Coming into this book, I didn't really know what to expect and whether I'd vibe with it or not. The first 20% of the book was slow but caught my attention easily, and the rest of it was history. I am very picky when it comes to fantasy books, and I can say with a happy heart that I can't wait for the rest of this series to be published because I will be eating it up. Altara's personality and fire was unrelenting throughout the entire book, but I do wish her character progression was a little more prevalent in the writing. You can tell it's there, but I think it only skims the surface after everything she has gone through thus far. I didn't quite understand Zale at first, with the writing being very emotionless when he is first introduced, but as the story plays out and we understand why, I feel for him. And as a reader, seeing even those small changes towards the end of the book made my heart flutter. I do wish there was some spice in this first book, but I'm excited to see where it goes in the second and I will definitely be reading more from this author!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

This book was a binge read for me, I read the entire thing in one day and honestly would have binge read the next two if they were out. It was entertaining and surprisingly funny at times. The main characters were well developed and the world building was extensive without ever feeling unnecessary. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for an enemies to lovers slow burn, with well developed female friendships and a prevalent use of magic.

Thank you so much Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC!

The world building in this book is as fabulous as the cover. It contains magic, demons, Goddesses, handsome, brooding male lead whose heart can only be unlocked by fated lover and whatnot! I requested it the moment I saw it had enemies-to-lovers trope and I wasn't disappointed. I love the characters; they are fun, charismatic and courageous. In the middle of the book, something really strange happens that left me speechless. It was equally awkward and hilarious and I had a great laugh with my friends while discussing it. Looking forward to the next book. Recommended!

This book began slow, but DEAR GOD, it got so good!
I loved it! I wasn't expecting it to get so good. It's slow, but this is one of those few books I'd recommend. This book and the way the story develops are worth it.
Altara escapes to the Ellythian Isles and ends up stuck in a similar situation to what she ran away from. Zale is an extraordinary character, BUT FOR ONCE, I mean this in a GOOD way. This is one of those 1/1000 books that benefit from the dual POV, and Zale's perspectives are used sparingly and beautifully even though the author HAD every excuse to write Zale as an insane animal. HE ISN'T WRITTEN LIKE that, for me this was a surprise and a lovely one.
I'll be looking forward to publishing the two books that follow!
Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for this book which I received as E-ARC for an honest review.
3.5 ⭐️
The story is definitely new adult fantasy romance, the main character knew what she wanted sexually, which felt empowering.
There was one point where she used her power with a very strange outcome and this took me back a lot and I felt it was put in for shock factor maybe, I didn’t get it but I persevered and ignored this aspect of the story so it lost some stars there for me.
There is plenty of action and fantasy based tropes, which I loved. Overall I really enjoyed it and will be continuing the series and checking out other work by this author.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Trigger Warning:
This book explores the themes of parental abuse and abandonment, as well as depicts scenes of torture and/or physical violence.

After seeing the cover, I knew I wanted to get my hands on this book, but I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it was to read; this book’s full of substance. Altara is such a strong female character. I think that her power as a woman doesn’t just derive as a product of her soul’s essence being infused with starlight; I feel that her formidable strength is defined by her empathy and her ability to endure pain in order to aid and abet the healing of others. I only wish that she could heal herself, too. It’s hard to imagine the brutality of a world that would allow a woman to unfairly swallow, inherit, and consume the darkness of others at the expense of her own light. I think that the greatest indignity often befalls upon women, and I was impressed with how Altara carried herself in response to being made to bear so many wounds she wasn’t even responsible for. If I were in her position, I would not do the same.

There’s also such nuance to the plot and characters. Many of them have intricately suffered as a result of others’ disloyalty. Loyalty is a game to some people, but not to Altara or Zale. Their word is their bond. Altara would bring herself to her knees to protest the suffering of another, whether or not she identifies them as friend, foe, teacher, cousin, or sister. Zale would burn the world to a crisp to enact his revenge. I understand his desire for vengeance. Both characters experience suffering and undoing at the hand of their parents. It just goes to show how parents can often betray the trust of their children; and often times, retribution is owed.
They sought, in many ways, to produce the destruction, limitation, denouncement, and alienation of their children. It was deliberate. They didn’t care that their children suffered, they cared only that they made a mistake. Their children were penalized so severely, they were practically assigned delineation as separate, deviant, immoral, other. Unbelievably, wrongly, and indelicately, they were denied grace.

