A new series from a renowned and talented writer. it's an interesting plot, which I feel did start slowly but picks up during the second half of the book. I still favor her previous publications, but Legrand's new series has potential.

If I had read this in a timely fashion, I would have never read the sequel. I found this book deeply tedious - in large part due to Gemma's whole personality. Gemma felt very YA - she's selfish and silly and doesn't think through her actions at all. It doesn't match to the tonally adult book. The worldbuilding seemed contingent on several info dumps, and I have absolutely no idea when the romance started - it was just suddenly there. I do think the second book in the series is better, but is it worth slogging through this one?

(no)

I tried, I really did. I wanted to love this but unfortunately for a HUGE chunk of it, this reads as bad regency era romance not fantastical tale ala Legrand's usual work

The main character is less than interesting - I don't mind when character's are a little woe is me, its just that this get excessive until almost half way when she finally realises someone did something to her they shouldn't have.

I was hopeful that Talan could rescue the situation. He's dark and broody and generally seems to care. But every time I came across his character, I kind of despised him more. There is definitely a point to him by the end but frequently oscillated from love interest to bad guy so he just felt very mid and non-sequeter - It like if Hans from Frozen was frequently going backwards and forwards.

The overall premise and progression of the story was ok, it just felt like it took forever to get to a point where the narrative flowed freely. It took me 4 goes over the past 18 months to actually finish it and I ended up resorting to the audio to get through it.

This being said, I'm sure there is an audience for this. If you like Bridgerton and books that don't have a logical progression, this is the one for you just don't expect a great amount to happen in the first half.

I am not the right target audience for this book and instead of leaving a negative review, I have elected to DNF.

DNF at 20%! This just wasn't for me. I couldn't get into the story nor connect with the characters, but I would give this author another chance with a different book.

So I absolutely adored this book when I read it even though I seem to be in the minority. I thought the main character was complex and interesting and that Claire was giving us just enough worldbuilding to help us understand while leaving us guessing for more. I know that style is not everyone's cup of tea though! I also loved the romance and can't wait to pick up book 2!

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand is a captivating read for fans of lush, atmospheric fantasy-romance, particularly those who crave stories of forbidden love, redemption, and self-discovery, set against a backdrop of dark magic, ancient secrets, and epic battles between good and evil.

A hero whose family has lost the queen's favor. A heroine who's the odd one out. And a mutually beneficial proposition. A Crown of Ivy and Glass is full of action, twists, steam, magic & paranormals which make for an entertaining read One of my favorite reads this year! I would definitely recommend.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Casablanca for a digital copy of this novel via NetGalley. This is a fantasy romance story centering around Lady Gemma, who comes from a powerful magic-wielding family. Unfortunately, she is the only one in her family without powers. I found this part interesting and enjoyed much of the world building. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy much of the romance, as I found the relationship with Talan mostly off putting. Ultimately, the story was decent, but for me, it was lacking in certain key elements of a fantasy romance.

Regretfully, I was unable to make this one work for me. I kept picking up this book, but I couldn't get into the characters or the plot. The odd pacing and uninteresting main characters didn't appeal to me. Perhaps in the future, I will try one of the author's other works.

Thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for the arc.

I wanted to love this book. I think the author tried to combine the very popular bridgeton books and the romantasy genre that is huge right now and it left us with an epic mess. We have a selfish entitled female main character with a boring male character who wants to fix his family's name, they were killed off after being seduced by a demon. I HATE writing bad reviews and I REALLY tried to find the good in this book and push through I WANTED to like it I bought 2 special editions of it because I thought I would LOVE it. I DNF it at 67% I just couldn't do it I'm all for spice but these non spice spicey scenes when the characters SHOULD have been building a relationship or story line of any kind was just to much for me. Author would have been MUCH better off without the magic and having to explain it all ans just wrote a nice regency book, she took on too much with this one.

Okay I'll be the one to say I'm a little tired of a lot of titles being similarly worded but, this was a pretty good book! I enjoyed this one and it's a good fantasy. The plot was pretty standard for a fantasy novel but had a lot of elements intertwined that I found to be different. Some of it worked. Some of it didn't.

The whole idea of warring family lines has been around forever so I went in expecting one thing and in a way - it was exactly that. But pieces of it were something totally new. In my reading experience. I would give A Crown of Ivy and Glass a solid 3.5 stars. It's not the best thing I've ever read and it could use some polish but it's a solid plot and I think it was executed fairly well.

I couldn't finish it. Sorry, not for me. The writing was very juvenile. I cannot waste my time. Thank you Netgalley for the try and the ARC.

Could not put it down! The world building and characters were top tier and I was engrossed in the story from the first page.

I'm such a huge fan of Clarie's and unfortunately this one was a miss for me! Everytime I tried dipping into this book it couldn't hold my focus and sadly.

Thanks so much for a chance to read and review!

To say I would read Claire’s grocery list is an understatement. The world building was awesome, the characters great. And that ending had me gripped! I cannot wait for the second book.

I have complicated emotions about this story. The ending is absolutely poetry and had some serious tearjerking moments is overshadowed by her primal need to have Talan within eyesight. She fully prepared to drop everything and everyone for this man that she knew for what feels like a second whom is extremely shady. I also think this behavior overshadows a lot of the moments where those bonds she prays to occurs. I would recommend because personally I will be reading the second book because I need to know what Kilraith is. I don’t hate Talan I just hate that Imogen idolize him for no real reason.

Thank you for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It's been almost a year since A Crown of Ivy and Glass released. I did try to read this before its publication but I wasn't able to get into it. I'm a terrible mood reader with bad habits of starting but not finishing and picking up something new.

In the case of ACOIAG I tried again, seriously this time, and I'm calling off this relationship at 175 pages.

I'm a H U G E fan of Claire Legrand's Furyborn trilogy. It's one of my favorite reads. I'm just not too sure what happened with A Crown of Ivy and Glass. The characters are almost forgettable, and the pacing is okay. The writing is not bad but the story didn't pull me in enough to want to finish.

I tried. I really did. I almost feel terrible for giving this a bad review. I normally DNF real quick. For this one I wanted to pull through but I feel the book wasn't worth the amount of effort I was putting into it. Maybe it would have gotten better with more time spent but there's too many books I want to read and not enough time in life to spend on a book I'm not throughly enjoying.

I might continue reading it at a later time only because the next book is suppose to follow Gemma's older sister Farrin and an enemies to lovers storyline with Ryder. I think the 'insta-love' between Gemma and Talan, from what I've read so far, didn't connect with me very well.

Again, maybe it would have gotten better, I don't know.

2.5

I enjoyed the story line and fell in love with the characters. I have always love Legrand’s writing.

“Take care of her for me. Treat her as she deserves.”

I’m incredibly torn on this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed parts, on the other I think there was just way too much happening for one book.

Things that worked and I loved:
👑Tension and build-up were phenomenal
👑The world was fun, new, and something I’d never seen done together with pulling from different areas.
👑Swoony Morally Grey MMC
👑Unexpected twists
👑Tension in the Family & the development

Things I struggled with:
👑Egocentric FMC
👑First quarter of the book really seemed like it could have been done without
👑Could have been a standalone
👑So many unanswered questions

I will read book 2 when it’s available on audio because I want to see where everything dumped at the end of the book takes us, how everything broken is put back together, and if the female main character becomes more likable.