I waited literal YEARS for this book and I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed, but that could be chalked up to me having grown out of the Young Adult genre. I liked the idea of this book and couldn't wait to read it, but I feel like my anticipation of it only added to my disappointment. I didn't really connect to any of the characters, the magic system felt lacking to me, and the trials felt like the subplot of the story instead of the plot. I do like the differing POVs, but sadly it did not help me connect with any of the characters.

Loves this book, and I hope there will be a second one. I love a book that explores magic, family rivalry, and competition for the family's leadership. The characters were very unique in personality, and I enjoyed both the family conflict, hidden scheming, and unexpected alignments. There were world-building elements, characters, and a plot that were very unique. I highly recommend this book.

As a big fan of Alwyn Hamilton's Rebel of the Sands trilogy, I had such high hopes for their new highly anticipated YA fantasy. Even as the release date continued to be push back over and over, this only made me more excited. Surely, I thought, this would mean the most epic book ever. I was wrong.
The world building was all over the place. I was completely lost. Are we in a 1920s metropolis or a medieval village? Both, somehow existing simultaneously and only a few hours drive from each other. I honestly lost count of the many (too many) POVs and could not for the life of me distinguish between them. And the magic system was confusing and was both rigid and unstructured so I had no idea what I was in for or what to expect. The writing itself was beautiful, but not enough to redeem this book or make me finish the book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.25 stars)
The Notorious Virtues is a glittering, high-stakes fantasy that blends magic, murder, and media in a uniquely compelling way. From the very first page, Alwyn Hamilton pulls you into a richly imagined world of power, privilege, and ruthless ambition—and I couldn’t look away.
At the heart of the story is Honora “Nora” Holtzfall, a teenage heiress who’s more famous for her fashion sense than for her magical abilities. But when her mother is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Nora is thrust into The Veritaz—a deadly magical competition to determine the family’s next heir. Add in political conspiracies, class divides, family betrayals, and a forbidden romance, and you’ve got a story that never stops moving.
The multiple POVs add texture and depth, even if it takes a little time to get fully oriented. Lotte, the mysterious new cousin raised in a convent; Theo, the loyal knight with divided loyalties; and August, the reporter caught in the chaos, each bring something unique to the table. I especially enjoyed Lotte’s arc—her outsider perspective and hidden abilities added an extra layer of tension to an already fraught inheritance game.
While the pacing in the middle lagged slightly and a few character moments felt a bit rushed, the overall execution was sharp, smart, and entertaining. The world-building is clever, the competition is filled with intrigue, and the themes of power, legacy, and identity give the story real weight.
Think The Hunger Games meets Succession, but with magic and a deadly fairy tale twist. This book delivers on drama, danger, and emotional depth. I’m already excited to see where Hamilton takes us in the sequel—especially after that ending!

The Notorious Virtues was a thrilling and richly imaginative read that completely drew me into its world. I loved the cleverness and complexity of the characters, especially how their flaws made them feel so real and engaging. The plot kept me hooked with its twists and tension, though a few moments felt slightly rushed for my taste. Overall, it was a captivating and enjoyable story that left me eager for more from Alwyn Hamilton.

Thank you Viking Books and NetGalley for the DRC and Libro FM for the ALC of The Notorious Virtues! All opinions in this review are my own.

I absolutely love the world of The Notorious Virtues! I love how it is based on a fairy tale and powered by magic! I also loved the trial competition and the different point of views! I feel satisfied with the ending and while I am still extremely excited to read the next one, I am not impatiently waiting to find out what happened after a cliffhanger.

I enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained and will definitely read more by author. Thanks yo publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read!

Fantasy - 3.5*

This genre isn't usually a favorite, but in the past few years, I've really been enjoying the fractured fairytales, "Hunger Games" type novels. The Notorious Virtues combines all of the best of these.

Told from multiple character perspectives, we get the story of Anora, Lotte, Theo and August. Anora is the heir apparent until her mother is murdered. She has been known for her fashion and fame (think Paris Hilton). With the death of her mother, she must now compete with her cousins to remain the heir. The competition revolves around finding a magic axe in the woods surrounding the city. Besides fighting with her cousins, there are also factions of people known as The Grimms fighting to overthrow the current regime. The Grimms would love to get the magic and power of Anora's family and are willing to do almost anything to obtain it.

Lotte has grown up in a convent being treated horribly by the sisters - think Cinderella. She has a magical gift of reading minds. She has been told that it is a curse. She dreams of escaping the convent and finding any members of her family or starting a new and better life. One day some men appear to take her to Walstad and her mother, whom she thought was dead.

