When I started this book, I didn't think I'd end up rooting for a demon and and little girl but here we are.

I applaud the author for her bravery in writing from the villain's perspective. It's hard to read a book this length of you're not rooting for the lead, but Amy Leow makes it work.

While I didn't quite understand Binsa's stakes - why would it be so bad for her to give up her position? - I was rooting for Medha (the little badass), and I hope to focus more on her journey in the next book.

4 stars for quality of writing, Ilam, and Medha.

The Scarlet Throne started out on a very high note. I love an FMC who's a little bit selfish and willing to choose herself over the world. Binsa and Ilam's dynamic was really great through most of the book, however, about halfway through I started losing interest or maybe just not understanding Binsa's motivations, actions, and reactions. This was unfortunate since it's first person POV, and being in the head of someone who's going on a spiral of feminine rage and self-interest is typically pretty fun to read. By the end, I simply didn't relate to or understand Binsa, which unfortunately made me dislike her. And, again, I'm typically all about "unlikable" FMCs, but this one missed the mark for me. Other plot points were fun and I loved a lot of the reveals about other things unrelated to Binsa's personality, though!

This book gave all the right vibes with Binsa, our angry slightly villainous FMC, doing everything she could to retain her status and power as a vessel to a god.

“I can - and alway will - be worse.”

Binsa channels her anger over the system, her life, and so much more into her plans to prevent her from no longer being the vessel for the goddess Rashmatun. The world believes her to be this “living goddess” but instead her power comes from a demon, Ilam. The magic and sacrifice required for that magic is so fascinating and well thought out. I love Ilam as a character who seems to be working to corrupt and influence Binsa to give into blood magic.

An interesting aspect of this book was that the MC already had what she most desired. Instead of trying to get it the whole book she was trying to hold onto it, while plotting and scheming how to do so. The pacing is great and consistent throughout and for this being a debut book Amy Leow knocked it out of the park.

I have been reading a lot of fantasy lately that features at least a romance subplot, but this one featured no romance and that was a nice change of pace. It’s definitely a darker fantasy tale with a sometimes unreliable narrator (she may be a bit biased in her perspective), who starts out as a morally gray character that morphs into more of a villain, but a villain with a bit of a heart. Binsa is flawed in so many ways and dealing with childhood trauma from her mother, which really informs a lot of her decision making.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I cannot wait to see what happens next in this series! In a genre dominated by white male authors, Amy Leow is a refreshing new voice in the genre, injecting it with a vibrant new world.

Thank you to @orbitbooks_us for the ARC and @netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.

The Scarlet Throne by Amy Leow is a dark fantasy following Binsa, a young woman who becomes a living goddess through a pact with a demon. Set in a world inspired by South Asian mythology, the story dives deep into court politics, power struggles, and Binsa’s unrelenting determination to hold onto her position. Binsa is unapologetically ruthless, and her character arc is fascinating, even if her motives aren’t always clear. The side characters add some depth, but the real focus is on Binsa’s manipulative, power-hungry journey.

While the world-building and political intrigue are strong, the plot can feel slow and aimless at times. With no clear stakes for much of the story, the pacing drags a little, especially without the typical action or romance found in many fantasies. Still, the book is a great pick for those who love morally gray characters, complex court drama, and a truly villainous female lead. If you're looking for a story that strays from the "good for her" trend and leans into dark, unapologetic ambition, this one’s for you.

This review is in exchange for an ARC from Netgalley.

When I first started this book I found the characters and world interesting. As I kept reading I felt like I was getting sucked into this story more and couldn't guess what was going to happen next. The author did a great job of creating Binsa and having her character evolve throughout the story. I wish I could read the sequel right now and I am bummed I have to wait.

I left reviews on both goodreads and amazon.

To be honest, there were some interesting plot points. For the most part, I liked the book when Binsa was genuinely competent. Since that's what I anticipate from someone who is purportedly desperate and ruthless, I also really enjoyed the more violent parts. I also found it quite entertaining when she would really pull the right strings and manipulate people. Once more, going into this book, I had anticipated her character to act in that way. Additionally fascinating was the world-building. Banned historical books, various types of demons, the magic of various countries, their histories and wars, the various Rakhtas and their masters, prophecies, and much more delicious stuff. If only there were as many strong pillars supporting this book.

