Ngl, this was a the perfect enemies to lovers romantasy book. I know this was originally a fanfic set in the HP world and as someone who isn’t a fan of HP, I could understand this world and world building perfectly. I thought it had great build up, intrigue, suspense, tension, romance, and mystery. I need book 2 like I need air to breathe at this point!!!!!! Just make sure to check the trigger warnings because this book does go into heavy topics that could be too dark for some readers. Especially in regards to the MMC’s treatment of the FMC. I think fans of dark romantasy will absolutely love this book.

Julie Soto is my new (not so new) favorite author! I’ve been a fan for such a long time but it was only recently that I started reading her traditionally published works. She is good at literally everything she writes and expertly floats across genres.

Let me tell you, Rose in Chains is EVERYTHING I hoped it would be. It’s one of the best fantasy romance novels I’ve ever read and one of my favorite reads of the year. I didn’t realize it was going to be hardcore fantasy with kingdoms and castles but I really enjoyed the traditional route she took. The magic system functions similar to the Grishaverse and has its own unique take on mind magic.

Rose in Chains is a thrilling and action packed adventure. Mind you I was literally glued to these pages.

Now let’s talk about what you all have been waiting for, Briony and Toven. Wowowowowowowow. This might be the most tension filled relationship I’ve ever seen. They’re practically bursting with it. It’s definitely enemies to lovers, and the characters swing back and forth on a pendulum between being desperately entranced by one another and clawing each other’s eyes out. The banter is top tier and every moment they spend together is charged.

This is a SLOW burn. The slowest of burns. When you read, don’t go in expecting Julie is going to reward you immediately. No. She draws it out. It was excruciating and I loved every second of it.

Please be mindful of some of the trigger warnings. I felt that it wasn’t too extreme but everyone’s tolerance levels are different.

Thank you so much to the Forever team for giving me an ARC of my MOST anticipated read of 2025. It was perfect and I’m so excited for it to come out so I can add it to my shelf.

I really enjoyed Julie Soto’s romance books so I was excited when she announced her Romantasy debut. And I went into this knowing it is based on her Dramione fanfic but without reading and I really liked it. I was an avid fanfic reader in the HP world too, although I shipped another couple and I can definitely see the influence in this story.

It is a true enemies to lovers, forced proximity and slow burn story that makes you feel the tension and longing between the main characters. This first book is laying the foundation of how Briony and Toven’s story started eight years ago and jumps back and forth in time. I wish there were chapters from Toven’s point of view, I really want to know what he’s thinking with every interaction they have. It ends on a cliffhanger so I can’t wait how the story continues.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Grand Central Publishing for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

I was so excited to read this and it definitely lived up to the hype! Julie Soto is a master of writing characters you care about and I can't wait for the second book!.

4.5⭐
I'll start by saying that I haven’t read The Auction, which this book is based on, so I had no idea what to expect. I simply enjoyed Briony and Toven’s story without comparing the two books.

At the beginning, it took me a little time to remember all the characters, but after that, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the fictional world, the magic system, the atmosphere, and that incredible slow burn that keeps you reading, craving just a few more crumbs of their growing attraction. The dark moments also added intensity to the story—I was thrilled by how Toven protected Briony from others and refused to share her.

I feel that Julie Soto did a great job because this book feels completely unique. The ending is intriguing, so now I can’t wait for the second book!

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓ dark romantasy
✓ enemies to lovers
✓ forced proximity
✓ slow burn

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Everything about this magic fuels tension building novel was brilliant, except the part where I have to wait any amount of time to read the rest of the trilogy. The main characters are complex and compelling. And I trust Julie Soto with their futures entirely.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for this e-arc!

So, this is the first book in a romantasy series by Julie Soto, and as a fan of romantasies, I decided to snatch this read! Unfortunately, I have to say that I wasn't obsessed with this read. I think the premise is interesting enough, but I think this author may just not be for me.

4/5

Rose in Chains completely captivated me from start to finish. The emotional rollercoaster was real—I was frustrated, heartbroken, and hooked all at once. The story had me eagerly turning pages to find out what would happen next, especially with the main characters, Briony Rosewood and Toven.

Briony is a strong, intelligent FMC that I loved right away. Her decisions made sense, and she was incredibly relatable. Toven, too, was fantastic. Their enemies-to-lovers dynamic was done right, and the slow burn had me hooked. Fans of Dramione will especially love their chemistry.

