This was a 3.5 star book, for me.

I felt that this story was one that began with a seedling of Briar Rose and elements of Sleeping Beauty, but the story grows and twists, much like a wild vine, into something else entirely. The idea of a Wild Wood and ancient gods lurking deep in the forest was one I found very fascinating. The story compelled me forward, progressing at quite a clip and staying the course in a pretty straightforward manner. Where this book lost some higher marks, for me, was a lot of missing backstory. Not more about Seren and Lorne, but more about how the world itself works. I kept reading about Bone Eaters, but what were they? How were these different than Ancients, and why is that their name, anyway? I wanted more about he Lady of the Wilds, and perhaps that is on its way, as the afterword continued sections seem to hint at. All told, I felt this story to be essentially fairly simplistic and likely easy for a younger group of readers (which is great!), though I found myself wanting more from it.

What a fun fantasy read this was!  The worldbuilding, characters, and storyline all come together to create an amazing romp through two kingdoms and enchanted wood.  If you want to escape into a fairy tale for a few hours, this is a great place to start.

Among the Beasts & Briars is my favorite Poston book to date. The characters are ones you easily fall in love with, and the plot keeps you wondering, guessing, and wishing for a happy ending. I loved the uniqueness of the storyline. The way the story was wrapped up in the end had me hoping for a sequel.

Cerys will never be the hero or the princess that gets rescued. She's the daughter of the royal gardener and her place is in the background. When the royal succession did not play out successfully, Cerys is forced to take the lead and save the kingdom. Among the Beast & Briars is a lush dark fantasy fairytale that will have readers hanging on every page. Poston is a masterful storyteller and captures the essence of fairytales in her story. The swap of narratives between Cers and Fox, give the plot a well rounded and solid depth to what is occurring. The relationship between the two and what they have to face individually play well against each other. Allowing for the chemistry and secrets to be discovered organically. While the story mainly focuses on Cerys and Fox, the supporting characters add another layer of dimension and understanding.  There are iconic staples with a darker twist that gives Among the Beast & Briars an adult look at how fairytales can be written and formed for young adult readers. The only short coming is the final climactic scene. It felt rushed and not quite fleshed out. The scene suddenly stops abruptly and causes the story to halt, which was a little jarring.

I am an Ashley Poston fan and was excited to receive an early copy of this book from the publisher. I was initially drawn into by the gorgeous cover and then the description of magic, a curse and an adventure to save a kingdom pulled me in completely.
 
The world building was well done with a rich history that was layered so that pieces unfolded throughout to story. I thought the magic and the curse were interesting and really enjoyed that aspect of the story. I particularly loved Cerys’s magical abilities. Cerys was a brave, caring and blunt heroine who I liked from the beginning. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to connect with the other characters so I didn’t feel as invested until about halfway through. There were also parts where the pacing felt too slow and I found myself losing interest at times. I went into this with high expectations and while it wasn’t quite what I hoped for I’m glad that I stuck with it because I ultimately liked the story and it’s unique twists.

Disclaimer: I got this from @NetGalley. and I am a huge fan of fairytale retellings. This is no exception. If you're a fan of the Once Upon a Con series, then this is a must-read. I'll be posting a more in-depth review closer to the publication date!

This book was such an enchanting breath of fresh air! I loved the simple, charming, utterly delightful fairy tale magic of this book. I loved the journeys of the characters and the ending and couldn't help the smile on my face reading this. I mean, there's an enchanted wood, a gardener's daughter with strange magic, a mysterious fox, a lost prince, a magical bear... What else do you need? Absolute treasure!

Among the Beasts and Briars is the perfect YA book for teens to ease into the YA book genre. It's cute and fast-paced with likeable and solid character arcs. I think I've finally found the perfect book for teens that's appropriate and does not contain erotics (cough cough sarah j mass). For me, it was a good fluff book. I didn't blow my mind and I like that.

This was a very fun book. I liked the world Poston had created and really enjoyed the characters. If you like fairy tales, you'll enjoy this one!

