Crueler Mercies is a dark and full of morally gray and complex characters. That said, the plot was a bit slow for me, but the writing was def engaging so other readers might not find any issues with the pacing at all.

Crueler Mercies is a dark fantasy fairytale inspired by Rapunzel. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a retelling but definitely heavily inspired.
I always read criticism and negative reviews of books to see if missed some obvious flaws and this time the negative reviews have not swayed my initial rating. I went in with absolutely no expectations and no prior knowledge and maybe that helped.

This debut novel is wonderfully written. The prose is far above average and I hope Chase continues her writing journey. I would definitely not mind reading from her again!

The world-building on the other hand is very shallow and that usually bothers me but considering the circumstances, I kinda understand. The narrator has very little - or rather very specific - knowledge herself and due to her own childish moods is unreliable. If you dislike heavily flawed MCs I wouldn't recommend this book to you. Vita is by far not the smartest, the bravest nor the most emotionally put-together. She is heavily flawed and unlikeable a lot of the times but I enjoy that in a book every now and then. Give me messy, give me a heroine who isn't a leather-clad badass.

I am disappointed, though, at how one-dimensional the villains and flat and NPC-like the side characters were. I'm noticing this more and more in recent media and it's quite worrisome. If you only put effort into your MC, it's hard to care for the story or the relationships she has with others. Spending more time fleshing out characters should be a higher priority in books like these.

Regarding the genre being adult and not YA, I don't think every adult book needs to have a mature MC but that's just how I see it. I can def see why people would've preferred a YA label. If there's gore and violence, I don't quite understand why we were so prudish about romance and sex. Seems a bit weird.

Overall, a book I enjoyed reading and would recommend to some of my friends. It added inspiration to start my 2nd DnD campaign 👀

Trigger Warning for animal death and cannibalism

I really liked the writing and the main character in this book. I didn't care so much about the romance, but I didn't hate it. Not much happened for most of the book and then it had an abrupt ending. But I was still interested throughout and it felt like a quick read.

3.75 stars!

Now THATS a revenge story . Satisfying in every way. God damn that was good. I do wish the magic system was more developed . Would love to see a sequel or more in this world.

Thank you to Bindery Books and Netgalley for the review copy!

I really liked the idea behind this and I loved watching Vita go from naïve princess to someone who can play the game of politics.

That said, I did struggle with the pacing - the books starts off with a fair bit of action, before falling into a bit of a lull and then picking back up again. I would have loved to have seen the final few chapters developed more, only because they felt a bit rushed. I also felt like the alchemy plot line wasn't developed as much either - again, I'd have loved to have seen more about that / other uses of it.

Overall, while I did enjoy this, I felt that certain plot points just need a bit more depth and development.

A masterful character portrayal. This story radiated feminine rage and revenge, but also showcased amazing friendship and love, all while facing adversity at the hands of men who would stop at nothing to control the world and the women within it.

Crueler Mercies follows Vita, a princess locked away in a tower at the hands of her father, who had her mother killed because he was tired of her and wanted his bastard son to inherit the throne instead of his only daughter. Vita is at first a soft, kindhearted heroine who has to raise in herself a level of tenacity and bravery that outshines all the men in this story. Her only friends are crows, until another friend becomes a love that she will sacrifice and rage at the world for.

I am not usually one for stories that are mainly character-forward. I need a healthy level of plot in order to sustain interest. This has plot, but it's mainly surface-level plot that propels the characters onward. But let me tell you, I devoured this! These characters were so visceral and the relationship development so propulsive that I couldn't stop reading! Vita has my heart, as do her crows. I absolutely loved Vita's character development and how she came to know herself throughout this story. The historical-era world this was set in added to my level of interest, made it seem very fairy-tale-core, and I could just picture the scenery so well in my head. The writing was so immersive and poetic.

Amazing debut novel, and I can't wait to read more from Maren Chase.

*I received this eARC from NetGalley and am providing an honest review.*

Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery Books for giving me an ARC copy of this book!

Crueler Mercies is a dark fairytale with a slow burn romance. It centers on Vita, a princess locked
away for years until she's given a choice: marry the enemy or die. Slowly Vita finds her voice through
quiet rebellion and emotional growth. Vita and Soline's romance was the highlight reading their sweet interactions.

