There is a lot of hype surrounding this book. Let me kick off this review by saying that I adore Julie Soto’s contemporary romances. I know that she can write tension well. I know that she can do steam well. I know that she can do character development and the push-pull relationships between different characters well.

But I just didn’t feel all of that here.

Now some of this may be attributed to this novel having been adapted from Soto’s Dramione fanfic, The Auction. And, with those being familiar character templates for people in that fandom, the characters in the story didn’t get fleshed out as much.

Of course the characters in Rose and Chains and their setting is different from those characters in The Series That Shall Not Be Named, but we do see some of the basics here: primarily her smarts and talent and some of his physical traits as well as his family’s involvement with the aggressors in the story.

Speaking of characters, there are a lot of them. A whole lot. And not all of them are memorable. Thankfully, there is a handy chart at the beginning of the book, but who wants to reference that all of the time? Some of the characters—primarily those on the line (those in line for the throne)—are tied into the world building aspects, but whereas with many fantasy series we get the introduction, background, and information about the main players interwoven over multiple books, here it’s a lot of names at once.

And, plotwise, we get a fair amount of telling instead of showing of things that feel like they can be easily understood, but it feels like information for other key areas of the plot development is missing.

Somehow this book is concurrently a study in edging but also lacking in the associated tension you would expect between the main couple. It’s there in some moments but missing in others.

Please be warned when you pick up this book that a heavy component is the ownership aspect of the Bomardi over the captured people of Evermore, and for many of the players, that ownership involves forced intercourse / rape of some kind, whether enforced by orders or elixirs. There is also degradation and the stealing of magic.

And this is called out as being bad by Briony, who thankfully is not living the same experience as the other captives. Consent is important, folks.

Look: this kind of content is uncomfortable to read even when it is, rightfully, handled in a negative light, but here’s where I got a big ick. The behavior is called out by our FMC when she sees others experiencing it, but then she touches, sits on, and puts her mouth on Toven when it clearly makes him uncomfortable. She does it under the guise of practicing so that their relationship is believable to others, but it feels like she’s not taking his feelings and reactions into account.

Of course, as readers, we know that he is in love with her and does not want to do anything physical unless she feels the same way—this is implied, not spelled out—but our heroine here is forcing the issue without fully having his consent.

We stan consent. Consent is key.

And then in that moment when they finally give into whatever has been brewing between them, I guess I didn’t fully believe the “now this is okay” flip. Yes, there are heightened circumstances, but I wasn’t fully sold.

And we don't get the payoff, so to speak, anyway.

So the book made me grumpy. And the book made me cranky. And yet, I still kept wanting to pick it up and keep reading. I plan to continue the series, especially because I’m looking forward to the payoff from that edging/not edging situation. Knowing how steamy those scenes can get in Soto’s books, I expect it to be fantastic.

And I am a big fan of Toven, our morally grey hero. The majority of the book is, understandably, presented from Briony’s point-of-view, but I wish I could experience more moments from his perspective, not just the ones offered in the mind exercises. Our FMC Briony is simultaneously super smart and super dumb, and she's not exactly perceptive when it comes to Toven's thoughts, feelings, or motivations.

I also really liked Serena, Toven’s mother, and the unnamed red-headed maid.

I want to see how the story plays out and to dig more into the Hearst family’s, well, everything really. Orion, the patriarch, especially piques my interest.

And I found the concept of heart magic vs. mind magic and the idea that some people can do both interesting.

So as I said before, I am looking forward to reading the next installment in the trilogy but, unfortunately for me, this first book didn’t quite live up to the hype.

I received an advance copy of the book from Forever. All review opinions are my own.

Julie Soto does it again in this amazing dark fantasy novel. I am a huge fan of all her work and am so impressed in the way she adapted this story. It;s fast paced and so addictive I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the next book and will be recommending this series to everyone!

*4.25 stars*

I knew about this book because my experience with fanfiction started with Dramione about fifteen years ago, and I've always kept informed and open about new good Dramione fanfics to add to my TBR. I didn't expect to love this one because I thought it would be pretty dark and I don't tend to like those kinds of AUs, but I have to say I have been very pleasantly surprised. It does mention heavier topics but it didn't bother me while reading, and I found myself very addicted to the writing and the story.

