Silvercloak was engaging and fast-paced, with a fabulous opener. Set in a magical world populated with different classes of mages, the world-building is interesting and has an almost Wizarding World feel to it. Written in third person omniscient with a single character of action, the prose is accessible and has a cohesive feel. It was easy to read and kept pace well.

The story follows Saffron Killoran as she attempts to become a Silvercloak, or the magical law enforcement of her world. She lies and forges magical certificates to gain entry into the Academy, and is unmasked on the verge of graduation. Her captain gives her the choice to be expelled and cast off, or to go deep undercover to infiltrate the Bloodmoons, a notoriously violent and influential organized crime apparatus that has resisted all previous infiltration attempts. Using her most closely guarded secret, her immunity to external magic, Saff is able to gain access to the Bloodmoons and begins her work to bring them down. Complicated of course by the brooding and mysterious son of the Bloodmoon’s kingpin, Levan.

This novel was fun and unexpectedly fresh. So many of the fantasies with romantic subplots have had a recycled feel to them, but the premise and setting kept things interesting and the romantic aspect was relatively well done. There was a moderate level of spice, with some explicit depictions of f/f and f/m sex, and m/m sex acts hinted at. The world appears to be queer-normative with no stigmatization, and the FMC was raised by her two uncles (m/m married pairing). Sex is foundational to the plot, as the magic of the world is based on pleasure (in a variety of forms) and pain, pleasure being necessary to refill a mage’s depleted well, and pain heightening the power of the mage’s magic.

It is categorized as a dark fantasy, and I would say that the gore and sex content would make that applicable, but the dominance of the romantic subplot might make this unappealing to readers of dark fantasy. A dark fantasy romance isn’t quite the right category either, so this might suffer from mismarketing fatigue post-release

The plot is moderately predictable, with heavy foreshadowing. It’s hard to avoid, as prophecy is part of the plot, but the reader goes into the novel knowing a circumstance is going to occur, and there’s only so much on the journey there that isn’t predictable. The forced proximity of the FMC and MMC feels slightly unrealistic, but is able to be overlooked. The character arc of the FMC doesn’t do a whole lot, other than having a rather predictable reveal at the end, but the arc of the MMC is enjoyable and gives readers access to multiple facets of the character. Side characters are relatively one-dimensional and only impact the MCs as the plot requires.

I enjoyed this novel, and am definitely looking forward to the next installment. The publisher listed multiple comps such as A Fate Inked in Blood, Sword Catcher, and The Serpent & the Wings of Night. I would say that Sword Catcher is probably the closest in plot construction, but that tS&tWoN has a similar feel in the romantic aspect. I don’t see the similarity with aFIiB. All around an enjoyable novel of good quality.

"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Infinite Fates comes an addictive new fantasy series where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain and an obsessive detective must infiltrate a brutal gang of dark mages - knowing that one wrong move will get her killed....

Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran's parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy - the training ground for her city's elite order of detectives - with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice.

But when Saff's deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she's given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside.

Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover - and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there's also her growing feelings for the kingpin's tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron's hand.

With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she's ever loved...the detective who's dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it."

You always have to decide if what you have is worth more than what you have to lose.

A thrilling fantasy novel packed with magic, mystery, and adventure!

The story moves quickly and keeps you guessing with surprising twists and turns. The characters are well-developed, especially the friendships and rivalries that add depth and emotion to the plot. I really enjoyed the world-building, It feels vivid and immersive without being overwhelming.

This book is perfect if you like fast-paced stories with magic, strong characters, and a touch of danger.

This is a really difficult one to review because I did end up enjoying it but it did take me until over halfway in to feel that way.

I haven’t read another book since the obvious that uses wands to cast magic and I think there’s a reason authors stay away from that. It’s too famous and as soon as you do something similar the reader will start comparing other aspects. For example, both her parents are killed as a child, there’s a part where she tries different wands and they reject her, there’s a long, white haired, hook nosed baddie called Lucius-sorry, Lyrian. It is also info dump after info dump, it’s not woven into the story and the majority of it turned out to be irrelevant, it’s what really put me off for a good quarter of the book.

