I really enjoyed this one! I thought the world building was super easy to follow + I LOVED Lore. The pacing was great + I found myself always wanting to pick up the book + see what happened. I am very excited to continue this series!

I first heard of this book from a reviewer on tiktok (@satrayreads omg she’s an icon) who raved about it and so this became one of my most anticipated reads of 2024.

For a debut novel, I thought it was very well done and I really really enjoyed it. The main character, Lore, is so dedicated and compassionate and such an amazing figure to have as an fmc in a book. I mean the author really took this book and said let’s put in the best fmc that makes your heart all warm and fuzzy and squishy, that’s Lore. Seeing how courageous and determined she is but also getting to see the flaws that she has with her self-sacrificing, risk-taking ways was so cool to see because usually in fantasy novels those attributes are placed on main characters that are portrayed as the ‘sassy badass assassin’ when in reality they’re just stupid and ignore any kind of warning signal. Seeing Lore’s character have those qualities and those flaws but it actually be done well was very refreshing and I loved it so much.

Another thing the author does very well is the writing. The writing alone was beautiful and could easily make someone get lost in the story. The characterization was incredible. I absolutely loved the characters and how they were described and how they acted. Even the evil characters were so so interesting to read about, and it made me hate them even more and wonder why they became evil to begin with. I think this author really succeeds when it comes to their characters and being able to write them well in a unique way while still including elements that are typically found in romantasy novels already.

However, there are some things that I did not like as much. First, I felt as though this book could’ve been run through the editing process one or two more times. There were some minor spelling mistakes and some sentences that, when paired together, didn’t really flow together in a way that made it seem like a story. Things like that tend to seem very clunky, and they in turn pull me out of the story because it’s irritating trying to escape into this world but then the same word is said twice in a sentence and the sentence isn’t even long or detailed enough to support it. (I did read an ARC however, so this may actually be something that is fixed in the published copy.) Secondly, I did not enjoy the pacing of this book. We would get occasional gaps in time and I feel like that didn’t really benefit the growth of these characters and it prevented from being able to clearly see the emotional changes that occur over a period of time. After finishing the book, I can see why we have some of those gaps, but I still wish that the pacing was left to be more of a slow burn. That way we, as readers, can get the full effect/emotion and it will leave readers guessing, theorizing, and wanting more by the time the ending comes along. I feel like this book would definitely benefit from being a longer novel because of the potential to be more of a high fantasy read than romantasy, so I’m hoping hoping hoping that the next book will be longer.

After reading the book, without giving away any spoilers obviously, I get the feeling that the author is trying to take us on this road with the main character where pieces of the story or the world-building aren’t given to us right away because of the fact that Lore’s people aren’t originally from this world, so we’re on this journey with Lore to figure out the secrets of the world alongside her. However, I feel like there was a lack of cohesion. I was disappointed with the lack of history given in regards to the world-building, and some characters or situations left me thinking things like “how is this possible?” or “where did this come from?” or “how did this system get put in place/come to be?” and I feel as though things like that could be fixed if there was maybe a clear scene where Lore finds out more on the history of the world she’s in or even just of her people. I think there were many scenes where something like that could’ve been included, but it wasn’t and that left me a little sad.

Honestly, if you are a person that tends to love characters that are very heart-warming, and especially if you are a fan of the found family trope, I think this would be an amazing book for you. If you’re a fan of romance/romantasy, this too would be a great read, but the pacing and time skips might make you wonder, like I did, why those skips were included and why there wasn’t as much detail put onto the introduction of some characters. If you are also a cottagecore girlie and love everything fantasy, witchy, mushroomy, maybe you hang those fake vines up in your room and wish to live as a little wicked witch in the woods, this would also be a nice book for you too.

Thank you NetGalley & HarperCollins for the gifted copy of this book. This is my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Harper Collins for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
First things first, I loved the cover of the book and for the story, it was indeed fast paced but truly lacked some direction. Yhe author tried to fit so much into 32 chapters even putting a plot twist at the end to get us to wait on the next book which i think is foolish. Lore , the FMC has no motivation for most of her actions. Yes the book is about her wanting magic but so many random things happen that it doesn't make sense in the slightest why they're happening. The love triangle I thought would occur in the book took like 22 chapters before it happened.
So much time was wasted trying to describe Lore's daily activities.
This story deserved 50 chapters and with more emphasis on the characters actions.
It's an okay book but not so exciting

Lore of the Wildes very much gave that cozy warm book read but was fae. It is filled with fae, magic, a cursed magical library filled with magical books. It follows a human named Lore who is the FMC from a village of humans who are oppressed by the fae. And one day the fae come asking her for a favor. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about fae and with a little romance and lore about the stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book for an honest review.

