DNF at 30%

This book is just not for me and I did not want to keep reading. I didn't connect with the writing style and I found the FMC to be very juvenile. This book is meant to be an adult romantasy, but the FMC comes off immature and I would say her inner dialogue and decisions lean much more towards young YA. I know that this author’s previous works were YA and I think a lot of that leaked into this novel.

I was very excited to read this when I read the blurb which led me to expect an adult romantasy book where the FMC is swept away from the real world to a magical tarot-inspired magick kingdom. I love this premise and what the author was going for, but I do not think it was executed well. The plot and dialogue is very surface level and not very fleshed out. The characters, especially the FMC, come off cringy and unlikable. I was also a bit put off by the amount of trendy romantasy tropes/details I felt the author was trying to cram into her writing. Overall, I am not a fan of this book and I will not be finishing the book or the series.

Thank you to Bloom Books for providing this book for review via NetGalley.

I have been reading from the Cast family for decades and Kristin writing alone by herself is just as fabulous as writing with her mother! I love this family of writers and their energy. Their books never disappoint!

1.5 stars

It’s not often that a book accidentally makes me mad. Unfortunately, <i>The Empress</i> made me mad through a series of poorly used tropes, confusing misogyny and feminism, and a main character who needed a couple more brain cells.

My first issue was the contradiction of the main character. She starts out failing at a massive presentation and then seems to be shocked when failing at your job has consequences. After receiving a magical tarot card, she gets transported to a poorly defined fantasy kingdom where she immediately falls in love with her rescuer who just happens to be a hot banished knight. Rather than adapt to her new situation, she proceeds to complain. Constantly. It doesn’t matter that people are literally starving around her; she misses her life in Chicago—the same life that she actively despises and complains about.

The main love interest was a shadow of a character. I could tell you that he was dark and broody and had really nice abs. Do I know his backstory or his emotional depth or his personality? Nope. Those things didn’t seem to matter, so they weren’t included in the story. He also wasn’t romantic. All he did was tell the main character that he would protect her and that she was pretty a couple of times. I didn’t believe they were in love (or even in lust). What I was supposed to believe about the love interest is that he magically made the main female character more self-confident by rescuing her a bunch, calling her a girl, and having mediocre sex with her (obviously all the things women need to feel empowered).

This book was an odd combination of misogynistic and feminist. It only took 200 pages for the main character to learn the valuable lesson that misogyny is indeed bad. She had this brilliant realization after dissing other women and almost getting sexually assaulted (which was massively glossed over because apparently her attacker having a submission kink means consent is irrelevant). Despite the sexual violence she encountered, she still managed to hate the other woman who happened to be good at their jobs, therefore making them evil monsters. Once she became a feminist, she was super radical and went as far as to say that women have value beyond their romantic partners (gasp).

Beyond the weird preaching/problematic gender role commentary, the side characters in this novel also sucked. We had the evil ex named Chad, the minority best friend who had to be taught to love herself, the crazy other woman who happened to be just too pretty, the brooding love interest who did the bare minimum, and the main character who was mousy until the love interest “discovered” her beauty. I thought we left those tropes back in the early 2010s, but apparently not.

As for the plot, the main characters witness the brutal murder of foreign dignitaries and decide that the best plan is to be the brutally murdered people (but don’t worry, that never seems to have real consequences because collateral damage doesn’t exist in this world) and sneak into the hostile palace. Part of the wonders of fantasy romance is fantasy. To me, that means swords and masquerades and complex politics, and large-scale conflict. You won’t find any of that here. Instead, get excited to read about a woman failing in the corporate world, so she gets transported to a fantastical world where she can fail at saving the kingdom, but it’s fine because she is randomly the chosen one and the love interest can see how “special” she is.

I know this review is harsh. I recognize that I probably would have enjoyed this book more if I had been a young teenager who hadn’t read extensively in the genre. I would’ve also liked it more if I wasn’t coming at it from a critical angle. At least the cover is gorgeous?

I really liked the book. It was written really well! I loved and routed for the hero and the heroine of this story.

