There are no words right now. What utter perfection.

Julie took the story and made it even better, which was hard to even imagine. I loved every page. I cannot wait to read the other two books in this trilogy.

Toven Hearst is the new LOML. Briony Rosewood is my new favorite character. Julie Soto remains my favorite author.

I want to read it again and again and again.

I must have every edition of this book possible. Everyone needs to experience this book.

Star rating? Unlimited. Perfection.

This is absolutely a dark romance, so be sure to read the description and the content warnings (given by the author at the beginning of the book) before deciding if it's for you. It's complicated for me to review this one, but there are a few prominent things that can give an idea of how I feel. Some parts of it were really hard to read for me, specifically the sexual assault pieces and the auctioning of people. That said, I also read about 70% of the book in one day, so I was clearly invested in what would happen and I do plan on reading the other books in the trilogy when they come out. To be completely honest, I think part of the reason I became so invested is that I want to see them get vengeance. Also, I love a story of a woman coming further into her power, which it feels like we're going to get.

Full disclosure: Rose in Chains is one of my most highly anticipated reads of this year. I loved the source material and wasn't sure how this would hold up, but let me tell ya, this Saturday Girl was not disappointed. The yearning! The sloooooowww burn! The confusion! The tension! I had to force myself to take this one really slow, so I could truly absorb it all.

I really enjoyed the backstory and the pacing of the world-building reveals. Although I definitely preferred the scenes set in the present, the flashbacks are necessary and added a lot to the story. I have a lot of questions about the magic in this world (but so do the MCs so I guess I will have to be patient).

The hype is real! I devoured this dark, scintillating, captivating tale from Julie Soto. Handmaid’s Tale crashes into mind magic in ROSE IN CHAINS, one of the most anticipated reads of the year.

Briony, a captured princess, is auctioned off to the highest bidder when her country falls. In a series of flashbacks, we learn of her relationship with her owner and that their relationship goes far into the depths of what we could have imagined. Will their bond survive this new world or is she truly his captive?

This haunting tale, reminiscent of Atwood's Handmaid’s Tale, is sure to captivate readers long into the night!

Thank you, THANK YOU to Team Forever for this early copy!

I may be in the minority, but this book did not work for me.

- The world-building and magic system felt underdeveloped, making it difficult to fully immerse myself in the story. The lack of clarity surrounding the world was a significant drawback.

- The FMC (Briony) is curious but often asks the wrong questions aloud, which slows the pacing considerably. The story drags, and concrete answers are not provided until the very end—only to conclude with a cliffhanger.

- While the beginning was promising, the middle lagged, and as a result, my engagement waned. By the final chapters, I found myself skimming.

- Despite the FMC’s difficult circumstances, I struggled to empathize with her situation. Compared to other women in the story, she is relatively well-treated—she has her own space, meals, clothing, freedom to roam, and eventually, access to her magic. Because the stakes for her felt significantly lower than for others, I found it difficult to connect with her struggles or understand why readers should be invested in her journey. At times, even she seems to forget that she is a captive whose people have been taken or killed.

- The flashback scenes to the main characters’s time in school felt disjointed and disrupted the narrative flow. While they hinted at a past connection, they lacked enough depth to meaningfully contribute to the story.

- The motivations of the MMC (Toven) were unclear for most of the book. It is implied that he purchases the FMC at the auction because of lingering feelings for her, but his actions remain ambiguous, and he maintains an emotional distance throughout.

- Both main characters felt one-dimensional, and their relationship lacked compelling chemistry. The romance was slow-burn, but not in a way that built anticipation—it felt underdeveloped. Additionally, the side characters were often more engaging than the protagonists.

- Readers expecting a high level of spice may be disappointed, as the spice is minimal (perhaps a 1🌶️). While I appreciate slow-burn romances, this one didn’t quite deliver.

- The writing was easy to follow, but leaned heavily on telling rather than showing, which may have contributed to my inability to connect with the characters or the story. There was an overall sense that something was missing, making it difficult to stay engaged.

Overall, while the book started strong, the lack of character development, slow pacing, and lackluster storytelling made it a disappointing read for me. I kept waiting for something exciting or meaningful to happen, but it never quite delivered.

I appreciate the opportunity to read an early copy and am grateful to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me.

