I was so excited that Lexi Ryan was taking us back to the world of Faerie. I'm excited to read the next book. Jas and Brie are different, but also similar in the fact that they tend to run toward danger. I like that instead of redoing the love triangle, she instead has two female leads with their own love interest. It was nice to see Finn and Brie as well and some of the other characters we love.

*Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing me with an e-arc of this novel*

4.5 stars - As someone who adored “These Hollow Vows” and “These Twisted Bonds” I was beyond excited when I saw this book was coming out and I wasn’t disappointed. Initially I was a bit concerned about how the dual pov was going to work but the storylines connected perfectly and kept me extremely entertained. In case you don’t believe me, I read 65% of this book in one sitting. It was so interesting to see Jas’s story and hear her pov from the events that occurred in the other two books and how they’ve led her to be who she is now. As for Felicity’s pov, I was initially nervous that I would be bored but who can be bored when Misha is around? In all seriousness, I really enjoyed both povs from this book. I won’t spoil anything but just know that the tropes in here are perfect (and not just the romance tropes). Also, the ending?!? I truly can’t wait for the next book!

Thanks again to NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing me with an e-arc of this novel!

When I received the ARC of "Beneath These Cursed Stars," I was already a devoted fan of Lexi Ryan's work, but I had no idea what an incredible journey I was about to embark on. If you're familiar with Ryan’s previous duology, "These Hollow Vows," you'll be thrilled to know that this book is a riveting spin-off that seamlessly extends the magic and intrigue of that beloved series.

The story picks up three years after the events of "These Hollow Vows," focusing on Jasalyn, Abriella’s sister. After a harrowing captivity by the malevolent King Mordeus, Jasalyn’s trauma has morphed into a powerful, vengeful force. Armed with a magical ring that grants her siren-like abilities, she seeks retribution in a way that is both haunting and exhilarating. Her night-time escapades and her use of the ring’s dark powers create a suspenseful backdrop for her character's arc.

Kendrick, a key figure from Jasalyn’s past, reappears with a crucial mission. His realm is in peril, and the Oracle has foretold that Jasalyn is essential to their salvation. With a complex blend of prophecy, secrets, and a touch of romance, Kendrick and Jasalyn’s journey unfolds, filled with plot twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. The dynamic between them is electric, and their evolving relationship is beautifully portrayed amidst the chaos.

In a clever twist, Jasalyn’s absence from her sister Abriella is masked by Felicity, Kendrick’s shapeshifting adopted sister. Felicity's role as a stand-in leads to unexpected romantic developments of her own in the Wild Fae Kingdom, where she finds herself entangled with Misha. This subplot adds an additional layer of complexity and emotion to the narrative.

Lexi Ryan masterfully blends fantasy, romance, and suspense, creating a world that is both immersive and enthralling. Her signature cliffhanger ending leaves you eagerly anticipating the next installment. If you were enchanted by "These Hollow Vows," "Beneath These Cursed Stars" will captivate you with its depth, surprises, and unforgettable characters. Ryan’s skillful storytelling ensures that this spin-off is not only a worthy successor but a must-read for fans of the series.

Beneath These Cursed Stars is considered a stand alone novel. However, I do feel like reading These Hollow Vows prior to this book makes it a little easier to understand. This book gave me Throne of Glass vibes from the minute I picked it up (in a good way). I loved the dual POV and slow burn romance. The concept was really interesting and the plot/ character development was good. However, did find my self skimming at times due to some repetition and some of what I felt were unnecessary conversations.

This book contained tropes and themes like:

✅ Slow Burn
✅ Dual POV
✅ Secrets and Betrayal
✅ Trauma and Revenge
✅ Forbidden love



…

Thank you to NetGalley and all involved in allowing me to read this book before release day.

