I got a few chapters in and this wasn't clicking for me, but I do fully acknowledge I am a mood reader and I don't think I was in the mood for a silly fairy romp at the time, so I would like to try it again at some point. I liked Ryan's first book but the second was eh, but I did enjoy the world, so this continuation in the same universe with new characters should've been a hit for me.

I did not read the previous two books in the series, so my experience with this book definitely could have been effected by my lack of background knowledge. This was a quick and easy read that I definitely enjoyed, but the world building was lacking for me. I found it really difficult to connect with the characters and believe in the relationships that I was reading about. I’ll definitely give the original duology a try and see if that changes my opinion.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I sat on this for over a year before I was able to pick it up and read it - I tried to convince myself that I could not get into the story because of a bad reading slump or my unpredictable mood reading... alas, that was not the case for me... sadly...
As it turns out, this is a continuation of the These Hollow Vows series, which I have not read (is this my fault for not knowing? Perhaps partly, but I received an eARC from the publisher which made no mention of needing to read the other series first in order to understand the entire point of the plot of this book.

All that said, would I have enjoyed this more if I had read the other books first? Probably not. The plot may have made more sense to me, but the characters would have been just as annoying. The romance made me feel icky and felt forced. Felicity's POVs were the only thing that kept me going.

This was definitely a book with a YA feel, which one could expect going into it. Despite this, I found myself enjoying the book immensely. I certainly have a thing for the trope where people swapped lives.

I never like to give things away in my reviews, so all I can say is that I would recommend this and it is highly enjoyable.

I've never read a Lexi Ryan book before and this book got me hooked. I can't wait to read the next book in this series. If you like fantasy romance full of secrets twists and turns I definitely recommend this! Very easy to get sucked into this world.

I enjoyed this book! I felt the pacing was a little slow, but in the final third of the book it really picked up! I felt the romance was a bit more lacking from the first two which was a bit of a bummer - I just love reading about love! All in all I enjoyed the book and felt it was unique!

And can I just say I’m a total sucker for secret identity tropes?!

I tried very hard to finish this book, but unfortunately, I could not. I wish that I had read the series closer together, but as it was, I just had a hard time jumping back into the world.

Loved the ending to the story! Wrapped everything up really good! I think she will be an author I will continue to read from!

Whoever said you could read this without read the companion duology was lying because it was very necessary. The author does not go back and build the world in any way that would help new readers understand anything.
Fortunately for me I did read the other two books before getting to this one, a very good choice. Although I didn’t love this series, it is quite entertaining.
What I appreciate most from this book was the dual povs. If we were only reading from one I think I would have dropped it.
This book relies heavily on the reader liking the main characters because nothing else really draws you in. The idea of the plot is interesting but there was no execution. Purely dialogue and pining the whole time. The only plot happened in the last chapters that gripped me and makes me want to read the finale. But besides that nothing else happens throughout the book. So in order to truly enjoy this you have to really like the characters.
Thankfully I did enjoy these girls. Especially Felicity. I found her to be the most interesting and I rooted for her the whole time.
Do I think everyone will enjoy this book? No. There just isn’t enough for this to be an amazing book. But because I enjoyed the main characters, it was good for me.

4/5 ⭐️

This book took me a little bit to get into. There were a lot of characters that I was trying to place and I wasn't expecting this many new ones. I took this book as a third of the series but it is actually a spin off from a duology.

With that being said, I enjoyed this book a lot. The romance felt minimal, but following the thoughts of Felicity and Jas were so good.

I listened to the audio book and while I enjoyed the narration, it was difficult to figure out what was happening.. whose dreams were being described and through who's eyes.

This was not my cup of tea. I ended up DNF. The characters and the plot themselves are interesting but the chemistry and romance between the characters did not do it for me. Very difficult to get through if you have not read the other duology. I would recommend not marketing it as the "first book in a new series". I imagine those who enjoyed These Hollow Vows will very much like this continuation of the series from these new perspectives.

Soft DNF @29%. I really wanted to love this, but found my mind wandering and I wasn’t really invested. I could feel myself falling into a reading slump. I’ll probably pick this back up in the fall when I’m craving more fantasy.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my digital copy!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Beneath These Cursed Stars” by Lexi Ryan. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ve read the first two books but this beginning was very confusing for me let alone for someone who hasn’t read the other books. I didn’t get why it wasn’t Felicity’s PoV first.

The male love interest is Hale or Kendrick? Why does he switch names so much? Also he and Jas were prisoners together but Jas was 14 so he “didn’t look at her that way” but he’s the love interest which is giving me age gap ick right off the bat?

I didn’t like Jas’s POV. The age gap romance is off putting. The girl hate with Skyler was grating.

The conflict is similar vibes to somehow Palpatine has returned. I thought this was supposed to be a new series so why not have a different big bad instead of one who was defeated already? We already did this in the first two books.

This book was weirdly focused on age gaps in both couples Jas and whatever his name was and between disguised Felicity and Misha. Felicity keeps calling Misha old. Both romances have weird age gaps which is especially off putting in what’s supposed to be a YA book.

The amount of torture flashbacks for Jas quickly loses its emotional impact and I was just skimming to get past them.

My biggest annoyance was didn’t we already know the faceless plague was Jas? Why was this treated like a big reveal?

I will not continue in this story. The first two books were fun but this is not worth my time and energy.

2/5 stars

I don't know what it is about this particular series of books…. I can't claim that they're particularly new or exciting and they're definitely not complex but I honestly think that those things are part of the draw for me. Sometimes | just want an easy fantasy that is heavy on the romance and these absolutely fit the bill. I've had the best time with each of them!

This series brings back a few characters that we know and love from the original duology and introduces a few new ones. This being a dual romance was particularly enjoyable and I really loved both story lines and the new characters. Ryan writes romantic tension and angst in a way that I can't get enough of. If you loved that aspect of the original duology I think you will love it here too.

I would suggest reading the original duology before this spin-off simply for an introduction to the characters and a basic layout of the world - not much is reintroduced or explained here.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Rating: Loved it (4.5 stars)
Genre: NA fantasy
Romantic content: one vague open door
Other content: memories of torture, kidnapping

Not my favorite but it was fun. The pacing was a little bit all over the place and it took me a bit of time to get into it but by the end I don't really loved it.

i absolutely loved this book and was so pulled into it from the beginning. jas’ story was such a great read and the twists and turns throughout the book were unexpected and i didn’t want it to end. the ending was insane and i cannot wait for book two! highly recommend this series!

I was completely unaware that this series was going to be continued. I loved these hollow vows and the sequel. I was so pumped that the world the author built is going to continue. It more than delivered the hype. The world building is just spectacular. The plot is fast paced and truly you don’t know which way the story is going to go while you’re reading it. You get the perfect fae romance that gives acotar and tog vibes. I truly love this series and can’t wait for the next installment

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

I actually had no idea that this was the third novel in the series (don't ask me how), that being said it was still easy to follow and a super fun read! I really do love how creative Lexi Ryan is and will FOR SURE be reading the rest of the series, along with anything else she releases.

I thought this was actually the beginning of a new series from this author! So upon receiving I quickly realized this was the third book in her series. Which is fantastic but I definitely would love to start a new series from this author soon though!

Ryan's writing is engaging, and the chemistry between the protagonists is palpable, which makes the romantic elements of the plot stand out. The world-building is solid, and there’s a clear sense of history and magic that shapes the story. However, at times, the pacing can feel a bit rushed, particularly in the middle, as the plot moves quickly through key moments without always taking the time to fully develop some of the secondary characters or subplots.