5 tars

Thank you for my advanced copy @prhinternational !
It’s been more than seven years since Alwyn’s last book but the wait was worth it! Even though I hope we will get the sequel sooner than later because that cliffhanger!!!

The Notorious Virtues sucked me in right from the opening!
My first thought (noted on my phone) was :” That opening is perfect! The prose is vivid. I am here, among the hurried servants and the sleepy masters. Watching the things lurking in the dark woods observe and wait.”

And the story didn’t let me go before reaching the end, wanting for more because you just know that it’s a brilliant opening act and there is more intrigue, revenge and plot to come.

Told from four point of view, The Notorious Virtues takes place some decades after the Rebel of the Sand trilogy. We are in Walstad, another country but with a glimpse of someone from the Rebel of the Sand trilogy! I loved that cameo!

In Walstad, all the power and magic is controlled by the Holtzfall family. After the heir has been killed, the succession line is open and the four grand children of the ruler have to compete in trials of virtues to find the next heir.
Nora is the most powerful of them all and the favorite.
She has always played the flighty rich heiress but she is incredibly smart and reckless.
She thought she would only have to compete against her three cousins, who are no match for her, until a new contestant enters the game: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of her aunt. And Lotte might be the most formidable adversary as she is ready to win for the right to have a family.

If the competition wasn’t enough to grab your attention, there is also the mystery of Nora’s mom murder! All is not as it seems and Nora is determined to find the brain behind the crime, thanks to the help of August, a poor yet rakish journalist.

Add to that a brewing rebellion as people are fed up being oppressed by the Holtzfalls, wanting magic for all and equal rights and you have a very solid plot on your hand!

Not only was The Notorious Virtues plot driven with many twists and turns, betrayals, magic fights and great world building based on the Holtzfalls and Rydder’s legend but it was also character driven!

The biggest character growth were experienced by Nora and Lotte. Going from rivals to friends, overcoming beliefs and forging their own path, far from the ideas their entourage and family tried to force feed them. I can’t decide who is my favorite between these two. Both flawed and virtuous in their own way.
Nora who was a descendant of inventors and desert empires on her father side and of honorable woodcutters on her mother side. She certainly has poise, smart and grit!
And Lotte whose hard life in a convent, forced to sleep outside on cold nights, ready to do everything to have a mother will sure prove determined and resourceful!

But it wouldn’t be Alwyn’s books without some hint at romance! Or rather love stories in the making for Lotte and Nora, even if it doesn’t’ take the center piece. I wonder how that will turn out in the sequel!

The Notorious Virtues was everything I want in a YA fantasy: captivating, imaginative, entertaining with great characters, interesting world building, smart intrigue and twists aplenty!
I would recommend it to Alwyn’s fans of course but also to anyone who likes a well written YA fantasy.

I can see this becoming a "must read" for anyone who likes the Inheritance Games, Luminaries, House of Marionne and other series. We're in another world, where there are decided Haves and Have Nots, and the Haves are led by a family with magic. But to be the leader of the family, there's a contest to be won... and of course the flighty heir to the heir now has competition. It will be interesting to see how this stretches to more than one book.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

I was really looking forward to Alwyn Hamilton’s newest book after being a longtime fan of the Rebel of the Sands series. Our new tale takes place in the same universe but in the remnants of Gamanix, where power is held by the ultra wealthy Holtzfall family, who have a monopoly on all the available magic. When their chosen heiress Verity Holtzfall is murdered, the children of the next generation, including Verity’s daughter Nora, must take part in a competition to determine which of them will become the next leader of the family. They embark on a series of challenges in which their virtues are tested, but a wrench is thrown into everything in the form of Lotte, a secret Holtzfall child estranged from the family, who is summoned to take part.
I’ll confess to being somewhat disappointed by this one, especially since its publication was so delayed and I’ve been looking forward to it for so long. I found the focus on virtue and the Holtzfall family’s role in society somewhat half-baked, as well as their relationship with the Ryder’s. I also just found the characters uncompelling and impossible to root for. I also really enjoyed that there were some connections to Miraji, but the level of emphasis put on the backstory of how Leyla made it to Gamanix was just too much (and also, I can’t stand her). I’ll still keep reading this series but I do hope it finds its legs more in the next book.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC

