Unfortunately, I struggled with this one. I found the characters a little 2D and did not manage to get much further than 50 pages into the book as the world did not feel very realistic and it all felt a little disjointed to me. This could simply be because, for me, this was not the right sort of read. I imagine people who really enjoy Sci Fi YA type reads may enjoy this, but for me it just did not work and I could not persevere on with something I just really do not gel with at all and find unrealistic. I do hope there are others who enjoy it.

4/5 stars. Thank you to Victoria editing for sending me this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book follows Kenna and Megan who are best friends. They are finishing college right when some strange things begin to happen. Meegan has a secret, Kenna is given a strange gift and their friend Darci has a secret too. 

This book was really well written, the development of the characters and plot were well paced and I couldn’t put it down . The multiple povs made it even better. The themes of found family and bond of friendships and space and swords instantly made me love this book. I would Definitely reccomend.

Firstly, the cover - beautiful!!!! The navy and the gold are just stunning together.

When a mysterious necklace turns up at Kenna’s door, we are thrown into the story very quickly which was a nice change to slow burners.
However, this ended up being a lot more sci-fi compared to fantasy. 

However, once the story was fully underway, it was hard to put down. I loved the multiple points of view and it really helped to build the picture in my mind of what was happening. 

I’d absolutely recommend to those who love a contemporary book and also love Sci-Fi.

ARC from NetGalley

2.5 stars

I went into this expecting fantasy and got sci-fi. I don't dislike sci-fi, but I need to be in the mood. This book features characters who are all at least in their early 20s. Still, it reads as incredibly juvenile. Everyone acts as if they are 16. There is some romance, but not much, and what exists isn't really terribly riveting. This book is the first in a series, and it reads as such. The entire book is essentially a set-up for what comes next. There is no character growth. The plot was okay but iffy in spots where I found myself rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. It wasn't badly written just really young leaning and most definitely sci-fi. Aliens, strange tech, space travel, sci-fucking-fi.

Thank you NetGalley, Tractor Beam Publishing and Kimberly Grimes for an ARC of Isoldesse in return for an honest review.

Wow!  This book is incredible!  

The first few chapters were difficult as there is a lot of information to get through in order to develop the world, the characters and the plot.  It didn't help that I picked this up after the Christmas holidays so my brain was in a bit of a holiday hangover and not retaining half of what I was reading for the first couple chapters.  There are also A LOT of characters and species in this series and each of them are integral in the plot so keeping track of them all and their story lines required patience.  Once I got a grasp of who's who and the incredible plot Kimberly had built, I was hooked.  Beyond hooked!  I typically don't read many science fiction books, but honestly I don't know if this book is sci fi or fantasy, it's like a perfect marriage between the two.  

Kimberly took so much care in creating this story.  Even the smallest details brought so much light to the story.  Like who doesn't wish they had a car wash like shower in their house.  I have read stories before that put too much focus on the details that they lose sight of the plot, this isn't the case in Isoldesse.  

Meegan and Keena are fantastic leads, their strength and problem solving is forefront in the story.  I love their inquisitiveness and how bravely they face being 'abducted' and taken to a new planet.  You find out so much about these two and who they really are at the end of the book and it leaves you begging for more.  There's mystery, romance, friendship, aliens and magic in this wonderful book.  It is everything you could wish for in book one of a series (well that, and for the second book to come out as soon as possible).  

I highly recommend Isoldesse to anyone that loves a story that sneaks up on you and leaves you thinking.  Isoldesse will stick with me for a long time, I have so many questions and can't wait so see what's next for this group of humans and Sendarians as they try to get back what is theirs.  

Well done, Kimberly, a fantastic story!  Such a fun read!