The world-building is rich and unique, with a magical system that takes a little time to understand, but it’s worth it. The politics and rival kingdoms added depth to the plot, though it took a bit to get a handle on all the different characters and locations.

The side characters were fantastic—some I loved, some I hated—but they all contributed to the emotional weight of the story. The romance, full of yearning and slow-burn tension, balanced the darker elements beautifully, adding hope amid the chaos.

Tough topics, like the objectification of women, make for heavy reading, so be sure to check the trigger warnings. Despite this, the characters' strength and growth were inspiring.

The only reason this isn’t a full 5 stars is that the middle felt a bit repetitive. However, the cliffhanger at the end left me desperate for the next book. Rose in Chains is a dark, engaging romantasy that I highly recommend to fans of the genre. I can’t wait for the next installment!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

The topics listed in the content warning ended up being a bit much for me, but Julie Soto’s writing was quick and engaging!

4.5 ⭐️ This was such a great read with an immersive storyline. The world building was *chefs kiss* I was legit in this story. I had to be because it felt like I was living it too. This book was a beautiful mix of the smallest bit of Rain of Shadow and Endings with a heavier amount of The Handmaids Tale while also being unique in its own way. (Haven’t really dove into the entire HP world so can’t comment on that Dramione aspect .)

I 100% hope for a novella from Toven’s POV PLEASE. I just know that man is holding back so much information and emotions.

& If this book is true enemies to lovers I’m going to need much more lovers in the next book. I’m trusting the process here. There’s a lot of information we still need answers too as well. Plus the epilogue really added a whole new element to dive into with the next book. This feels like it’s going to be an amazing trilogy.

I went in knowing very little about this book, and I absolutely loved it! The slow burn romance, the political intrigue….it had me hooked the entire time! I’ll definitely be using this book for book clubs at my library.

✨Book Review : Rose in Chains by Julie Soto✨

4.5 ⭐

If you’ve ever been obsessed with The Auction (yes, that Dramione fanfic), this book is your next guilty pleasure—with a twist! New names, same tension-filled vibes, and I devoured every page.

❤️ What I Loved:
• Addictive from start to finish – could not put it down.
•The plot? Gripping. The characters? Chef’s kiss.
•That cover is pure eye candy.

🖤 What Didn’t Hit as Hard:
• The pacing dipped a bit halfway – but not enough to ruin the ride.
• Some events were repeated a little too often – might help some readers, but felt slightly overdone for me.

This book owned me. If you're into angsty power dynamics and slow-burning intensity, add it to your TBR now

Thank you Netgalley and Readforeverpub for the e-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

I love Julie Soto and I enjoyed this book, but it is missing some of the grit and substance that the original fanfic version had. It feels watered down and almost too polished. The topic of rape is serious and should be treated seriously, and while the original fanfic did this well, this book seems to have lost some of that. Overall not bad and I think people who are new to this story will enjoy it, not knowing what they are missing out on.

Holy cow-Julie Soto has done it again! She quickly became an auto-purchase author for me. Her world building and way of making you connect with every character and their backstories is unmatched.

Briony and Toven! The tension, the flashbacks! Seeing all of the little ways that Briony was misreading Tovens intentions and seeing Toven working to keep those intentions hidden had me kicking my feet and reading at the speed of light! The slowwwww burn romance was killing me in the best way, and I need the 2nd book NOW to see how that grows!!

I was a huge fan of The Auction and am absolutely blown away at this adaptation. A perfect blend of new world building and elements while keeping all of the best plot points from her Dramione. Some new plot twists and differences in the characters made this such a fun book that still kept me on my toes!

I'd like to thank Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I want to start to this review off by saying that I am a big Julie Soto fan, so getting the opportunity to read and review this book made me feel very lucky!

This book is based off a fan fiction that Julie wrote. I never got around to reading the fanfic (The Auction) that it's based off of, so I went into this book blind but I think that makes things more fun and interesting!

From the beginning everything was very face paced. Things happen quick and if you blink you might miss it! The world building was easy to follow and the magic system was very interesting as well. If you're looking for a slow burn, look no further because this is it. It's the best kind of slow burn. The sexual tension is high and Julie does a great job at keeping us readers on our toes. Overall it was a really fun, intriguing, and sexy read. I'm really excited for book 2!

