Finally! A unique fantasy romance read that didn't feel like every other fantasy book out there. We've got a magicless FMC who gets kidnapped by the enemy. She can't see his face for the majority of the book, which kept the mystery alive for me. He trains her to compete in the Bloodshed trials where she and her brothers will compete for the throne. There has never been a godforsaken on the throne, and Revna is determined to be the first.

It was a slow burn, hate to lust, and forced proximity fantasy with a small amount of romance. The betrayals are numerous, and the action is great! Can't wait for the next book!

Revna a "godforsaken" is a royal who is treated as like a commoner. In a family in which she is the only daughter among multiple brothers, she is treated less than - especially from her father. When an offer comes for Revna to strengthen a stronghold through a marriage Revna's father accepts. But Revna will only agree if she is allowed to fight in The Bloodshed Trials - in which only one of her siblings will be left standing and whoever is left will sit on the throne. But fate has other plans because soon Revna is captured and taken captive by none other than Hellbringer - her country's greatest enemy. While being held captive by the Hellbringer, Revna gets to know him. What are his ulterior motives and why is she suddenly starting to have feelings for him?

Blood Beneath the Snow started off really strong for me. I really liked learning about headstrong Revna and her relationship with her brothers, her father and her townspeople. And the mysterious Hellbringer definitely had me intrigued. I really liked his snarky, broody character - especially paired against feisty Revna.

The second half of the book wasn't as strong as the first half. The romance started to feel very insta-love and I felt like the pacing was off.

Overall a solid 3 star read.

Blood Beneath the Snow by Alexandra Kennington
Thank you to NetGalley, Ace Publishing, and Berkley Publishing for the gifted ARC!

Wow—what an incredible debut! This book had so many of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, only one bed, a morally grey MMC, a masked man, and trials. Plus, the wintery, snow-covered setting added such an atmospheric touch—I absolutely loved it. I flew through this in less than 24 hours!

The FMC was a standout—her determination to fight for the weak and oppressed made her character arc so compelling. On the other hand, Hellbringer, her love interest, had limited development early on. Since he barely spoke for a good portion of the book, it was tough to connect with the romance at first. But once he started talking, their dynamic became much more engaging.

One small thing I noticed was the lack of physical description for the FMC, which made it hard to picture her clearly. That said, it didn’t take away from the story. The plot was solid, well-paced, and kept me hooked the whole way through. The ending was fantastic, and I can’t wait for the next book—I’ll definitely be reading it!

Releases March 11, 2025—add this one to your TBR!

the worst part of reading an arc is that the second book is definitely no where close to out yet, and i fear i will be obsessing over this book for a while.
i went through all the emotions reading this one, and i just need everyone to pick it up. there's magic, spice, one bed, rivalries, a hot captor, good brothers and also awful brothers, and everything sucked me in.

I had a great time with the Blood Beneath the Snow! Sometimes the pacing felt a little chopped up, but for the most part a really great debut. I thoroughly enjoyed it and am eagerly awaiting its release!

3.5*

this was fun! didn’t love some parts (the romance felt a little too insta lust for me) but i was pleasantly surprised by the ending! it made me excited to see where this story goes

Read if you like: enemies to lovers, trial competition for the kingdom
-
Revna is the only member of her family not to have been born with magical powers, so she is considered to be "godforsaken." But she wants the chance to compete in the Bloodshed Trials against her brothers in the hopes of becoming queen and saving others like her. Her kingdom is also at war and they struggle to face a man known as the Hellbringer, who can kill a person by simply closing his fist.
-
This was a fast paced, plot driven novel that had a lot happening, so it is easy to get sucked into the story. I liked Revna and I liked the enemies to lovers romance. This was quite a violent book, so be aware, but I am excited to see what happens next!

This was SO good, I truly had such a fun time reading this! One thing to note is that the marketing is really misleading, the trials don’t begin until 90%! This didn’t ruin my overall enjoyment of the book but I did read reviews prior that talked about how it was much later into the book.

I loved Revna and the Hellbringer, I feel like we are going to get to explore a really cool facet of their dynamic in the next book due to the ending events of this one.

There’s a lot of great ideas here but the book lacked in execution. The pacing was a huge issue for me. The middle was just boring. I think the idea was to use forced proximity to develop the romance but there was no actual development. The characters, world, and romance all needed to be fleshed out more. Overall, it was a little flat. I absolutely loved the ending though and since it’s a duology I’ll be back for book 2.

I enjoy romantasy and I felt like this was a solid read, but not extraordinary. I think the plot had lots of potential, and I would have liked to see more happen with the tournament earlier on.