I love this trend of retelling fairy tales and making them appropriate for all types.  These are stories that took us through childhood and it is nice to get them again as an adult. I love that this one is one of the lesser-known tales. While it is obvious after awhile where the story is going to go relationship-wise, I did not care. The journey there was so well done. This book is a must-buy for my shelves (and not just because the cover is so gorgeous either)

Cerys and her father the royal gardener live in the Kingdom of Aloriya. Everything is perfect; there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting but the woods nearby become more and more dark and cursed and forbidden. When Cerys was younger her mother and two friends were taken from her while they were in the woods and that day she received a little bit of the curse in her blood.
When the new queen is crowned things start going terribly wrong and Cerys is now on the hunt to find the Lady of the Wild to save everyone. Cerys will have to go on a journey with a fox that has been her companion to fix everything.
This story started out really well, it was interesting and I wanted to read more. But as you keep on reading it gets a little muddled and the story line slows down. Overall I enjoyed reading it but it wasn't as great as I wanted it to be. I would recommend it for those that enjoy this genre.

"A gardener's daughter with blood that could raise entire forests?" ~ "Among the Beasts & Briars"


This was my most anticipated book of 2020 and it didn't disappoint! I'm still reeling from the perfection of this book. I love this novel's dreamy autumn aesthetic - everything from the beautiful woodland cover to quotes like: "the village was the one I remembered - with its smoky chimneys and brightly covered rooftops and the clock in the town square ringing noon every day, the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls and the high-rising breads from the bakery, the town musician on his fiddle." Who gave this book the right to be so gorgeous?!


An unexpected pleasure of this novel is Cerys and Lorne's dialogue. Their witty and dynamic banter is lovely! Their exchanges were the scenes I lived for. Cerys's chapters were a joy to read; she has such an intelligent, yet a humble way of seeing the world. My favorite line of hers was: "Cryptic undead men were the worst."


As for critiques, I only have one. I didn't like the way Vala's story ended at all...she was one of my favorite characters! However, there is so much to love about this book. I'm kinda curious if the quote, "I nailed my courage to the sticking place" was a "Beauty and the Beast" reference? I'd love it if it was!


This is supposed to be a standalone but the ending really hints at a sequel, so what's up? I'd thoroughly enjoy another book with these whimsical characters! I want to know more about Seren, the Lady of the Wood! Keeping my fingers crossed. Overall I'd recommend this novel to anyone who enjoyed "An Enchantment of Ravens," "A Court of Thorns and Roses," "Poison Study," and the Disney movie "Brave" because Vala reminds me so much of Queen Elinor!

**I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. 

I have mixed emotions here. The book felt fast paced. I enjoyed reading the first few chapters and getting a feel for Fox and Cerys. However, after the first couple chapters, I also felt like it started to drag. Cerys never really seemed to grow for me and I feel like a lot of questions are left unanswered. The ending also came too quickly. It didn't seem like there was any conclusion to the main action. It just sort of...stopped. 

I did enjoy the world building. I could see the wood and the towns that Cerys and Fox described. I just wish the book was a little longer to answer the questions that I have.

It was a sweet, predictable fairy tale re-telling. I knew where everything was going to be going from almost the beginning, which didn't take away too much from the story, but it did make it less of a page-turner. I like our main character Cerys a lot, she was strong, had a cool magic ability and courageous. 
Fox was alright, I liked him a lot more in the beginning, when he had more of the fox mentality. I especially appreciated the romantic aspect, where it was built and not an automatic thing. 
Overall, the beginning was strong and held me captive, but I lost some interest near the end due to predictability and kind of not interested in where it was going. 
Without giving anything away, the ending (epilogue) seemed kind of weak and uninteresting, almost unnecessary in my opinion.

So first off I'm a big fan of the Once Upon a Con series by Ashley Poston. I had also read Heart of Iron, but didn't enjoy that one as much.

I was excited for Among the Beasts & Briars because I feel like Poston shines in the fairy tale realm. I did really enjoy this, the beginning feels like a lush and beautiful new fairy tale. It's a pretty quick read and a fun tale overall. On Goodreads Poston quotes "Far-off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!" and this book has all of those elements and is a fun story. 