First of all, I haven't read the original The Auction, so I can't compare the two, but I can definitely say I can recognize every aspect of the fanfic underneath (which I mean in the BEST way possible - I love it when that happens) and I can see the characters as their OG names, which was kind of exciting because I kept seeing the characters and sceneries in my head. I did think, while reading the book, that I would probably prefer the actual fanfic with the OG names, but that's a me-problem since new readers will not be having this thought.

And finally I have to mention... THE YEARNING!!! THE CLUELESSNESS!!!! I am SO mad I have to wait for the next one, it's not even funny. PLEASE, JULIE, WE NEED IT NOW.

I'm giving this a 4.25 because I'm convinced book two will be even better and I will regret it if I don't give any room for improvement while rating, but wow my eyes were GLUED to the screen!!!

3.75 stars!

I am the number one supporter for the fanfic-turned-published-book trend and while this left me a little wanting, I can't wait to see where the series goes.

The king is dead, and Briony is torn from her place as princess and auctioned off as a magical power source to the very people who killed her family and destroyed her kingdom. Her buyer is none other than Toven Hearst, a boy she went to school with and long harbored a crush for despite the fact that he belonged to an enemy nation. Now, as Briony is taken into his household and fights to maintain connections to her few remaining loved ones, it becomes clear that little about Toven Hearst is as first meets the eye. I'm not really involved in the fandom or ship this story originated with but I'm now 2/3 on getting ARCs for Dramione fics being published this year and I'm here for it.

The good moments in this book are really amazing, and the tension between Briony and Toven is intense. The political intrigue in this also feels very well thought out and generally I like where the plot is headed and am interested to learn more. Having said that, there is kind of a weird tonal imbalance between the significant amount of angst and trauma in this book and the more romantic moments that kind of threw me off. I'm definitely not against this kind of dynamic, in fact I was really hoping for some Captive Prince vibes since I'm a diehard defender of that series, but it does feel a little misplaced in Rose in Chains for some reason. It also does drag at points which is unsurprising considering this book is close to 500 pages. Lastly, I will say that if you are a huge Dramione fan, Briony and Toven aren't very true-to-character. As an example, early on we learn that Briony has been playing dumb in school to make her brother look better and Hermione would simply never do that. Just something to consider.

I think as the action picks up and the romance develops I'll enjoy the series a lot more, so I'm looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to Julie Soto and Forever for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

***Thank you to the publisher for this eARC on NetGalley!***

DNF @ 4% (and after skipping around and looking ahead)

I don’t think this book is for long time readers of dark romance, fantasy, or romantasy books. I think this works for people who don’t normally read any of the above.

The worldbuilding here is so intrinsically linked to the original source material of Harry Potter, that it’s GLARING to me who’s who and what’s what. I have not read any of the author’s books or her fanfics like The Auction (that this is taken from) but I grew up on Dramione fics way back in the day between the Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows releases. It’s weird to see a resurgence of DHr fics but here we are.

I think what worked for Reylo fics is that a majority of those fics to published work pipeline were modern day AUs. They weren’t set in space, and the published work wasn’t set in space like Star Wars was. These DHr fics were fantasy, the source material is fantasy, and the new published work is fantasy. This book does not divorce itself from being what it is - a Dramione fic set in the Wizarding World.

From a fantasy standpoint, all the new names for characters and places and magic are just so bad. I don’t know if the author is a regular fantasy reader but this is the worst I’ve ever seen. Briony (the FMC) is Hermione. Rory is Harry and now the Harry and Hermione characters are twins. Cordelia is Ginny. Didion Winchester (Supernatural reference??) is Ron.

The only reason you’ve supposed to believe Briony dislikes Didion is that he’s nice but bad at sex and she has the hots for the Draco Malfoy stand-in. This only makes sense in the context of Dramione fics that Hermione prefers bad boy Draco over a boring Ron. It’s so random in the context of what SHOULD BE an original fantasy that this doesn’t work.

There’s a magic school (Eversun) that’s conveniently also by a lake like Hogwarts and is called Claremore Castle here, they are in country called Evermore (probably not a AFTG reference but my mind jumped there), the Daily Prophet is the Journal, the FMC’s family home is called Biltmore Palace (ma’am please why are the Biltmores getting dragged into this).