Link to my Goodreads review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6708435410

beneath these cursed stars is a spin off series from the these hollow vows duology. i was unaware of this before i requested it so for the past MONTH i forced myself to read that prior to this and i would just like my TIME and MONEY back. that duology was mid to begin with and this was honestly so extremely boring. if this wasn't an arc i would've dnf'd it 15% in. i did not like jasalyn then and i do not like her now.

i do not recommend this unless you loved these hollow vows and im so confused as to why this is marketed as its own series when its clearly obvious you need to read the duology first and its apart of the same universe. the math isn't mathing. anyways what a waste of time and do not recommend.

thank you the netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

After reading and loving These Hollow Vows & These Twisted Bonds I was excited to be in this world again. For readers who haven't read those yet, I would highly encourage it. I know this is marketed as a spin off but I feel like it is really needed to grasp what is going on with our characters and to understand the world they live in and all the trials they have already endured. I loved how unique this story was in that we are following two main characters with hidden identities. In each P.O.V. we are getting a story complete with its own love interest. Both of our main characters are in a race with the clock to reach certain goals so that keeps the tension high. Another compelling aspect is that both leading ladies have hidden identities making their growing attraction for the men in their lives even more complicated. So many questions need to be answered and that is what kept me turning pages.

This story picks up several years after These Hollow Vows & These Twisted Bonds. We are following Princess Jasalyn who was a human prisoner of Mordeus in the dungeons where he did unspeakable things to her. This has scarred her in many ways and has led her to be withdrawn even from those she loves. In her desperation to curb her fear and regain some of her power she felt she lost at the hands of Mordeus she obtains a magical ring. The magic ring offers deaths kiss but with it comes a great cost. Once rumors arise that Mordeus has been resurrected she decides she can no longer live in fear and sets out to end him once and for all. At the same time we meet a shapeshifter Felicity who has been running from her destiny. She agrees to take Jasalyn's place and pretend to be the princess who is being sent to another kingdom. With Felicity taking the form of the princess so she can hunt Mordeus, Jasalyn teams up with Kendrick a boy from her past who she feels helped save her during her time in the dungeon. Felicity has her own task in getting closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Both ladies are on a timetable that is only further complicated by their hearts longing for men they shouldn't want.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I will can't wait to find out what happens with Jasalyn & Felicity. The cliffhanger has me anxious to continue with their story.

Wow! This book!
I would like to start by saying that even though this could technically be read as a standalone and even Lexi herself said it could, I personally think you would get so much more out of this if you read the previous duology first. Even I, who have read the duology, felt behind in parts because I didn’t do a reread before diving into this.
However, this book is oh so worth it. I KNOW the early reviews aren’t great, and I did go in with lower expectations because of them, but this book was fun, end of story. I know it’s not as good as the original, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this and cannot wait to reread the original duology and then reread this when it comes out in hardcover.
The characters were well fleshed out and I felt attached to all of them. I love the found family aspect that this has and can’t wait to see it explored more. I also think that the multiple povs and 2 romances was a bold choice, but one that paid off greatly. As somebody who loves a good fantasy romance, having 2 in one book was spoiling me. And I ate up every moment of it!

The bad thing is that the sequel isn’t even announced yet and I am desperate to get my grubby little hands on it

Wow wow wow!! They way I was sitting on the edge of my seat the entirety of this book! The pace was amazing with twists and turns throughout. I fell in love with Kendrick immediately and I loved seeing Jas grow in strength and confidence. I need to know what happens next immediately!!

I loved being back in this world! I especially loved that it was a multiple POV with dual romances. Can’t wait to read the next one! Would recommend!

4.5 ⭐️ (E-ARC)

💫YA romantasy (still had great tension)
💫Forbidden romance
💫Found family
💫First person POV (along with multiple POVs, but all stories were compelling)
💫Secrets, secrets, secrets!

I loved Lexi Ryan’s These Hollow Vows duology and was so excited to learn she had another book coming out. I adored this book and was happy to be back in this amazing world that the author created. Sometimes in books with multiple POVs there can be a clear favorite while the other gets lost, but in this book I loved both Jasalyn and Felicity’s stories equally. I will say that I do think you may need to read the other series first to get have a better idea of the world. There were a few times, especially in the beginning, where I was bit confused and I even read the previous series. Also in the beginning it did feel a bit choppy at times, but once I figured out where the story was going I was hooked. The one critique I have was I found it confusing that Hale Kendrick was called Hale by his friends but Jasalyn called him Kendrick. It would have been easier to follow if they stuck with one name. Not sure if the author did this on purpose for a reason or not. I typically am an enemies to lovers girl but lately have been loving the forbidden love trope and this definitely hit the mark!