Thank you NetGalley and SCOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

I’ve been a longtime fan of P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast since I first stumbled across the House of Night series in 2007, but this is my first time reading a book that Kristin Cast has written herself. While this is very different from those, I had a really fun time with this! My biggest complaint normally about their books is how juvenile the main characters seem to be, but I felt like the character of Hannah was pretty on par for a 20-something year old. Yes she was immature, but she grew as the story progressed, and her character growth made sense. I think my only complaint about this book was actually the epilogue and the chapter before…it felt like the ending came out of left field, and was a disappointment. But, overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book! 4⭐️

3.5⭐️
Thank you Netgalley and Bloom Books for a copy.
The Empress is a fantasy and romance that transforms us to a world based on Tarot. Which I found very intriguing! An action packed story full of adventure, magic, found family, different realms and spice. 🔥
I did have some issues such as the characters are supposed to be adults but they acted very YA. Also some questions that were not answered. But I still enjoyed this book and I’m hoping there will be more to this series!

I DNF this at 33%. I flew through the first quarter of this book. The FMC did bother me. She seems very juvenile for an adult romance book and her decisions really annoyed me. But I was enjoying the vibes. The further I got the further I didn’t want to pick it up when I put it down. The overall premise is such a cool idea, but the execution just isn’t there. The FMC needs to act her age (I don’t know if it’s because the author has written mainly YA?) and her dialogue really was off putting too.

I loved this book, It's my first book by Kristin and it won't be my last!
I think the pacing was great and it wasn't dragging on

Overall, a fun start to a new series. Hannah, the female main character did take some time for me to warm up to. I enjoyed her character a lot more once we were firmly in Towerfall and out of the real world environment. One thing I wanted to see more of was the magick in the book. A little information is given and certain types or styles are mentioned but I wanted it to be fleshed out a little more, but that may be coming in future books.
I received an arc through Netgalley and all opinions are my own.

This was a new to me author and I'm not sure if I'd pick up another. It felt underwhelming and the characters fell flat. This was a miss for me all around. It just didn't fit the blurb that was given and the writing needs more work.

This book started off so fun and had a great premise. I also have previously enjoyed the author's older works, so I thought this would be a no-brainer. However, I believe due to the length of the book (or perhaps it was the pacing, as I'm not sure if this book was shorter than a regular novel), the plot, character development, and romance felt way too fast paced. As such, it was difficult for me to enjoy the unfolding of the storyline as I felt like pieces were missing and we were just hitting bullet points on a list.

The main character also struck me as odd- it was difficult to root for her when her line of thinking felt very erratic and not yet fleshed out.

I'm certain that if the book was given more time to breathe, it would've gained another star from me.

I enjoyed this book. the writing was good and the concept was interesting. However, the characters were not fully developed and the summary of the book was not fully materialized. I think with some more thought and some more tinkering it could maybe be something. I was kind of disappointed because I was a huge House of Night fan. Maybe I over played it in my own head, hoping it would be similar. It was not terrible, but it for sure needs to be fleshed out more.

I was a HUGE fan of the House of Night series in high school so I was pretty excited to read this. Unfortunately I did not love this. It was definitely a 2.5 star read for me, but when I can’t do 1/2 star ratings I prefer to overrate than underrate. It was pretty juvenile, as far as dialogue goes, for an open door romance. The plot was a bit convoluted and overall choppy. I’d finish a chapter and start the next and it would take me a few paragraphs to put together what happened. There would just be a gap in information and I’d have to piece together what occurred to figure out what was happening- I don’t know how else to explain it, but it was kind of annoying. Not much happens in the entire book, it could be half if it’s current length and still get the same point across. The relationship between the FMC and MMC really didn’t make sense- definitely insta love/lust. I also didn’t really understand her friendship with Marion- kind of like the romantic relationship it was just instantaneous and didn’t have much development. I’m not sure that I will keep reading this series, I didn’t really enjoy this.

I gave The Empress by Kristin Cast a try, but the description of this book does not match the actual content. For example, it was described as a romantasy with historical overtones, but it's a fantasy rom-com. The characters need attention and need to be developed better. I will not be reviewing this on my socials.