I really enjoyed this one! The murder mystery and trials were so engaging and intriguing. Our FMC was strong and cool. The worldbuilding was great and the characters distinctive and fleshed out. The plot was fast paced and enjoyable. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series

I was astounded to realize that The Notorious Virtues was supposed to come out five years ago! It seems like I’d just finished reading Hero at the Fall when I heard about this book. Turns out Hero at the Fall was released eight years ago. So, yeah, my sense of time passing is clearly terrible. Be that as it may, I was so happy to read The Notorious Virtues. It was an amazing book, building on the universe created in Rebel of the Sands, but set in the future and in a different country. Nora is actually related to Miraji royalty! I loved how the setting in Notorious Virtues was so markedly different, yet still ties back to the universe created in Rebel of the Sands.

The characters in Notorious Virtues are incredible. Lotte was slightly annoying in the beginning but she quickly redeems herself through her actions. I was expecting at every turn that she would betray someone, since she had no real reason to be loyal to the Holtzfalls. I was pleasantly surprised at her cunning and character growth throughout the story. I also enjoyed Nora’s almost lack of growth? Her circumstances and knowledge changed and she reacted to these changes, but she remained herself, in the best ways. She learned a lot and embraced herself as an individual, rather than the Holtzfall heir apparent. She isn’t just a socialite–she’s a powerful magic user with a cunning mind and excellent instincts. Her relationship with August makes me so happy. Their witty conversations are so funny and well constructed. I knew they would fall for each other as soon as they met, as that is simply the way, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the fall. They’re all unique characters with conflicting motives but are all generally good. Lotte having suffered in the convent as she did creates a barrier between her and the rest of the world and she does have some hateful thoughts and actions. But she has suffered and she’s seen how the Holtzfalls have made the world suffer and how she’s suffered because of them.

The method of magic is fascinating to me. The various charms and the sheer power Nora possesses makes me so happy. She’s the heir apparent to the Hotlzfall family but she actually has both power and a brain. I never thought my favorite character would be dumb, of course, but sometimes you don’t choose your favorite based on intelligence alone. All of the main characters are beyond intelligent, very clever and resourceful, but not infallible. I also like that about them, that they can be tricked and led astray. It leads to a great story and an unfortunate cliffhanger. I didn’t fully realize that this book was part of a series until the last ten percent or so. I had hoped in a lot of ways that it was, because I really like these characters and would love to see more from them. But also, it took over five years for this book to be published, and that’s just five years from the original date, not how long it took to write in total. We’re talking the better part of a decade at this point. But I’ll willingly and eagerly wait for the next part, and happily re-read this book if and when the time comes.

There are no queer characters as far as I can tell. No side characters or anything, which feels unrealistic. Even if none of the main characters are queer, there should be someone who is. You could say that it’s the equivalent of the 1920s and so even if there were queer people, they wouldn’t be out about it. And yeah, not every story needs to be a coming out. It just felt strange, I think, especially since I read a lot of queer fiction of all sorts (historical, fantasy, science fiction, young adult of all of those). There’s always a way to work it in.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy! It’s not a super long book, nor is it super complicated. There are pieces of the mystery that can be traced and solved on your own, if you want. But everything is laid out towards the end. The world building is light compared to adult fantasy books but it is all the more enjoyable for that. I didn’t feel like any aspect of the story suffered from being a young adult novel. I never lost interest in any of the character’s points of view–I always wanted to stay with them but was eager to see what the other characters were doing, too. The romance is light and doesn’t affect the plot too much. Love of that sort is not the main motivator and that is more than okay in my eyes. As Nora is mourning her mother and preparing to inherit the family magic, romance does not need to be a main plotline.

There is a brief description of our heroines trying to escape a maze, and that is exactly what this book felt like. You begin and it seems like fun, then you get tired and bored of the constant dead ends, then you finally get going again and its fun once more, but then you become hopelessly lost and can't make any progress, no matter how hard you try. When you finally think you see the exit, you discover it's blocked and you are stuck where you are with no chance of going any farther.