A special thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for sharing this with me in exchange of my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for an eARC. I loved These Hollow Vows and was so excited to read this spin off series. I didn’t realize when starting it was about Jas who is Brie’s sister. I loved the style of this book being told through two different characters. We have the story of Jasalyn who is after revenge for all the trauma she received from Mordeus. She is with Kendrick and his followers who are trying to take down the Seven from her old land of Elora. She is along for the ride so she can kill all who hurt her. Felicity’s story is the other chapters. She has magic that lets her take on the look of Jas so she can find a portal to take them back to Elora to defeat the seven. She as Jas goes to the Wild Kingdom and starts to fall for Misha. The beginning was a little slow but then I was pulled in and couldn’t stop reading. I had to find out what was going on and then the cliff hanger and now I’m dying for the next book. I loved the characters and their strength. Loved the new romances and also loved seeing glimpses of characters from the first series. Can’t wait for the sequel!

No rating because I DNF’d. I enjoyed the first two books this spin off is written from, but I just couldn’t get into this one. I am grateful for an ARC nonetheless.

I loved this story, and that it continues where These Twisted Bonds leaves off. Jasalyn's story is complex. She has dealt with so much and is dealing with the aftermath of being tortured and used as a pawn. She wants to take revenge on all who hurt her, and becomes a part of a scheme which leaves someone taking her place. We meet Felicity who is an echo, able mimic a person and even see their memories. Felicity is takes Jasalyns place with the Wild Fae and had a mission of her own. Both want to change their destiny and save the ones they love, but it all has a cost.

Awwww this was such a cute story. I was just captivated by everything that was taking place. It was just so easy to get into these characters lives and you just can't help but fall in love with them. I can't wait to see what's next from this author.

I didn’t think I could like another book more than These Hollow Vows and These Twisted Bonds, but Lexi has made me fall just as hard in this book as that duology.

I really enjoyed getting to see two different stories in one book!!! Both stories have so much heartache, but the promise of something special.

I cannot believe we have to wait a year to get the second part of this story!!! I need to know what happens to Jasalyn and Felicity! I need them both to stay strong and know that we are rooting for them!!! Jasalyn and Felicity are both so similar, yet so different. I loved watching them in this book and I’ve grown to love them. I’m cheering them on and rooting for them. I feel like I’m right there with them on their journey.

I honestly don’t know how Ms. Lexi Ryan has come up with this incredible world and story. The way she tells a story is captivating! I didn’t want to put this book down, but I also didn’t want to finish it because I knew the ending would leave me WANTING more! I cannot wait to read the next book in this series!!! I hope there a way for Ms. Lexi Ryan to continue writing in this world!

“𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗺.”
𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗷𝗮𝘄. “𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿.”

Thank you NetGalley, Lexi Ryan and HarperTeen for the e-ARC copy of Beneath These Cursed Stars.

Okay, I have two main grievances with this book that kept me from really enjoying it, and I think other readers should keep these things in mind before jumping in:

1. The world-building relies too heavily on the assumption that readers will have read These Hollow Vows first, which I hadn't. The synopsis makes it obvious they take place in the same world, not that this book is a continuation of the previous duology. Because of this, the story doesn't have the essential world-building a brand new reader would need. It wasn't until I was a significant way into the book before I pieced together enough information about Mordeus and the events of the previous duology to really understand Jasalyn, which is just sad. I had the hardest time connecting to her because I didn't understand her, and a well-done world-building crash course in the first few chapters, or even a recap of the THV duology, could have easily remedied that.

2. The jail-bait age gap left a bad taste in my mouth and made every romantic interaction incredibly awkward and icky. The 3 year gap between Jas and Kendrick is almost forgivable (her 17 and him 20) because they did know one another from a younger age. But the Misha-Jas/Felicity situation? Unforgivable. Even though Felicity-wearing-Jas's-likeness is definitely an adult, as far as Misha is concerned, he is experiencing feelings and attraction towards a 17 year old girl in a 17 year old body. We don't have an absolute age for Misha other than he is "ancient", which makes it worse. Is he 35? Is he 400? Idk, but apparently he wants to have sex with a little girl. I think the immortal age gap is one of those things the romantasy genre has run away with in the worse way and really needs to revisit stat.

