Lady Gemma Ashbourne is unlike the rest of her family who were Anointed by the gods and blessed with special abilities. Gemma is not only powerless but her body fights magic like it is poison. When she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan, the lone survivor to a family seduced by a demon. They strike a bargain: Gemma will help him navigate high society and he will assist her in destroying her family's rivals. According to legend the demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families' blood feud so if Talan and Gemma can slay the demon, they can end the feud once and for all. This fantasy book is intriguing and has a twist I did not see coming. There were a few points that seemed to jump out of sequence, and I had to reorientate what was happening in the story. The romance was a slow build but worth the wait. Each character's special abilities are interesting and the application of them throughout the story for their character growth and story development was thought out nicely. It leaves off on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I am curious to see what comes next for these characters.

Special thanks to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

You probably know how it goes with someone who just happens to be young, gorgeous, and rich. You know those people just have it all which all describes Lady Gemma Ashbourne. But even when those look all polished and kept together, we truly do not see the real them. This is true for Gemma too. She is sad due to her sister, Mara being taken years ago to Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Then, on top of that, her mother abandoned them and her father as well as her older sister, Favrin are in an active blood feud with the mysterious Bask family.

Honestly, I know that A Crown of Ivy and Glass has received a lot of mixed reviews and is more on the lower rated scale. On Goodreads this book has a 3. 14 rating and I totally get why people either dislike or like this book.

I first discovered Claire's books back when Furyborn, her debut first released back in 2018. I enjoyed Furyborn but I struggled a bit with Kingsbane when I tried physically reading it and I only enjoyed it to the point I gave it a 4/5 stars because I ended up listening to it on audiobook. I think with A Crown of Ivy and Glass, I only enjoyed it because it was like Kingsbane for me. Her books are a struggle for me to read physically but on audio they work better for me. So, if you want to read A Crown of Ivy and Glass or are struggling with it, then totally pick this up as an audiobook.

This book is marketed as an adult fantasy but I did find Gemma to be more naive and younger with her thought process and actions, so I think this would have been better marketed as YA.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass is marketed as Bridgerton x ACOTAR x Ballet retellings, which is fine to do but did come off poorly executed as if the plot was suffering an identity crisis due to trying to be many things at once. Other than that issue, I enjoyed the story. Claire writes well and sets a good pace for the story.

Yes, Gemma is entitled and came off as irritating but I did enjoy seeing some character growth in her and I am sure she will have more character growth as the series progresses. I think the
romance was well done as well.

I do look forward to reading the sequel in the future and yes, I'll be reading it on audio.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did. I didn’t really connect with Gemma as a character, so being in her head was a bit annoying at times. I did however enjoy the world building, so I might read the second book.

This was unfortunately a DNF for me. It was painful to listen to and felt that the story took too long to get going I couldn’t’ get myself to finish this book.

Review: DNF AT 15% This one just didn't work for me. I was excited about this and was a bit bored, which scared me because this is a long novel. Thank you to the publisher and net galley for allowing me to read this ARC. I will still try another Claire Legrand novel in the future.

I adore this author but this storyline felt like it took a little too long to get going. I did not know it was a series before beginning it and, perhaps, this impacted by enjoyment as I was anticipating a standalone. Great character development, as can always be expected from Legrand.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. this was fantastic, just what i have come to expect from this author and look forward to carrying in my book store.

Overall kind of disappointed in this book. I was so hyped to read it from the description and was hoping to review, but it was just ok. I'm not sure if it is because I have been reading some really great fantasy romances lately and my expectations were too high. I just did not like the character of Gemma for some reason. The narrator is really good, I liked her tone of voice and the pace at which she read. Her British accent made the listening experience even better. I really wanted to like this book, but couldn't, I will try to reread when the next book comes out. I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve seen another series by this author quite a lot on social media so I was excited to give this one a try. Unfortunately, this one didn’t live up to my expectation.

The story started out with a strong opening, plot seems interesting to follow, and I enjoy listening to the narrator. The narrator did a good job delivering this book.
However, at some point the plot took an unexpected turn. I was struggling to keep up with what’s going on. It would be nice if this one was divided into two books instead of cramming it into a long thick book.

The world building is actually pretty interesting and I’m interested in knowing more about the magic system. However, the pacing felt weird sometimes. In some parts it was too rushed with multiple time jumps but then it’ll turn very slow that I just want to skim past it.

Moreover, there are too many characters but not many of them are very memorable. I didn’t feel the chemistry or any spark between the main characters because of how the FMC keeps giving the MMC a second chance over and over again annoyed me by the end of it.

I really want to like this book but I felt confused most of the time listening to this story. The long chapters also makes this book feels longer than it should be.
This book sounds promising and has potentials to be a great read, however I was disappointed with how it turns out. I don’t think I’m gonna continue reading this series.
While this book didn't work out for me, you’re welcome to check it out if YA fantasy romance is your go to genre.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: Self-harm, panic attacked, suicidal thoughts, sexual content, death, grief

<i>I received an advanced audiobook for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!</i>

I've heard nothing but good things about this author and her Furyborn series so when this was a option for a Arc I jumped at it.