However, as the story went on I lost interest a bit. In the beginning I didn't mind the magic or the world building not built up because it truly felt like a fairy tale. Later on, however, I felt that some things were not explained enough. Still an enjoyable book over all, but it is going to change my rating from a 4 to a 3 stars. 

I will also note that there is a tease of a next book at the end and there is a potential for more world building/answers in a future book that might give me what I crave.

This is one of those books where I feel guilty rating it low because I see the potential, and I see how close the author is to making her mark, but still, I can't bring myself to rate any higher because, despite the beautiful cover, the story was lacking in every aspect possible. 

I felt as though I were watching Among the Beasts & Briars unfold from behind a glass wall. I could vaguely see what was happening, but it was of no significance to me. The characters were nothing but names, the plot twist could be seen from a mile away, and the story was so slow that it kept me wondering when the "real" action would begin. But it never did begin, it just dragged on until the very end where I was supposed to feel elated, but instead felt nothing. 

It's not a bad book- it just feels incomplete.

Perhaps because this was an advanced reader's copy, and was not through the final editing, I found the writing to be choppy and simplistic. I love fairy tale retellings and any stories that resemble fairy tales, but this one fell flat for me. The first=person narration of Cerys was overdone. I found the character to be flat and one-dimensional. I did not see any growth in the characters except in a superficial love story. Poston's stories in a more realistic genre are better.

First off, the cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous and I think it will make a lot of people want to pick this book up. 
This wasn't my favorite book of all time but there were lots of aspects of the book I did like. To start, I appreciated the casual LGBTQ representation present in this book – it was never made into a big deal but I liked that the princess was interested in men and women, and that this information was accepted easily by our protagonist. I also enjoyed the atmosphere of the book. I thought that the forest setting was eerie and extremely well done! I was creeped out when the book wanted me to be and thought that the settting worked really nicely with the plot. I also liked Cerys' powers – I thought they were unique and interesting, and the concept of her blood making plants grow tied in nicely to the setting and atmosphere. Cerys was a strong character, and I liked how much she fought to save her friend and village.
One main thing that I didn't like as much about this book was the dual POV. I wish it had stuck with Cerys point of view the whole time instead of switching to Fox, as I found Cerys a much more compelling character to read from. I also thought the book was predictable in a lot of ways, and found the descriptions of the monsters to be hard to picture in my head. Also, while I liked the addition of Vala as a character and thought the backstory on her was interesting, I didn't think it was fleshed out as completely as it could have been.

This book is magical. It reminds me of a less scary version of Uprooted by Naomi Novik. The pacing is wonderful and the magic is awesome. I really like how creative Cerys is with her magic. The bear and Fox are appealing characters as well. I'd definitely recommend this book to those looking for a fantasy adventure story.

Among The Beasts & Briars is for anyone who wants the undead in their fairy tale, some complexity in their fantasy monarchy; who dreams of saplings taking root in their blood. A little bit of romance, facing of fears, running in terror. 

I was engrossed from the first page: the initial descriptions were evocative; the past tragedy is teased just long enough to be intriguing but not so long as to feel like something important was being hidden or ignored. There's a whole lot of world built very quickly and it's very evocative. This has the feeling of a fairy tale from the first line and I love it.

The friendship between Cerys/Daisy and Fox feels tender and genuine, it shows the little things that add up to being a complex but overall great rapport. They share the narration pretty evenly and the handoffs between perspectives feel natural, like it's time for the other one for a bit before switching back. The way Fox is handled felt really good. He’s aware of how he’s changed and he isn’t instantly okay with it. The dysmorphia he experiences can map onto a variety of real-world experiences but the sense of wrongness he describes felt very familiar to me. Now, whether you like the resolution will depend a great deal on what kind of catharsis you’re looking for. For this story, not trying to be an analog for anything, the resolution is amazing, I love everything about it. It fits the characters, it fits the plot, it makes sense and I love what it did. If you’re very invested in one outcome or another for Fox, I don’t know if you’re in the half who will be elated or disappointed.

The story feels very complete, and while I definitely want to find more by this author I'm very content with the time spent here. I think it's just the right amount of attention and emphasis for this narrative. 

CW for body dysmorphia, death.