I do think the pacing was off a bit. At times it felt like not much was happening, and I did want to know more about the magic system as it didn't feel fully explained. . It's more about slow character development and emotional growth then action so it may not be to everyone's tastes. I think this book will really work for readers who love quiet, character-focused fantasy with a dash of queer romance and don’t mind a slower burn.

As a Tudor girlie, I enjoyed Crueler Mercies! The characters and the plot was a lot of fun and I love sapphic lesbian rage. There was a lot of political scheming and inheritance that was really interesting as well as the conversation of revenge. I do think that this book needed more time to let everything develop - the beginning of the story for me was a little slower and it felt like there were a lot of moments when the pacing quickly accelerated then slowed a few times and I think more time would have let the romance to feel more forbidden.

I wish I liked this one, I'm actually so sad I didn't. I found this book sooooooo slow. After a heart-pounding opening I was furiously whipping pages, but the pacing almost instantly slowed down and it took me a full 10 days to drag myself through the rest. I think this a me problem, not a book problem. I have trouble with seiges in fantasy novels. The politics just aren't exciting to me and I have a hard time caring if the pacing is slow.

I did love the ending and I loved the sapphic romance underneath the politics! And I also loved Vita as an MC for most of the book, I just wish she wasn't so timid for so much of it.

2.5 stars rounded up

A bit slow going. And definitely more Young Adult...but if you don’t mind lighter world-building and love the idea of a Rapunzel-inspired sapphic romance you will love this!

Oh this book was absolutely brilliant!

Vita is a princess who, after having been imprisoned by her father and left in a tower to be forgotten, is rescued by a general from a foreign kingdom. The rescue comes with a price, of course. She has to marry him to give him the legitimacy to be a ruler of her kingdom.

I honestly didn't expect this book to pull me in so quickly and so deeply. I adored Vita and her journey from being a forgotten princess, manipulated and on the verge of losing her mind, to a woman who knew her own strength and who stood up for what she wanted. The sapphic romance was a sweet addition and I thought her chemistry with Soline and the tentative start to their romance was adorable and at times the only light in the story of so many horrible twists and turns.

I will admit the book made me cry more than once. But it was such an engaging journey I could not have put this book down.

Out of all the bindery books I’ve picked up I’d say This was the strongest. Overall this was just a fine read and I think that’s because I just finished Six Wild Crowns recently. That book better accomplishes the political drama with a naive protagonist and another woman who is a schemer. For me it was the pacing that killed this book. It’s totally fine for political fantasy to be meandering but we had these high octane moments right at the beginning of the story and then things just lost steam. Still hoping to one day have my five star Bindery book 🙏.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Maren Chase for the opportunity to read the ebook arc of this book.

What an incredible, world building novel by Maren Chase. For fans of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo but with more tactical descriptions of battle and war (and it’s a lot more gay ;) ) Though the descriptions of battle were quite dense at times, I still found it easy to navigate. And as someone who needs every aspect spelled out in order to imagine something as outside my wheelhouse as war, it still felt very clear to me. A deep coming of age/coming into one’s own power story that feels genuine, harrowing, and meaningful. The characters were well developed (even the ones you grow to hate deliberately) and I felt the desperation for payback drumming throughout this book until it came to a thrilling conclusion. A beautifully done medieval struggle for a kingdom with just a touch of magic and a lovely queer romance. Beautifully done.

This dark, sapphic Rapunzel retelling had some great ideas, but unfortunately just didn’t quite deliver what I'd hoped for.

I love a dark twist on a fairytale, especially when it involves queerness, so there were lots of things I liked about this one! The love interest was good and I liked how she wasn’t present for the whole story, allowing Vita to grow as a person on her own before they met. The feminine rage and vengefulness were also so much fun and I loved how they tied into Vita’s character growth and arc. There was also a pretty cool villain and some side characters who I thought added a lot to the story.

However, the world-building was a little light and the plot was a little too slow to fully engage me. I didn’t feel super invested in the plot or even the romance, where I feel like there could have been a little more chemistry. I really think this would be better marketed as YA rather than adult as I think the ages and depictions of the characters and the writing style suit a slightly younger audience, which unfortunately didn't suit my taste. There were a couple of leaps in logic that I feel would be fine in a YA novel but feel a little fanciful and unbelievable in adult fantasy. I think my biggest issue with this book was just that I didn’t feel very attached to the main character. Vita was very passive and a little childish and I found it hard to read about her for over 400 pages.