The warring country is just a silly name to read about that’s called Bomard (Bom-ard? Bo-mard? Good luck to the audiobook narrator having to say this a million times) and the people are Bomardi. These are essentially the Death Eaters I guess? The Bomardi have to fight over a position only called “the Seat”. The concept of the Heartstop being this deadly thing only the Bomardi can do and it’s a mix of the Cruciatus Curse and the concept of horcruxes. I just kept rolling my eyes at all these names.

The major problem of this book is that it is so tied to existing characters from the Harry Potter series that everything I’m pointing out is barely scratching the surface when I’m only FOUR PERCENT of the way into the book. I’m tired. Maybe this works if you don’t know Harry Potter in any way, but I think some aspects will be confusing without that knowledge? It’s a lose-lose in my opinion.

Even before you get to any of the dark parts mentioned in the trigger warnings, the prose is just so…not the vibe? I’ve read my fair share of dark romance mafia auction books and the writing here is so airy and juvenile in its worldbuilding and character intros that I am having a hard time believing terrible things are happening and will be happening further into the book.

I am still cautiously optimistic of The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley (completely original fic with only DHr vibes) and Alchemised by SenLinYu (rewrite of fanfic called Manacled). But I don’t think Julie Soto’s writing or this book is for me.

This is possibly the best book I have ever read! Julie Soto masterfully enters the fantasy romance space. This story is so original! I am talking the magic system, the world building, and the slow burn romance! I am severely in a book hangover! This is one you cannot miss.

Squeal 🤩🥰 I was thrilled to be able to read this early. This book kept me up at night reading and getting giddy and side eyeing the room. I can’t recommend this enough - the SLOW BURN 🔥 is so good and slow. I need the whole trilogy now. Julie Soto is a queen of all romance and not only was I invested in the romance but the plot *gasp*. Now watch me go preorder a physical copy now.

I do not usually read 'dark' romance novels but WOW. This one really hit the mark for me. The consequences felt real. The magic system was interesting yet simple. The balance of past and present in the storytelling gives true weight to the main character's relationship and their budding romance. I am really looking forward to the next installment.

Please excuse me while I scream into the void.

I almost, ALMOST, regret reading this as an arc because I will have to live for another year without knowing what's next. Also the placeholder for the book two teaser without a teaser yet? Existence is pain.

This book sucked me in, like completely consumed me. I went into this book not really knowing much about it at all. I haven't read The Auction but this was available from Discover Forever (tysm ily) and I love Julie Soto so I couldn't NOT read it.

This was dark, lots of heavy themes and topics, so I highly recommend checking the TW's and content. You will feel rage for a large portion of the book. I almost feel guilty for saying I enjoyed this because I felt consistently nauseated by the behaviors of the "enemy" but I think there are going to be strong arcs and resilient characters that come from this story and I can't wait to watch the enemy crumble.

Book one set a great foundation for the upcoming books. We get a great deal of flashbacks/backstory which felt perfectly in place with where we were in the plot. If you're not a fan of flashbacks/memories they may feel like they break up the story of the current plot progression BUT I really think she placed them perfectly based on current events and the character's feelings at the time.

The political intrigue was strong and once you get a handle on the main players and everyone's stance it's easy to follow. There's a lot of secrets floating around between the families and it makes you actually wonder who else is only playing a part.

The magic system was unique and interesting! I think the complexities between the two different types of magic and the familiars is very intriguing. Not something I've read about recently so I really enjoyed this unique magic system!

There was so much subtle yearning and angst. I was screaming at my kindle half the time like figure it out people!!!! I haven't read a good slow burn like this in a looong time. It's very apparent to the reader in the smallest of actions and I LOVE that.

Briony is a strong and resilient main character who is actively looking for solutions and Toven is an equally complex and secretive character. Based on the ending, I think book two is going to be a fantastic time.

This is NOT a super fast paced book, I would definitely go into this book with that in mind. This is setting the stage for what's coming and I have a feeling that it will be a lot of secrets and discovered truths with alliances found in unexpected places. Ok, back to screaming into the void, bye.

