Princess Jasalyn thought she escaped the cruel grasp of King Mordeus after his death at the hands of her sister. When rumors begin to spread that he has inexplicably returned, Jasalyn realizes her mysteriously reappearing wounds and vivid nightmares are more than haunted memories. Forced to make less than ideal allies, she unites with a group led by her charming human cellmate, Kendrick Hale. With a tenuous plan to find a powerful weapon and secret portal, Jasalyn, Hale, and his sister Felicity embark on a dangerous covert mission to save the realms from King Mordeus once again.

Having read and enjoyed These Hollow Vows/These Twisted Bonds, it was very fun to return to the world of the Unseelie court. That being said, I caution readers from jumping into this one without reading the previous two, as this book wastes little time establishing the characters, world, and magic system and should be treated as the third installment. Jasalyn and Felicity were easy to like, as were Hale and Misha. The romance was fast paced and fun. I loved the duplicitous scheming from both lead characters and watching the plot unfold into a tightly intertwined climax.

I would absolutely recommend this to fans of Lexi Ryan’s previous works and for any romantasy reader who needs another dose of fae romance. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the continuation of this series that I hope will be soon to follow (as this one ended on a very tantalizing cliffhanger!).

3.5 stars rounded up.

I loved this book so much. This Arthor is amazing can’t wait for the next book to come out definitely a most read!

"Beneath These Cursed Stars" by Lexi Ryan can be read as a standalone, although it contains major spoilers from the author's previous series. I didn't realize it was first instalment in a spin-off series, which may be the reason I had issues connecting with the book.

The world-building felt lackluster, but that is probably because most of what is needed to be known is distributed through the previous series. Was difficult to suspend disbelief, when I didn't even know what I should be believing, if that makes sense. Characters felt a bit shallow and it was difficult for me to really fall in love and root for them.

I can see this being perfect for others, but sadly, not me.

I really struggled with this book at first, not enjoying the characters or the plot. I was having to force myself to read it. However, around the 2/3 point, I got really invested. The plot twists that came up, the romance, and the cliffhanger all cumulated and now I’m dying for the sequel. I wish I had read this one closer to the duology, but I was still able to follow along having remembered the important characters and plot points.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with a digital arc of this book!

Beneath These Cursed Stars is set within the same universe as Lexi Ryan's These Hollow Vows series and follows Abriella's sister, Jasalyn. Living with her sister and deeply traumatized by an evil faerie, Jas has traded for a magic ring giving her the ability to compel others to do her bidding and a kiss that kills. She plans to seek revenge on her enemies until she meets Kendrick and his group of friends, who convince her to help their cause. Meanwhile, Kendrick's sister, Felicity, has shapeshifted into Jasalyn so that her sister and the court don't know she's gone missing. Felicity disguised as Jas is sent to the Misha, the Wild Fae King, by her sister in hopes that space will heal Jas. Felicity is surprised to find that she likes this fae king, which certainly complicates things.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It was one of the books that reminded me why I love young adult fantasy so much. It was so easy to consume and had my heart wrenching constantly. By the end, I was broken and in desperate need of the sequel. Ryan's writing style is fairytale-esqu and captivating. I couldn't have put this book down even if I tried.

I did find parts a little weird, especially Felicity and Misha's relationship, because she was not who she was pretending to be. I also thought the secondary characters were pretty flat, and would have loved to see more from them, especially

If you are wondering what order to read Lexi Ryan's books in, worry no further. The duologies can be read in any order. However, I do love that I started with Beneath These Cursed Stars, and then moved on to These Hollow Vows because it felt like more of a prequel. It also had my heart going out to Jas even more after seeing firsthand how little her family and friends know her. So really, read the books in whatever order makes you happy. Easy 5/5 stars.

For fans of:
- A Court This Cruel & Lovely

This book includes:
- multiple POVs
- fae and humans
- complicated relationships between sisters
- PTSD and broken people
- multiple POV
- a precarious world in peril

"Beneath These Cursed Stars" is a fun story with various intertwined storylines weaving together. It has faeries and magical artifacts and evil wizards come back from death. Unfortunately, despite the book being marketed as a standalone, I struggled getting into the story because I was missing so much context and world-building. It soon became very clear that there was an entire anthology that I needed to read to understand the world and be invested in the characters. There were so many pre-established relationships and conflicts and I think if I had been familiar with the world, I would have appreciated them so much more.

I received this eBook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, St. HarperCollins Children's Books, and Lexi Ryan for the opportunity to review this book. This review is also available on my Goodreads; check it out https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863-gigi

I really enjoyed Lexi Ryan’s previous duology, “These Hollow Vows” and “These Twisted Bonds” so I was very excited to be granted an ARC of “Beneath These Cursed Stars”. It has been a bit since I read the original duology so maybe that’s why I struggled so much with this book.