August is a reporter. He is trying to make money and kick start a journalism career by capitalizing on all the turmoil in Walstad. He ends up being one of the first on scene at the Nora's mom's murder. He captures some images with his camera that confirm some of Nora's suspicions. They team up to solve the murder and simultaneously help August's career.

Theo is a knight. His family has been sworn to protect Nora's family for generations. His brother is missing and presumed dead, and his loyalties are tested.

This is a lot of plotlines to navigate, and I have to admit that it took me a minute to get the hang of everyone. There are a lot of characters besides the main 4. There are also political machinations in the family as well as the threat from The Grimms, so keeping it all straight was a task sometimes.

The story flows well and is definitely interesting. Besides the fairytales, there are definitely reminders of other fantasy series. This is book 1 of the series, so I didn't love how this one ended. I will give the next book a try, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this novel.

Obsessed. I loved the friendship that developed between Nora and Lotte! Also the individual romances they both slowly grew. Tons of suspense over Verity's death and Lotte's paternity. Oh, and I love how the title ties into the book, too! Such a great read with a fun lore and even more mysteries than I even mentioned!

Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for an ARC. My review is my own.

Beautiful cover, interesting world. But it couldn’t hold my attention. DNF at 50%. Honora is far from virtuous and I didn’t care to see who won.

I enjoyed this fantasy. I liked the multiple view points and all the characters. The contest trope was fun. I look forward to the next in the series.
3.5 stars

So I didn't realize that this book may have a sequel. I was so frustrated with the end and thinking I'm going to have to wait to see if there will for sure be a sequel or not.

Alwyn Hamilton (https://www.alwynhamilton.com) is the author of four novels. The Notorious Virtues was published early last April. It is the 30th book I completed reading in 2025.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, I categorize this novel as R.

Honora ‘Nora’ Holtzfall is 16 years old and the daughter of Verity Holtzfall, the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Though the family controls all of the magic and finances in the country, Nora feels like an outsider. Her life is turned upside down when her mother’s body is found, the victim of a stabbing by a thief. Now, Nora, along with her cousins, must face one another in the Veritaz. A dangerous, often fatal, magical competition to determine who will sit next on the throne.

The Huldrekall are called upon to organize the Veritaz. They are magical creatures that inhabit the forest surrounding Walstad. The humans mostly stay out of the forest, and the Huldrekall leave Walstad alone.

The competition is expected to be between Nora and her three cousins, Constance, Clemency, and Modesty. The rivalry between them far outweighed their familial bond. Unexpectedly, Ottoline ‘Lotte’ Holtzfall, a fifth candidate for the Veritaz, appears.

Lotte is also 16 years old and was unknown to the family. She is the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt, Grace Holtzfall. Lotte has been hidden away in the convent of the Sisters of the Blessed Briar her entire life. Her mother is only bringing her out now because of the Veritaz. Lotte has only known a difficult life at the convent, and knows nothing about her mother or family. She thought she was there because she was cursed, able to hear the thoughts of others around her.

August Wolffe is a 17-year-old fledgling photographer and reporter for the Bullhorn newspaper. He has been following the flamboyant Nora for a story. They have a chance meeting and become an unusual couple, though Nora tries her best not to admit to it.

The cousins are subjected to different trials. The competition begins, though the contests are subtle and unexpected. Only four trials were expected, and by the time those were over, Nora had only won one. No clear winner is named, and an unexpected fifth trial pits the cousins against one another a final time.

As the contest proceeds, the Egalitarian People’s Party is stirring up trouble. They advocate reform and change, calling for more magic and money for all. They take on a new name, the Grims, with a wolf as their emblem, and their actions become more violent.

As the story nears its conclusion, the Grims are threatening more action against the wealthy and powerful of Walstad. The surviving cousins of the Veritaz are still vying for the throne. Nora has discovered that her mother was murdered. What will happen to Nora and Lotte? Will the wealthy of Walstad survive?

I enjoyed the 11.5 hours I spent reading this 509-page young adult fantasy novel. I enjoyed it, but I think it comes across as unpolished. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3.9 (rounded to 4) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

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I was super excited about this book! I had read Alwyn Hamilton's Rebel of the Sands YEARS ago and I loved every second of it so I had pretty high expectations for this. I made sure to set my expectations correctly because I'm not the same reader I was 6 years ago, and I'm not as big into YA fantasy as I was back then. And I was not disappointed! I will admit I was a bit confused sometimes because there were so many characters/POVs and I felt like there wasn't much distinction between the character voices but the plot of this book really helped out with my personal enjoyment of it! I also was a bit confused at first about the technology in this world but it was quickly dissipated from just continuing on. Even though the romance in this book wasn't my favorite, I could see it working for other people or even me with future installments in this series. I just love a deadly game and this book did such a great job with it!