Thank you so much to Discover Forever and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this e-arc. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. :)

The storyline was interesting, but I was left a bit disappointed, especially with all the rave reviews this book has gotten so far. It was hard to follow at times, and I found myself going back and rereading sections. I kept waiting for that emotional pull, but it never came.

As for the characters, I struggled to connect with them. They felt flat and unmemorable, making it hard to stay invested.

This book read like after the war and Harry dies but Hermione gets with Draco and Voldemort rules the world fanfiction just with different character names. It wasnt very inventive in my opinion and I've read better fanfiction on ao3 but yet this one was the one published to the world. It was meh at best and extremely boring or unoriginal at worst.

3.75 rounded up to 4

I will preface this by saying 1. I had high standards because I love Julie Soto’s romances 2. I did not ever read the fan fic before this.

These two things combined made this book fall a little flat for me. It seems like the concept being stretched out over 3 books will impact the pacing. The first 10-15% were too much info dumping for my liking. And it truly felt like info dumping instead of world building.obviously building a world does require you to unload a lot of information quickly but it was a little overwhelming.

However, once I got into the story I was enjoying myself. The dynamics and secrets of the Hearsts and the slow building of trust between Briony and Toven was fun. I enjoyed their tension and slow change in dynamic. Definitely hoping for more of that in book 2. The magic system is interesting as well. And by the 70-% mark I needed to finish and find out what was going to happen.

The ending was interesting and sets up book 2 nicely! I’m interested to see where the story goes!

Inject this book into my veins. I am obsessed and this book will live rent free for the rest of my entire life. This book was one of my most anticipated books for my life and this exceeded every expectation I could have ever set forward. The tension, the angst, the world building, the character development, literally everything. I have like 12 full words to put together for this book because I did in fact not read this book, it read me.

Wow!!! First of all, I love Dramione fan fic so I don't know how I never read The Auction before it was adapted for trad publishing. It took me a few chapters to stop trying to find the parallels to Harry Potter and to fully immerse myself in the new world Julie Soto was building, but once I did I was fully hooked. I think she did such a good job changing from the source material and created a truly interesting magic system and world with intriguing political dynamics. I DEVOURED this in one sitting. This also has the slowest of slow burns but its done so well I am yearningggg for more Toven and Briony.

The only thing im sad about is that I didn't realize it was a trilogy and now I have to wait for more.

4.5/5

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever Publishing for a review copy of this book! All opinions my own.

This book had me gasping and reeling throughout. I haven’t had a reading experience like this in a while and did I love that feeling or what. Obsessed with Briony and Toven and the dynamic building up. The world building takes a minute to grasp and understand but it’s SMART and honestly hell yeah Dramione. It’s dark, sexy, angsty. It has this layered secret you know is just going to explode with confessions, truths, and obsessions!! I love this type of dark fantasy and so impressed with Julie Soto’s magic system and writing, as always. Pacing was also different with flashbacks and so much happening in the book, my only setback. Even though I devoured it.

This is book one of three, I fear I’ll be more obsessed with the next two books since this book paved the way.

My Dramione/Auction loving heart is singing right now but this is 100% its own story and can absolutely stand on its own. If you loved The Auction or you just love a good slow burn romantasy, you need to add this to your TBR ASAP! The yearning, tension, and angst are absolute perfection! Julie created such an immersive new world w/ a fun and unique magic system. I loved the flashbacks as a way to give us world building without a massive info dump. I ate this up and didn't want to put it down. I can't wait to see how these characters develop in book 2!

💜 Enemies/Rivals to Lovers
💜 Forced Proximity
💜 The sloooowest of slow burn
💜 Yearning & Angst
💜 Political Intrigue

"There is a lake with still waters” 😭

Thank you to Forever Publishing and Julie Soto for the gifted e-ARC!

I was not fully prepared for how dark this was. I’m glad that the author included trigger warnings but they would’ve been nice to have before downloading the book. This has really strong themes of sexual slavery and sexual assault on women, and some of the scenes are very difficult to stomach. That aside, I was impressed with the way the author handled Toven, the man who purchased Briony. Based on current trends in the romantic fantasy space, this could’ve gone a lot of different ways, and I was very happy with how that thread is going so far, I also really enjoyed being in the mind of the main character. Briony is smart and clever and compassionate and skilled with magic. I really liked seeing her puzzle things out and help out not just as a damsel in distress. Some of the flashback scenes especially in the beginning felt like they hampered the pacing a bit, slowing it downso it felt like it took a very long time to get to the inciting incident. I also really liked the parents in the story, and I’m interested to see where it’s going to go next.

