Bride of the Crimson Queen took my heart completely by surprise. Fascinated by the general concept of a powerful vampire falling in love with the same sorceress who vowed her demise and the stunning, eye-catching cover, I found myself unwillingly pulled inside, stuck to my phone, intrigued and obsessed to the point of almost devouring the whole book in a single sitting. Despite many imperfections, like very large information dumps, some unnatural dialogue (which I mostly giggled at), and forgivable writing stumbles that could be fixed with proper editing... Gosh, I genuinely enjoyed myself! Call me cheesy, but once I pushed through the first couple of chapters and one of the main characters - Aradia - appeared, my heart was hooked, that woman is simply too snarky, morally grey, and sarcastic for me not to have a crush. I'm very easy to please and I'll proudly admit it!

Despite some mixed opinions about the novel, I gave it a fair chance and I do not regret it at all, it will certainly not suit everyone's taste, as books always do, but for me... This was a positive experience, one I will fondly remember and recommend, even for the sake of forming your own thoughts about the matter! I genuinely can't wait to see how this story will progress, especially after a certain plot twist and my uncertainty about who will the main character - Kami - actually choose (Aradia, please let it be her, I will literally scream if not). If you love queer characters, magic, bloodthirsty vampires, and love interests who aren't necessarily nice, but would burn the world for their beloved, this is the book for you! I will never grow tired of novels and authors who remind me why reading is my favorite hobby and how much fun books can bring to a person who's going through a hard day.

Man, this book was pretty unenjoyable. Plot sounded good and cover was amazing but it was a slow and boring start and not much happened.

Thank you to the publishing company Tethys Night Sky, and Keri Moore for the opportunity to read this arc. Thank you to Netgally as well.

I was a fan of the concept. I was not a fan of the 2 male characters, Wasser and Skye. I did understand it was supposed to be old English and maybe it was th 3rd person but it took me out of the fantasy of it all. I do think in a first person and if we had Kami going with Brandt and Alice to the castle it would have wildly improved this book. The moments with Kami and Aradia were at times so wholesome and beautiful but it was hard to want to finish with Wasser and Skye taking such large roles in the book.

This book was right up my alley! I didn’t get to finish it in time, however I do plan on buying the book and finishing it to give a proper review in the future. I will make an updated review when I am able to buy the physical copy!

Lackluster writing, older/conservative ideas about purity and virgins, and weirdly not spicy. The way this book was described sounded like a lesbian fantasy and yet I did not get that at all. I could not make it through this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

I was super excited for this because lesbians and mythical creatures are almost always a win. This book is nearly impossible to read, however. The writing reminds me of proofreading classmates’ essays in high school. It was very difficult to get into the story at all because I was distracted by awkward phrasing and poor sentence structure. I feel like with a good editor this could be worth reading.

I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get past the bad writing. I have never complained about information dumps in a book before, until now. I think the best example of what I mean is when the main character enters a room with five new characters, and each character gets a paragraph of description back to back, with no other information offered until that is done.

I might have been able to overlook the bad writing if the plot was enjoyable, but it wasn't either. I felt no connection to the characters, and in fact strongly disliked all of them. Overall, this one just wasn't for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for my review.

That being said I couldn't finish this.

I had been intrigued by the set up of the book, but getting into felt like reading a different story. For a sapphic book the male characters were the main focus and I couldn't seem to connect with either of the female MCs. Also the whole focus on Kami's virginity was a bit weird.

The main thing that made me put this down was the constant SA talk and scenes (while not overtly graphic). Perhaps a tag warning or something.

This book turned out to be quite different from my initial expectations. While I was hoping for a focus on romance, there were numerous questionable scenes and choices that made it challenging to stay engaged in that aspect. The relationship between Kami and Arcadia didn't make much sense to me, so it didn't feel like a genuine romance. Additionally, despite being a sapphic book, the male characters seemed to dominate the story and were more developed than all the female characters combined. It was disappointing.

However, approaching this book without any preconceived notions, I was pleasantly surprised by the pacing and storyline. Kami emerged as a fantastic heroine with relatable insecurities that made her even more endearing. On the other hand, my feelings towards Arcadia were unexpectedly varied. Sometimes I found myself rooting for her success, while other times I couldn't stand her character at all. This kind of emotional swing for a character is not something I typically experience, so it was a refreshing change.

That being said, there were some aspects of the book that could have been improved. The writing and execution made it difficult for me to take anything seriously, and there were moments where it was challenging to follow whose perspective we were seeing due to the shifting points of view. Additionally, I wish there had been a trigger warning as an assault scene caught me off guard and greatly affected my reading experience.

Overall, while this book had its flaws, it still managed to surprise me with its pace and storyline.

A huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

With that said, this book was... not what I thought it would be. There were a lot of questionable scenes and choices in this book that made it hard to focus on the romance that I came to read this book for. I don't even see what happened between Kami and Arcadia as romance because it just didn't make sense. Plus, for a sapphic book, it felt like the men took majority of the screen time and they were all fleshed out more than all of the female characters combined. The plot was okay but the writing and execution of it really made me just not take any of what is happening seriously.