But once you stop trying to look for similarities, and get past the dumping, the story is actually pretty unique, I enjoyed all the different aspects to magic. I loved the undercover infiltration and discovering what the Bloodmoons were up to. I’m hoping in the next book we get answers as to why Saffron is the way she is and why Levan’s magic is somehow different... (as spoiler free as possible I’m annoyed she didn’t have more of a reaction in the moment, I know she was preoccupied but if you’d gone your whole life thinking one thing I think it would be pretty startling to you).

I ended up loving Levan so much I stopped liking Saffron, that boy needs to catch a break!

It took me to 88% to realise that Aviruna and Cassian were the same person 😂

Definitely think it’s worth a read as I’ll definitely read the next one!

Great read from
Start to finish. Enjoyed immensely. And will be recommending to everyone. Not much else to say. 4 stars. Will read again

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

Silvercloak by L. K. Steven is a third person-POV fantasy with erotic elements. When Saffron was six, her parents were murdered in front of her by the Bloodmoons. As an adult, she has dedicated her life to the Silvercloaks and is chosen to infiltrate the Bloodmoons to bring them down and finally get her revenge. But Saffron grows close to Levan, the son of the Bloodmoon kingpin, and her loyalties are going to be put to the test.

Like I’ve been doing a lot lately, I had to really think on how I was going to define this book’s genre because there is sometimes a thin line between a romance subplot and a romantic fantasy that is going to be subjective. I would classify this a fantasy that has a romance subplot with erotic elements. A lot of the book has little to do with Levan and a lot more to do with what Saffron is doing in relation to her mission and other characters. Saffron also has lingering feelings for a former flame who is Dragonborn that do come up, but it is not enough to tip this into romantic fantasy territory for me.

The erotic aspects are linked directly to the magic system and the worldbuilding as the magic system is made up of wells that are filled via pain and pleasure. Because of this, we get some very light S&M and some spicy scenes that are mildly kinky. I would probably put it at a 2.5 or a 3 on a 5 point scale as the scenes never lingered long enough on the actual kink to feel truly spicy. It’s roughly the level I would expect of a lot of adult fantasy with just a little bit more BDSM going on. I do think it’s very cool for magic to be made of both pain and pleasure and how that can feed into the line being blurred for some people.

The thing I found really interesting was the existence of Timeweavers and how tied they are to religion in this world. A major complaint about worldbuilding in fantasy is that everyone believes the same thing about the same deities when we all know that in the real world that it definitely does not work like that otherwise there wouldn’t be thousands of denominations of Christianity alone. In Silvercloak, the Timeweavers have been snuffed out by one faith that views them as an abomination while another faith views the mass murder of Timeweavers as inherently wrong. I would love to see how this is expanded further in the next book because the part Timeweaving plays in the plot of this book will definitely have consequences Saffron is going to have to deal with.

I would recommend this to fans of fantasy with more kink-inspired worldbuilding and readers of romantic fantasy who wants something less romance plot heavy that still definitely has a strong romance thread

“I see you, Silver. For all that you are.”

The joy I feel at getting ARCs is often matched by the sadness of having to wait extra long for book two. And that’s how I feel about Silvercloak.

A world full of rich history, intriguing mafia-esque gangs and magic fuelled by pleasure and pain? It’s one of the most unique books I’ve read this year and it kept me guessing until the end.

Saffron grapples with her new identity as she goes undercover, just how far while she go for the mission? Her personal boundaries are tested, all while trying to unravel the mystery that is Levan.

“He was a glittering gamehouse, a black cherry sour, a dark prophecy. And in this moment he was hers.”

The magic system is so interesting, the world building is intricate without being too heavy and the characters keep throwing you off guard in a way that made me not want to stop reading.

There are definitely some heart in mouth moments, Laura was not afraid to up the gore levels and the slow burn spice was spicing. Silvercloak deserves all the hype and more, and after that ending I cannot wait for book two!

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the arc!

Laura Steven, the genius that you are!!

Silvercloak is an addictive epic fantasy with wizards, mages, and romance.