Despite these two egregious complaints of mine, I did actually enjoy the story overall. I really liked Felicity a lot and despite my feelings about #2 above, I really liked the dynamics of her and Misha's relationship and I am curious about how that would be resolved in book 2. I may add THV to my TBR to see if my overall thoughts on the world-building change/improve.

When this book was released on NetGalley I just knew I needed to get the arc because I absolutely loved These Hollow Vows. Sadly, this book didn't hit the mark for me. I had difficulty jumping back in to the world especially since I had read These Hollow Vows and These Twisted Bonds a while ago. It would have been helpful to give more of a summary of what happened previously, who the main characters are, and the magical system. I felt like the story dragged on as well. There wasn't much happening besides continuously talking and talking and talking. I got a little bored! Even though this book has things to improve on, I did however enjoy one of the MC's-Felicity. I thought overall she had a solid personality and I loved reading about what was happening on her side of the story. I was also pumped to get more of Misha-he was one of my favorites from the previous series! Overall this story wasn't bad but I felt like there could have been more plot, action, and character growth.

I didn't realize this was a continuation from a previous series which I haven't read. I was a little lost at first but I honestly think you could read this without having read the previous books, just know it might ruin some of that story for you.

With that being said, I honestly loved this book and can't wait to read the first books in the series! All the characters were interesting and I loved the individual romances, forced proximity, and secrets it seemed every character was hiding. The plot for each character's storyline is perfectly written, leaving you wondering what comes next!

I do wish that Misha and Felicity's story was more of the main focus because I found theirs was more interesting and I just couldn't get enough.

4.5 Stars (rounded up to 5)

Lexi Ryan and fantasy are such a fantastic combination! If you’ve read Ryan’s adult romances before and are after a change of pace, I cannot recommend this book enough. Beneath These Cursed Stars is a young-adult fantasy romance, set in a world of both Fae and Humans, and many other mythical creatures.

Our story follows Jasalyn, the soon-to-be-fae-but-human-for-now sister of the Queen of the Unseelie Fae, and Felicity, a shape-shifter who needs a miracle. This was such a fun princess-swap story line, following both Jasalyn and Felicity on their parallel journeys. One thing I think this book did really well was provide just enough information about the magic systems present to keep you hooked, without giving it all away. I was desperate to find out more about Jasalyn’s ring and who was and who wasn’t tricked by it.

Is this story full of well-loved tropes? Yes. Does that make this book a little predictable? Absolutely! But that does not make the journey any less fun.
I recommend reading Ryan’s ‘These Hollow Vows’ duology first, as Jasalyn’s story picks up not long after the events of the duology finish. It will save you a little confusion and allow you to fall in love with some of the other characters in this story. One of my favourite parts of this story was getting more of Misha, who was one of my favourite characters in the ‘These Hollow Vows’ duology.

A big thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This book was....fine. I liked it a lot better than the original duology in some ways but some of the issues I had with the first two are back in this one.

What I likes: honestly Jasalyn and Felicity are MUCH more interesting characters than Brie ever was. They each get a unique love interest and, yay, there was no icky love triangle! I feel like this one took more time developing the two girls as characters. The plot is also more interesting and starts off with more of a bang than the original two did. (Hello, the whole thing with the ring in ch 1? Loved it)

However, the pacing of this book is...off. It's still a LOT of insta-love (which makes more sense with one character than the other). The writing also trends younger than I'd like. There were a couple instances where I rolled my eyes at how cheesy some of the lines were.

There also wasn't a lot of world building. Like there's ENOUGH, just like in the first two books, but so much could have been gained with this book that added to the first two. But a LOT more/ most of the focus is given over to the characters, their feelings, and their dialogue. Which is fine, but it makes every single bit of the setting so....boring. The author really could have taken the time to explore the world. Which also ties into the fact that I think this book is too short for what it is!

I'm definitely interested in reading book two and seeing how it all plays out, though. I think she can really solidify these books as better than the first two as long as the next one is done right! I remember liking Brie's second book more than the first, so fingers crossed that happens this time as well.