everywhere. Which is the opposite of how I usually react to someone being this close. “Yeah, thanks.”"

GOOD GOD. I can't help but feel like she's belittling her traumatic experience. Like she's some kind of liar, or the author just put it there for ✨ a dark past ✨ trope.

At this point, I stopped taking the story seriously until around the 50th page? Then I DNF'ed. I just couldn't stand another moment with her. And if she's going to be with me for the next 240 pages, I'd rather stare at the clock for the duration of my read.

The Cerise is a book that really reminds me of The Selection, as the description said. I didn't expect it to go that way at first, since the FMC is on a mission. To kill the man that destroyed her family and took everything for her (btw, you may want to check the TWs).

While the book is fast paced, I didn't feel like the characters were plain. Instead she has an interesting past that was heavy influenced by her mother (and I hope we get more about that), complex relationships (and while she's a loyal friend, we get a love triangle) and all in all, she's a badass Cerise, which is some sort of witch.

I still have many questions left unanswered, but the next book is the perfect opportunity to get some answers, and while they are shrouded in mystery, it feels very intentional.

Maybe I’ve just oversaturated myself with romantasy lately?

I didn’t realise that this would end in an odd love triangle-esque romance, that’s on me. I wish we’d leave this trope in the 2000’s ya dystopian phase.

Overall this was a little slow paced and left me a little disappointed. Khiara was just not as badass as described? An assassin who doesn’t really assassinate? I prefer to be shown rather than just told.

I... am not sure. My feelings about this book are complicated. I like it, in some moments, but I hated and skipped about probably no less then 20% of the book. I think I also know in which direction this series is headed and even though I wasn't enamored by it, I will probably continue reading the next books.

Omg wow!! Ok I was skeptical about this in the first quarter of the book but, it really finds it's footing! The world building is really interesting and the political aspects add a lot of complexity to the plot and romance. I really enjoyed the magic portion and how it was explained like a web that Khiara controls at will. Riot was %100 my favorite character. I love a good grumpy soldier! I think what I didn't enjoy was how indecisive Khiara was. The whole first third of the book her emotions and intentions changed so often I couldn't keep track. This pretty much stabilized after like page 70 but it made the book hard to get into. I will be reading more after that sick ending!

I can't quite wrap my feelings around this book. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Was I invested in the story and the world? Yes. Did I like the MC? No, I don't think I did. Did I expect a love triangle? Nope, not at all.

Ok, to be fair, it wasn't really a love triangle, but it also was at the same time, and I really don't enjoy them personally. The MC's constant contrasting thoughts left me boggled and gave me whip lash with how quickly she says one thing, then goes and does another thing or feels another thing. I definitely feel like this first book would be better without the spell (no spoilers here) and would have made the MC more enjoyable to read and without the warring thoughts and actions. I even believe that even if the spell was included that it could have been dealt with early on and wouldn't have become the main focus. However, if my suspicions are correct for how the love triangle is going to go and play out in future books, I understand why it's there and played out this way, but personally, I'm not sure how much I'm going to: a, be shocked by its predictability (obviously); and b, find it a suitable motivation for the paths it could lead certain people down. Either way, I'll have to continue reading the series once the next books come out to see if I'm correct and where the "love triangle" is heading.

I loved the world that was created in this book and the underlying secrets and history that were teased and waiting to be discovered in the next book/s. At times it did feel a little jumpy, but I boil that down to the MC's voice for this. When I think back on the book, not a lot actually happened plot wise, but it was great as a lead up and a warmer to get into the series and the intricate world that has been created. I do wonder what the time period is that this book is centered around, because they've got light switches, but also have carriages? I know it's fantasy and can technically be both modern and olden technology, but it's not very present so little things like this stick out as a curiosity.

Despite my issues with the MC and the "love triangle", I really enjoyed the book and wanted to keep reading to find out more about the world, about her powers, the history and the rest of the plot points that were introduced.

If you're a fan of love triangles, I definitely recommend this book, as personal preferences will make it a more enjoyable read on top of the great story and world building.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC.

I was originally drawn in to the story because I the synopsis sounded like something I would like. I’m a huge fan of romantasy books. It had a lot of my favorite tropes! I liked the characters a lot and can’t wait to see if there’s a second book.