The beginning was slow, so very, painfully slow. We meet all the main characters but are not given enough to really connect with them. I lost interest several times out of boredom and had to put it down and walk away.

Around the midway point, things pick up a bit, a little more action, a little more insight/backstory into the characters. But again, around the three fourths mark, things drag to almost a standstill. At over 500 pages, how could it not?

And the ending, oh no no no. If you go into this as I did, not realizing it was going to be a three-parter (according to some reviewers), you will be as furious as I was, to have invested so much time into this behemoth book only to be left with absolutely no conclusion to, well, anything. Not sure if I care enough to read the next installment, especially if it ends like this one did.

The Notorious Virtues
by Alwyn Hamilton
The Notorious Virtues #1
YA Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Apr 1, 2025
Penguin Group
Ages: 16+


Nora's family controls all of the money and magic in all of Walstad, but when her mother is found dead of a supposed mugging gone wrong, Nora's inheritance of the family throne, fortune, and power is no longer guaranteed. Now she must contend in a magical competition against her cousins, the winner, being the most virtuous, also gets the magic of the losers.

But at the last moment, the illegitimate daughter of Nora's aunt, a young girl who has lived her entire life in a convent, abused by the sisters, arrives to contend in the contest.

In the city, a rebellious group of common citizens are gathering followers because they no longer want to be under the control of Nora's family and the other rich magical families, and they are willing to kill to obtain the keys Nora and her cousins could win that would gain them access to the forest where the magic comes from.


This is a story where the rich have and control everything, only pretending that the common folk have any type of say in what happens in the city, when in actuality not even their votes count.
A definition of virtue is 'behavior showing high moral standards'; but all except one of the heirs do not have morals. For the most part, they are greedy, self-centered, spiteful, and power-hungry, as are the rest of the magical/rich people, who all match a definition of notorious, of 'famous or well known, typically for some bad quality or deed'. Reminds me of the present 'real world' of how a rat and an orange are taking over at the time of this review...

The story was good, though more world/history building is needed about the other magical families. I'm not sure how they got their magic and/or how they are related to Nora's family who are the descendants of the original magical family.

It was the detailed busy book cover that grabbed my attention, but sadly the story isn't that 'action-packed'. A lot is going on in the story, but it isn't as supernatural as the cover portrays.

I did like the story and had expectations of the ending, but there was a little unexpected twist, so I will be looking for the next book in the series.

3 Stars

Thank you NetGalley, Goodreads, and Penguin Group for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars

This was a HEFTY story.

There was a lot of information in this book, and I was struggling a little bit because I was 2/3 through the book and there were still just pages of info dumps. So that slowed my forward progress of this book a bit, but the last 1/3 if this book was pretty banging.

There are four different POVs in this book, and two of them I was really interested and invested in from the beginning. Both Nora and August had really great storylines and their characters were just really captivating. It was very entertaining watching Nora be the public heiress but then see exactly what she was capable of, in many different ways. Her interactions with August were 🤌 I always love seeing two people who are at odds but working toward a shared goal. Those dynamics are always enjoyable.

Lottie and Theo were a little harder for me. Lottie's character just kinda seemed all over the place and I couldn't get a good read on her until about half way and then her chapters really started to sync. Once she clicked for me, then I really started to like her chapters. And Theo...I really wanted to like Theo, and I did generally, but his chapters were just so emotionless and stiff. Maybe that was on purpose, but it really made me not look forward to his chapters, which was a shame because he also had a really interesting storyline to follow.

But the last 1/3 of this book was pretty great and a lot of different shit went down, and it really sets up a pretty crazy follow up so I'm for sure intrigued enough to continue the series.

The Notorious Virtues is an urban historical fantasy set in a fictional city with a vaguely 1920s vibe. We follow 4 main characters - Nora, the heiress apparent to inherit the wealth and magic of the Hotzfall family, currently held by her grandmother; Theo, a knight sworn to protect Nora's family; Lotte, a secret illegitimate child of Nora's aunt; and August, a struggling journalist at a city newspaper. Nora and Lotte are to participate in the Veritaz trials along with their cousins to complete to be the Hotzfall heir.