I agreed with both the good and bad ratings, lol. It’s not perfect by any means and struggles with trying to do too much in one novel, but the story is engaging & I liked the 4 different perspectives and had no trouble following this fantasy. Solving the murder and seeing who would come out on top of this Inheritance Games style mystery was fun and entertaining. It did feel like everything unraveled in a chaotic manner at times.

Thank you, NetGalley, and publishers Penguin Group, Penguin Young Readers Group/Viking Books, for this advanced reading copy.

"Don't go into the woods," a warning to the people of Walstad that mystical creatures are lurking in the woods. The reader is thrown into a world set in an older time, where heirs and heiresses rule, and magic and folklore are also present. The murder of Verity Holtzfall, heiress of Walstad, has taken place, and her bodyguard, Alaric, is nowhere to be found. With the death of the heiress, a new heir must take the throne, allowing the Veritaz trials to return to pick the next heir of the kingdom and ensuring the throne remains in the Holtzfall bloodline. Honora has been training to be heiress since she was born and knows the throne is hers, but will stop at nothing to find out what truly happened to her mother. But many twists will throw her off course, along with a hidden child of a Holtzfall, who will return to compete in the trials for their right to the throne, and the uprising of the Grimms, a group trying to erase the disparity of wealth between the rich and the poor.

I LOVED THIS BOOK AND WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO ANY NEWS OF THE SEQUEL.

A lot was going on in the book, but with everything happening, it never threw anything out of focus. I enjoyed the history behind the folklore, which referred to the tale of the woodcutter and the axe. I loved the twist it presented, speaking on how the Holtzfalls acquired their wealth and the symbolic meaning behind the trials to find their "true heir".

The story interweaves from the past (the history of the woodcutter and the mystical creature in the forest) along with the present and viewpoints of Honora, Lotte, August, and Theodric. Also, for this to be the first book (hoping there's a second one on the way), this book went deep! The reader follows August as he learns not to repeat his father's mistakes and instead carves out his path.

Alaric and Theodrick Rydder, with their family history of obeying their oath to protect the Holtzfalls, but also the mystery of what happened to Alaric after the murder of Verity.

Last but not least, Lotte or Ottoline, the long-lost cousin, plucked from the church where she was placed after birth, coming to join the trials to stake her claim to the throne and adjust to having a family to call her own.

I loved all of the characters and their character developments throughout the book, but I will say that my favorite was Honora. She was fierce and a force! She was different from her family, with dark skin and dark hair, contrasting with her mother's fair skin and blue eyes, and her cousins'. So, not only did the book provide us with magical creatures and folklore, but it also addressed classism, perception, and prejudice. If you've been considering this one and wondering if it's worth reading, I highly recommend it.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book in exchange of an honest review.

Honora "Nora" Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all the Walstad, at only sixteen years old. Her family controlls all the money and magic in the country, but she only ever felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead, everything is turned upside down and everything is suddenly up for grabs. Nora is pitted against her own cousins in the Veritaz, the magical competition for finding the family heir. Surprisingly there's a new contestant, Lotte, the illegitimate daugher of Nora's aunt. Brought from her rural convent she was abandoned in, Lotte finds herself surrounded by a family who wants her dead for getting power. Nora discovers, also, that her mother was murdered and the only person who can help her is a young reporter who hates her family. While the Veritaz threatens each of the girls, the new cousins, Lotte and Nora, have to fight to stay alive, but in this competition there can be only one winner.

Political intrigue, privilege, class difference, magic and power are ingredient for this new fantasy about a media darling, a surprising new heir to the throne and a dangerous and brilliant competition.
Between tests and impossible choice, the Veritaz is an intriguing competion and very fascinating, mixing power, magic and family. Alwyn Hamilton wrote another brilliant, fascinating and glittering story about powerful women, a lifetime competition and a world made of magic and power.
Intriguing and very well written, The notorious virtues is definitely one of my favourite book and I loved so much Nora and Lotte!

The world building was well done in this book. I enjoyed the magic and mythology of the story. I hope the second one isn’t too far off since it left on a cliffhanger.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review. I urge the author to add in the synopsis that there will be multiple POV’s. I had to DNF.

I waited for so many years to hear this story and it was worth every second. The way Hamilton can spin a story in fully engross you in the world is a skill that not many authors have. Her writing is phenomenal and she truly makes you feel for the characters.