The Empress is a captivating start to a tarot-inspired romantasy series that pulls you into the intriguing world of Towerfall. The concept of parallel realms, with mirror versions of people existing in each, was such a fascinating twist.

Kane is everything you'd want in a morally gray hero—dashing, roguish, and fiercely protective. He adds so much depth and tension to the story. As for Hannah, she was incredibly relatable and refreshingly realistic. I loved that she wasn’t written as someone with hidden powers or extraordinary talents. Instead, her heroism comes from her growing confidence and learning to navigate a magical world despite feeling out of her depth. Her journey of self-discovery was a highlight and felt wonderfully authentic.

The story’s use of tarot as a world-building element was intriguing, though I was left a little unclear on the role of the Empress after she brought Hannah to Towerfall. Since this is the first book in the series, I’m eager to learn more about the importance of this card, the tower, and how the Arcana tie into the plot.

Overall, this was a refreshing take on the genre, blending high stakes, romance, and self-discovery. I’m definitely curious to see where the series goes from here!

I made it about 30% of the way through the book, but this just isn't for me. The main character isn't believable at all. She winds up in another world and doesn't seem to have any questions? Any desire to get back to her real life? She only seems concerned with how attractive the male love interest is, and as much as I love fantasy/romantasy, I need a level of believability too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this book. This is the first book I have read by this author. The Empress is the first book in the Towerfall series. Hannah the female main character is having a hard time nothing in her life is going right. She is handed The Empress card, which starts her on a journey.This story has a dark male main character. This book has many twists and turns before you get to the end. The book is fast paced and I greatly enjoyed it. I love forward to reading the next book in this series.

This title seemingly was meant to be mainly for pre-existing Kristin Cast fans. The description and content of the story were mismatched as the story promised within the summary failed to materialize by the end of the book. In fact, any type of plotline failed to emerge and instead, this title produced an instant love relationship, a heroine who increasingly made baffling choices, and the overuse of 'hip' buzzwords and pop culture references that failed to hit the mark.

The plot that did exist was confusing and meandered in murky, which made it difficult to understand the world. Additionally, it was never clear what the main conflict was, and the role of the various characters, such as Hannah or Kane, in resolving or protecting the realm. Instead, there were a lot of random side ventures that had nothing to do with anything beyond attempting to make it relatable to a new adult audience but instead, it was cringy. It was extremely disappointing, but I'm hopeful individuals enjoyed the story and found something worthwhile in the pages.

I couldn't really get into this book and the amount that I did read didn't make a ton of sense. Within the first 100 pages there was a metaphor of the kingdom being like an onion, many layers, some rotten spots. It gave Shrek vibes (if you know, you know). Everything felt too cringey and cliche, but the writing itself felt wrong for a book made for adults. I couldn't really appreciate the story at all. It felt like maybe there were sentences that had been deleted with the way it sort of skipped around. I stopped trying to read it after the first 100 pages, when it began to feel like a chore, which is sad because I used to really enjoy Kristen Cast's writing. Sorry, DNF at about 30%.

4.5 stars

Thank you Bloom Books and Netgalley for the ARC

I will say I do enjoy this book. Kristin Cast approaches this book in such a new way. While Tarot has Always been a sub category of magic and fantasy. I think she really lets it shine in it's fullest amount in this book. The idea of this series following a girl who enters the tarot card basically is such a cool idea. While tying this plot into real life witchcraft practice and tarot magic.

I think my only major gripe is the pacing and the beginning. The pacing feels kind of wonky but maybe that's just me. I feel like the beginning takes a bit of time to take off which is fine. However then the plot really starts to pick up the pace and starts to go faster. Which I usually don't mind however for this I think the slower more in depth approach worked. Which ties into my second point the beginning. The beginning doesn't really take time to create the world. Instead focuses on creating the plot device that moves the plot forward. I usually wouldn't mind but for this book I think seeing a more in depth look at the world would have been interesting.

However regardless of those negatives. Kristin Cast did an amazing job creating a New Adult Romantasy. While this is definitely outside of her normal genre. I cannot wait to see how the world of Towerfell will expand with future books.