Thank you to Amy Leow, Orbit, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of The Scarlet Throne in exchange for my honest review.

The Scarlet Throne is the first book in an epic fantasy series by a debut author. Binsa is a "living goddess" who is secretly harboring a demon, instead of her goddess. She is also keeping a massive secret, that the goddess is missing, or might not even truly exist. As Binsa gets older the priests become suspecisious of her and why she is still in charge. They secretly start the process of finding a new child to take over the role as the "living goddess" but Binsa is not ready to step down from her reign. She refuses to end up back on the streets with no money and no family. So she makes a deal with the demon in exchange for his help cementing her rule as goddess.

Unfortunately, this book is the softest of soft DNFs for me. I read about 67% and do not have a strong desire to keep going or to pick it back up. But heres the thing, that has NOTHING to do with the book itself. The Scarlet Throne has outstanding character development and fabulous world building. The concept of a living goddess, demons, blood magic, and a missing goddess is so well thought out. My only (and I do mean only) issue with it is that I do not do well with a villain origin story or a story surrounding a villain main character. I love dark fantasy and I love morally grey, but there is something about following the villain, and my assumption that eventually this character we are following will be taken down, does not work for me. It is a me thing. I have seen many people comparing this book to the Poppy Wars and I think it is a fair assumption, with a dark main character. Those who love the Poppy War will love this book so so much. Because again, the character development and world building was some of the best I have ever seen for a debut author, or a fantasy book in general. But just like I could not get into the Poppy War, I struggled with this book as well. Now, I am only soft DNFing this book, because I am going to finish it at some point. I am stubborn and do not like to DNF a book. But that might mean reading a chapter once a week, to once every two weeks, and truthfully it might take me months. I want to know how the first book ends, it just will not be quick. In my opinion, people should give this book a chance because I do think it is going to be the next smash hit that everyone is raving about. I am going to be in the minority about how this book is not my cup of tea. Following the "villain" or more accurately, reading the villain origin story is not for me and I am okay with that. I am happy I gave it a try and I will finish it at some point, that is a promise.

Thank you Orbit Books @orbitbooks_us , Netgalley @netgalley , and Amy Leow @amyleow_writes for this free ebook!
“The Scarlet Throne” (False Goddess #1) by Amy Leow ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Dark Fantasy. Location: The city of Bakhtin in Aritsya.
“When does a falsehood become truth? Very simply, when you believe it to be true.”

THE SERIES:
Binsa (15) dispenses mercy and judgment from the Scarlet Throne. She is the Rakhti, living incarnation of Rashmatun, immortal goddess of wisdom and foresight. But she hides a deadly secret: Instead of being Rashmatun’s vessel, she’s had the demon Ilam inside her for 10 years. She hates, but uses demon blood magic.

THIS BOOK:
Chief priest Harun is determined to retire Binsa from the Scarlet Throne, and replace her with little Medha. Binsa's determined to not end up back on the streets, forgotten and alone. She strikes a deal with demon Ilam: Magnify his power and he will help her take control from the priests, but she must sacrifice human lives. How much humanity will she trade for power? Deals with demons are not simple.

Author Leow has written a dark saga of a young girl determined to save herself , no matter what the cost. It’s a tale of power-seeking and corruption. She dedicates this book “to all the girls who were told they were too angry and too ambitious for their own good.” Leow’s world-building was inspired by Nepali culture because of Nepal’s living goddess tradition. If you like ruthless demons with silver eyes, morally grey heroines, cut-throat priests, and grim tales of demons and goddesses, this is the book for you. You may be revolted by Binsa’s choices, but I guarantee it will keep your attention. It’s a page-turner, and it’s 4 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️🎀 #amyleow #thescarletthrone

⭐️ - 3.5
If you have ever wanted a front row seat to a villain origin story, then this is the book for you. Having recently read The Poppy War trilogy by R.F. Kuang, I see parallels in themes and setting, Kuang’s Nikan drawing heavily from China and Leow’s world drawing heavily from Nepal.

Overall, an entertaining read :)

This was a solid debut!

The story follows Binsa, a vessel for the goddess Rashmatun. But she has been playing a long con for a decade. She has secretly been bonded with a demon instead. We follow her quest to stay in power.