It breaks my heart to only give Rose in Chains by Julie Soto 3.5 stars, I’ve read all of her work (fic and published) and this is the only non 5 star read for me. In the past I’ve heard the critique that fan fic writers are better at building stories in a world that was already created then at creating their own, unfortunately, I think that is this case here. I think that anyone who is familiar with her fic work that was the inspiration for this book will enjoy the book more, then someone new to the story. My biggest issues with this story are that the characters are all pretty one dimensional, the world was pretty mid.
There is no real depth or individuality to any of the characters, the story failed to make me care about them. Even in what should have been tense or emotionally charged scenes they all just fell short, and I know that Julie can write these powerful scenes. Because of that our MCs have no real charm or chemistry between them. There are flashbacks throughout the book-though I personally feel the ones at the beginning of the story are poorly placed and really ruin the pacing of the beginning of the book- that show the MMC & FMC and their time in school but aside from the FMC having a crush on the MMC there was no chemistry. She fan-girled over him in her head, and he became disengaged anytime she tried to get close to him. There were some spice in the book, but once again I did not find it engaging.
The magic system and world building are just mid. I didn’t hate the world or the magic system nor did I love it. There are 2 different kinds of magic, but some people can use both? The only part of the world building that I really disliked was the names. I strongly disliked all the names, the people the places all of it. I’m not completely sure why but the utter irritation I had at all the names in this book was borderline irrational.

Thank you Forever Publishing for the e-ARC!

I’ll be thinking about this book for weeks.

Having never read any of the source material and only seeing the movies, I can see where the characters’ personality traits come from and the concept of the school of magic, but Julie did a fabulous job making this her own.

The betrayal. The hatred for the villains (because they absolutely deserve it). The tension. The magical aspects. I *devoured* it.

read this if you love:
- true enemies to lovers
- forced proximity
- unique magic system
- morally gray MMC

I cannot wait for the second book. Rose in Chains is what I will be comparing future fantasy books to from now on, it's that good.

This had my mind wrapped up in chains and I don’t wanna be freed. It was exhilarating, sexy, and top-notch storytelling and awakened me to the genre in the best possible way. If you love fantasy books, mark my words, this will be your newest obsession.

Some deets:
📝 adaptation of “The Auction” fanfiction
🔥 rivals to enemies to allies
🧠 heart and mind magic (Paris Hilton voice *that’s hot*)
❤️‍🔥 excruciating push and pull slow burn romance
🦊 familiars (with a dash of jealousy, which tbh, I’d be jealous of Toven too)
🎀 the green ribbon!

Move over Rhysand – I need Toven like I need oxygen, in all his brooding, sexy and intelligent ways, even down to his mismatched socks. This had me giggling, fanning myself and punching the air. Who knew how hot heart and mind magic could be?! The chemistry between Briony and Toven was so HOT I could sizzle a full continental breakfast with it. It was an excruciating slow burn and constant push and pull between them, so much so, that I’d honestly argue that it felt like torture at times (but like, in a way I’m definitely not complaining). ROSE IN CHAINS is an adaptation of “The Auction,” a Dramione fanfiction from Lovesbitca8. I haven’t read it, but reading this as a standalone was magic in itself. Just like the epic dancing scene at a Winter Solstice party that had Pride & Prejudice written allll over it. I left a part of myself in Evermore and my bags are packed and I’m ready to return on the next ride back.

It’s not all roses, this story packed a punch with war, brutality and punishment. The treatment of women will make you scream (there’s a literal auction of women) but you’ll cheer even harder for the resilient characters who don’t back down without a fight. I’m invested in this storyline and can’t even think about the grueling wait until the next book.

I will follow Julie Soto across all genres. 🫡

Thanks @readforeverpub for the digital ARC and hooking me with another addicting read. They weren’t lying when they said this would be your newest obsession!

ROSE IN CHAINS is out July 8.