Unfortunately this story never quite came together for me and didn't fully succeed in capturing my interest.

I can appreciate an unlikable main character, but I like to feel as though the author also understands that the character is unlikable and intends for them to be so for a reason. In this case...I just felt a strong sense of irritation and a lack of clear purposeful character development, which kept me from really getting invested in the book.

Finally, as with a number of romantasy or romantasy-adjacent books, I'm finding that they just don't satisfy the itch that I have when I want to read fantasy which is big, interesting world building. This one is no different, in that there are lots of gaps, and the fantasy and worldbuilding are really there to just serve the romance, which to me, does not feel like a fully realized fantasy novel (and is perhaps an argument for the discontinuation of this strange hybrid genre).

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for my early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[RECOMMENDATION] If you love a strong female main character, discovering herself! And a snarky, somewhat bad boy love interest.

[SYNOPSIS] Lady Gemma seems to have it all, however, all is not as it seems. Her entire family is known for their magical prowess, but she is the only family member who doesn't posess any magic. She is also extremely sad, years ago her sister was taken to the Middlemist to help guard from bad magic. Her mother also abandoned them. Her father, and oldest sister, are often too busy wrapped up in a deadly fued with another family to notice she is there. To make matters worse, not only does she not have any of her own magic, her body rejects it and treats it like poison. Enter the enticing and handsome, Talan. He has his own agenda, that Gemma decides perfectly aligns with her own...

[REVIEW] It's been a minute since I got hooked and wrapped up in a fantasy novel. The sheer size of this one intimidated me, so it took me awhile to pick it up - but once the audiobook came in my local library I did a bit of an "immersive read" (read + listen). Thankfully, the magic system wasn't too complex or heavy for me, and I latched onto the story quickly. I loved the chemistry between Gemma and Talan! There are some interesting twists too, and I can't wait for the next book.

**My e-book copy was gifted by Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley, thank you! All opinions are my own.

I love this author and I wanted to love this book but the storyline I felt was trying to do too much and I kept getting lost in the process of writing and consistency of not only the characters but the plot and what was trying to be accomplished or told. I think it could be a strong book but again too much too soon and fast leaving it all jumbled and not enough to be desired.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

Oh, I wanted to love this one, but it just didn’t click for me.

Claire Legrand’s Empirium Trilogy is one of my favorite series ever, so I was ready to immediately hop aboard her next series with A Crown of Ivy and Glass. The premise of combining regency romance and high fantasy magic is neat, while Legrand’s penchant for creating complex, flawed heroines is one of my favorite things about her books.

ACOIAG, unfortunately, ended up feeling bloated with exposition and a meandering plot for the first act. It did pick up later, thankfully, but I was underwhelmed by both the romance and the ever-heightening stakes. The romance was so grandiose and passionate from the get go that I couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief, even if I’m okay with both characters on their own.

My favorite part was seeing all of Gemma’s insecurities and internal struggles with her self worth start to heal, start to rebuild with the power of love. I always love heroines who make mistakes and work hard to remedy them.

I’m not sure if I’ll be catching the second book, but this book does plant the seeds for the next romance with Ryder and Farrin, so perhaps I might.

I loved LeGrand's YA series, and was so excited to get my hands on this one. Unfortunately, this fell a bit flat for me, and I was disappointed in the story. I tried to hard to get into this, but was not hooked.

Sadly this is a case of it's me, not you. I tried this book many times and I just am not feeling it. I'm so sad because I love Claire and I have loved her past books but this just didn't connect with me. It isn't the book for me but that doesn't mean it isn't the book for you.

I appreciate anxiety representation and have a great love for the author’s work with Furyborn. This one wasn’t quite for me but I do plan to give it another try.

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

I could not finish this as it was too inconsistent to really get into. I felt like the pacing was weird and it kept swapping genres to try to appeal to multiple audiences. I wanted to like it but just couldn't really root for any of the characters.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass was one of my most anticipated books. The premise sounded really exciting (I love fae and demons, I'm a simple girl). Unfortunately the execution was a bit messy: I found the pacing very inconsistent and too many and confusing plots at the same time. I did enjoy the exploration of a character dealing with chronic pain and mental health issues, it was very well developed, however the sexy romance stole a bit from it.

I really enjoyed the mental health and chronic pain representation in this. It felt authentic and was well done. I enjoyed that the MC wasn’t treated by the writing like she was incapable due to her disabilities, which I also enjoyed.
That’s unfortunately where my enjoyment of this book ended. It was WAY too long, for starters. The romance was trying too hard and did not feel believable for me. The MC is also kind of insufferable, personality wise. I could not relate to her and she was just really irritating in a lot of ways. I also felt that there were some holes in the world building that were essential to fully understanding the story. I was very disappointed by this, which was sad because I was really looking forward to it and this book had a great concept.

I couldn’t really get into this book, it felt drawn out and I couldn’t connect to the heroine at all.
The events of this book also was pretty confusing and just didn’t make sense to where I thought the plot was going.
So I couldn’t finish it.

WOOF. In the best way. Such a strong start to what I hope will be an even stronger series. Claire Legrand and her perfectly paced novels; what a treat. In truth, I did not care for the protagonist in the beginning, but I kept on keeping on, and, slowly at first, and then all at once, I was enthralled. I found myself unable to put this book down, and am so, SO glad I kept going. Character growth! Healthy, hot love! Fantastic worldbuilding! FANTASTIC CHARACTERS! Beautiful prose! So excited to read the sequel.

Did not finish - i was 150 pages in and this book just did not grasp me and i had to put it down.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and leave a review A Crown of Ivy and Glass!
I hope one day i may be able to pick it up again.

DNF at 31%

This book had so much potential, and I've loved books from this author in the past. But unfortunately, this book dragged so much at the beginning that I was never hooked. The Main character wasn't someone that I could support or get behind. I also wasn't a fan of the romance and I felt like the author was just trying to squish the characters together for plot's sake.

I have realised that this genre is not for me but I did appreciate the writing. i became frustrated with the plot, hence my rating but the writing was good

I absolutely struggled finishing this book. The MC was just so... ANNOYING in the beginning. A pampered, privileged upper crust? Her having debilitating pain from the constant exposure to magic nor her panic attacks. BUT once I powered through the tough to read bits, I really enjoyed discovering the mystery behind the demon bits, hence the four stars. As long as she continues growth, it will continue to be a series worth reading. I definitely can't wait to learn more about Ryder and find out why he's behaving so strange every now and then as well as the mystery behind the mother of the MC and her sisters. Will be picking up the sequel as soon as available!

DNF at 15%... this just wasn't the fantasy book I was looking for. I tried to get into it, but just felt like that wouldn't happen unfortunately. I couldn't get into the character or the story line.

Claire Legrand is one of my favorite authors ever and I will read and buy anything she writes! Her books never disappoint and this book was no exception. Her writing is gorgeous, her characters are perfectly flawed, and her storylines are complicated and messy in the best way. As always, this book was as intricate and beautiful as the cover.