The magic system is wonderfully unique, with wands and wells of magic refilled by pain and pleasure. It is sexy and smutty with bi4bi characters and some light kink 😌

Full of morally grey characters who are distraught by hard choices, the emotion behind this work is truly astounding. The way Steven portrays grief and trauma was moving and had me clutching my chest and fighting back tears at multiple points throughout the story.

The end of the book had me gasping (both from shock and spice 😏) and the cliffhanger is leaving me desperate for the sequel. This is truly an excellent fantasy and I have high hopes it becomes the next big thing!!

Thank you to Del Rey & Netgalley for an early copy of this book.

4.5 stars rounded up for a stellar ending.

Wow, what a wild ride! I went into this book completely blind & I just finished, I am sat and shooketh. At first I was like huh, Harry Potter cops, interesting. But the more the world unfolded, the more interesting and unique it became. I am absolutely obsessed. The beginning was a bit rough, it was way too much information in such a short period for me. But once over the initial hump, I couldn't read this book fast enough. Saff is an absolute mess and could not have worse luck if she tried. She's dumped into a world of espionage with little to no information and is constantly stepping in it. It blows my mind that she was praised for her critical thinking skills cuz she made every wrong turn possible and had to adjust to hopefully fix it. Levan is born of the same trauma and watching them bond was so adorable. The love hate relationship was so real. You should absolutely pick this up if you love slow burns, magic academy, undercover spies, fueds, magic fights and witty banter. It won't let you down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are honest and my own.

4/5 stars

Magic system based on pleasure and pain? Count me in!

I was pleasantly surprised when I realised they were actually using wands to cast spells. I didn’t know it had become so rare in fantasy books these days until I read it in this book.

Overall I really enjoyed the story. It has a lot of twists and turns, some of which I saw coming, some I didn’t. Saffron makes some …choices and most of the time I wanted to shake her and scream at her to think about what she’s doing.

I really enjoyed the writing style and the pacing. I wouldn’t class this a Romantasy personally, but I enjoyed the romance nonetheless.

I’ll definitely pick up book two when it comes out!

I made it about halfway through when I realized that maybe this book isn't for me. Although the world and magic system was very unique, I didn't feel invested or attached to Saffron. The romance and storyline felt very predictable. Not the worst I have read, but not the best either. I might give it another try in the future.

When I heard this story was a queer Harry Potter-esque magic I was super interested. And it did not disappoint. The magic system was super unique and interesting. They have magic wands and say spells to perform magic but their magic depletes with use and can only be refilled with pleasure or pain. So that part was super cool. There is a lot of mysteries that you find out along the way and some mysteries that we still have yet to find out. I loved Rasso the fallowwolf! The romance in this was never super convincing since there is always some degree of deceit which makes it hard to truly root for them. Our main character Saffron made some annoyingly stupid decisions sometimes which is all that is really keeping this from a full 5 stars. But otherwise I am invested in this story and am excited to continue the series!

Here I am again with the romantasy after I said that I would let it go. But I was lured by a world "where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain" and I couldn't resist. And I can happily report that the world and the magic system indeed did not disappoint here. But everything else can be described in one word: okay. The characters: okay. The plot: okay. The romance: okay. As you can see, I'm not exactly bubbling with excitement for this book, but really everything was okay here. This will probably still be a review where I list things upon things that bugged me, but there are no hard feelings on my part. It's better than your average romantasy book in my opinion, because the romance is not the sole focus and there was made an effort with the fantasy part.

