I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a welcome break from some of the denser books I’m reading. It’s definitely insta love and insta lust. The premise was neat but overall I feel like this book fell short of its potential. Despite being spicy this book came off very YA and the main character was very immature and annoying in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the opportunity to read The Empress by Kristin Cast in exchange for my honest review.

The Empress has an intriguing premise—a world based on the tarot deck, full of danger, mystery, and magic. The idea of the Arcana being real, combined with a high-stakes adventure, immediately caught my attention. Unfortunately, while the concept is unique, the execution leaves much to be desired.

Though marketed as an adult fantasy, the book reads like a YA novel. The main character, Hannah, acts and speaks more like a teenager than an adult. I struggled to understand her decisions or take the stakes seriously. Her constant reckless behavior—rushing into dangerous situations and ignoring obvious warnings—was frustrating to read and often pulled me out of the story.

The tone and humor felt forced, with attempts at modern, "relatable" jokes coming off as cringeworthy rather than clever. While I appreciated the effort put into weaving tarot into the world-building, the depth wasn’t quite there. Some parts of the story felt rushed, while others dragged, making the pacing inconsistent and difficult to stay engaged.

Despite these issues, the concept of Towerfall—a world influenced by the tarot deck—was fascinating. The author's research and accuracy about tarot added authenticity to the setting, and there’s potential for the series to grow if the characters and pacing improve in future installments.

Overall, The Empress has a promising foundation but struggles with maturity, characterization, and flow. It’s a decent start, but it didn’t fully live up to its potential.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book early! I think the author had a good idea but the execution of it fell flat. It at first gave Alice in Wonderland vibes, but the world building was confusing, and I had hoped the Tarot cards were going to play a larger part in the storyline.

I didn’t end up finishing it, about half way through, and maybe I’ll give it another chance at some point but the book just wasn’t what I expected it was going to be.

I was interested in this book for a number of reasons. I grew up with Kristin Cast's other novels so I was excited to read a book of hers that was supposed to have a adult female main character. Unfortunately, the book character acted and responded like a teenage girl, which left me very confused as a reader. Also the relationship between the main characters felt more driven by raging hormones rather than actual deep interest and infatuation. The concept of this book intrigued me as well but the execution of this novel fell flat.

I have read most of this author's YA work with her mother so of course I wanted to read this so bad. I thought it was an okay read, it's fast-paced and easy to get through. It reminded me of her YA books with the writing and flow. The fmc life is not going well at the moment and she finds herself out of the modern world and into a fantasy world after seeing a tarot card. She meets this warrior who kidnaps her to save her and help her heal. They are instantly attracted to each other she agrees to pretend to be married to him so she can escape the modern world.

The instant attraction worked well in this book and I liked the tension it brought. The mmc keeps secrets about his world and plans for the kingdom. The world building was okay, there's this kingdom that isn't doing well that he's trying to save even though he isn't allowed to do that. I thought the romance was cute though there is some miscommunication in it. There is spice in this and a lot of the praise kink. Overall this is a fast-read romantasy which I like cause sometimes they're so long. It also wrapped up very nicely so I'm interested in who/what the next book is about. Thank you Bloom for this arc.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book had good promise but poor execution. A lot of the worldbuilding felt like it just was not fully thought out.

I hate to do this but this book was just not it for me. I made it to 50% and had to DNF.

I actually thought this was going to be a tarot deck when I requested it so that was my bad. I did give it a try when reading though and it was just slow and a bit boring. I am sorry.

This book was so much fun. Loved the use of Tarot in the book; was just enough without starting to get confusing which makes it feel like it is for everyone. Another highlight is how descriptive the author is when talking about everything from the setting to the clothing. Hannah feels like someone you could easily become friends with and her growth is inspiring. Worth the read.

This book has a great idea behind it that makes me think of Alice in Wonderland a lot throughout.

Hannah is living a life that seems to be one disaster after the next, but is then transported into a land of Tarot. I really wish we got to see more about different tarot cards and how the shop truly plays a role. Mirror versions of people are interesting but I wish they were also explored and explained more. A lot of the world dynamics and explanations dont seem completely thought out. How Hannah ends her story is interesting, to say the least. I understand being upset with how your life is going, but seems like an extreme for what felt like an “instant love” that wasn’t entirely believable. Would have been cool to see how her choices in the land of Tarot and her world played a role afterwards to even open up to another story. Unfortunately, I was also questioning how no one recognized Kane. It baffled me that not one person caught them early on.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah has a problem - she's adrift in her own life, and after messing up a huge proposal at work and getting shown the door by her lover, she desperately wishes she could take control of her own life. So, when she walks past a store offering future readings, she is handed a tarot card - the Empress! A powerful figure who walks with her head held high and taking decisive action. But the effects of the card are made real when Hannah is yanked from the cold, snowy streets of Chicago and into the decidedly different world of Towerfall, where magic is banned and the kingdom of Pentacles is edging towards danger. Enter Kane, a former guard of the King of Pentacles and the kingdom's only hope of stopping the oncoming destruction. But can they learn to trust each, trust themselves, before disaster strikes?
A fun romp into romantasy, but much lighter fare than previous books by this author.

I did not finish this at 25%, I tried to push through but couldn’t. I’m not sure if it was the dialogue or what it was but I couldn’t get myself to keep reading.

The beautiful cover, and the the premise for this what called to me, a romantasy series starter in a world based on the tarot? Sign me up.

