3 stars

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey and L. K. Steven for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The story follows Saffron, a Silvercloak, who is sent undercover into a group known as the Bloodmoons to help bring about their demise, and Saffron has her own grudge against the Bloodmoons.

I found the premise of this story incredibly intriguing, and I did enjoy the premise and the story, generally. I liked the vibes and the mix of fantasy and crime.

The magic system was very unique, and not something I’d seen before - pleasure restores it, pain amplifies it - in all of their forms.

I really liked the FMC, Saffron - and I enjoyed her humour. The main characters of the story have a complexity to them - Saffron and Levan (MMC) both do good and bad things, and at times the lines get blurred between good and bad - and Saffron, especially, has some moral conflicts over this, which I feel deepens her character a little.

However, a lot of the story and relationships felt a little disjointed, and some parts felt very confusing - I was often thinking to myself, “huh, how did we get here?”, which made it, for me, not flow very well. The story also felt slow to start, although it did ramp up. I also found that a lot of the major plot points were predictable.

Additionally, a lot of the themes, some of the story and how magic was used felt very reminiscent of Harry Potter at times, which did take me out of the story, and was a distraction for me.

Overally, I’m intrigued by how this story will continue, but I’m unsure if I’ll continue it.

3.75⭐️

Okay, I’m just going to rip the plaster off and say it, this book reminded me of Harry Potter too much. It felt a bit like a traditionally published fanfic that’s just a little too close to the original to feel completely fresh. That said, I was still curious to see where it would go.

The pacing took its time to pick up, and honestly, not much happened until I was about 60% through. I’m all for a slow burn, but this felt more like a slow crawl. The romance between Saff and Levan had some sweet and swoon-worthy moments, but overall, it felt a bit rushed and forced. I just couldn’t fully connect with their chemistry.

That said, the magic system was a real highlight. The idea that pain fuels magic and pleasure restores it? That’s not your typical HP spellcasting lore, and it brought a fresh twist I appreciated. I just wish more of the story had matched that level of creativity.

AND THE EPILOGUE?! Honestly, that might be the main reason I’m excited to pick up book two! 🤭🤭

I’ve never read any of the other books by Laura Steven but was really intrigued by the premise that this fantasy book was set in a world where magic is replenished through pain or pleasure. It really reminded me of Fall Of Ruin And Wrath by Jennifer L Armentrout, and because I loved that book so much, I thought that this would be something similar and hopefully just as well put together, but it did fall short of being a 5 star read for me.

I think the main thing that took me out of the story a bit, and made the experience as a whole a little harder to read, was just how much was being crammed into the plot, and just how many different aspects there was to each character. Instead of there just being one thing that set the FMC Saffron apart from anyone else in the book, it seemed like there were 5+ different things and it gave a very ‘pick me’ ‘I’m different to everyone else’ kinda vibe, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but it is something that you see more in YA books and not adult ones (and maybe that’s the reason I found Saffron to be a bit annoying? Because it seemed like a YA book if you took the spice and romance out?)

Along the same vein of the author trying to include as much as possible in the plot, there were so many things that just felt messy and confusing and a little chaotic. It seemed like the author just didn’t spend enough time on all of the little details, and like I said, was just trying to include so much drama into the story so that there wasn’t a boring or slow moment.
I know this is something that a lot of people will appreciate, but for me I just spent half of my time reading this one confused about what was actually happening.

Again, if the romance and spice was taken out of this one I feel like it could have been marketed at more of a YA level. There is usually such a clear divide between YA and Adult books, but here it felt super blended together. The romance between the two characters Saffron and Levan just felt kinda weird and forced for the sake of their being romance in this, and for the sake of including a morally grey, evil, problematic mmc (like most adult fantasy books have these days)

Overall, this one did rub me the wrong way, but I can also see that there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL here, and I really do think that there are a lot of readers who will fall in love with this story and the characters. It was unique in its own way, but there were just elements here that i couldn’t stand, and the execution was a little lacking for me personally.

✨3 stars✨

This is the fourth book that I have read by Laura Steven and I have rated the three previous at least four stars. Those books had been YA whereas this, I believe, was Steven’s first adult book. Needless to say I was really excited by not only the prospect of a new book from this author, but also the fact that this world and premise sounded really promising. A world where magic is replenished by either pain or pleasure. However, the execution of the book just let it down for me.

In the book we follow Saffron, a Silvercloak, who is sent on an undercover mission to infiltrate the ranks of Bloodmoons in order to gain information which would help to bring about their demise. Yet it wouldn’t be a fantasy without their being a personal reason for Saffron to go undercover; both Saffron’s parents were murdered by Bloodmoons when she was 6. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be a fantasy without a tortured MMC in order to form the enemies to love/forbidden love.

