Ultimately uneven and disappointing Rapunzel-inspired tale of female rage and vengeance. The slow burn sapphic romance was lovely, but the villain ultimately not very dangerous and Vita vacillated between naive and politically savvy a bit too often.

Maren Chase’s debut novel Crueler Mercies starts off explosively and explores a young princess’ journey from helplessness to fury.

This would be better marketed to a YA audience as many plot lines were not fully explored and at times Vita’s character floundered but I finished the book in two sittings regardless.

4.75

“She was nothing to everyone and yet somehow she’d become a central piece in a game she’s never wanted to play.”

What a slow burn of rage this author cooks up for you with a forbbion sweet sapphic romance and a touch of alchemy. Did I also mention the main character befriends crows? I feel like that’s an important thing to mention here.

I enjoy this book so much more than I expected going into it. This author does an amazing job allowing your rage to fester and build up along with our main character Vita (Vittoria) who truly went through terrible things she didn’t deserve. It’s sad the amount of cruel things that can happen to good people when they don’t deserve it but, is that just the way of the real world? Really, I felt like I felt everything our main character did, the fear, the mistrust, the sadness, the anger, the hope. I enjoyed just how human this story felt at times which also at times added to the fear of a situation.

Then you constantly question your morals, the concept of showing mercy and if it truly can be nothing but a curse.

I do feel that to some this slow burn might be just a bit too slow to some. I liked it and then it went to I didn’t mind it, too I did wish it moved just a little faster although I get what the author was doing. I think that’s a big part of my start rating. I did find myself getting a little bored at times just waiting and anticipating something big to happen finally. That’s the only thing keeping me from a full 5 stars. I think because I was expecting certain things maybe? Even though I didn’t get them I’m still so satisfied with this story.

I can FEEL the soul and love in this book. I will be buying a physical copy and recommending. I'd gladly read more from this author now in the future.

Thank you NetGalley, The Author, and the publishers for letting me read this ARC for an honest review!

Right out of the gate the first thing I appreciated about this book is the world building! The last couple fantasy’s I have read lately have been found wanting in this area. The author creates a world through emotions and I loved that. So thank you Maren Chase! We politics, social issues, history and best of all characters that you become attached to. That you actually care about. Who have substance and evolve throughout the story. Vita is a great MC. There are a lot of cruel and selfish people around our her that she must learn to navigate. SO as the story goes on she goes from a timid obedient child to a isolated prisoner to a woman who learns to manipulate to survive. Best part is that non stop action packed las half of the book.

“But my penance for being a woman will never be paid.”

Maren Chase doesn’t wait for you to be lulled into a false sense of security before handing you your heart, she does it in the first chapter.

While I’m not usually one for reading war based novels, I felt pulled into this one. It was extremely satisfying to see Vittoria come into her own as a woman and a leader, despite the massive anxiety that Ardaric gave me. Her character arc was incredibly well done.
Honestly, the entire book was incredible.

I debated taking a star off for Vita remembering historical and political details after her being in confinement for so long as it initially bothered me, but because memories can sometimes return with the strangest of triggers, I am leaving it at 5 stars.

For those sensitive readers, there are animal deaths (it’s listed in the trigger warnings), however it still caught me by surprise. Just keep in mind that it occurs both on paper and off.

The other TWs contained in this book are: depictions of violence, the death of a parent, child neglect, misogyny, animal death, starvation, extended scenes of warfare, cannibalism, murder, a coercive relationship, and sexual assault.

If you like strong female characters, alchemy based on intention not overly complicated magick systems, and stories that explore feminine rage, then do yourself a favor and read Crueler Mercies.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and Bindery Books, however this review is completely my own unbiased personal opinion, left of my own volition.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for Crueler Mercies by Maren Chase.

As far as fantasy romance goes, this was better than average but it wasn't particularly a favorite of mine. I was sort of considering it a three star the entire book until the last few chapters and then I bumped it up to four. That said, the ending was super satisfying and made the rest of the book worth it.

