The book had already been released, and I was too late to read it. So, I will make sure to receive a copy and still write my review on it on my website. My standard rating is 3, and I will edit it as soon as I read it.

2.5/5 Stars + 1/5 Spice

- Romance/Fantasy, King Arthur Retelling
- Slow Burn
- TW: Please view before reading (as advised these may contain spoilers)

“His voice was more powerful than the sea. More primordial than the stars. My name was on his lips as he promised unspeakable darkness to any who came between us.” - Queen of Roses

Thank you to NetGalley, Starwater Press and the author Briar Boleyn for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.

This book is a loosely inspired retelling of the legend of King Arthur. This is what initially intrigued me towards reading the book as well as the addition of fae which, I will admit, may be my kryptonite.

This book was in no way bad, it just wasn’t for me. I felt myself to not be connecting with the book and the story the way I wanted to. I can definitely see the promise in the story and the characters and the future of the series but this book just failed to capture my attention the way so many of my favourites have. It is an extremely slow paced slow burn. I, personally, would’ve enjoyed a bit more spice, but the author promises more in future books.

I’m not sure if this is a series I will be continuing but I can certainly see the promise in the book as well as that other readers may enjoy it far more than I did. Unfortunately, this book was just not my cup of tea. The writing itself was well done and for that I believe I will continue to look out for books written by this author, perhaps just set in a different world.

#QueenofRoses #NetGalley #ARCReview
#GracedReads #goodreads #romance #fantasy #Romantasy #kindleunlimited #arc #arcreader #BookReview #bookreviewer

Queen of Roses was an okay fantasy novel in my opinion. I wouldn't put it up there with the Sarah J Maas books, but I think it's worth a read if you have a bunch of time to get stuck in a book with. I appreciated the world building of this book. It is steeped in Arthurian legend with all of the names of the Knights of the Round Table, Camelot, Tintagel, etc. So if you're into the middle ages and all of that lore, this is definitely for you. Think Legendborn, but a little more tame and set in the middle ages rather than modern day. This book also had a unique spin on fae magic, being that there are two races in this world human and fae. So again if you like books about the fae and wars between human and fae, you will most likely like this book too. My main criticism of the book is that it was too long for absolutely no reason. The plot did pick up and start happening until I was 49% of the way through the book. I'm used to it taking time to really get into a book, especially fantasies were there is a good amount of world building and angst to get through. But honestly, the whole plot with Florian was completely unnecessary in my opinion. I think the author got the point across that Morgan had been through a lot in her life without needing to add in triggering scenes that were added. There also were so many plot holes about Morgan's mother. You spend the entire book wondering about who Morgan and her mother were and then in the last 3 pages 2 big secrets are dropped, but you have no idea what they mean in relation to where the story is going. I just think those could have been better explained to give you more hype and reason to read the second book. I can't stand books that just leave questions and expect you to buy the second one to understand them, without REALLY wanting to read them.

It was a fairly good book, though the description didn't mention romance except in passing. The beginning was interesting and full of intrigue, but the love plot felt a bit like a sudden slap in the face. At first, it focuses on Morgan's life in the palace and her relationships with the people there, and how she suddenly gets ripped from everything she knows. It sets up the rest of the story nicely, or so you'd think, because it quickly turns into something of a camping romance from what I can recall. It's not quite my cup of tea, though not necessarily bad.

Thanks to Starwater Press for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a loose interpretation of the King Arthur legend with a fae twist. First off, who doesn't love King Arthur? The fae element had me a little skeptical, but I'm starting to learn that I like the fantasy more than I thought I did. There is a lot to love here, and tons of adventure. There is romance too, but it is very slow-burn. It was a great first book in the series, and I will definitely be reading the rest of the books in this series to see what happens!

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

- slowburn
- dark romantasy NA
- enemies to lovers
- good world building
- worth looking at the TW + CWs (dark and triggering themes)
- part of a series
- king arthur retelling

Overall the concept was interesting and entertaining, however the execusion did need polishing. I will try the next book in the series and will keep an eye out for more of Briar's work in the future.

⭐️3.5/5

~ 3 Stars ~

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me an eARC of this book for review.

Firstly, I did DNF this book at 36% and my ranting is solely based upon what I read.

My main takeaway is that I think this story line and world has a lot of potential. It’s very intriguing, a world where more fae blood is looked down upon. A world filled with bias and prejudices that are acted out against and punishable by death on some counts. But unfortunately, this story just moved extremely slow. There was a lot of both SHOW and TELL where it felt like you were getting a little bit too much and wanted to move on in the story.

