The worldbuilding and quest style of the story was absolutely phenomenal. I truly felt immersed in the new world and I did not want to leave! The characters and dialogue were so fun. A well rounded book for sure.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I did go I completely blind. I wasn't recommended this book by a friend. I didn't read the blurb. I actually thought I had requested a different book on NetGalley. And on top of that I put this off for months. I'm so glad I finally picked this up. I loved the world building, the magic system, the storyline, the character building and relationships and a fabulous romance. If you like a strong female lead in a solid romance fantasy tale then I would encourage you to give this a try.

After her divorce and the death of her father, Neysa decides to turn over a new leaf. And so, she moves from Los Angeles to the coast of England. She befriends a family in town and soon learns secrets she never thought possible.

Neysa finds out that her friends are emissaries from a fae realm, charged with guarding the volatile Veil between realms. And some of the four crystals that kept the Veil secure have gone missing. And so, in a race to protect the realms, Neysa must learn about this new world and unlock the abilities hidden inside of her.

Story

I did enjoy reading Another Beast’s Skin, but the story fell a bit flat for me. It had both a slow and a fast pace: some things are glossed over, while other things that seemed less important are explained in more detail.

Especially a lot of the beginning is an info dump.

And no one likes an info dump.

The author tried to make it more interesting by using different viewpoints, but this felt off. Especially since these different viewpoints don’t return: the rest of the story is all from Neysa’s perspective.

I think it would’ve been a lot more interesting if some of this information was revealed during some training sessions or just “learning while doing.”

But what was also strange about that part, was that Neysa didn’t seem to think it strange and quite easily accepted the existence of the fae. While she does say she always had some belief in magic, and that’s why it doesn’t come as a surprise, we weren’t shown this beforehand.

If the author would’ve included a scene that showed us that Neysa beliefs in magic to some degree, this would’ve felt more plausible.

And that counts for a lot of other moments in the book as well. Some things just felt very convenient because they were mentioned either during or after the fact. There was no proper setup and payoff going on.

There’s also this big build-up to this upcoming fight and war, and then… we don’t get to read about that. Because we only follow Neysa’s POV, and she’s not part of this fight. That was quite the let-down for me, as I very much would’ve enjoyed reading that big epic battle.

And as a consequence, I also didn’t feel like there was a “big climactic moment” in the end. Rather a small moment.

Characters

I did like the characters and their relationship with one another. There was ample time spend on developing those relationships and it showed in the book. Corra, Silas, and Cade make a wonderful trio.

The only thing that bugged me about Cade and Neysa’s relationship was that they seemed to fall in repetitive patterns.

Neysa would assume one thing, get angry at Cade, even if it turned out to be the wrong assumption. Then if Cade did the same, Neysa would still get angry at him, not even realizing she just did something very similar.

It made her feel a lot younger than 35 years.

Worldbuilding

What I did love was the worldbuilding and the focus on stones in magic. I could tell it was based quite a bit on old pagan religions, and it made the magic more tangible.

Conclusion

To sum up this book review of Another Beast’s Skin, I’m not sure I would recommend this book.

However, reading tastes can differ, so you might actually really love this book.

If you like stories involving fae that have a YA vibe (though it’s adult), a slow-burning romance, and good friendships, then this might be the book for you.

DNF'd at 11%. The concept of this book was really interesting, and I was very excited for a female protagonist who was older than what we usually get, even in adult SFF, who was also already extremely competent in swordsmanship.

The misogyny from the male characters, however, completely put me off, especially once I got to the first chapter from Silas's perspective. His inner thoughts about his sister were pretty horrible, and his interactions with Neysa, which had come as quite nice and caring in the chapters from Neysa's perspective, immediately gained a 'men are only nice to women they find attractive' vibe that was very off-putting and honestly highly unnecessary. Cade's attitude towards Neysa was also incredibly rude and dismissive of her. I was very disappointed to begin yet another book where the male characters are misogynistic, a trait that I felt was highly unnecessary to include here. Cade could have been a jerk without being misogynistic, and Silas could have just genuinely been a caring person who was nice to Neysa because he could see she needed that, instead of only doing it because he found her attractive.

Unfortunately these issues ruined the book for me and so I had to put the book down.

I enjoyed this book. It was a good fantasy read. The characters had good development but it felt a bit long and drawn out. Recommended.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest opnion. Thank you to NetGalley and GenZ Publishing for making that happen.