I think some of my more negative feelings surrounding the book were a result of an adult marketed book that read pretty YA, but also had a lot of cruelty. It was sort of startling when the dialogue felt geared towards a younger audience but then was followed by extreme violence. It just felt out of place, like it was trying to be two different things. I do understand that might have been a creative choice by the author to show that the main character was immature and childlike (to an extent) as a result of her confinement, but it just felt off to me. I also felt the alchemy parts were a little underdone. For it having such a vital role to play in the end, I wish we learned more about it. It felt like a small side plot until the end when it became huge.

Some of the things I enjoyed about the book were the found family aspects (both human and animal), the sapphic relationship (although also underdeveloped...), and the feminine rage (lots and lots and lots of it). It was interesting to watch Vita go from a very sheltered life to a very public one where she had to rely on instincts and education she'd learned as a child. She was definitely smarter than she gave herself credit for and watching her learn that throughout the book was really cool. It was a little frustrating to watch Vita be a passive participant at times but I also felt like it was realistic and it added to the satisfaction at the end.

Overall, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I'm glad Vita got her revenge (twice!) in the end and I think I would try another Maren Chase book.

This book had so much potential but everything in it was extremely underused that for me it ended being disappointing.

First of all, the book is marketed as adult but in reality it reads more like YA than anything, maybe it's because the author's prose is kind of flat and that makes it feel like a book for a younger audience, it also tells you more than it shows you: about the characters, about their dynamics and about the whole situation.

Speaking of the characters, I tried to connect with them, especially with Vita, but the thing is that they feel flat, I don't know anything about them except for the role they play in the story. At the first chapters I understood it, since Vita was imprisoned for most of her life so I didn't expect her to be the most proactive or to have any idea about politics and battle strategy, but she is very naive in the whole span of the book.

Which leads me to say, I don't buy her relationship with Soline. It happens so quickly, there's no depth and, honestly, there is no chemistry between them. As I kept reading I didn't really care if they ended together or not.

Another thing that I didn't enjoy was how it doesn't happen anything interesting in the book almost until the end, the pacing was slow, and the thing that was most interesting, the alchemy, was very underdeveloped. This as a whole contributed to make the book bland.

All in all, this book obviously wasn't for me, but it may be a good start for younger readers who want to start reading fantasy.

Crueler Mercies is the story of Vita, a young princess swept away by the politics of her father - to be hidden in a tower and starved by loneliness, other than the visits of her crows. After a long decade an enemy general invades the city and she briefly escapes, only to be caught in other trap, this time as the general's fiancée in a larger plot to use her to destroy the king. She has few friends but her lady-in-waiting, who encourages her own politicking and alludes to the forgotten art of alchemy and how it might help them escape their confining lives. A story full of rage and revenge contrasted against a soft sapphic slow-burn. In several ways reminded me of Markless and The Priory of the Orange Tree.

rapunzel retelling | royalty | sapphic romance | found-family of crows | political intrigue | female rage | vengeance

This cover isn't doing the book any favors. This is actually a pretty solid read with some great female rage, cool battle details, and a sweet love story. (none of which comes across in the cover.)

Vita is a princess who grew up basically as a political prisoner in another kingdom. When she is freed as an adult she needs to learn about the ways of the world (up until now she's mostly talked to birds), politics in the kingdom, and how to deal with her betrothed, Ardaric who is not a good guy.

While I liked the characters quite a bit, I oddly found the battle scenes in this book to be the most memorable (wherein Vita, Ardaric, and his army lay siege to her father's castle.) This book gets into the nitty gritty of what it's like to live on a battlefield for months at a time and Vita gets to grow into her personality and her relationship with her maid. It's quite a substantial character arc.

I would have liked the book to lean into the alchemy element more. It felt a tab underbaked. We don't get to learn very much about the hows and whys and history--just that certain elements have power a and that power comes in handy within the plot.

Overall, though that's a small quibble. I was pleasantly surprised with this read. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This started out strong and I really loved the main character Vita and seeing her relationship with her birb friends, but unfortunately the middle really dragged for me and I struggled to stay focused. Love the sapphic rep tho!

✧₊‧˚⁀➷ 4.00/5 .ᐟ

❝ “if you want me to remember your name, i will pay scribes to write it across time, across history. our legacy will be carved into the very core of this kingdom, and they will remember us. but it can’t happen yet. we’re not done yet. do you understand me? there’s too much left for us to do.”