Honestly, at first I was very confused about the world building and magic system. And then I was just bored. I had a very hard time connecting to the characters and really didn’t care about either Jasalyn or Felicity although the latter’s story was slightly more engaging. I also struggled with the writing style - it felt repetitive and added to the boredom from the slow plot. It honestly took me weeks to slog through this book. It was THAT slow. Overall, I think the first duology is better - and definitely needs to be read before this book. Despite the cliffhanger ending I’m ambivalent about picking up the sequel.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Harper Collins/Harper Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️

This book took me 2 and a half months to finish reading. There is a lot of back and forth that happens and my brain got exhausted trying to retain the information and I had to put it down quite often. I often found myself running to amazon to confirm that this is in fact book one in the series because of how lost I felt the first half. My brain just felt like so much information was missing. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more if the recommendation would have been to read the other series first as I was unaware it takes place in the same world just in the future. When you hear the words duology, you dont think its necessary to read other books.

Felicity was truly the star of this book for me. Her abilities and just her back story and how her character is makes me want to see her HEA. As far as Jas is concerned, I don't care about whether she gets one or not.

One thing that did bother me a bit about this book was the constant mentions of appearance. We get it Jas is a voluptuous queen and Felicity is "less attractive" in her true form. 🙃

This wasnt a terrible book one so I will more than likely finish out the duology, but its not my favorite.

Books that have a dual pov, are my favorite. This book is a slow burn. As well not much world building. At times it was reading slow. Overall a good plot. Did finish on a cliffhanger.

Lexi Ryan has done it again. At first I was a little upset that it wasn’t about the OG characters but quickly I learned I was wrong to be upset. I loved going back into the world of the Fae and all the twist and turns it brought me. I am so glad I got to know more about Jas and her struggles. I ship Jas and Kendrick. I ship Felicity and Misha. Please please please don’t let me down with the next book!! Also, can I have it tomorrow?!

Lexi Ryan can write fantasy like no other. I was obsessed with her other fae series and found myself falling for this one all the same. Her writing manages to be both fast paced and full of intrigue, while also perfectly slow in the moments that call for it. She’s now on my automatic buy list!

Beneath These Cursed Stars is the beginning of a spin-off series following a side character from the These Hollow Vows duology. At the beginning I really liked the two female main characters, but I struggled with pacing as the book progressed. I was unaware this was going to be a series, so I was confused why there was no resolution at the end of the book. Overall I enjoyed pieces of the book, but not enough to continue the series.

I received an ARC from HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperTeen via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I tried to get into this one because I really liked Lexi Ryan's other books, but this one wasn't doing it for me. It felt like the backstory and the world building were both rushed. I was confused with the dual POV a bit and while I'm all about the fantasy, I just didn't vibe with this one.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperTeen for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was just okay. It did take me a while to get through it. I have heard such good things about the These Hollow Vows series and actually recently bought them. I wasn’t able to read them before I started this book. I’m not sure if that was a mistake on my part. I was very confused at the beginning of this book. I feel like I missed out on some important world building. I will be reading the previous series and will probably come back to read this book again. As of right now, I just feel meh about this one. It took me a while to finish this book and that’s not the norm for me. Again, thank you for the opportunity to read this one. If my opinions change after a re-read, I will for sure update my review.

I was hoping I would get more with this book because These Hollow Vows but it did fall short for me. I story line was great and was easy to follow along, it was just very choppy and slowwww for my liking.

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Beneath These Cursed Stars brings us back to the world of These Hollow Vows and mainly follows Jassalyn, a princess with no magic of her own and a secret ring that allows her to give death’s kiss, and Felicity, a shape-shifter who is destined to kill her father and trying to avoid the terrible repercussions of that fate.

It took me a second to remember everything that happened in the These Hollow Vows duology, but I feel like the story did a good job filling in any blanks. Both main characters are so well written and feisty, and I really enjoyed the romance arc in both POVs 👀.

Lexi is a really great writer, and this was a great blend of action, magic, and romance with great character development. Her world building and magical system are easy to digest and understand, and I thought the pacing was great. I cannot wait for the next book!

This book does have a nasty cliffhanger, but don’t let that stop you! Come suffer with me while we wait for the next book from Lexi!

Thank you to Harper Teen for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was a fun and quick read! I can't wait to read more from this author.
I really enjoyed the plot and character development.
This is a new author to me, but I really liked her writing style, so I'm adding more of her books in my TBR!

Oh this was rough. Both lead characters had very bland inner monologues and sounded almost exactly the same. Details were hidden and revealed for dramatic effect rather than when it made sense. Extremely confusing world building.

I do reader's advisory and book talks for YA titles. I always look for more fantasy romance titles to recommend. This is exactly what I was expecting, which is not a bad thing but it was a little formulaic for me. However, still enjoyable and I will be recommending.

I didn't realize this was a spin off of another series that I have on my shelves, but haven't been able to read yet. So there is a bit of a spoiler. I do suggest reading These Hollow Vows and These Twisted Bonds before reading this one.

Even still, I did really enjoy this book, seeing the character growth and having the dual POVs. It starts off a bit slow, but then there's a lot going on at the end, with the ending leaving off in a cliffhanger. I'm excited to read the next one in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the eARC in exchange for an honest review