I wanted to like this book. I love fae stories and chosen one arcs, but this book completely missed the mark for me. It felt like it was all over the place, and it was hard to read at times. I was very unsure of where the story was headed and I didn't feel much of a connection with the characters.

Not a good read for me.

Unfortunately a DNF for me. I tried really hard not to DNF this since it was an arc through netgalley but I wasn’t very far into it and was not enjoying it whatsoever. This needs a really good editor. There were many sentences that were missing words to make them make sense, normally I can overlook it but there were way too many in just the first few chapters. It was to the point where I had to go back and reread it to fill in the missing words. I feel like the world building was just not there. We just kind of get thrown in with multiple characters in different scenes and we have no real idea of who they are other than their names.

I received an eARC of this book from GenZ publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Did I enjoy it, it was good. I wasn't a fan of pacing in the book, especially in the beginning, and I struggled a little with the writing style in general. That said it has fae, some steam, the world is interesting and creative. I really appreciated the fact I wasn't reading about a teenager and Fae men, once again, it's refreshing to have an adult character in these types of books! Quite enjoyable!

So I have mixed thoughts on this book. I felt that the story was rather slow in the beginning, but once it got going, I really enjoyed it. However, the last few chapters were similar to the beginning, for me, because it wasn't really clear what was going on or why. The "cliffhanger" really just came out of nowhere and while I want to have a conclusion to the story, I don't know that I would read the next one.

I would like to start of by thanking you for an ARC of this book! In saying that while I don’t think this book was for me it very well could be for so many others. There are so many things I really liked about it that I feel like you don’t often see in fantasy, such as slightly older characters which is something I know would mean a lot to do many! I also thought at least compared to many fantasies I’ve read it was pretty unique. To me the downfall was that it was rather fast moving, however I’m saying that I am someone who prefers books that are slower.

A unique story about fae and magic

After her divorce and the death of her father, Neysa decides to rent a cottage in England. When she meets the twins Silas and Corra, and then their cousin Caderyn, she feels like there's more to them. And indeed, she discovers the existence of a fae realm that they are tasked to protect. To help them, she will have to collect crystals and uncover the truth about her origin.

I don't know what I expected from this book but I was surprised when reading it. First, Neysa is an adult, like she's 35, and it's really not that common in such books which I found interesting. She comes with baggage and the other characters too, which I really liked. It didn't prevent me from relating to her at all and I quite liked the fact that she's been trained to fight with a sword her whole life. The world is really fascinating. It's well built and fits well with everything and it's really easy to follow. The story in itself is quite good, though sometimes, it did feel a bit long. Apart from some tiny details that felt a bit off to me, I really enjoyed the book and all that happens in it, be it the action or the relationship development. I really liked Cade's and Neysa's romance and the spice was torture but in a good way. The secondary characters were quite interesting too and I really liked how the author decided to reveal the secrets and how it impacted everyone. As for that ending! The cliffhanger is unexpected and it's also killing me because I really need to know what happens next and the sequel isn't out yet!

I'd definitely recommend if you like fae stories with romance and world-challenging plots.

"I've always been a monster, Neysa. You just fed it."

After a promising start, a quarter of the way into the book the struggle to stick with it was too much. The world building was disjointed. I didn't continue to care what happened to the main character because the writing was stilted. I gave up.

This was a well written book. The characters are well developed and the dialogue is believable. I do not understand why this book is described as a romance by the genre though. That seems inaccurate and problematic for those who take on this read.

Full review can be found on Goodreads, this is just a quick summary!


Although there were some things about the story that bothered me, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this! It's an easy read, although there are some information dumps, and I liked the characters. I had to get used to the writing at first; there are sometimes words that are unnecessary difficult, but I felt like that disappeared after a while. I somehow had some troubles with some of the time jumps in between chapters, which made it confusing to see where we've ended up now and what exactly had happened. There were some mistakes in writing as well, I bookmarked all of the ones that stood out, so Jessika please contact me for more information on those.

Like I said, there were some things that bothered me, but overall, I really liked it! I honestly had a lot of trouble with putting it down, and I can't wait to read the next one!

The premise of this story was very promising, and I really wanted to enjoy it. I could see that it had all that it needed to be a great book, but the execution was just not good. I found it very difficult to follow, the worldbuilding was so confusing. The way the story started made me feel like I was dropped into the middle of the series, rather than at the beginning of one, and I couldn't bring myself to keep reading after trying to get through this book for over a week. The characters felt very bland and generic as well, when they really could have been fleshed out more. To be honest, they creeped me out. And for a book like this one, I don't think that was the intention of the author.

