Im leaving this review after I finished the whole book, after being completely sucked in by this preview version!

This was on my list of highly anticipated books for the year and holy wow was it worth the hype!, The world building and the character arcs were everything I wanted this book to be. The world building was what really got me and just sucked me into the story! The magic system was just complex enough, and the curse was a nice touch to create the angst. I’m a reader that appreciates when I can sit down with a book and the time just melts away while I’m reading, to the point where I look up and hours have gone by. This book definitely did that for me!

I appreciated the twists and turns this book presented, as I am most definitely a reader that always ties to guess where we are headed. This book, I got some of the things right, and some of them not. I also still don’t know answers to some of my questions, and cannot wait for book two when those may be answered!

I’m unable to give a proper full review yet, as I only got a preview of the first four chapters. From the intriguing world building and plentiful information provided in the beginning, you get a good feel for the setting and its characters. I thought the introductions were done well and flowed nicely with the plot. I am pleasantly surprised and will be picking this up to continue the story to see where this goes!

I only got a sneak peek of the first four chapters, so I can’t give a full review just yet. The premise is really intriguing and definitely piqued my curiosity. I’m excited to see where the story goes. So far, I’m loving the unique worldbuilding and the writing style flows really well, making it easy to get into. That said, I’m not totally sold on the main characters just yet. I’m hoping they’ll grow on me as the story unfolds because this book has so much potential.

I had the chance to read the first four chapters thanks to Entangled! Excited to see where the story goes!

I’m not gonna lie, this book was not what I expected it to be. I was very intrigued with this story that I could not put it down. The magic and lore is something I’ve never heard of and I loved to hear every new bit of information that was given. That PLOT TWIST is something that I never would have guessed. Nothing could have prepared me for that moment and I was left with my jaw on the floor. I couldn’t see how the romance would work at the beginning but when that one moment happened, it was much easier to see what direction it was going. After that, the romance really started to pick up and I loved this story more. I’m excited to see where this story will continue in the next book.

I recommend everyone to read this book!

Thank you to the author, Entangled Publishing, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

The Goddess cursed all of the kingdom's noble families' firstborn children after a tremendous betrayal. Depending on their bloodline, each child is afflicted with perilous beauty, destructive knowledge, or insatiable bloodlust.

As Cerise begins to uncover secrets and piece together the puzzle, a race ensues to find the Half King and all the firstborn descendants from each family before they turn 21 and the curse fully takes control.

This book has it all, plot twists, magic, romance, and self-realization.

Thank you Netgalley, Melissa Landers, and Entangled Publishing, LLC | Entangled: Red Tower Books for providing me with the ARC excerpt of this book. I am leaving my honest review voluntarily and without coercion.

I'm glad that a preview of "The Half King" was on NetGalley, since I was thinking of buying it after reading the synopsis. After reading the first 4 chapters, I am intrigued as to what happens next. The characters and the story so far were interesting, and it does not help that the preview kind of ended on a "cliffhanger." I might end up buying or borrowing it from the library in the future.

I enjoyed the sample. The world building was interesting, and it captured my attention well enough to continue reading the rest of the book. I can’t give a proper, detailed review as I was only provided about 40 pages

I really enjoyed the writing style in this preview. It drew me in, and I’m curious to see where the story goes. The world-building has me intrigued, and I’m excited to read the full book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this preview.

I just finished this little sample, and I am so grateful I preordered the full book! I can’t wait to see where this story goes! So far I’m very intrigued by the magic system, and to see what’s in store for Cerise!!

This short snip of the book definitely makes me want to read the rest of the book! My interest is piqued but there’s also not a lot has happened (yet). I plan on reading the final copy of The Half King.

This book is written so beautifully. It was such a fun read from the beginning to the end. The only downside of the book is that some parts were predictable, but even those parts were still written in a way that I still enjoyed reading them.

I was NOT expecting to love this book as much as I did. The cover absolutely drew me in and the story had me in a chokehold. If that's not enough, there are curses, secrets and a shadow king. The FMC could have been more assertive, but overall all, I was entertained.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. The world building wasn't a struggle and I enjoyed the characters and their journey. When I finished I wanted more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. Man.. I wanted to like this so bad. I just didn’t care. Felt generic and underdeveloped.

This was just the first few chapters of this book but I can easily say I will definitely be buying the book to finish because WOW. This story blew me away almost instantly and drew me in so quick. I can’t wait to get my hands on the full book and finish the story!!!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This short snippet of The Half King definitely kept my interest! So many secrets and the world building was easy to follow so far. It was a quick 4 chapters. I'm curious to learn more about the curses that affect each noble family and the end of chapter 4 which ended in a cliffhanger makes me want to continue the story. It seems like it's going to be a great romantasy and I'm excited to see how Cerise plays a role in breaking the curses and saving the king.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled Publishing, and Melissa Landers for the ARC. Opinions expressed are solely my own.

So I said this briefly before—I only saw the 40 page preview so I can't really make a judgement based on that small of a preview,

I like this book so far, but for some reason, the copy that was sent through NetGalley was only the preview.

So I can only review what was given within the preview

It seemed like a world that is really reliant on the rulings of not their king, but the religious leaders, and that the religious leaders hold the majority of the power.
You only really shown the minimum world building within the preview, purposefully so I believe because our FMC Lives within a separate and segregated cast of society, the second born children. Your life and livelihoods are tied to not only your families, economic status, but their family name, and most importantly, birth order. Royal families are also all cursed by their goddess.
All in all, it’s a very interesting intro, I’m not quite sure why only the preview was available on NetGalley, but I really enjoyed what I read so far.

This book had a captivating premise, featuring curses, shadow kings, and evil priests, but unfortunately, it failed to live up to its potential. The curses were underdeveloped, and the shadow king's presence was minimal, leaving me wanting more. The romance was overly sweet and lacked banter, feeling like insta-love. The female main character was too meek and lacked backbone, making her less relatable. Overall, the story was disappointing due to its unfulfilled potential, but it was still a decent read.