Romantasy at its best.

This is addictive and easy to binge. Deliciously slow burn. A little dark. A little magical. A hefty helping of political intrigue. AND SO SO MUCH TENSION!

Y’all I stayed up until 5:30 AM to finish this book - I read it in a single sitting. I am tired and I am DESPERATE for more!

Now the elephant in the room - this is reworked Dramione - so how did it hold up on its own?

If I wasn’t already aware this was reworked fanfic - I would have absolutely NO clue - it is so far from the “source” material! imho the similarities are minor things, hair color, perhaps some of the politics? Even then, these are similarities you might find in a number of fantasy books.

Moral of the story this is a BANGER. The world is unique, the magic is cool, the stakes are high, the plot moves at a perfect pace and the tension is so EPICALLY delicious you’re gonna need a cold shower!

What’s to love…
- SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW BURN
- pinning, angst, tension, OH MY!
- plotical intrigue
- rival “kingdoms”
- forced proximity
- secrets
- A+ banter
- will have you screaming “HURRY UP AND DO IT” at your book.
- tight plot and great pacing
- binge-able AF
- A DRAGON!!!!!!!!!!!!

My only complaint…
- Seriously, I have only one bad thing to say about this book. I wish the author had a little more faith in the reader’s ability to remember important things & infer using context clues. There were a number of times where the writing repeated “important” things, sometimes within a few pages of each other. The writing was often over explanatory - more times than not, it explained details I could have easily assume based on context. These are things I expect and accept in YA books but something that does detract from my experience when reading an adult novel.

BUT - even with the repetitions this book was un-put-down-able!

GO PREORDER THIS STUNNING EDITION RIGHT MEOW!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

very good I loved this romantasy. very interesting characters and fun to see what happens. I hope to see more from this author

First and foremost, I just want to say that I am devastated that I have finished this book because now I can no longer read it for the first time. Second, I am once again in awe of Julie Soto because of how brilliant yet brutal this book was. The Auction is my favorite Dramione fanfic and getting to revisit this story in a new way was so fascinating and dare I say…. I loved it even more…..

I love and appreciate the way this book explores consent and power dynamics within Briony and Toven’s relationship. This book goes far beyond enemies to lovers and introduces such an interesting and complex dynamic with the pretense that everyone has to uphold. I also LOVE the way this book switches between the past and the present and how much more depth gets added to these characters as more is revealed along the way. If you’ve read The Auction, I hate to say that you will still be unprepared for the ending of this book. Hold on tight friends 😬

Julie's writing is stunning. I was an OG fan of the original work, but this became even more stunning somehow. I would commit crimes for this woman.

Ugh!! I really wanted to read this!! Because of the trigger warnings I won’t be able to read it. I really appreciate the authors listing those at the beginning.

Julie’s a great writer!! Definitely check out the trigger warnings before you read it.

Thank you NetGalley, Julie and forever (grand central publishing) for the eARC!

#netgalley #roseinchains

JULIE SOTO YOU HAVE WRECKED ME. I have been a huge fan of the original work but holy crap... somehow it got better. I am so so so happy that people will get to read this...Julie I love you, thank you forever!!