Overall, this book did not work for me. Hopefully as this author grows in her craft, I can give a future book a try, as I think her ideas are definitely strong.

The story unravels slowly in the first part of the book, and I wasn't sure I would like it, but I'm glad I kept reading. The latter half of the book is better-paced and really pulls you in. I loved the world-building and the magic system, and the unique feel of the story.
Neysa is a strong character who takes everything in stride. After her divorce, Neysa moves back to her homeland. She's vulnerable but on the road to self-discovery, and her actions make her such a relatable character (minus her sword fighting skills - I don't think many women can relate to that!).
I like how her back story gave depth to Neysa's character and explained her actions. Her adventures start after making new friends at a pub, and they are not what they seem. Soon she learns she's fey. Once her new friends share more about the fey world, she embarks on a journey to fight for their cause. Her sword fighting skills pre-date her discovery about her true nature but come in handy throughout the story. I loved the friendship that blooms between Neysa and the side characters who become like a second family to her.
There's a bit of a love triangle, but it doesn't distract from the story and is resolved rather fast. So, if you don't like love triangles, don't worry about it! There's a romantic side plot that I wish had more build-up to but was enjoyable to read.
I recommend Another Beast's Skin to fantasy readers who want a fresh perspective on the fae world.

This book started out good. There were fae, secret bloodlines and realms, battles and fates. I loved the personalities of the main characters but the world building was just so dense and didn't flow. There were chapters that had this drawn out planning of attack but then suddenly we be in a battle, which was usually about 3-5 sentences, and by 1-3 sentences later we'd be off the battle field and in a bedroom?! I kept thinking I'd skimmed over details and skipped ahead but the details just weren't there. The writing just didn't flow. We'd get a whole page describing the inside of an insignificant shop but an intense battle would only get a paragraph.
The storyline was interesting enough but unfortunately the execution just didn't work for me.

I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw the mention of Fae in the synopsis. I am a complete sucker for all things Fae! Unfortunately this book was not it for me.
Although the plot had a lot of potential, nothing really happened for a good portion of the book. We were given so much information about the world and the history of it that I reached a point where I wasn’t taking any of it in.
The characters were in their early to mid-thirties but they acted like teenagers. It was difficult to connect with any of them and I wasn’t really concerned what happened to them. Though they did become more likeable towards the end.
There was so much building up of the plot and then towards the end it just fizzled out and ended so quickly, I was left with even more questions than I started with.
However, I did start to enjoy the story towards the end and I am interested to see what the second book has in store.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting book, and one I would not have thought up my alley. Glover maneuvers her characters in relation to the plot well, and I'm excited to see what else she has in store in the future.

Honestly, I fell in love with the book cover and the title of the book.

The blurb had me expecting an adventure story with the search of crystals and protection of veil, but Another Beast’s Skin had so much more to offer. Part 1 is focussed on the realization of Neysa’s truth in a small village called Barlowe Combe, Part 2 takes the reader into Aoifsing, the fae realm, and Part 3 again back to the human world, with the search of stones spread out across all 3 parts whilst also taking the reader trapezing across a lot of countries.

Neysa has been training with swords and knives all her life without knowing the reason why. Once the twins, Silas and Corra with their cousin Caderyn helps Neysa in understanding the fae world, she commits herself to fight for their cause of the fae.

There’s so much to love in this story, the fae world, and its description, the relationship between Cade and his cousins which felt warm and loving, Reynard who at times feel like a slimy villain, but is a character which grows on you, the deep friendship between Neysa and Corra and the love she feels for Silas each part induces a cuddly feeling.

I have read quite a lot of fantasy novels, though stories with the world of fae have been in a lesser number. This should have been an exciting read for me considering the subject but there is so much going on in the story that I lost interest in certain parts. The main plot focussed on Neysa coming to terms with her identity was excellent but then the plots having the council elders and the travails faced by Neysa in Aoifsing, the search of the stones everything became a lot of information to process thru. The love between Neysa and Cade develops well but again there’s a spark missing in their relationship. It could be me, but just couldn’t connect to the character of Neysa, who is a 35-year-old divorcee but at many points of the story, her decisions are immature.

I am probably reading a lot of fantasy novels and the reason why instead of a fantastic experience, the story felt good but failed to engage me completely. But if you are a fan of a fantasy world with the fae, then this book should definitely interest you.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Gen Z Publishing, and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

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