How do I go on? This book has completely destroyed me, and I fear I don’t know what to do. The wait for book two is going to be so, so hard.

I started Rose in Chains with basically no knowledge of what to expect. Was I in for a surprise! This book was stressful!!! My stomach was in KNOTS the entire time! And it’s also one of my new favorite books?

The storytelling in this book is impeccable. I did not want to put it down for even one second. And when I did have to put it down, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. This is the kind of book that changes you and lives as part of your forever.

I’ve adored everything that I’ve read by Julie Soto, and this was no exception! This book made me an even bigger fan of her work than I already was. I can’t even describe all the feelings I felt while reading Rose in Chains.

I’ve been a long, long time fan of Julie Soto and her writing. The first thing I read anything of her was when she had just started posting the fanfic that inspired this book. I remember waiting every week for a new chapter. Rushing to it when I got the notification that it had been posted. Lingering in the Facebook group as others discussed the chapters. The excitement and frustration at the gif clues Julie would leave us before posting the next chapter (those gifs never revealed ANYTHING but after reading the chapter, they would leave me head banging on my desk in the obviousness).

When she finally finished the fic, I felt empty because she had scraped every emotion possible out of me. To this day, it is still my favorite fanfic I have read (in ALL fandoms).

When I heard she was turning it into a book I was ecstatic, but also a little afraid. How was she going to take the essence of the fic and turn it into original work? But this is Julie Soto, so of course she exceeded my expectations and then some.

I am in love with all of these characters. Briony, my heart; Toven, my soul. Rose in Chains is written in much the same way the fic was written; with elegance and a touch of darkness.

The only thing I dislike is that I am going to have to wait for the next book to come out 😭

To start, I am a big fan of Soto's previous contemporary works. I was excited to see that she was venturing into fantasy and thought that her ability to write tension would be interesting in a fantasy setting, but overall the novel fell flat for me. I think that I'm in the minority because I have not read the source material/ wasn't aware that this book is based off of Dramione fanfic. Although, I was unaware, I very quickly made the connections between the setting and characters to Harry Potter, so much so that I googled whether it was fanfiction to begin with. I like fanfiction and have even enjoyed other traditionally published novels that started as fanfiction, but I don't think that Rose in Chains is removed enough from the source material to be interesting. The story is extremely predicable not only because of its HP roots, but it also reads like every other fantasy romance book that you've already read. It was disappointing because I can see the potential, but in the end Soto is leaning heavily on world building, characters and magic systems that unfortunately (for better or worse) already belong to another series.

Thank you, Netgalley, for allowing me an ARC of this book! I started it wondering if I would enjoy my first book by Julie Soto! I loved it. So so many parts to still unravel… Did Toven really love Larissa and what is the full story behind all of that? Is Briony the true heir? I am SO sad I have to wait so long for the next in the series! However, I will look forward to a reread of this book.

Loved the characters. Enjoyed the twisting plot. Look forward to the next one and hoping it is the conclusion!

Kicking my feet at how much I enjoyed this one! Julie Soto never misses - romance, thrillers, fantasy - she can do it all!

Princess Briony Rosewood, stripped of her magic and sold into servitude after her castle is overrun, finds herself in the hands of the cruel Toven Hearst, a man she's long admired, in a world where dark forces have won and magic is controlled.

This one immediately kicks off with action and sets off on an adventure that, if you have an understanding of the fanfic background has connection feels familiar and easy to fall back into, but also stands on its own with unique but easy to understand world building.
It is more raw, horrifying, and intense than I expected, but it works in the context its in. A very cool magic system. And so much happens which lends it to it being a longer read (she thic!), but it all feels purposeful and methodical while being relatively fast paced and immediately intriguing that makes you want to keep going!

The characters also steal the show here! Great characterization. Briony is a princess who's not given much tools, but she's scrappy, thoughtful, intelligence, and unwilling to backdown but also knows when to pick her battles (she's not a typical dumb fantasy FMC who's just lucky!). She's easy to root for. And so is Toven. He's got layerssss yáll and I'm obsessed. And the flashbacks within this that showcase their backstories are well do; provide good context without us getting lost in the past. Also the tension and pining between these two!? Chef's Kiss!

Also casually obsessed with Toven's parents? Would love to read their story. Weird? Yes but speaks to the author's ability to write great side character's as well!