The cover art of this book was beautiful and that drew me in, even though we aren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover.
The premise of the story was good and something I normally enjoy reading about. There were some issues for me with the world building and the flow of the book overall. I didn't love the main character either which makes it hard to love a book. She was a little all over the place and then had such a negative, poor me attitude.
The storyline was there but didn't love the execution of the book. It was a good start, I'm sure at some point I will finish the series when it comes out, but not in a hurry to do so.
Overall, it was a fine read but not a favorite for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Alexandra Kennington's debut, Blood Beneath the Snow, is perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout. I was hooked from the opening scene in which Revna, our FMC, disrupts a sacred ceremony that's meant to appease the gods.

Revna is part of the royal family, but she's treated as an outcast because she is godforsaken (without magic) instead of godspelled (with magic) like the remaining members of her family. She doesn't let her lack of magical ability hold her back. She's feisty, slightly sarcastic, and most importantly, hell-bent on changing how her and her found family are treated in their country.

Her family has arranged a marriage for Revna in order to gain an ally in the current war, but you should know with feisty characters determined to make a change, they'll do anything but what you tell them to do. Revna turns down the arranged marriage (and I totally understand the reasoning, but her almost husband is the sweetest man I've seen in a romantasy book in some time) for the opportunity to participate in The Bloodshed Trials, a competition where she will fight her four brothers to the death for the throne.

Revna's father is raging mad at her decisions and brings her to the front lines of the war to change her mind. Again, wrong move. Revna is committed to following through to save herself, her found family, and the rest of the godforsaken. However, she never makes it to the front lines as she's kidnapped by the Hellbringer, the terrifying general that's alluded her father and the other members of his army. She's convinced the Hellbringer kidnapped her just to kill her, but instead, he's kidnapped her in order to train her to win The Bloodshed Trials. Revna is skeptical about his motives, but eventually finds herself warming up to the man that has quite the persona surrounding him.

I don't want to give too much away, but I could not put down this book once Revna starts training with the Hellbringer. They spar not only with swords and daggers, but also words. I was left in shock by the ending and am absolutely in need of the conclusion to Alexandra's Blood & Souls Duology.

Thank you so much Berkley for the e-ARC in exchange for the honest review!

I was really interested in the premise of this book! The world was unique, and the idea of trials to the death between siblings was very intriguing! The brutal treatment throughout Revna's family was jarring at first, but I did really enjoy the dark and ruthless nature of the book in general! I would have love more time with world building, developing side characters, and exploring the family dynamics. The ending was really satisfying and I'm so curious where things will go next.

The pacing was a bit off, starting off strong and steady, then slowing down throughout the entire middle, for the end to pick up again. I struggled with the romance, it lacked depth and development. The personality of the love interest was not really there. The trajectory of their relationship felt predictable and inevitable, and I wasn't surprised by any of it. I feel like it would have been stronger without the emphasis on the romance, or without it at all. I found most of the other plot predictable as well, aside from a few specifics. The book is well-written. Revna's development into her true self was something I looked forward to and it delivered in a cool way.

All in all, I feel like this was a promising debut and I'd read more from this author!

3.5 rounded up

GAH. THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD. I loved everything about it. It is such a fantastic debut, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Thank you for giving me a romance fantasy without a massive icky age gap and where the main female character isn't automatically overpowered AF. Instead, we have a world with the godtouched and the godforsaken. I actually thought calling the nonmagical people godforsaken was very funny. I know it probably wasn't meant to be especially given the horrible abuse and prejudice they face. Revna is the only godforsaken in her family, and it isn't any family, it's the royal family. As the godforsaken Princess she endures abuse by most of her family.

Her father has been at war with a neighboring nation and to help win the war he has promised Revna off in an arranged marriage. She defies her family and rejects the marriage proposal to fight in the Blood Trials and try to become Queen. From her she gets kidnapped by the fearsome Hellbringer, a godtouched man who can steal your life by looking at you. Insert training and enemies to lovers montage. Was this a little too trope filled for me? Yes, but I still liked it. I also really liked the magical system. The main story was also something that felt a little stale, a "powerless" princess and an overpowered male who come together to bring down her tyrannical family isn't exactly a new story.

I did like the queer side characters and how normalized queerness was. Some of the dialogue both spoken and internal was really clunky and out of place. There's a point where Revna is talking to Hellbringer about past lovers and it's just so uncomfortable. Like no natural flow to the conversation.

The is a fun romance fantasy, it isn't like super groundbreaking, but if you enjoy the genre you'll enjoy this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkely Publishing Group - Ace for the advanced reader's copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Berkley publishing group and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC!