This book was a labour of love. Every word put to page demonstrates this. Its slow burn was pure magic. The characters were all thoroughly developed, as was the world that was woven. Lore starts off rather meek and naive. She learns that not is all as it seems and that the magic she has been seeking is within her grasp. She learns that trusting too easily comes at a great cost. The people she meets shape her character. Asher was with her from the beginning and supports her throughout - but in comes Finn and he begrudgingly begins to teach Lore the language she needs to further tap in to the magic available to her.
We’ve got a book brimming with magic, a potential love triangle, new friendships, betrayals and some twists - I suspected it for a while, but the reveal was still satisfying. I feel like the story was just beginning when it ended. I crave more and I look forward to the next book very much. I highly recommend this new series to en very reader of fantasy out there, especially if you, as a human, crave the existence of magic in the world.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an advanced e-copy of the book. The opinions expressed are honest and my own.

I am so mad at this book for leaving me on a cliffhanger like it did and then not having a release date for the follow up!

The twists were twisting and I’m gonna be salty about it until I can read the sequel to this cottagecore romantic fantasy with POC rep as far as the eye can see.

#LoreOfTheWilds:⁣
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Thank you @harpervoyagerus partner for my gifted copy.⁣
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“I can do something to change things for them. I want to help my people stop surviving and start living”. ⁣
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Honestly, 10/10 no notes. I loved this book. The magic system, the hierarchy of beings, the little romantasy, the cliffhanger?! Honestly, just so good. ⁣
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We follow Lore, who is a human. She gets tasked by this Fae Lord to catalog a whole library (dream, right?) and if she finds anything ✨enchanting✨, let him know. Ok, cool. Except, her whole village is basically prisoner to this jerk, and she starts to find the history that she was essentially denied. Knowing what she knows now, she’s ready to free her village and come into her own. Theres another Fae, a guard, she befriends and has feelings for. Theres another they meet along the way that drives the grumpy/sunshine and touch her and die trope. Love it. ⁣
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I cheered so hard for Lore. She’s been denied so much and just want her to come into her own power. She’s amazing, and I’m happy she was written into existence. It was such a twisty and turn plot that I ate it up.⁣
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Out now, probably my favorite read of February.⁣
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QOTD: How was your weekend? We finally had decent weather and I got to start some of our garden! 🪴

I enjoyed this one but it wasn't my favorite. Language is a little more YA and modern than I would've liked. I'm not a fan of love triangles, and there were parts that were very slow. I think execution could've definitely been better.

Other than that, I loved the cozy vibes and will continue to see where the story continues.

This book was so amazing and I’m devastated that there’s such a huge cliffhanger. I hope that we get a sequel to book one soon!

This book was everything I was looking for in a cozy fantasy read! In Lore of the Wilds, we follow Lore who is a human in a world of dark and light faes. Humans are locked away on some land the faes sent them to. Lore helps her aunt run an apothecary when all of a sudden the dark fae come looking around and introduce themselves to Lore. An earthquake happens and the whole town gets destroyed. Lore is then hired by the dark fae to organize and look for magic books in an enchanted library for the dark fae in exchange for help to restore her town. This is a romantasy. There is a love triangle but in all honesty I felt like the romance wasn’t too heavy in the first book. Which I’m not complaining about cause I love the book either way! The characters in this book were so cute and I loved them all! I loved how we saw her getting ingredients for the spells she’s working on and we saw her practice and her magic abilities grow. The descriptions of the food and drinks got me hungry! I was not expecting that at all. I’ve never read a book like that! The atmosphere in this book was literally everything to me! It gave Skyrim vibes which was amazing. The plot twist I kind of expected but it was still twisted enough in a way I didn’t see coming! Over all I loved this book very very much! I gave it 5 stars and I can not wait for the next book!!

This is marketed as a new adult fantasy however, I feel like it toes the line of YA and adult. There's one midly descriptive sex scene, but without that it reads very much like a YA fantasy.

I was liking it until the halfway point and it started to lose me because tha pacing got a bit slower as we were traveling with the characters for a while. Once we started meeting more characters the plot picked up a bit more and then the ending happened and it was just ok for me.

I would have liked more growth for the characters especially for the relationships we got. They felt really rushed and half detailed. More world building as well would have been great.