It's the story of Saffron Killoren, 26 years old and about to graduate from the magical Silvercloak Academy together with her cohort. But things don't go as planned when her long-kept secret of her immunity to magic gets revealed. This ability is basically unheard of in the all magical world, and it's the reason why Saffron doesn't start a normal Silvercloak job but is sent to infiltrate a crime organization instead. It's basically the magic police vs. the magic mafia, if you will. It's the same people that killed Saffron's parents when she was a child, so she wants to destroy them anyway and joins their ranks to do so. I tell you how it is: the cool magic and the interesting world are kinda wasted on the whole undercover-in-the-mafia plot. I was so fascinated by the descriptions of the magic in the beginning – the magical objects made by Saffron's father or the cities that are built with the intent to restore magic – but that wasn't part of the later story at all. Instead the book focused on Saffron collecting intel and on her growing relationship with the kingpin's son Levan. I felt nothing for their romance, but it was bearable. I think that their interactions were way to casual for her just entering the organization. Like, he literally fired a killing spell at her during their first meeting and then they still warm up to each other? I don't really get Levan's character anyway. He's killing nonchalantly but then I'm told that he is actually a tortured soul and a bookworm. And I haven't even mentioned that he's basically all-powerful for some reason. I never stopped rolling my eyes when it came to him. I mean, if that's what Saffron wants it's fine, but she had a hot and badass dragon girlfriend in the beginning, just saying. Saffron's whole situation was honestly not as bad as the author tried to sell it to me. Yes, the crime boss forced her to inflict violence against her will, but she wasn't under strict surveillance and was even able to get help by her Silvercloak friends. I never had the feeling that she was in danger, because she either bullshits her way out of tricky situations or she's acting recklessly without any consequences. Saffron gets a loyalty brand that would prevent her from betraying the organization if she wasn't immune to magic, and I can't even count how often she pointed at it and said: "Look here. I couldn't possibly be a rat." Honestly, it was such a cop out. Saffron's newly acquired magic is also one big cop out, but it was foreshadowed so clearly throughout the story that it at least didn't come as a surprise. In the end all I can say is that I wish that this story took literally any other direction than the police-mafia one. I didn't hate it, but I was always thinking about what could have been. 2.5 stars.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

There’s not much I can say about this book in a review without feeling like I’m spoiling the whole thing so I’ll keep this short and sweet.

This is a unique fantasy romance with mages, a unique magic system and morally grey characters. The more I read of this book and the more revelations there were, the more I questioned the characters motives and morals.
I enjoyed saffron as the main protagonist. She’s been through a lot of loss in her life and it’s shaped her into a caring but slightly standoffish person. She doesn’t like to get too close to people and care too much because she knows how much it hurts to lose them. I found her dynamics with both Nessa and Levan really interesting but got more invested in the story the closer she got to levan. I think that’s where the story gets good because the plot unfolds and gets a bit darker and more intriguing as she infiltrates the Bloodmoons.
I didn’t expect things that happened towards the end and it’s all set the next books up to make what I think will be a really unique and exciting series.
Thankyou to Delrey and NetGalley for the arc.

It took me a while to get into this book – the worldbuilding was quite intense for me at the beginning! But once I started to grasp it, I was hooked.

We follow Saffron, and her quest to avenge the murder of her parents at the hands of the Bloodmoons 20 years ago. She lies her way into the Silvercloak Academy – training ground for elite detectives, just so she can bring the Bloodmoons to justice. Of course, things do not go to plan, and she ends up working undercover in the Bloodmoons. But can she resist the lure of Levan, the kingpin’s son? And what will she have to do in order to keep her cover?

The character development in this book was brilliant – we peel back layers of Saffron and Levan, the relationship they have revealing so much about each character’s motives and drives. The magic system – magic is drawn from pleasure and pain – I found unique and intriguing.

The tension in this book is also delivered perfectly, and there is so much of it! In her undercover role Saff has to interact with so many Bloodmoons, including the kingpin himself. These meetings are often fraught and I was on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen!
Saffron and Levan’s meetings are also strained, at least at first, and I was left wondering if they would ever become more than reluctant ‘allies’.

The book is full of deception and trust issues, as well as a prophecy and a fallowwolf – a fantastic recipe! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to the next one.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC!

First of all, I really enjoyed this! I love a magical world with cloaks and wands but also magic fueled by pleasure and pain.

Cons: I think we needed a little more development of the relationships Saff had with her friends. For someone who has lived through so much pain and is relatively detached, she has really close bonds to her classmates while also somehow not knowing them super well. Her unyielding loyalty to them was admirable, but at times confusing. Secondly, her time in the Bloodmoon’s was simply too easy. She really walked in there and got branded a Bloodmoon in only a few hours work - something that’s never been done before. I dunno, seemed way too easy. Lastly, the “why” of bringing back Levan’s mother after 20 years - seems a bit far fetched. I would understand better Levan & his father trying to carry out her goals in her name.