Let me just start with this, I ABSOLUTELY loved this book. I was hooked from the get-go, there was constant action. You immediately understood what inspired these characters, their motivations are so clear. Which I appreciated so much, the world building was explained in a very concise way that left no questions unanswered. The writing was beautiful and so poetic. I was able to feel as if I was in the world itself, the imagery of the scenes came to life so easily in my head.

The plot was excellent, I have zero complaints. The tension and the angst were written so well. I don't tend to have such vivid emotions when reading a book, but tears streamed down my face while I was reading this. And I LOVE a book that can draw out emotions from me.

Now, let's get into the romance, because wohooohooo. It did not disappoint. This was a true enemies to lovers / star-crossed lovers. I loved the development of their relationship. These two characters who have been broken apart multiple times in order to fit the mold of their keepers were able to find solace in the company of each other. It was very sweet and heart-wrenching to read about, and I loved every second of it.

I read this in one sitting, overnight into the early hours of morning and I do not regret it a bit.
READ IF YOU LIKE:
♡ Villains in masks
♡ Deadly competition
♡ badass fmc
♡ only one bed
♡ enemies to lovers
♡ she teaches him how to dance
♡ he teaches her how to fight

2.5 Stars - Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely loved the beginning. I was eating it up from page one. It was suspenseful and exciting. I thought it was going to be exactly like Powerless but it changed quickly so that was good. I liked the tropes first off, I love a trials and arranged marriage trope but thats all it was. The trials were like 10 pages in the end and it felt very rushed considering that was what we were waiting for. The marriage was a unique one and caught me off guard I will admit but for the enemies to lovers, there was no yearning. I felt like I was inside Revna’s head and it was annoying and there was no inkling that she had these feelings or even the enemy (no spoilers). I wished there was more yearning from both parties because it felt a little like insta love and the entire book felt like all of the most popular books people love but like all in one? There were several moments where I was like oh, this feels like Daughter of No Worlds or Serpent and the Wings of Night, or Powerless. I feel this book could have cut out a lot of the repetition in training and going back and forth and added more yearning. Also, it could have been way longer to develop the characters of her family so we are sadder when something happens to one of them and then hate the villain in her family even more. I needed the trials to be like 40 pages longer to feel the anguish, like I feel it started and it was over. Also, I feel like in the beginning, she met all of these characters and they arent really relevant later, and when something bad happens I feel like it could have broken me to shreads but I didnt really know that much about them so I wasnt really connected to them. I will read the secone book because I am curious to where this is going and what the prophecy will hold for them.

There was no better way to spend a snowy Boston weekend than reading some romantasy set in a snowy, magically land. Blood Beneath the Snow is a fabulous debut from @alexkenningtonwrites. I LOVE when a main character lives in a magic world but has no magic themselves. From the beginning, I felt immersed like I was with our MC, Revna, as she stops a ritual, defies the all expectations of her, and endures the imprisonment by the Hell-bringer.

This story has battles, love, complicated relationships, self-preservation, betrayal, and everything else you could want in a romantasy.

Thank you for the free book, Berkley Romance and Ace!

In this heart pounding romantasy, the main character, Revna, is a princess without magical ability in a royal family that has deemed her an outcast. She is determined to right the wrongs of her heartless family and decides to compete to the death for the throne against her brothers in the Bloodshed Trials. Before she can, she is taken against her will by the terrifying masked legend known only as the Hellbringer. Revna doesn’t know what he wants with her, but she has no choice but to go along with him.

This book surprised me in the best way! I am not a big fantasy reader but I wanted to take a chance and branch out a bit, and the synopsis intrigued me. I’m so glad I gave it a try, except for the fact that I have to wait for the next book to find out how this story will continue! I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoilers, and be careful reading too many reviews because the last half of the book is so great when you don’t know what’s coming. I really loved the unexpected direction the story took and the character development that our main character undergoes. It definitely gets dark, violent, and fast paced in the final third of the book. I’m eager to see how the duology unfolds from here! I think fantasy and romantasy readers will love this fast-paced read.

I absolutely inhaled Blood Beneath the Snow, I couldn’t put it down it was so good!! A fiery and rebellious FMC, a morally grey villain, enemies to lovers, lots of magic and queer representation… I was mesmerized. If you enjoyed Shadow & Bone or the Red Queen series, this book is for you.

Centering around Revna, the only daughter and non-magical member of the royal family, she is fated to an arranged marriage to secure alliances amidst a years-long war. She rebels against her father’s wishes and enters The Bloodshed Trials instead, forced to fight her brothers to the death in a battle for the throne. Enter Hellbringer, the masked general of their enemy who kidnaps her with ulterior motives.

My mind is blown that this is a debut. I highly recommend checking this one out when it releases March 11. I will be anxiously waiting for the second book in this duology!

Thank you Ace Books Publishing & NetGalley for the gifted ARC.