I appreciate the story mainly being about Bisna doing whatever she can to keep up her ruse and avoid the only other option for her in society as a young women, which is being a wife and mother. She explores how far she will go and how many boundaries she will cross to avoid that fate.

This was a character forward book, that leaned more into the plot towards the end. I really enjoyed how it wrapped up and I was surprised to find out that this is going to be a trilogy, because it worked well as a standalone for me. But I will be interested to see where the story goes next. The world building and Bisna's character development are set up nicely to expand her motivations and journey going forward.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for an early copy in exchange for this honest review.

Ok, wow, I loved this. I guessed that I would like this just based on the summary, I mean morally grey characters and talking cats? YES PLEASE. But I wasn’t prepared for how much I would love this one. Highly recommend adding this to your tbr!

The Scarlet Throne is an engaging and unputdownable read! Binsa is a “living goddess” who serves as a vessel. For almost ten years, Binsa has sacrificed for her role. Yet Binsa has served far longer than most and soon faces tricky politics within the temple. How far will Binsa go to maintain her role as the living goddess?

As the living goddess, Binsa experiences a slow and compelling descent into blood magic. Binsa is so used to doing whatever it takes to survive that she is able to rationalize away whatever sacrifices she must make. I appreciated that Binsa has several close relationships, including her brother and the young girl who will replace her, though she risks them in her pursuit of power. Ilam is a mercurial and intriguing demon who offers Binsa power at a price. I really enjoyed the interactions between Ilam and Binsa, particularly as they learned more about the magic. The reveals about the goddess were so creative and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Readers who love a slow descent into villany, revenge, and an unreliable narrator will devour The Scarlet Throne!

Thank you to Amy Leow, Orbit, and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

Who knew one could become emotionally attached to a self-serving, morally-ambitious demon?

Summary: The Scarlet Throne is a fantasy steeped in Tibetan mythology featuring a healthy dose of political intrigue and an ambitious, morally-grey female main character. Binsa is a vessel for a goddess, and thus lives a very respected and revered life. But her use of her body as a "living goddess" is a lie. Instead, she harbors a demon. This demon, Ilam, lends Binsa his powers in exchange for a price, so that she may do what she needs to do (even if it involves taking the lives of others) to maintain her position of power. As her priests start to become suspicious of her powers, Binsa must go to greater and greater extremes to prove her prowess and eliminate anyone who dares to conspire against her.
Note: there is no romance in this book- if you're looking for a fantasy romance, look elsewhere!

Thoughts: I thought the writing quality of this book was quite good, especially considering it is a debut novel. I would definitely be interested in reading more from this author, including the sequel to The Scarlet Throne. The plot and pacing started off strong (chapter 12 was excellent, so much so that I was furiously scribbling notes and quotes as I read) and ended strong, but I do think the plot dragged a bit in the middle of the book. I think a bit more descriptive world-building would have been a nice addition, particularly considering that the majority of this story takes place within the same temple walls. I liked the characters and found myself particularly attached to Ilam, which I think speaks a lot about Amy Leow's writing ability that she was able to write a demon character in a way that that includes both his empathetic nature and his own selfish ambitions.

Rating: 3.5 stars. I think this would have been a 4 star book for me, if the plot in the middle of the book had not gotten a bit bogged down, but the ending was very unique and even a bit heartwarming, which is a descriptor I was surprised to find myself wanting to use, considering the self-centered nature of the main characters. Upon reflection one day after finishing the book (when I'm writing this review), I find myself actually fairly attached to Ilam, in particular, and the ending was significant in contributing to that feeling.

I loved this! I loved the lack of romance, honestly, it was refreshing and I felt so invested in the story. I loved the main character, the setting, the plot--each piece was so compelling and I flew through this. I had a few little issues with this story, but nothing major. One, the pacing was not...bad but I felt like this story lacked a little bit of driving force. I saw someone describe the plot as meandering and I definitely see what they mean. Two, because this is a character driven story I wish we had gotten a little more depth for each of them in order to understand them and their motivations better. I also went in to this thinking it was YA but apparently it's being marketed as adult, which seems like an ill fit, imo.

I loved the narrative voice and writing style in this story, and I crave more in this world and more from this author! I think Leow is definitely going on my list of favorite authors for 2024!