➺ lesbians killing their husbands and marrying women instead is the best romance trope of all time. i accept no argument.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ setting .ᐟ takes place on carca, an island country in the alstrin continent (?). carca is surrounded by several other island nations, enemies and (barely) allies alike. vita, princess of carca, is exiled as a child after her father has her mother executed. vita grows up locked in a tower, her only company the birds she feeds from her window. the town vita lives in during her exile is conquered by a kasrian (from one of the other islands), who forces her to marry him to give him legitimacy for when he takes carca's throne. vita develops a friendship with soline, a noblewoman from the kasrian party, and through their relationship, rediscovers herself after being confined for a decade. and she practices killing her husband. very important to the story. and to me.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ plot / pacing .ᐟ honestly, pretty slow for the first 2/3 of the book. maybe even the first 3/4. the story is mainly an exploration of vita's mentality as she is trapped by tyrant after tyrant and watches her family die around her. it's also about the female role in marriage and the nuclear family + vita realizing that even if she is scared about the consequences of taking any form of action, she will never gain any safety from such a structure and she should protect herself. (this makes it sound very dark and triggering, but while it does deal with heavier topics, it's honestly not as far as new adult fantasy goes.) the last 8-10 chapters were very action-heavy however, and the last chapter alone convinced me to raise my rating from 3.8 to 4.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ characters .ᐟ

➺ vita is so perfect. i love everything about how she is portrayed, from her introduction as a child to her life in the tower, how the abuse she faced impacted her mental development, how she navigated her life hampered by her fear, how she gained the confidence to take control of herself again, how she loved soline. vita is definitely one of the better depictions of abuse victims that i have read in ya/na fiction.

➺ soline. love her relationship with vita and her protective nature. she starts out consumed with rage, and it's insane that she's able to quiet that in order to protect vita. she's also witty and fun and ridiculous at times, and her determination, whether it's focused on revenge or shielding vita from a certain goblin, is intrinsic to the novel.

➺ the cast of side characters (marius and isotta) were equally vivid, with motivations and backstories of their own. ardaric is a miserable misogynist with no redeeming qualities and my desire to see him burn is half of what made this such an immersive read.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ romance .ᐟ lesbians + murder always makes excellent romance. and aside from that, vittoline had realistic pacing and development, the best confession i've read recently, and the sweetest romantic scenes. i love that you can see exactly why/how/when they fall for each other and what each of them bring to/sacrifice for the relationship.

➺ such an enjoyable read. i actually read this own my own time, instead of when i was on the train or bored at work like i usually do, so that shows how good this is. thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy!

3.5 stars. This had a great beginning, a great ending, and an average middle chunk. I love a story of female rage, and Vita was a great character. She has fantastic development and I loved how much she grew. The sapphic romance is beautiful and tender. The fantasy aspect really took a backseat, which I didn't mind as I'm not very into big elaborate magic systems etc. And there's a strong political aspect that I really enjoyed. But the pacing just didn't really work for me. I was super into it at the beginning, and then I started losing interest. I'm glad I didn't give up as my interest was eventually rekindled, but it did take quite a while and I think the middle could have been better paced to avoid this.

Another great book from Fantasy and Frens!

I really flew through the first 40% of this book, a real page turner.
The middle part dragged on a little too much for my own liking but then I got into a nice flow again in the last 30%.

The writing is beautiful and fits the atmosphere perfectly.

You gotta feel for Vita especially in the beginning. I was really attached to her and was rooting for her to get her revenge.

The romance sub plot fell a bit flat to me. It was really cute for the most part but I didn't feel a really strong connection outside of trauma bonding between the two.

The ending was really satisfying and smart and Vita felt like a kind of strong feminine character I havent seen a lot of before.

I really enjoyed this book overall though and would recommend it to anyone who needs a good standalone feminine rage story!

I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I thought this one would be more fantasy/alchemy driven. The villains of the book weren’t fleshed out enough. They felt like caricatures. Wish they were more morally grey.