I could also see the plot points ahead, the secret identity reveal was feeling very obvious, which ultimately, combined with the slowness, had me putting this one down.

I meant to come back and finish, but then I realized as I kept picking a new book up rather than coming back to this one, I wasn’t going to be finishing….

Morgan Pendragon was supposed to be crown princess of her father's kingdom. That was stolen from her, by his anger and her mother's blood - supposedly, she's part fae, but neither her nor her mother have ever shown signs of this as far as she can remember. Now, her father is dead and her cruel brother sits on the throne, and he believes Morgan's fae blood can win him the conflict he's started, so he sends her on a mission to recover a mystical sword. She's sent away, a mere pawn once again, in the company of cold blooded assassin Karios Draven. Quickly, Morgan discoveres that very few people are what she thought they were - including herself.
I love myth retellings a whole lot - this one was no different. I really enjoyed this take on the Arthurian legend, the way characters were portrayed and Briar Boleyn's writing style. What I did not enjoy was some of the clichés in this story, including some of Morgan's choices - but I understand that this is a fantasy novel and therefore will have some very common tropes and characteristics. Am really looking forward to starting the second book!

Loved king arthur and i especially loveeeee the "retailings". Love enemies to lovers and the slow burn (altho infuriating ate times) was top notch. The world building and plot were amazing and easy to follow

Too many characters, too much violence. I couldn’t get through the first few chapters. I didn’t enjoy the “voice” of the main character. Not the story for me

This book hit my Fae itch beautifully. This Fae Camelot was a tale filled with self discovery and romance. Morgan is half human and half Fae which throughout the book she tries to navigate both identities. Don’t get me wrong there is gore and spice, which makes for an even better story.

This book was entertaining, it had my complete attention. There was a lot happening through the whole book, it was both political and romantical driven. Having this being a reimagining of King Arthur legend, but Fae threw me off at times, I think it could have just been a great fantasy romance without that aspect to the story. It was dramatic, suspenseful and kept me on my toes as I read. It did a really good job of writing the villains in this story that I absolutely despised, and I felt so bad for Morgan. She was getting stabbed in the back at every turn and some of her decisions or reasoning got on my nerves. The magic was interesting, how it was viewed and used in this world was very impactful to the characters of this story. Overall, I found this book enjoyable, it had a lot of suspense, and some surprising twists, so I would recommend checking it out.
Trigger warnings: sexual harassment, torture
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book and am glad that it’s within a series! With a slow burn, and strange twists throughout, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. A different adaptation of King Arthur, but one that I would recommend.

Entertaining plot but the characters were not. This was just enough for me to finish but not trilled about it.

This was a great retelling, and a debut into fantasy from this author that I really enjoyed. There was a lot of world building in this book which definitely took some time to get into and used to, but at the same time it is often necessary for fantasy worlds as they often are, and need to be complex. It is also quite a bit of a slow burn, which I really enjoyed. Excited to continue on with this series.

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
Disclaimer: I was gifted a copy of this book via netgalley and in exchange I am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions my own.
The way I inhaled this book :o And am relieved to see the sequel is out.
This book is wild. Definitely heed trigger warnings at the back, though I feel they should have added one for sexual abuse/unwanted sexual contact. I'm not going to say who the abuser is but it's concerning that there wasn't a warning for it. That being said, I will definitely continue to follow this author. Briar Boleyn is really talented at world building and keeping you turning pages. This is somewhat an Arthurian retelling, with a fae twist (booktok would love this lol). I'm looking forward to book 2, and I want to thank netgalley and Boleyn for the opportunity to read this book.
If you like SJM, Jennifer L Armentrout, and other authors like those two, you may like this book (though it isn't as steamy as the stuff they tend to write lol).

To be very honest, I found this book a little rough and slow in the beginning. Morgan is a little hard to connect with throughout and honestly feels like a doormat half the time I am reading. She did get better just at the end, but it wasn't enough to save my thoughts on how I felt about her. The character death near the end infuriated me and I really wish it had not happened because it felt useless.

However, it is the plot that kept me coming back. The world as well which has clearly been built well. We will see how things fair with the next book. I am hoping it pulls me in more than this one did.

While the allure of the plot initially intrigued me, this book, unfortunately, failed to hold my attention. However, the fascinating plot remains a testament to their creativity. Sometimes, personal preferences just don't align.

SLOW
PAcing Issues
FMC was underdeveloped
Plot was haphazard at times

I love the retelling of King Arthur; I'm a sucker for those kinds of books and Boleyn does it extremely well by adding a new take.