This was a thrilling start to the trilogy! As one of my most anticipated reads of the year, I was happy to see this one live up to the hype.

This book covered some really heavy topics, but did so in an engaging way. The magic system is unique and the politcal dynamics are intriguing. If you are here for the romance, the slow burn is real and so is the yearning, but man do I loved the lead characters. This one is definitely for the Dramione fans. The chemistry is amazing and I can’t wait for the next installment!

This story altered my brain chemistry. I was up into the wee hours of the morning, pajamas on, glasses forgotten, blanket wrapped around me like a cloak, devouring this story. At one point I threw both my hands in the air and hopped up from the couch like I won the lottery.
As bleak and heartbreaking as the content matter is, you spend this entire story still hopeful. The biggest testament to the strength of Julie Soto’s writing is that even in the darkest moments, you are holding your breath waiting for Briony to prevail. The glimpses into the past between Briony and Toven had me absolutely losing my mind. With writing that was enchanting and a magic system that was fascinating, I couldn’t put this one down. The ending will leave you gasping and begging for more. I need the sequel like I need air.

I have a lot of confusing feelings about this book - it is apparently based on a fanfiction that I've read and remember <i>absolutely nothing</i> about, so I went in with fresh eyes looking at this as its own book. The first portion dumps about 200 characters on you all at once - I imagine this is where, in the fanfiction version, you would already be familiar with the characters and so they'd be easy to tell apart. In Rose in Chains, however, we've no idea who these people are - and throughout a good portion of the book, I still didn't remember some of them.

In order to introduce some of the back story and set the stage for what is happening from page one, we get flashbacks to Briony's school years, where she and her brother Rory met most of the other (similar aged) characters. The book starts by telling us that Rory is dead, and that Briony is empty at the thought of it because they were so close, but honestly the school flashbacks just <i>didn't give Rory enough of his own character</i> for me to care that he's dead. <spoiler>Briony is consistently told that Rory must be the best at every subject, so she spends her entire school stay essentially helping him cheat because he's too incompetent to do well on his own. And we're supposed to feel sorry that he's dead. His only character traits are that he's kinda bad at stuff but also loves his sister very much. </spoiler>

My other gripe with this book is that there are large sections where it seems nothing really happens. Briony reads. Briony studies mind defense. And yes, it's important to the plot, but it's really not interesting. Rose in Chains starts to redeem itself nearer the end, where it then hits you over the head with the "haha just kidding, to be continued."

Oh, and labeling this as a romance of any kind is just unkind. There's some pining. A smidge of yearning. A few fevered glances. And one kind-of-almost-something-but-then-it's-nothing. Yet, I still wanted to keep reading. I was keen to keep going and see where it went <spoiler> which was nowhere, it's a cliffhanger</spoiler>. I'll definitely pick up book two and see if this story can overall redeem itself.

As always, please mind the TW at the beginning of the book. They ain't kidding. Thanks to NetGalley, author, and publisher for the opportunity to read.

I devoured this. It’s dark, twisty, and packed with the kind of slow burn tension I adore. Like… SLOW slow. Julie Soto said longing, and I said thank you.

I’ve never read The Auction or been in the Dramione fanfic world, but this definitely stands completely on its own. Content warnings though: this book gets dark—the premise is literally “what if the bad guys won” and in this case, it means young people (mostly women) are sold at auction to be used for their magic… and however else their purchasers decide. The themes around consent, control, and bodily autonomy are front and center. It’s not overly graphic, but it is a major part of the story.

As for the rest of the plot, this leans more romance than fantasy, but even as someone who really enjoys the fantasy side of romantasy, I wasn’t disappointed. For me, the magic made up for it—especially the mind magic. I loved those scenes and am ready for more.

Briony had a few moments of being painfully naive, but for the most part, I liked her and wanted good things for her. And I loved Toven. Give me a romantasy where the MMC is clearly in love but holding back—maybe for her sake, maybe for reasons we don’t fully know yet—and I will eat it up.

Rating this 4 stars (maybe 4.5?) because I wanted a bit more world building and slightly fewer “girl, please” moments from Briony. But seriously, I'm already itching for book two.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever, and Julie Soto for the advanced copy!

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