Didn't expect the ending but truly makes me so excited for the trilogy! Run, don't walk to get to this one!

READ FOR
- Warring Kingdom
- Hostile Takeover
- Women In Forced Submission
- Political Intrigue
- Fantasy
- HP Similarities

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Fans of dark romantasy will devour Rose in Chains! It’s dangerous,, horrifying, and completely compelling. Rose in Chains begins on an eve of a battle where Briony (our FMC’s) twin brother Rory sets out to demolish the Bomardian forces threatening their kingdom. Rory and Briony, the Prince and Princess of Eversun, are confident they will succeed because of a prophecy foretelling Eversun’s heir’s victory. Things do not go to plan, and without giving too much away, Briony, and the surviving Eversun peoples, find themselves captured, incarcerated and auctioned off by the Bomardians who plan to use the Eversuns in unspeakable ways. With the war lost, what hope is there for Briony and the Eversuns?

I’m a fan of Julie Soto’s contemporary books, and found myself quite immersed in Rose in Chains. Briony is an incredible FMC, and the the conflict between Eversun and Bomard is fully realized. The slow burn romance is full of sparks, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. I definitely think this a romantasy not to be missed!

“There is a lake with still waters” is going to be my entire personality for the next few months 🙂‍↕️

WOW, this was a great read. A fun and addictive romantasy with a delicious slow burn, strong female protagonist, and darker elements that help set it apart from a lot of the fantasy books I’ve read before! Also, as a former fanfic enthusiast, it’s so cool to see fanfics reworked and traditionally published, go Julie!!

I loved almost everything in this book. I was hooked from the beginning to the end, the pacing was great. The main characters are strong on their own, and together, and there’s a slew of interesting side characters, Larissa and the Hearst family are some of my favorites so far, really excited to see what they do in the next books!

The romance though, AHHHHHHHH! I don’t seek out slow burns, but this was scrumptious. There’s a perfect amount of tension and yearning from both characters that had me giggling and punching the air, the relationship development was perfect, and while I normally prefer my books to be a little spicier and my romance to burn a little faster, I can tell the payoff will be really good. Really excited to see what the next books bring in terms of relationship development! 🥰🥰

Some other things I loved: the political intrigue 🤭🤭 i am an absolute sucker for these things and this book did it well, i was so invested in the ideologies of both sides, what everyone was fighting for, forming my own opinions, etc! I also loved the flashbacks interjected throughout. I also really loved how emotional this book made me. This book had me giggling, raging, tearing up, and everything in between, it was an amazing emotional rollercoaster! There are 2 scenes in particular that really stick out to me, Briony’s first visit to Biltmore and the final chapter of part 2. Just wow, those scenes had me raging in anger and tearing up respectively, the writing was great!

My small critiques: I liked the magic system but I didn’t love it, I think it’s interesting but it’s not my favorite and I kind of wanted more from it. I also felt that there were some fighting/action scenes that could’ve been written more succinctly than they were presented. These didn’t detract a whole lot from the story though, and seeing as it’s early on, I’m excited to see how Julie Soto develops on these aspects moving forward.

Lastly, THE ENDING!! THAT CLIFFHANGER!!! GAH! Yeah that was incredible, i had the fattest grin on my face before i hit the final page of the book and realized I’d have to wait a while for the rest of the trilogy to come out now.

Overall, a really incredible read! I adore this universe and I’m so eager to see what happens next, I have so many questions and things I want to see, I know this book hasn’t even been officially released yet but I’m already yearning for the next one! 4.25 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC! 🖤

An absolute masterpiece. Julie Soto is the best at what she does and this is the book of the year for me. I adore what this is based off of with my heart and soul and it being put out this way flawlessly is so special. I was locked in from the moment it started and never wanted it to end. I am so excited for the rest of the series and this now an all time favorite. I’m forever thankful for this early copy.

Five billion stars. All the stars. Ten trillion stars and a million shooting ones too. Favorite book from this year and probs last year. This book was freaking awesome.

I flipping loved this book. LOVED this book. It takes a miracle of a fantasy book to have me savoring every single word and not even THINKING of skimming and that’s this wonderful unicorn of a book. I know, you’re shocked, I’m shocked, but here we are.