Accountability shouldn’t always take the form of punishment (and why does punishment have to take the form of torture or result in degradation or the emasculation of the self, anyway?) and parents, more than anybody, should understand that, but the parental figures in this book refused to. They sought only to strip something of value away from their children because they felt they were too powerful or out of control; there is nothing more upsetting and dehumanizing than sentencing someone to a life in which they are chained or enslaved to certain torments or negative circumstances because you wish to disrobe them.

There is no greater insult than the intimacy of forcibly, brutally taking away someone’s choice, and seizing their agency or autonomy by force—subjugating them and compromising or undermining their free will. No one should have the power or ability to do that (take away someone’s ability to choose): not a parent, not the State (nation/government), not a king or queen. No one and nothing should be able to so thoroughly render another human being devoid of sanctity, devoid of privilege, devoid of life. You can revoke people’s privileges without taking away their dignity. The violation of human rights in this book was beyond appalling and shameful.
It was hard to read about Altara’s evil stepmother abusing her in such cruel ways—producing her physical torture and dispossessing her of her rights, so she is incapable of challenging her authority and is forced to run away or is driven to suicide.

I also didn’t like the racial component—Altara is biracial; her birthmother was deeply brown-skinned and her father is pasty white. We’re not told the race of her stepmother but I’m assuming she’s white, like Altara’s father, white as the native land he hails from. We are not given a reason as to why Altara’s stepmother tortures her and her sister so I can’t help but believe that her actions are motivated by the fact that she’s a racist white woman who hates her stepchildren simply because their skin is brown. I find it very difficult to accept this kind of prejudice and mistreatment [although prejudiced thinking often stems from ignorance, it leads to hate because it invites censure and promotes intolerance of other races]. This kind of racial discrimination is unreal to me, especially because all I can think is: if you’re not accepting of people of color, then don’t marry a man with mixed/interracial kids? It’s literally that simple.

As a brown woman [African American] myself who’s had to combat a great deal of racism, this was extremely disconcerting, discouraging, and disheartening to read. I felt so much empathy for Altara; I shared her grief, her pain, her suffering. Emotionally, this book was devastating, but the pain and trauma of being abused by one’s parents in this undignified manner was beautifully articulated by the author. I give this book four stars!

I received a copy of this book for free from Net Galley.

Overall, I did enjoy this story. The main character is a princess named Altara, and she is fleeing from her home to avoid her cruel stepmother and a marriage she does not wish to enter into. She travels to the island home of her mother, who passed away some time ago. Refreshingly, this main character is not written to be bland or weak. Altara has a strong personality in my opinion, full of confidence in herself. Physically, she is strong and skilled in combat, but she has also withstood torture and cruelty and come out the other side of it still an empathetic and kind person. That being said, there are some themes that could be triggering, so I encourage everyone to check the author’s content warnings.

I wish we would have seen more of Altara’s life before running away. Understanding just how cruel her stepmother was, as well as her relationship with her sister, might have set things up and helped me understand the stakes a bit better.

It took me a long time to finally decide that I liked Altara, however. I felt that at times, she verged on the edge of being too perfect- the magic that she has allows her to take on the illnesses and injuries of other people, literally transferring wounds and sicknesses into her own body to heal, which only takes a short time for her to recover from. She is a perfect shot with any weapon she picks up, trained to be perfect in anything that she does when it comes to manners and behavior expected of her as a royal. Not only that, but she is written to seem beautiful, with perfect curves and breasts. While I did love that a character had been written to be confident and strong, all of it together, and the way she narrates and talks about herself at times, made me roll my eyes a little bit. I was willing to overlook it, though, and was happy that it didn’t seem to be so heavily referenced towards the end of the story. In that same sort of vein, the magic that some characters possessed seemed a little bit too convenient for the story- for example, if I remember correctly, they were able to conjure weapons out of thin air and that just seemed a little too easy for me.