I feel like this might work well for a YA audience, especially those just getting started in fantasy, but for me it didn’t quite live up to its premise. However, if you’re a fan of YA and enjoy reading about murderous, vengeful lesbians then I would still recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with this eARC in return for my honest review.

I received a digital review copy from NetGalley. I have always been intrigued by Bindery and was very excited to have the chance to read their June 2025 publications. Fantasy & Frens imprint aims to publish fantasy books like no other, and this book is like no other. Summer is a slow reading time for me, so it took me a bit to finish. I would not say that this is a book to tear through, but I almost felt the same blind following with Vita as I did with Aelin! She seemed to always have a plan in place; I just had to know what she had up her sleeve. After her father kills her mother over what we learn are false accusations, Vita is shipped out to an estate to live out the rest of her days as the newly bastard heir to the kingdom. We follow her journey as she is "rescued" and used as leverage against the tyrant King. Will her plans prevail, or will she be hidden away as queen once again?

Crueler Mercies is a captivating and vividly written historical fantasy—though the fantasy elements are light, the emotional intensity is anything but. The story follows Vita, a princess traumatized by the men in her life, and her tragic journey is portrayed in such a raw, gripping way. I felt like I was right there with her in her isolation—her thoughts, her actions, and her struggles felt heartbreakingly real for someone who has experienced deep abuse and trauma.

Vita is a fascinating and beautifully written character, and the side characters are equally compelling. The villains are absolutely vile—representing misogyny and cruelty so sharply that you feel the characters’ anger and frustration in your bones. But on the other side are the friends and lovers who bring warmth, hope, and heart to the story. The romance is tender and deeply felt, a soft thread running through an otherwise intense and emotionally charged narrative.

The atmosphere is dark and immersive—moody castles, flickering torchlight, medieval island kingdoms steeped in war and corruption. The depiction of war is brutal and realistic, never glorified. The book powerfully explores themes of violence begetting violence, the corruption of patriarchal power, and the emotional toll of abuse, isolation, and female rage. It also carries strong feminist messages and features wonderful queer romance representation.

This felt like the emotional depth of a trilogy packed into a standalone. I was completely immersed and went on a full emotional journey with these characters. The ending surprised me and left me needing time to process—it’s the kind of story that lingers. My only hesitation was with the moral complexity around vengeance and a slight pacing drag near the end. Still, this was nearly perfect for me.

I’ll definitely be recommending this book. It’s not for everyone—there are heavy themes and emotional weight—but for those who can sit with it, Crueler Mercies is a powerful, unforgettable read.

Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this!

Vita is *angry*, and it is beautiful. The feelings of isolation, of desperate connection to the few familiar faces, and the struggles in emerging, felt entirely real. I haven't spent several years locked away, but I did spend a year trapped in an RTC so like.... I sorta feel her? I loved how alchemy was twisted into something unfamiliar and how each loss piled on to hurt. I loved the bonds she made with others, and how they stuck with me throughout. They were real. They were true.

And this was a gloriously angry book.

This was a miss for me. The dialogue felt stilted and some of the interactions just didn’t really make sense. I found the main character hard to grasp personality wise. Ultimately not for me. I think the world building has promise and I love an animal friend!

Thank you to NetGallery and Bindery Books for the Earc in exchange for an honest review. A solid 3.5 stars. Maren Chase really honed in on the historical fiction aspects of this novel and created characters with depth. In a world where our main character has always felt helpless and abandoned, we really learn to connect with her as she faces difficult situations. I loved how we got to see the MC build and form relationships with those around her and got to see her growth throughout the entire book. Also, I am OBSESSED with the birds and how she befriends them. A beautiful book that left me with a broken heart more than once, but Maren Chase pieced it back together again by the end. Definitely recommend.

Feminine rage served up by vengeful lesbians....say less!

I felt that Crueler Mercies was a thoughtful take on a growth arc. It explores how injustices, laid at women feet, can forge them into something fierce and unforgiving. The Choice to follow Vita after a youth of imprisonment allowed readers to empathize with her backstory while still getting to enjoy her adulthood. I think the choice was smart as the road she walked in this story lent itself better to adult writing.

I will certainly be keeping my eyes on what Maren Chase offers us next as they have proven themselves a worthy contender in the current landscape of authors.