WELL. I AM INTRIGUED.

If you’re looking for a book where the FMC truly is a villain and you don’t mind if there isn’t any romance, I definitely say give this a go. Not exactly my usual but I genuinely enjoyed this book. The writing style had this ease of reading quality that kept my attention and made this book move well.

My one little niggling thought is that I wish the FMC, Binsa, had at least one good relationship. Whether that was platonic, familial, or romantic. I felt like I was missing a strong side character. There were plenty of smaller characters but nobody that STOOD OUT.

The plot had a lot of political maneuvering and devious betrayals. This does lean towards a darker side of fantasy with some of the themes and content. I liked all of the machinations and that it didn’t feel long winded.

I am 100% curious how this will flow out through a trilogy and based off the wonderful cliffhanger ending, I am absolutely going to need some answers.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy
Language: low
Romance: none
Violence: high
Content Warnings: loss of life (including young children), murder, attempted murder

It's more like a 4.5, but I rounded down. Because this book is already being marketed as a trilogy, I didn't knock off any stars for being slightly underdeveloped. I assume that when I continue the series, all will be answered. Patience, right?

We have our main character Binsa. She was chosen to be a sort of living goddess, the vessel for the goddess Rashmatun and she dispenses mercy and punishment to the people of her region on the Scarlet Throne. Now, Binsa has a secret though. She can't actually channel the goddess Rashmatun, she harbors a demon instead.

Typically, vessels only remain in their positions until puberty, but our girl Binsa refuses to be another vessel cast aside to obscurity. She wants to keep her position and keep the Scarlet Throne. With the priests actively working against her and another young girl undergoing the selection process, what can Binsa do? Well, she could make a deal with the demon residing inside of her, but it comes at a steep cost. Is she willing to pay?

This started off slow but ended up being utterly fascinating. There are these political machinations occurring in the background with the priests, Binsa, and other Rahktis. There's the classic high cost of ambition: relationships destroyed, people killed, lives ruined. Binsa's character development was interesting to me. Just watching Binsa go from this kind of fearful young woman scared of using blood magic to this absolute goddess hell-bent on securing her future. She might be turning into the villain, but I'm here for it.

I'm excited to see what happens next. Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to dive into such a fascinating world with this eARC! 💖

The mythology of this world is one that is fresh and one I can say I have not come across before, in the best way! I love morally gray characters and Binsa is just that and more. I found myself wishing we could have seen more of her upbringing with Kavita and perhaps had a “time jump” after her ceremony so I could feel more connected to Binsas anger and determination to become more than she was born to be. Overall this was a story that has been done before!

Good book, interesting setting. I’ve read quite a few fantasy books over the years and I don’t think I’ve seen anything from Nepal used before in a setting. I feel for the main character. Knowing that she’s going to be tossed out on her ear and need to marry the first person that takes her and that after having power she’ll have nothing would suck. But she’s still not terribly likable because she’s doing what she has to do to hold onto power so…. If you are in the mood for a character who’s morally grey at best this one is a good choice

Overall I think that The Scarlet Throne is an amazing dark fantasy debut novel! It is a very character-driven story and Binsa is the perfect MC with a morally grey turned villainous arc. The world is beautifully created and execution was very well done. There is no romance in The Scarlet Throne and I think that works fantastically for Binsa. The backstory and trauma we read about Binsa is truly gut-wrenching at parts and I could understand the reasons for her actions because of this. The only thing that threw me off was the age of the characters, I originally thought this was an adult fantasy and it can be but I was expecting older characters and not teenagers. This would be a great YA fantasy but is also good as an NA fantasy.

The Scarlet Throne is a story about gods, magic, and survival—and the lengths taken to obtain power and keep it in control.

Right away, I was immersed in Leow’s beautiful writing and her Nepali-inspired fantasy world full of power, rage, and revenge.

With a darker, more ominous tone, this story is strongly focused on its characters and their agendas. Binsa’s character, in particular, was full of so many morally grey/villainous characteristics, and many times, she pushed boundaries and took incredible risks, and that unpredictably kept me on the edge of my seat. And even though Ilam may be an actual demon in a feline form, I loved the talking animal companion aspect!

If you always root for the villain or love a complex origin story, make sure to keep this new fantasy read in mind!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*