For the first 50% of the book, I was really enjoying this book. After that point though, this book just seemed to drag slightly and as I’ve alluded to everything was all a tad predictable in terms of the plot as everything just seemed to fall in Saffron’s lap and her bad decisions never seemed to affect her.

Finally, I just found myself disconnected from the characters and not feeling the chemistry between Saffron and Levan.

Overall, I don’t think this was a bad book at all, and I’ll probably read the next book in the series. I just think my extremely high expectations hindered my reading experience to some degree.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

DNF around the 45% mark

For being almost halfway through I just felt like not a lot had really happened. There was a little lack in descriptions of things, with the author using unfamiliar words in the world building repetitively but never properly explaining what it was.

I liked the vibes/aesthetic, love the premise, found it difficult to engage with. This is one I would maybe go back to and try again with the audiobook but for now with the ebook version it’s a DNF.

Silvercloak follows Saffron as she’s sent undercover to join The Bloodmoons, a violent organised crime group responsible for the death of her parents.

I really liked the protagonist here. She had a lot of personality and a great sense of humour. Her motivations and choices were convincing and I enjoyed her relationships with her friends, especially Nissa. I also really enjoyed the romance. I adored Levan as a love interest, he’s a very interesting morally grey character and honestly how could I not love a man that casually murders people but also loves books and has an organised tea collection? I really felt the tension between Levan and Saffron and appreciated the way their connection built slowly and naturally throughout the story.

Unfortunately the worldbuilding in this one really didn’t work for me. The magic system felt like Harry Potter with the names and details changed, there was just too much similarity to the point it distracted me from the plot. There was also some infodumping about the different regions and religions in this world that made it difficult for me to retain the information. Although I liked that the characters bonded over a favourite book series, I found that the references to the books became repetitive.

The ending was brilliant though and made me re-evaluate my feelings on the book as a whole. While it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, it went in a really interesting direction that has me so intrigued as to what will happen in the second book and what’s to come between Saffron and Levan. While I had mixed feelings about Silvercloak I feel like I’m invested enough to give the next book in the series a chance.

Firstly, thank you to the publisher for giving me an early copy to review.

Silvercloak is a high fantasy/romance read with a strong FMC who's mission is to ultimately bring down the Bloodmoon gang who killed her parents when she was a child. The book follows Saffron's journey, and we meet Levan the MMC in this story. Firstly I want to say that this took me around two and a half weeks to read, partly because I have found it a bit hard to pick up, not that it isn't a great story, but just because at times I did get a bit bored. However I will say that the plot and world building is fleshed out incredibly well and you can see a lot of thought has gone into the plot, the characters and the magical system.

This leads me onto one of my favourite aspects of Silvercloak: the elaborate magical system that is based purely on refilling your magical well with either pain or pleasure. It's a really unique magical system that I haven't read anywhere else and it's not overcomplicated to understand which is always a plus.

The characters within this book I feel were really well represented, there was a great balance between good vs evil, and there wasn't this force to really like the bad guys() because of a budding romance. I also felt that there was great queer representation that was not necessarily addressed as being 'not normal' which sometimes can feel like the case when authors address sexual orientation.

Overall, I did like this book, i did just struggle to get into it a bit but it is a great read for those who enjoy morally grey characters, slow burn romance, a unique magical system and an immersive fantasy world.

Silvercloak is addictive! I did not want to put it down! Firstly the magic system is unique and fuelled by pain and pleasure. With wand style magic and cloaks I felt a classical fantasy vibe throughout. The world-building is epic, with streets full of characters vivid in my mind, but I could have done with even more in terms of history and culture. I feel this will develop through the series though and cannot wait to learn more.
In terms of the plot, this was really fun and nail-biting, sometimes slightly predictable but I still was on edge.
If I’m enjoying a book, which I very much did, then actually after finishing I find myself lost for words. I can say that I loved the time spent the with Bloodmoons, all too often when I read a book we spend too much time on the ‘good’ side and don’t get to see the ‘bad’. The Bloodmoons are elusive, savage and powerful. The undercover mission is interesting and full of peril.
Overall Silvercloak is a well written fantasy adventure, it includes an amazing animal companion, magic, time travel and the seeking of vengeance! The romance subplot was a nice addition but this book has so much more going for it and I predict this will be hugely successful.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I'm wavering between a 3.5-star and 4-star rating on this one.

I had a good time with this book but I feel like I wanted a bit more from it. The world building was interesting and I enjoyed the magic system, but I don't think the characters were as rich and fleshed out as others from this author.