Altara becomes friends with three other women throughout the story. Refreshingly, there is no competition or rivalry between them, a trope I’ve grown tired of over the years. They all support each other and I really hope this continues into the next story. Also appreciated is the sex positive vibe that was apparent, literally, from the very first page. There is no shame put on Altara for her interest in sex and to me, she seems pretty confident in her sexuality. I was a little worried that the story would devolve into smut, especially once the idea of a Vayashi came into play, but to my relief, it did not.

The love interest is named Zale, and he definitely does not start off as someone I would root for. Even now, knowing the reasons why he is so cruel and, frankly, sexist, I’m not totally sold on him. I do love enemies-to-lovers story and I was not disappointed in their slow burn. I liked the common ground that they were able to find and hope that they will be able to work through their traumas together. I’m hoping that the next story will let us learn more about Zale and make him a more likable character.

And yes, I liked this book enough to be looking forward to the sequel, and was excited to see that it’s going to be coming out in February of next year. I totally forgot that the book was supposed to end with a cliffhanger and it was exciting to see that I wouldn’t have to wait too long! Despite the things that got on my nerves a little bit, I liked the world that was built, the magic and the romantic relationship that was started. I love the friendships as well and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for having this available as an ARC.

I was instantly drawn in by the cover as I thought “looks like an awesome warrior princess”. I didn’t realise that this was a sister series to the warrior midwife trilogy, so now I have to backtrack and read those also. Luckily on Ektaa’s website, she mentioned that this could be read as a standalone.

The opening two sentences had me like woah! It engaged me from the beginning and I loved where the story took Altara. She’s a fierce, independent, strong individual who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to get it. It does get her in trouble as we saw in her double marriage.

The situation at the bride school was a bit messed up but I liked how Altara, Malika, Rani and Pia all supported one another. The Old Ones are hot and although we should hate them, we don’t! Kai is just an all round lovely person, so they aren’t all bad.

Can I just say that spicy scene at about 57-58% was one of the most hilarious scenes I’ve ever read! I was just like OMG OMG OMG WTF NO NO, NO WAY! I loved all the humour that came after with the girls in this very unique situation that Altara’s magic got her in.

I loved that this had so much going on - there’s magic, curses, prophecy, shifters, demons, god like men, goddesses, friendship, adventure, mystery, humour and fun. I’ve probably missed some too! Loved that the MC was POC and it’s mentioned on Ektaa’s website that Altara is biracial - it’s awesome having representation in books! It’s the first that I’ve read of Ektaa’s work and now I want to read more! Can’t wait for book 2&3!

Do check your trigger warnings on this.

This book has some of my most loved tropes: enemies to lovers and fated mates.

I had a hard time getting into the book in the beginning because I hadn’t read the previous series and I felt that the writing style just wasn’t for me.

But I’m glad I kept reading! The story was compelling. There was humour, drama, and lots of tension. I am going to have a hard time waiting for Book 2!

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘴 follows Altara Voltanius, born to lightning and lotus, who's escaped her homeland to the security of her mother's maiden island or so she believes. The moment she arrives, right from the tremors that began as soon as she hit earth to the demons lurking around, Altara knows that darkness is at play.

- ~ -

The author has done it again! I'm hooked!

Only complaint is that unlike Saraya's trilogy, the next installment to Altara's story is months away!

But seriously, how am I this in awe of the craft? Like it's the perfect blend of fantasy, humor and romance. The world building, as usual, is phenomenal and it helps to have previously read the other trilogy set in the same world to know the gist of the plot.

And let's talk about the sulty, swoony romance... Like Zale's possessiveness? His reluctant caring attitude? His lusting? Kill me.

Now I'll just be sitting right here, very patiently, waiting for book 2.

- ~ -

4.02 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

this was a beautifully done enemies to lovers fantasy romance novel, it was what I was expecting from this type of book. It had beautifully done characters and I enjoyed how real the romance was. The story itself was what I was hoping for and it did everything that I was hoping for. The cover is what drew me into this world and I'm glad I read this. E.P. Bali has a great writing style and I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more.

"As for me, I felt nothing. Not when we stormed the castle. Not when the women screamed in protest. Like my monsters, my chest was an empty shell devoid of emotion. I needed something, and I would get it. That was that. For my entire life, it was as if my emotional range started at nothing and ended with rage—there was no space for anything else."

This was great. I had lots of fun getting into this. I enjoyed myself immensely and would seriously highly recommend!