‼️MINOR SPOILERS‼️

But my main issue, if we're just narrowing it down, is the whole virginity talk that happened in, like, half the book. It was unnecessary and disappointing as the main reason I read this was for the sapphic aspect, instead we get several whole speech about how Kami is a virgin and how she's a danger to the mission because of that. There was also several (non-graphic to mildly graphic) SA scenes here and just r*pe mentions that completely took me off-guard.

‼️MINOR SPOILERS ‼️

This book is a 1 star but I made it 2 because it was bad in the "so bad it's good/entertaining" way. I will not be picking up the second part, though.

I didn’t enjoy the book for these three reasons:

-The writing was poor and needs editing.
-The world-building fell flat.
-And there was an unnecessary addition of sexual assault (not that it’d ever be necessary).

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

As always thank you to publishers and Netgalley for a free arc in exchange for an honest review.


I genuinely didn't enjoy anything about this book. The prose is painful to read, the sheer amount of normalized misogyny and the fact that the main love interest literally touches the main character without her consent, I legitimately can't think of one thing I thought was well done. Every single character is a walking red flag. Forced myself to finally finish it, only happy that it’s over.

So I had no preconcieved notions when going into this book and that being said I was pleasently surprised with the pace and story line. I do wish there would have been a trigger warning, I was not expecting the assualt when it happened and then it really soured the feeling of the book and I had to take a break.

Kami is such a great herion and her insecurities make her even more loveable and relateable.

I went through many emotions regarding the Aradia which was unexpected. There were some points I was rooting for her and wanting her to succeed and then there were other times I didn't like her at all. That kind of bipolar swing for a character doesn't normally happen for me so it was really great.

The are shifting points of view, which I am very accustom to in my novels I enjoy, however this one was a little difficult sometimes to follow whose perspective we were seeing.

The premise of this book sounded like Beauty and the Beast with a sapphic vampire which I was incredibly excited about but it unfortunately fell so short of hopes/expectations.

For a book titled “Bride of the Crimson Queen,” I expected more of the Crimson Queen and for the Kami to be an actual bride.

The whole world created here is a heaping pile of misogyny that Kami is not fleshed out enough to combat or help distract the reader from. Her lack of real character and the horrible virginity obsessed society made for a painful read.

The writing itself left much to be desired and it needs an edit.

Additionally, the book absolutely needs trigger warnings. If it wasn’t for other reviews I wouldn’t know about the on page rape and attempted rape of the main character.

Aradia was easily the most interesting aspect of this book, I just wish she was in it more than Skye and Wasser. The slow burn of her and the Kami was fun.

The writing here wasn't what I seek in stories I read, but the biggest struggle was the bad editing. Unfortunately I couldn't finish this. Hopefully some of the mistakes can still be fixed. Thank you for the opportunity to check out this ARC.

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC! The premise of this book was great, but unfortunately it fell flat. There definitely should have been trigger warnings. There is mention of full on rape and men having to restrain themselves from forcing themselves on women while drunk (the woman that was just raped). There is also an archaic view on virginity and purity.

Honestly, with the name and the cover art I though this would be spicy but there was no spice. Just men and women trying to force themselves on the MC.

There were a lot of grammar mistakes that drove me insane. And the POV would randomly change and it was hard to figure out whose it was at times.

Overall, I would not recommend this book and I will not be reading any future books.

Kami, a novice fire sorceress, never wanted to fight. She already lost her mother, the great fire sorceress Arkemi, to the forces of darkness. While the world sees a fallen hero, Kami is riddled with regret and bitterness—struggling to understand what she died for.

Well done sapphic fantasy romance. I really enjoyed it.

I would like to thank Keri Moore and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!

Though I truly did like the portrayal of friendships and how important they were to the story, that felt to be the brightest highlight of the book. There was a large amount of info dumping in the book I thought may have been better served in an index or opening coda to the book (which might have also worked to ease in the casual mention of clothes looking Victorian), and I felt as if the protag took a while to get to what we all knew was coming.

I think also the emphasis on virginity had some odd tones to it, and certainly interesting reactions. I did appreciate the content warnings!

I think too after it was revealed a character was reincarnated into a body with different attributes, there was an interesting difference: protag might refer to the person with one set of pronouns out loud at some points, but in her head and by the narrative, the same pronouns were used. Moreover, it was a clear antagonist who would misgender (?) said character. I did appreciate that it felt clear which pronouns to use, as they were the main pronouns throughout!

Definitely an interesting book, but I think that it could use some polish. 3/5 stars!

While the writing felt immature at times, the tone and cadence of dialogue unrealistic, this was still a fun read. I would read a book like this on Kindle Unlimited and think nothing of it needing some more editing, as many people don't expect traditional publishing standard of self pub books. I'll admit I don't know if this is self-published or not, but it reads as though it is.

This could have been so much but poor editing and poor grammar have made this almost unbearable to read. Therefore, I did not finish this book!