I was not a fan of this book. I felt like the writing was a little juvenile and I also felt like she just tried to throw so much into this book that once your follwing one thing happening she would start something new and your thinking about what about this plot point.

I'm not sure if I will read the next book in the series or not.

Thank you NetGalley for this Audio-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Listened to this book in one sitting! Can't wait for book 2! Loved the twist at the end! Made the cover make so much sense!

I always forget how much I enjoy a good fantasy book until I’m in the middle of one and this one was excellent! A lot of action and twists all while the author was laying down the groundwork for this trilogy. I thought I had an idea of where the book was going but the author kept throwing in twist after twist to keep this reader on her toes. Just a little smut to lighten the mood in a few places. Cannot read to read the other two books when they come out! Really enjoyed listening to it in an audiobook format and it made a long drive so much more enjoyable. The narrator was also really good.

This story is about Lady Gemma Ashbourne, she's a brat and boring as hell. The world isn't explained well and all we get detail about is her sitting around doing nothing. The main character isn't likeable. The "love interest" Talan d'Astier give us nothing to go on and she is immediately enraptured by him.
Okay honey, call down!
I didn't enjoy this book and won't be continuing on with the series.

I really wanted to get into this book. but the slow burn made it hard for me to sink into the world and the story. It is one that i'll try for again though.

With a premise like ACOTAR meets Bridgerton, you would think this book would be a hit out of the ballpark especially coming from the author of Furyborn! Unfortunately, this book does not live up to the hype and was a struggle to get through.

Our MC, Gemma, is the only non-magical member of a powerful family, is both in chronic pain and a chronic pain in the ass of everyone in her family. Her selfishness often leads to the people around her getting hurt and it hurt me to see how often she would ignore the warnings from the people who cared about her the most and plunge headlong into danger far outside of her capabilities.

There isn't much original here outside of the Middlemist system around family estates and how you travel between and through it. The rest is mostly a number of tropes and honestly, feels like mostly a rip-off of ACOTAR.

Truly a disappointment for one of my highest expected book of the year.

Unfortunately I ended up DNFing this audiobook at around 20%.
Whilst I loved the premise and I should have loved the romance fantasy elements I unfortunately found it both slow, and the FMC not very likeable.
Whilst our FMC suffers from anxiety, her copying mechanism was to hold balls and parties….which didn’t make much sense. She is the only family member without magic but she comes from privilege and super vain. One of the first magic she performs is to give herself a glamour to make herself even more beautiful!! Sorry but after that I just couldn’t. I could not even make it to the adult” fantasy element as things just moved so slowly and the book felt too long already.
It’s such a shame as I loved the authors Furyborn series.
The narration itself was fine.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass is Claire Legrand's adult fantasy romance debut. I was excited to read it, but ultimately it left me scratching my head. The narration, however, by Evelyn Rose was very well done. She delivered a wonderful performance.

Lady Gemma Ashborne has everything she could wish for--except magic. Despite her wealth and beauty, she is deeply sad, and the magic of others attacks her body like a poison. Her sister Mara has been sent to guard the Middlemist, and her eldest sister and father are embroiled in a blood feud with another magical family.

A handsome young man, Talan, arrives and takes an interest in her, but all is not as it appears. Dangers, including demons and other nightmares, are closer than she imagines.

For me, personally, I feel like the author tried to cram too much in. It felt like all the tropes from all the recent fantasy romances were shoved into a plot blender and this complicated, meandering, convoluted book was the result. I'm no stranger to fantasy; it's one of my favorite genres, but I found this one to be difficult to follow. Sometimes less is more, and I think this book could have benefitted from some paring down. It will be interesting to see how the world-building and the plot develop in the next installment,

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for my ALC.

First the cover of this book is gorgeous. I really like it. The story was just okay for me. I found it hard to get into but I went along for the ride.

So I actually thought this book was ok. I will say I went in blind. I haven't read any of her other books before, and I saw no hype before I got it. And since I got an audiobook copy to review on Netgalley approved weeks after I submitted for it and while in the middle of another long book. I had already forgot the description before I started. It is not the next big thing but it was an interesting listen while doing housework and such.


My biggest gripes with the book was...

This book does feel very YA but with spice. I do wish the author had matured the characters a bit or made the spice more fade to black and just made it YA. I enjoy both styles of books but felt a bit awkward when my brain imagines the main charater whose describing sex scenes to be like 16-17 based on her maturity level even if that's not her age in the books.

The author seems to want to cash in on whats really big right now which make sence. Except it was almost like she made a check list of all the popular tropes and just worked her way down the list. And in doing so it was sloppy and the transitions just weren't there. She starts with decent world building but then drops the ball in character and story development.

I don't hate the book and still may read the next in the series. There is potential here and I'm curious to see how the story progresses as the Author grows as a writer.

I did not enjoy this and probably should have DNFed, but I chugged along and it did not get better. I was hoping that this title was just going to have a slow slightly unenjoyable beginning and then as the plot picked up, I would be invested, but that unfortunately did not happen for me.

I could not follow the world building. The early parts of the book were very slow and then all of a sudden the pace was moving so fast I couldn't keep up or process what was happening. Overall, this book did not live up to its pitch. You might disagree with me and in that case, carry on and enjoy!