Isoldesse is a very detailed story about a group of friends Meehan, Kenna, Darci, and Ally who find themselves in the middle of an mission from people not of this world. Their friendship and trust in eachother is tested, as well as their honesty.
     I found this book to have very detailed world building, This caused the book to have somewhat of a slow pace in the beginning. HOWEVER,the world building was VERY necessary for the amazing plot that the author built. This book had it all. 
Romance ✔️
Testing of friendships ✔️
Betrayal ✔️
Super hot aliens✔️
I would definitely recommend this book!

𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 -𝙽𝚘 𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚜
𝑰𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆 by Kimberly Grymes

𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜
~359 ish? It is hard to tell because if the way NetGalley formats it.

𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎
~4 hours

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎
NA Sci-Fi

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢
Kenna is a normal, college-bound young adult with internships, social groups, and college studies on the horizon. But her plans get turned upside down when she discovered a stone from an alien race. Without knowing it, she puts herself and those she cares about in the middle of a war between alien races.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝙴𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚍
-The cover! I mean, come on! It’s gorgeous.
-This book jumps between the first perspectives of multiple characters. Usually this is terribly confusing, but the author is extremely clear beginning of each chapter who the reader is following. 
-Dialogue is realistic and easy to follow. 
-the Glossary of terms provided was very helpful

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝙴𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝙼𝚞𝚌𝚑
-Whilst the dialogue was realistic, it was also abundant. Sometimes it felt like characters talked at length about things that could have been said so simply.
-I liked the multiple layers of species in this book, but, as the worlds were revealed, I found myself confused often trying to figure who was who and who was what. The glossary of terms was helpful with this, but it was not my favourite thing to constantly be flipping to the glossary.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐
★★★.5

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. 
.

Isoldesse is a contemporary style new adult fantasy story of human college students that end up in the middle of a battle between alien races.
Aliens does mean Science Fiction, and this is a story about aliens, but the entire writing style, drama, and plot, I think fits much better with the fantasy world and would appeal more to a fantasy reader than a sci fi reader, so I'm choosing to categorize it as fantasy.
The story is told through multiple POV not only including best friends Meegan and Kenna, but also Darci who is not introduced to our lead characters for quite some time. This makes the start a bit confusing to grip at first since  all 3 have such different knowledge bases about what is going on.

This book is PHENOMENAL! It’s a must read for sure!!

Kenna and Meegan are best friends. They’re finishing up college right as some strange things start to happen. Meegan has a secret, their friend Darci has a secret, and Kenna is given a unique gift that opens up a whole strange, slightly scary, mostly exciting path before her and her friends. There are two different groups of people after this set of friends and you’ll spend chapter after chapter piecing together the clues as to what is the truth. 

I couldn’t put this book down. These characters and this plot are extremely well developed, and it’s fantastically told from multiple points of view giving you deeper insight into the characters, their circumstances and what they believe. 

There’s magic, space travel, advanced technology, dark characters, swords, and the ultimate bond of friendship that makes this my new favorite read. I’m automatically adding Kimberly Grymes to my list of must-buy authors, and recommending Isoldesse to anyone who’s seeking an epic SCI-FI Fantasy adventure!

Isoldesse follows the turmoil a host of characters lives get thrown into after a mysterious necklace turns up on Kenna's door. The cover of this book is absolutely stunning and it immediately drew me in, and I was particularly happy that we get thrust into the main plot around the 4% mark. It was a nice change of pace to read.a book that gets into the action from the get go. I also particularly enjoyed the balance Grymes achieves between the multiple perspectives in this book. All changes of perspective are made explicitly clear, and despite the fact there is more perspectives than I anticipated, the author is able to strike a balance and demonstrate how all these points of view are relevant. 

This book is more SciFi than I expected it to be, which is entirely my fault as I should have looked into that. Being someone who isn't too familiar with this genre,I can't say to what extent this book fits or handles key tropes. It would have been helpful to have the glossary at the beginning of the book rather than the end, so I could familiarise myself with the concepts before entering the world.

Would recommend this YA book to others, especially because it's not a high-science-fiction or high-fantasy genre. Enjoyed the mystery and romance these friends face together. Can't wait to read book 2!