For an adult book, the main characters felt quite young. If you removed the spice, I do think this could easily be a YA book and actually, I think the pacing would have improved a bit if it was aimed at a YA audience. There was definitely a bit of a lull partway through.

For someone who is meant to be clever and resourceful enough to get through Silvercloak training while upholding a lie, Saffron made a lot of stupid moves. It felt like she was just crossing her fingers and hoping for the best rather than utilising the life experience she would obviously have.

I just wanted that bit more to leave me fully gripped and desperate to turn the page. I do think it has set up the next book really well though and that things are probably going to get a lot darker and far more tense so I'm excited for that.

I feel like the series is only going to get stronger so I will keep reading.

I am sorry to say that I found it hard to get into this book. I liked the sound of it, but found it wasn't a good read for me, .I hope other readers enjoy it more.

I was thrilled to get the eARC for this one. It sounded fascinating from the blurb. The world building and magic system in Silvervloack absolutely doesn’t disappoint. I was thoroughly invested throughout the beginning. However I’m afraid the story just fell flat for me after such a promising start. Everything felt a little ‘easy’ and convenient. I didn’t really find a bond with the characters or their romance so I wasn’t rooting for them and truthfully found my attention waning towards the end so I wasn’t rooting having to reread passages and re-focus often.

The writing is great and the world building is captivating. It just didn’t vibe for me this time but I can see it being a real hit for others. I’m rating it a 3.5 but rounding up to 4 because I feel it’s definitely a ‘me’ problem here.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and LK Steven for gifting me this eARC. My review is wholly my own opinion.

Saffron is a Silvercloak, a trained magical elite police, that is able to infiltrate a criminal organisation because of her immunity to magic. But as she’s pushed to break rule after rule, she finds things are not quite as black and white as they seem. This was such a delicious premise, and the added premise of magic being fuelled by pleasure and pain just muddied those waters even more. Objectively, it was a great book. It had solid characters, good world building (if a little confusing at times) and a very strong plot. And that ending was intense in the best way possible. And yet, I didn’t really connect with the book, which is a shame because I’ve been absolutely blown away by the author’s other books. I thought it was overwritten at times, especially Saffron’s internal monologue. She kept repeating herself over and over. The book is big, and a lot of words could have been cut just by getting rid of this repetition. I think another part of the problem was that the book was very plot driven rather than character driven, so as much as I loved the characters, I never really felt any fear/desire for them specifically. Again, this is absolutely a me issue, and I think someone who loves big world building and a massive plot-driven story will absolutely love this one.

4.5 ⭐

A really great fantasy, with the slow burn romance giving serious Dramione undertones.

I loved the story, the action, some pretty high stakes and massive build up, although I do think certain parts could have had a bit more of an emotional impact than they did in the end.

The enemies to lovers dynamic was fantastic, there was so much grief and eventual trauma bonding, and it was hot when they finally got together.

The whole idea of pain and pleasure feeding the magic was such an interesting concept, and this, along with the themes of time weaving and necromancy, led to some seriously enthralling scenes.

The ending took me by surprise! I could not believe what my eyes were seeing, and I am now desperately waiting for the next book.

Silvercloak is a romantic fantasy where magic is fuelled by pleasure and pain, and a Silvercloak (basically a magic detective) with unique powers is tasked to infiltrate a powerful gang, the Bloodmoons.

This book might be one of my favourite reads of the year so far! My favourite part was definitely the unique magic system as I’ve never read anything like that before! The world building was amazing and I struggled to put the book down due to all the high-stakes missions and plot twists! I can’t wait until the next book comes out because the ending was amazing and I definitely didn’t see it coming!!

Thank you Laura Steven, Del Rey UK and NetGalley for the ARC!

Silvercloak follows the story of Saffron Killoran, who’s out for revenge after her parents’ murder. She ends up joining the notorious Bloodmoon gang, and from there, things spiral into a world of magic powered by pleasure and pain!

This was an interesting read with an intriguing magic system and a heap of interesting characters.

Like others, I was drawn to this book after adoring Our Infinite Fates, but found this one a bit harder to get into.

Thank you NetGalley and Cornerstone for this ARC.

Lot's of potential but missed the mark for me on all fronts and was just sort of meh.

The H*rry Po**r comparisons are both accurate and not, most of the book feels nothing like it but there's a handful of scenes that are as close you could get as completely ripping of a scene without it actually being plagiarism. So I don't really thinks this works as a recommendation for "if you want something queer positive to scratch the HP itch but isn't written by an evil human" which is a shame.