Hannah, the FMC, was painfully, oh so painfully, annoying in parts, and this does read as pretty YA, but since it was categorized as “new adult”, I did my best to remain mindful of that during my reading.

However, this fell flat for me.

My issues:
*the publisher synopsis didn’t deliver and what’s left is a story where the characters and plot aren’t developed enough to make for a satisfying read
*insta-insta-insta love
*the writing wasn’t for me

While other readers may appreciate this one more; I wasn’t the reader for this.



Thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the DRC

From the blurb, I kind of expected a little more of a true fantasy, but this was a bit lighter in tone than I expected. So I went in prepared for a bit more gravitas and ended up with something between a fantasy and a romcom. I definitely see the appeal, and honestly I would probably enjoy it more if I went in with no expectations. It started off funny, and the writing is fun too, just not quite what I expected! I didn't finish because it's just not quite what I need to read at the moment, but I do plan to return to it in a different reading mood. Based on what I read and flipped through, this is about a 3.5-4 star read for me. I've enjoyed other Cast books in the past, so I think this is just me being cranky 🤣

Thank you to Netgalley, Kristin Cast, and Bloom Books for the arc! This is my own review.

The Empress is a captivating fantasy story. The story follows a young woman stepping into her newfound power and facing challenges that test her courage and heart. It is a story about embracing your true strength and self-discovery. It explores themes of courage, identity, and the struggle to embrace one’s true self, making it not only an entertaining read but also an inspiring one. Although I did find the story interesting and enjoyed the book, the pacing of the story made me feel as some parts were rushed while others dragged on a bit which affected the plot. The main character was very well written, but some of the side characters felt a little undeveloped.

Arc from NetGalley-all thoughts are my own. 3.5 stars, solid series starter. Enemies to loves, forced proximity and tarot cards?? Sign me up. Kind of reminded me of a Disney adventure but like a grown up version. I’m excited to see where the series goes!

I first found and loved Kristin when I came across the House of Night Series written with her mother P.C.

This is Kristin's adult solo debut.

I really wanted to love this book. A favorite author, adult, romance, fantasy, interesting blurb and a lovely cover.

However, it fell short for me.

Hannah drove me bonkers. She's trying but failing in work and love. She blew her chance at a promotion and walked in on her boyfriend in bed with another woman. When trying to make her way home, she misses a bus, slips on the snow/ice and suddenly she's falling down like an Alice in Wonderland moment. (Though I did like that part)
She's now in this new realm where the Empress herself chose her to heal the realms.

Meantime, she's rescued by Kane. He was cast out of the palace and looking to find his way back into the palace in its good graces. Until then he and Hannah are in a cabin where Kane tends to her and heals her.
Hanna was too immature for me the entire time. The constant scenarios she thinks off comes off too immature and the constant doing things without thinking. I just could not get myself to like her at all.

Overall, I had a hard time with this book. Mainly due to Hannah and the story at times sounding more YA than adult. I do love the author so I pushed through and it was at the halfway mark when the book finally gained my interested to get me through it.

I didn't hate the book, but I didn't love it either. It has the potential to a series I could love. The overall idea of this world is great but Hannah needs to come off more as an adult and the story written in a more adult format and just really fine tune the next book. I do want to read the next book and hope that it redeems this series for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. In the past I haven't minded books written by this author, but this one didn't sit well with me. It didn't pull me in and make me want to keep reading until it was done. I didn't quite care for the two main characters, but I enjoyed the secondary characters. I don't know, it just didn't click with me. But I hope those who enjoy this kind of book, enjoys this particular one.

I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of The Empress from NetGalley, and it was a MAGICAL experience for sure!
To start, I loved Hannah and her rock bottom. Figuring out how this all was woven together was so different than most romantic fantasy books I’ve read in the past. I loved that she remained confused, originally being baffled by the world she’s in and leaning on Kane to save her life, it makes perfect sense that she would be irate. At first I was like, why would you react like that?! And than realized that of course she’d be so confused.

Kane was a cookie cutter morally gray MMC. I felt like I walked away with a few unanswered questions in his regard: why was he the protector? How did he end up in the original bedroom? How did he know ahead of time she was coming?

There were a few other small things that I felt were confusing or skirted over which resulted in the four stars - most of all, it’s specific to like the unrest in the kingdom. A lot of it was not specifically addressed - how did four end up where he did? What happened with the magic? Why did the empress come from a tarot card but there were no other cards?

Overall, I enjoyed the read. I enjoyed the magic of it, I enjoyed how it was different than most fantasy books. I wish it had been fleshed out a bit more thoroughly but overall I enjoyed.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The Empress felt like an adult take on Once Upon a Broken Heart/Caraval, but with some different twists. I enjoyed the premise, but I can't say I loved the main character, and that really impacted my enjoyment honestly. I found her annoying, and there were so many comments that felt out of place and took me out of the moment. I liked it, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

I could not stand the FMC. I wanted to like this book, and based on the genre and description, I should have, but the FMC was so annoying. I DNFed at 37%. At every turn up to that point, Hannah (the FMC) was constantly making me cringe. She’s being considered for a promotion at work, but can’t handle a single pitch to her bosses. She spent a few paragraphs going on about how much she missed/needed her phone. She was warned as they were entering the palace (basically enemy territory) to listen more than she speaks, and almost immediately started blabbering on to the steward about needing a “nice scrub-a-dub-dub”. This book was just not one I was able to enjoy, based solely on the characters. I will say I was enjoying the plot; my annoyance with the FMC was just stronger than my enjoyment.