Although the premise is interesting and an original take on typical YA fantasy tropes, The Notorious Virtues wasn't my favorite read. It's quite long and slow for a YA novel and took a long time to actually strike my interest. I didn't love Nora as a character (a bit too Not Like Other Girls for my taste), although I did enjoy the other 3 character's POV. Although the story took a while to really get going and get me invested, my interest level did rise in the second half of the book, and I was more excited to pick up the book and finish the story. Overall, I liked but didn't love this read - 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, if you’re one of those readers who needs to know what’s going to happen next, you may want to wait till the trilogy (or series?) is completed. This one doesn’t end abruptly but it leaves you hanging in a way that should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention. The author creates a world that seems almost recognizable from a bygone era, but with fantastic elements that creep in slowly. It took me a while to get into it, because there are too many characters and subplots. I was also confused about the two leads. Nora and Lotte were both unlikable and difficult to root for. But then something magical happened. They started to grow and learn, changing for the better and showing how they were not the stereotypes that I’d thought. Nora turned out not to just be a vapid socialite, but a smart, lovely woman. Lotte was not the revengeful hidden daughter who hated everything she never had, but kind and resourceful. By then, I was lost in this lovingly crafted world. I thought where this was going and then the plot took a turn, then another and another, surprising me with every single one. Now we get to wait to see what’s going to happen. Excellent!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/PENGUIN GROUP.

**Thank you to Viking Books for Young Readers for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!**

I enjoyed most of this book! The characters were really fun to follow and really engaging and unique. The plot was pretty interesting for most of the book, but holy cow I was so bored from the 30%-55% mark (I almost DNF'd). And then it picked up crazy fast again... The pacing bothered me. I also got way lost at the end (and warning, there's a big cliffhanger at the end).

The book is pretty clean, which I really appreciated, but the world was honestly kind of confusing, and I couldn't get a sense for what the time period really was. I also think there were some plot holes with the magic system.

I still had fun reading most of this book, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I enjoyed some of Alwyn Hamilton's other books.

I am blown away by how much I loved this book! The writing, the world-building, the cliffhanger - I loved it all. The only bad thing is how long I have to wait for the next book!

The Notorious Virtues might actually be perfect. Alwyn Hamilton borrows from a variety of standard popular YA themes whole making to make something wholly original and with tons of heart.

Nora Holtzfall was born to be an heiress, groomed from her first day on earth to take over the family from her mother; until her mother is murdered and the line of succession became open again.

August is a reporter looking for a new angle when he catches wind of a story of a dead matriarch and an heiress looking for the truth.

Lotte has lived her whole live in a convent, abused and left to grovel at the hands of anyone who will show her kindness, until the day shes taken away from it all and told shes the lost daughter of the regions most powerful family.

Theo is a knight, bound by an unbreakable magic oath to submit to his masters no matter what the circumstance.

and with a dead matriarch comes a new set of games to determine who the new heiress will be.

So already you have some familiar themes, but what makes this book masterful is just how maturely they are used. If you are sick of books where the trope is dominating the narrative, you will love The Notorious Virtues. The prose is uncomplicated but mature, Alwyn Hamilton follows the adult standards for a flintlock fantasy beautifully- mixing fantasy with industry and progress. Our characters live in a world built by magic, but now dominated by factories and class struggle. The gilded age favors a small group of elites who build the city from the ground up known as the Holtzfalls- they and their ilk are desperate to cling onto power in an age of growing working class discontent.

The book touches on class issues without being objectively political or trying to borrow too much from today's issues. I thought this was skillfully done because frankly, I am burnt out from todays horrors, but I liked that Hamilton built a world that included these themes and felt they were well done.

The magic system in virtues has two components- inherit magic bestowed upon members of the elite that can range from mind reading to stealing memories, and "borrowed" magic using magic rings and enchantments. While this is not a book that handles its magic system ad nauseam, theres thought put into it that I appreciate.