The concept of magic fuelled by either pain or pleasure was super cool but it felt like it wasn't really fully actually explored, considering this is an adult fantasy I honestly expect a world built on pain and pleasure would be MUCH more violent and sexual and include a lot crossover pushing the boundaries of where pain and pleasure meet. But honestly this read 100% like a young adult book, there's like two sex scenes that are a bit more than what YA would usually include but also not particularly graphic or detailed.

Even our main character is written like a YA protagonist, she's not the worst but just very naïve and for someone whose been trained is like pretty shit at being undercover.

The plot was a bit choppy and the world building a bit all over the place and the relationships were all just lukewalm. The only interesting pairing was Nissa and Saff but they aren't the titular pairing and so don't get much page time.

After really enjoying Our Infinite Fates it's so sad that this one was such a let down.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK for an arc in exchange for an honest review

I really don't know what to say on this one to be honest. I did not connect with this at all. I'm on the fence, I didn't love it but I also didn't dislike it. If anything, I'm underwhelmed.

Whilst there was bits I liked and enjoyed, I was waiting for it to get better or something to happen or for it just to be over.

I loved the world and the plot but it just didn't quite hit the mark for me. I found the pain/pleasure thing both interesting and weird.

I adored Levan and I kind of wish we got more of his POV. I really hoped for a different outcome between him & Saff which I'm a little disappointed in but I'm assuming it'll come in book two.

I also need a Rasso in my life.

Silvercloak, is a dark blend of espionage, revenge, and morally complex magic and characters. Set in a world where power is fueled by pleasure and pain, the story follows Saffron Killoran, a fierce double agent infiltrating a deadly academy to bring down the gang that destroyed her family.

“Let me tell you something about loss, sweetling. You can either yield to grief, or you can use it. Those are the only two choices, in the end.”

I think my expectations were a little too high after our infinite fates. Although I enjoyed this book and the writing is fantastic, I didn’t find it particularly gripping. This book took me an embarrassingly long time to get through, to the point where I had forgotten characters and what the spells meant! That being said I could still establish the plot and had a good time while reading this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK (Cornerstone) for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely devoured every word of this book & when I was done I had to sit staring into space for a few minutes processing.

This is an urban fantasy, following Saffron, who is in training to become a Silver Cloak - essentially, a magical police force - driven to one day get revenge against those responsible for the murder of her parents 20 years ago, a crime syndicate known as the Bloodmoons. So, when she is offered the opportunity to go undercover in the Bloodmoons, she takes it, along with the blows this deals her personal life; it will all be worth it to take them down, she is sure. But Saff didn't account for what she would have to do to maintain her cover, or for the mysterious and intriguing son of the Kingpin, and how the experience would change her.

'There is no good or evil, only evil and greater evil. And you still have to pick a side'

Going in I wasn't sure that I was the ideal reader for this, as urban fantasy isn't my usual fare, but I had previously enjoyed other work by this author so was keen to give it a go and I am so, so glad I did because it absolutely blew me away. I will be urging all of my friends to pick this up and it will definitely be a contender for my top read of 2025.

The magic system, fuelled by pleasure and pain, was so unique, and I could tell the author had not only thoroughly mapped their magic system but also considered the way it would shape their world, it's history + politics, and how it would affect people's day to day lives and motivations. I found it so refreshing to read a queer normative, body positive and sex positive fantasy world, and that world felt so incredibly full.

This was fast paced; as a reader we are constantly moving forward and learning new information. I had to pick my jaw up off the flaw multiple times. The romance is not only essential to driving this story, but it is full of delicious tension and that bittersweet dread of irreconcilable differences and looming tragedy. I was falling in love right beside Saff to be honest, which just made the gut punch moments hit all the harder. The choices Saff makes are critical, and always impossible.

I did find some sections at the beginning a bit exposition heavy, but I cannot bring myself to let this affect my rating because it didn't diminish my reading experience, and I do think in this kind of book it is necessary in order to let the reader catch up to the main character.

Overall a brilliantly executed, well written, refreshing fantasy. I am already desperate for the sequel.

Thoroughly enjoyed this first part of what I assume is going to be a series (though I hope it isn't too long). Why only three stars, then? Well, I'm taking one star off for the absolutely trope-y romance: the whole mysterious, "bad" boy, with painful secrets, and oh-so-beautiful, who the (female) main character manages to draw out and fall in love with. (The only good thing about the romance was that everyone in the world seems to be pansexual.)

Aside from that, loved the world-building and the magic system. Saffron's undercover assignment at the Bloodmoons' seemed a bit lacklustre given the build-up of how dangerous it was going to be. There were also many, many coincidences that set up some of the storylines very conveniently. That said, I'm very invested, and will be waiting for book 2.