I really wanted this to go on my fantasy favorite shelf. Because that cover is STUNNING and the premise had me in its grips.. but sadly it did not land there. It just felt as a whole a little bit.. unpolished. The ideas were there, they just weren’t well executed, in my opinion. I really think you could take out the spicy scene (didn’t really add anything to the story anyway) and some of the f-bombs and it would market great as YA. The dialogue wasn’t my favorite, and it tended to lean more modern which took me out of the fantasy element. I found it extensively repetitive. Describing smells, his “bottom pouty lip”, and just inner monologues from our FMC. I didn’t get a sense of direction for any of the characters true motives in the story either. The pacing was inconsistent. The romance lacked chemistry, which killed me. I wasn’t a fan of the time skips. And everything seemed to convenient. I feel like I’m nit picking a lot, I did enjoy this read to an extent. It was just one of my most anticipated reads this year and I’m truly saddened I didn’t fall in love. The ending spooked me a bit holy shit. I’m going to continue the series cause I believe in the author. I feel like Sbrana is only going to get better. And damn. That ending. Major cliffhanger.

I really wish I had liked this. The writing was very young adult at first (which is fine! Great!) and then I got whiplash because out of nowhere we would have a complete tonal shift. We have not one but two cases of insta love. I loved the library setting but we didn’t do hardly anything with it. There isn’t really a cohesive plot.

*thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

Oh my GOD?! I went in expecting to like this book, because I’m a fan of romantasy, but I LOVED this. I loved every second of it!!!

And the ending?! I had my suspicions about one character about halfway through, and oh my gOD??? THE CLIFFHANGER!! WE NEED MORE

- LORE OF THE WILDS immediately drew me in. I was an instant fan of Lore and her will to survive and fight. I found the world of this book intriguing. Books about fae are numerous now, but this one found that line between terrifying and alluring perfectly.
- I thought when picking this up that it was a YA novel, and the tone of it reads that way, especially in the beginning. Then, about 75% in, things turn very spicy and very dark, and oh wait Lore isn’t the teenager I thought she was? It was a bit jarring.
- I’m gonna try to do this bit without spoilers. There was a character whose motivations I absolutely could not figure out until it dawned on me that this was part of a plot twist. So that unfortunately wasn’t much of a twist for me, and I wish there had been a better effort at hiding it.
- All that said, I’m looking forward to book two and I think Sbrana is an author to watch.

I have to say, it was the romantasy I needed at the perfect moment in my life. From the very beginning, I was completely hooked and found myself reading 40% of the book in one sitting.

The main character, Lore (love this name btw), resonated with me in a way that few characters do. She had the perfect soul - strong and resilient, always putting her people before herself, even if it meant putting herself in danger. I couldn't help but admire her throughout the story.

Analeigh's writing was well done, with beautiful prose and a touch of humour that kept me entertained.

I am already waiting for the sequel!! I liked the final scene and the little twist, I felt like I was watching a movie !! I would highly recommend this book to all fantasy lovers, it is a diverse read and even has queer representation. The book ticked all the boxes for what I expect in a romantasy

Wow. I loved this! I was completely swept away by this beautiful debut. With an enchanted library, a unique magic system and a wonderful cast of characters, Lore of the Wilds makes for an incredibly cozy read. Until the ending of course because that cliffhanger was brutal!

Lore was a fantastic main character. She is so selfless and I admired her willingness to sacrifice for the people she loves.
There are some great side characters but Finn may be my favorite. I love the grumpy ones 💛

I enjoyed the romance, there is a bit of a love triangle but it was done so well that I didn’t mind it. I’m really looking forward to finding out how things will develop in the next book.

And that plot twist! I had my suspicions that something might be off with a certain character but that twist definitely took me by surprise 👏🏻👏🏻

Now please tell me we won’t have to wait too long for book 2. I have no idea where this is going to go but I need to know what happens next!

Lord of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana

Lore is a human, trapped in her village that is surrounded by an enchanted forest and ruled by the fae. After an earthquake destroys her town, she is forced to negotiate with the fae and takes on the role of cleaning and categorizing their library that has been spelled against their kind.

This in itself would have been an incredible story but Lore has a wild journey that takes her through several adventures in this book. Although I have to say the library scenes were my favourite. The last 2/3 of the book were scattered and either really busy or really slow. But it is a debut and although it frustrated me as I read it, looking back I don’t know what specifically I would change.

I loved the characters (#TeamFinn), the romance, the twists and the world the author created. And that ending was crazy. No way to avoid the second book with that cliff hanger.

Thank you to @harpercollinsca for my copy, the book is out now! I will be eagerly awaiting the next one.

I'm so disappointed by Lore of the Wilds. I felt it had the bones of something amazing, but ultimately it fell flat. The beginning of the book really sucked me in with the magical library and fae realm. But, I really struggled with how dry and boring the actual fae were; most of the time it felt like I was reading about humans. After Lore finds the magic book everything felt very formulaic including her relationship with Asher. I also couldn't get over how YA this book seemed, so the romance was very hard to read. DNF at 60%.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC

I really enjoyed reading this book it was a easy book to get pulled into. The romance part of the book seemed kind of fast paced, but I still enjoyed it. I can't wait to read more about these characters in book 2