I did though like how it ended. Probably my favorite part of the entire book outside of the opening chapter.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I really liked this one, has a really great friends to lovers between a princess who has been l9cked away her whole life and one of her enemies many victims that bloomed so beautifully. The romance felt so natural and soft that I felt like I was melting with how cute it was despite this book being pretty dark in its premise. You will be just wanting our FMC to escape and never look back. They deserve freedom and peace. Really good character growth. Thanks Netgalley for an early e-arc copy.

This one wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean it will not find its audience elsewhere. I feel like I expected more adult themes, given the introductory chapter of the book, but then you have to stop to remember Vita is only 20, at most, and has been stunted by her time in isolation. It read as very YA trying to be adult, and while I enjoy one or the other, I don't enjoy being promised one and receiving the other.

I've read some incredible fiction involving prolonged isolation and the mental effects on its subjects, but this...wasn't it. Vita felt bored, so *I* felt bored. The romance between Vita and Soline didn't feel like a romance; it felt like Vita latching on to someone who finally showed her deference again.

CW: Child Neglect/Isolation; Gore (Beheadings, Corpse Mutilation); Cannibalism (Minor); Cruelty to Animals;

Chase’s book features good diction and a solid, if plodding, plot. I thought Chase did a good job of highlighting how main character Vita’s life experiences affected her, as well as capturing the tensions of a monarchy.

I thought the book had two primary weaknesses. First, Vita’s characterization is inconsistent. For all the time spent on understanding her trauma, isolation, and lack of education, her awkwardness somehow gets played off as “charming,” she picks up on manipulating situations very quickly, and her reading an outdated history text is enough to make her a tactical genius. It just doesn’t make sense. Second, the pace is glacial. It takes so long to get anywhere and do anything – except for when the book has to wrap up in the last few pages, so then the “big triumph” comes overly quick.

I got this as a Netgalley arc from Bindery books and it will come out in June. This is a sapphic feminine coming of rage story. It's brutal, it's passionate, it's intense,and despite it's length I flew through it.

sapphic slowburn
- rapunzel inspired
- political fantasy
- feminine rage
- vengeance
- strong character development

The character growth in Crueler Mercies is such a raw and realistic portrayal of feminism and feminine rage that has me floored. It is tragic, dark and SO human. Though it has too dark an undertone for younger me, her siege-fascinated self would have gobbled this portrayal of a strategic war. The narrative is so nuanced, never eclipsing the gore and the cruelty. The romance, even though a subplot, progresses in line with Vita's reservations: nothing feels out of character for a moment and LISTEN, for those of you looking for your next book girlfriend, might I present Vita? If you love books with strong character development and beautiful prose throughout -- this should be on your TBR. ALSO THAT TITLE IS GENIUS OKAY WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE IT CAME FROM.

THIS is the book for everyone who has been belittled and made to feel like they can't follow their dreams, this is the feminist dark fairytale we all needed. This is a reminder that you can conquer EVERYTHING.

Thank you Netgalley and Bindery Books for this lovely eARC.

This started out with such an intense event (a royal beheading!), so I don't know how the rest of the novel became such a huge bust.

This is one of those instances where this is actually a YA novel that the publisher is trying to upsell as adult fiction, so definitely manage your expectations.

The one huge thing that really bothered me throughout this novel was the FMC's lack of agency. I know that she was basically under house arrest for most of her life, but even when she had the rare opportunity to make a break for it, she kept second guessing herself. It was extremely irritating.

And because of her lack of agency (which didn't include feeding and talking to her wild birds and interacting with Soline), it read like she was just passively participating in everything that happened to her, while men dictated the actual story. Maybe this was the entire point, but it didn't make for an exciting read.

This entire thing was frustrating because it felt like Vita didn't even try.

And when she finally did decide that enough was enough, the events at the end made no logical sense. No spoilers, but why would anyone bother to listen to her if she barely made an impact on the people around her? It read like a wish fulfillment fantasy catered towards YA readers.

The romance was also mild to nonexistent. It felt like Vita and Soline were friends working within a loose superior/subordinate relationship. Vita pretty much fell in love with Soline because Soline was the only one there who was willing to listen to her and indulge in her whims.

Thank you to Fantasy & Frens and NetGalley for this arc.