All of the POV characters are excellent- all are whole and complete people with their own motivations and personalities. No self insert characters, no "love interest" copy and paste standards. Nora is a privileged but sturdy rich girl who is equal parts logical and intimidating. August is curious and cynical. Theo is duty bound and probably the most "purehearted" of the group. Lotte is probably the most "heroic" on paper, but also has a spiteful side and is capable of some reasonable cruelty that surprised me. All of them are very richly written and play on each other well.

Even the non POV characters are excellent. Members of the Holtzfall family that show up in the story range from weird to detestable. The knights, commoners, and the Grimms, freedom fights of questionable behavior, are all so colorful and able to elicit strong emotions from the reader.

The story moves fast- with part of the focus being on the trials that members of the Holtzfall family are meant to complete to earn the title of heir, and the other half being the investigation into not one, but two conspiratorial plots. Sometimes, when dealing with murder mystery as a secondary factor, there is some lazy writing involved, but I found myself surprised at every turn when reading Virtues.

My best comp for this is One Dark Window, while the two books are not on paper the same, the setting, politics, and trial adventure aspect are very closely connected. Both have a little touch of romance and a really cool overarching plot and world that is written with some level of looseness to ensure the characters are primarily focused on. It also has many elements of Six of Crows- including its low criminal mystery elements, and its multi POV format with a cast of morally grey characters.

I strongly recommend this book to just about every kind of fantasy reader- even folks who are not partial to YA fantasy. I appreciate that the romance is a side plot in a bigger, much more interesting world, and that the characters all have meaningful relationships with each other. It just feels like so much THOUGHT was put into this story and I am absolutely thrilled to pick the sequel of this one up.

This was my first book by this author and the cover and plot were intriguing. I look forward to more.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a chance to read this ARC early.

Nooooo this book cannot be over and CANNOT leave me with such a tantalizing cliffhanger! Ughhhh I need the sequel NOW and THIS book hasn’t even been PUBLISHED.

THANKS Netgalley for simultaneously fulfilling my wish to read this book early and making me regret getting what I wished for…because the agony of waiting may do me in.

Longer review to come because this book was such an easy 5 stars for me. I truly look forward to what happens next!

Alwyn Hamilton has done it again!!! This was such an immersive read with rich worldbuilding and fully fleshed out characters. I cannot wait to get my limited edition copy come release date!

I didn’t know if I was going to like this or not, but I can say that I found myself enjoying this one very quickly! It’s definitely a more modern fantasy, and I’m iffy with the multiple POV’s, but the world building is fun. I love that the characters were so dynamic, and while some POVs weren’t as fleshed out as I had hoped, it didn’t take away from the story. I love the included folklore, and I’m a sucker for a story that involves a competition.

It feels similar to the Inheritance Games, but set in the 1920s and with magic, which is what I think made me enjoy it. Very curious to see what happens next, especially with a cliffhanger ending! I will happily be recommending this book to people. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read this book!

This is the best book I have read so far this year, I loved the characterization! Like most people, the people in this book weren't one dimensional. As the story developed different sides of each of them came to the surface. Moreover, I have come to like books with multiple points of view, and this one offers that. I think being able to see things through a character's eyes really adds to the story. The main characters, Nora and Lottie quickly became my favorites.

I also really appreciated the carefully crafted plot, and the addition of the woodcutter added a touch that almost seems like a fairy tale; although, it was part of the family's history. The story had me hoping that Nora and Lottie would win one of the challenges. I read this rather quickly because the story was so intriguing I had a hard time putting the book down.

5 Stars!

Hamilton's story is captivating. There is so much fantasy and intrigue that I could not put the book down and was sad to see it end. The characters are all well written and have their own paths to take to the "Heiress" trials. You will be caught up with the struggles between the characters and find yourself entranced by the vivid settings, plots, and subplots. I'm hoping a sequel appears soon.

This is going to be a summer must read!

Después de la muerte de la heredera de la familia, los Holtzfall deben nombrar a su sucesor, y para ello, la generación mas joven tendrá que demostrar que lo merecen a través de una serie de pruebas para competir por obtener el hacha y ser la cabeza de la familia.
Es una mezcla de magia, aventura, crítica al capitalismo, relaciones familiares complicadas y un toque de romance.
¡Necesito leer el siguiente libro!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.