I really wanted to live this audiobook. However, I could not. The narrator tried her best, but the story did not keep me invested. Therefore, it had potential but it fell flat. I will look for more audiobooks by the narrator.

I was surprised by how quickly I wanted to DNF this book. I didn't because honestly I really wanted to clear it off my Overdue Netgalley ARC list.

Rather than try to elaborate too much, here is a list of what I did not enjoy:
1. Minus the sex scenes that I was NOT expecting, this is a YA book. Nothing else makes it adult, which makes me feel like CL added the extra spice to get an adult rating. The sex scenes just felt like they came from out of nowhere.
2. In a 600 page book, I feel like I read 3. So many plots that led nowhere or again, came from out of left field.
3. The things I wanted to know more about were glossed over or ignored.
4. Talon
5. Gemma
6. A lot of prose could have been left out as much of the book was excess
7. Talon & Gemma together

What I liked:
1. The magic system
2. The Queen
3. The Bask siblings
4. Mara and the Roses

Because I also had the audio, I have to say that overall I enjoyed Evelyn Rose's narration, except for Talon. I swear his accent changed about 3 different times! But her accent for the Basks was perfection.

In the end, eh. I'm just glad book 2 is about Farrin and Ryder, so I will give it a try.

This is my first Claire Legrand. I really wanted to love this, but just couldn't quite get into it. I wasn't fully invested in the relationship, and it made it harder for me too root for a large part of the plot. I do think the plot overall was interesting, so I might continue. I will try Furyborn by this author as well. I don't feel that this book felt particularly aged up from her YA novels, but it reads along the 17-22 age demographic.

this one was a little confusing. it jumped between characters a lot and it was a little slow going for my liking. as most fantasy it left on a huge cliff hanger so I will be reading the next one for answers and hoping the second book is better.

I love fantasy novels, and really wanted to like this, but I DNF at 30%. I just couldn’t get into the story.

I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. I felt some of the characters to be lacking, and the plot left a lot to be desired.

I thought this book was a little hard to follow. I do not read fantasy that often so that may be why it was just a different read for me. I would recommend to others though.

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.

One thing I really liked about this book is that It brought regency era and fantasy together in an interesting way. Unfortunately I did dnf this book about half way through. I didn’t find the love interest to be appealing it felt like high school lovers constantly needing to make out. Also, why is she so obsessed with the how pale he is? It gave the same energy of a men during this time period being feral over a shoulder or an ankle. Overall I felt as though the book was all over the place and a bit messy. I truly didn’t understand what was going on

A Crown of Ivy and Glass was one of my most anticipated reads. The narrator of the audiobook is great. However, I just could not get into this book. I would pick it up and put it down. It was boring and just not for me. I really really wanted to love this. Thank you netgalley for an arc.

I was really hyped to have an advanced access to a Claire Legrand's book.

However it didn't match the expectations. I think that the reading had a too slow pace for the book itself. But I can't put my finger on whether I don't think the book was that good because of the narration or in spite of it.

This book wasn't for me. I DNF'd about 65% of the way in. The pacing was slow and I just couldn't get into it anymore than I forced myself to. I won't be leaving reviews anywhere else.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand

I set this aside several months ago because it just wasn't working for me, but I wanted it to so badly! And I cannot talk myself into picking it back up. I love adult fantasy romance, and I always get so excited when I see a YA author cross that bridge from YA to adult. The joy that it brings me is immense. I could not stand Gemma. She reads like a self-centered teen, and I wanted an adult in my adult romance. The sex scenes were not well done at all, and made me wince and cringe. I honestly just skimmed those parts, which was super disappointing. I also felt like the book dragged forever and then sometimes things would oick up and I'd get invested, only to fall into a boring patch again. I felt like the genres kept switching, and things just felt very disjointed and messy. I just cannot finish this, and it breaks my heart. The narrator did a fine job, it's just this book. I can't.

Well, this is spicy. And bloody. And very descriptive about its spice and blood. I'm not sure whether some of those descriptions were needed, but...

I am very on the fence with this book. Parts were fantastic and others were chaotic (at best). Overall, this book felt a bit over-stuffed.

For Libraries: Adult/New Adult

Having had this book for awhile, it is one that is a very slow burn. I did not enjoy how long it was taking to move the story forward. I did think the story itself had promise, but the execution was not as expected.

I can honestly say that this book could have been half the length and without all the 'will they, won't they?' of the first half of the novel between Gemma and Talan. Especially since there are three books in this world to get through. This one just came across as really long winded before getting to the really great stuff in the second half of the book.

We get a lot of important information at the start. Gemma is different to her sisters in this world of magic and the fae. Not only does she have no magic in her prominent family. She is also made unwell by proximity to magic.

This doesn't actually mean she's at odds with her two sisters. Quite the opposite, in fact. With Farrin who she still lives with, there is a bit of strain, but that's more to do with the differences in the ways they're treated and ends up being a dim memory because Farrin is awesome.

Mara, on the other hand, is the softest and sweetest among them, though she doesn't still live in the big house. As a child, she was taken from Gemma and the rest of the family to an order that guards against the not good kind of magic.

There is also a feud between Gemma's family and another that, at around the point where the plot really starts to get going, halfway through or so, we find out is boltered by the actions of a demon and the people he controls over the years.

Yes, there is a lot here that needs to be set up, but it isn't the set up that takes its time. It's whether or not Gemma should trust Talan, the intriguing courtier who has recently come to her home. She wants to make plans that will help her family with him. She despises and wants nothing to do with him. She bares herself to him. He seems to betray her and disappears.

The second half of the book is a great deal more interesting with the world and Gemma's sisters coming into play. We also come to realise the reasons why Gemma is made unwell by magic as well as getting to (briefly) see the queen of the world and all sorts of magic users.

This was a hard book to read. I didn't think it would affect me and when I first started it didn't. However, I have a medical disorder and it's painful, I ended up in a flair up while reading this book. I could feel how the girl felt, I could understand her fascination in not hurting. The book is very interesting and I recommend it but be aware it is hard in points to continue reading.

Even though this novel is described as her adult debut, I wanted to read it because I do have some students who love to read high fantasy novels.
While the title intrigued me, I was quite lost several times in the story. It seemed as though Legrand could't decide what she wanted the characters to do, so the plot jumped around too much for me. The spicy scenes weren't overly adult-like with the descriptions, but this is definitely a book for more mature readers. At 75% complete, I felt like the plot finally came together, and I was curious about how it would end. I'm not sure all fantasy readers will enjoy this one as it does drag on too long before the plot actually becomes interesting.

There was great world building and interesting characters here, but the unexplained instalove romance was a bit baffling. I would continue the series.

This book was not exactly what I was expecting but it was still a good read. Not sure if I will continue the series though. That remains to be seen.