From the very beginning I’m in it. I’m IN IT. Magic. Fallen kingdoms. Manacles that make you lose your magic. Auctions. Chains. A very stoic and reserved silver haired man who makes you question whether he’s actually good or bad. These are literally all of my favorite things and I flipping loved it. LOVED IT.

Is it very much a retelling of all of our favorite Dramione fanfics? YES. And I cannot even begin to express how much I absolute adore Manacled and I adored this even more because 1. It’s not 925 pages 2. I like the flashbacks and pacing here better. But still adore both.

And the ending and the torturous slow burn build up of my absolute heart. When a slow burn is done right y’all it’s freaking delicious and this is scrumdillyumtptious and that’s the first time I’ve ever used this word. So you have to trust me on this one.

I cannoooottt waaaaaiiitt to see what happens next!!!!!

I’m considering starting it over and rereading it. That’s how much I loved it. Tried to preorder an autographed copy and it’s sold out because the universe hates me but I’m going to order a special edition I’ll never ever read cause it’s hard back and gross who likes hard backs but I’m buying it anyway or maybe I’ll just buy the ebook, I don’t know guys! My mind is going a mile a minute!

Also this is my first from Julie Soto. Doesn’t that feel crazy now? Crazy.

Thanks to Addie Yoder for doing me a solid in internet friendship and recommending this to me and thanks for the ARC publisher. I will tell the world of this book’s greatness.

4.25 stars!!!
WOW! This book was fantastic! An extremely slow burn (not even sure it fully ignited but I loved it!). Great plot, beautifully written! Now I just need the next one!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄
🗡️ Enemies to lovers
🏠 Forced proximity
❤️‍🔥 Slow burn
🐲 Dragons
🪄 Magic

𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒
I have been desperate for a copy of this book ever since I found out the original work was being published traditionally. I first read The Auction in 2021 and it has lived rent-free in my head ever since. Although there were similarities and easter eggs (hello chaise lounge) between the original work and Rose in Chains, this story definitely took on a life of its own. I would have read this in under 6 hours if I didn’t have work the next morning. Also, the epilogue?????????? Completely caught me off guard.

As always, Julie’s writing is breathtaking and poetic and jaw-dropping. I felt completely immersed in the story and was heartbroken when I reached the end because I didn’t want it to be over. I will now be a shell of a person until I get the next book. ♾️/5⭐

Words cannot even describe how much I loved this book. Absolutely incredible.
Full disclosure- I have not read The Auction- but that just means that this book is incredible even if you haven’t! Thank the lord that this will be a trilogy because I NEED MORE!!

Thank you so much Forever for trusting me with this ARC, it means the world to me 🥹💕

🏰 World building
⛓️‍💥Politics and War
🔮 Interesting magic system between the mind and heart magics
🖤 The dramione-ness of it all
✨ Devastating and triumphant
🔥 Slow burn, angsty, forced proximity, enemies/rivals to lovers romance

A bit of a disclaimer - I have not read The Auction fic that this was based on prior to reading Rose In Chains. So I am going in blind and judging this book as a totally separate entity. I have read Julie’s other traditionally published books Forget Me Not, and Not Another Love Song and loved them!

I have been a huge reading slump, specifically within the fantasy/romantasy space and have been DNFing books left and right. So imagine my surprise when FINALLY I could not put this book down. It felt so original, and at first there were parts I truly did not know what was going on as the world was being built, and plot twists I didn’t see coming. The pacing of the story was so good, and I am living for the slow burn/yearning. I can’t wait to see where this story is going in the next books, and the ending was the perfect setup.


<i>Thank you so much to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. </i>

I really enjoyed this book a lot, and was so glad I was approved for an e-galley! I love Julie Soto's writing style, and it was interesting to see her in the romantasy genre as opposed to contemporary. Going into it, I knew it was based on a fanfic, but I was glad that the characters were their own. I will definitely continue with the series!

Screaming, crying, throwing up. I love Julie Soto already but damn! Rose in Chains pulled me right in and didn't let go. Briony is a fabulous MC. Her love for her brother is so tender yet so infuriating. While I was rooting for her, I was also furious on her behalf for the way other people treat her. I love all the layers to Toven and discovering more and more about him through the book. The flashbacks are well spaced and add so much depth to both the plot and the character motivations.
I will likely add more review after it's released, but to all my romantasy girlies, preorder it!