Pros: the enemies to reluctant friends w/ attraction - yes yes yes. Also I love a dark & broody villain who’s secretly a softie (particularly one who loves books). Secondly, the twists primarily with Levan’s power as a Compeller & his ability to use magic on Saff (I want to know why that is so bad and you can’t tell me it’s just bc he’s powerful, there has to be more to that). Similarly to that, while Saff being a Timeweaver wasn’t necessarily unexpected, I am very interested in what comes from that and hope book 2 deep dives into her exploring this more. (Although I haaaaate that she gave up her parents necklace for an hourglass, girlie needs to go steal that back). Third, the prophecy aspect & how both Saff and Levan had received prophetic visions of each other was really interesting. Lastly, the epilogue chapter ohhh boy. I liked having Levan’s POV, however brief.

Overall, I liked a lot of this. I found it interesting and kept me hooked from start to finish, and I finished this in a day! I cannot wait to see what comes in book 2, especially now that we’re back to enemies.

Very good and interesting read! quite the love/hate relationship between the main characters. Kept me guessing along the way too!

Thank you NetGalley and DelRey for the opportunity to read this eARC.

A world and characters filled with secrets, deception and actions fueled by revenge. There’s the Silvercloaks, the Bloodmoons and our FMC in the middle of all of it.

The book starts with this simmering tension. Our main character Saffron is heading into her last assessment at the academy to become a Silvercloak, and we already got hints of all the secrets the fmc keeps close to her chest. We get introduced to the other cadets, and get insight into a world we don’t yet know who to trust in, so when Saff’s deceptions get uncovered by the academy’s captain I was literally at the edge of my seat. I really loved that scene, the tension was so subtle, yet noticeable, I felt like I had to hold my breath.

The first part of this book had me convinced that this would be a gripping, interesting story. Sadly, the second half of the book slowed down for me, and the plot kind of dragged itself out. The tension was gone, and Saff’s time at the Bloodmoons didn’t really live up to what we were told it would be like. It all kind of felt lackluster at at around 70% I just wondered what we were even doing at this point, I just desperately wanted the story to pick up again.

I appreciated how you really get to understand the fmc’s motivations, you aren’t just supposed to accept her actions but actually get to really understand why she did/does everything she’s doing. It was handled in such a realistic way. She wasn’t unbeatable, she wasn’t the smartest person around, she didn't get away with every plan she made. You got to watch her struggle, fail and desperately try to fix any derailments in her plans.
It took me a while to warm up to our mmc Levan, his depictions often fell flat for me, he felt more like a concept than an actual fleshed out character, so while a lot of his characteristics had potential for emotional impact it just didn’t hit me as much as I’d like. I think there was more potential to flesh out the dynamic between Saff and Levan, before the big finale at the end.

And let me tell you, it was a big finale. Right when you think "Maybe everything will work itself out" everything goes downhill in a way you wouldn't expect. I'm definitely looking forward to the second book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC!

I was tempted by this book - and I thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a read.

I think what I thought the book was to be and what the book ended up becoming was what let me down. In this, the plot and what was at stake and how the character was written did not clash with one another as I hoped. Some will enjoy this for the Hogwarts style magic world, others will dislike it because of that reason.

Me? I just found it juvenile.

This was a pleasant return to wands-and-cloaks fantasy, with an interesting and unique magic system, a hedonistic queer-normative society, and some much appreciated soft belly rep.

There was some solid world building and I enjoy LK Steven’s writing a lot, it’s very pretty. I’ve always longed for this sort of magic to be real, and I eat up pretty much anything that offers it up to me. That being said I think I’d have liked a longer time setting up Saff’s relationships so that they had a greater impact emotionally, I feel like only a few pages were spared to set the scene before throwing us into undercover mode and all the ramifications thereafter, and I wanted to feel really torn up about the fallout, but I just wasn’t that connected.

I’m still processing that ending, but all in all a solid read, looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC!