The story at a glance:
⚔️ Enemies to Lovers
🩸 Doomed Prophecy
⚔️ Unique Magic System
🩸 Bisexual main characters

Silvercloak had a promising premise, but the delivery fell flat. The concept was really intriguing, but unfortunately all the characters were just plain unlikable, except for the one person we’re convinced we have to hate. The story was incredibly repetitive and the pacing was off.

Saffron is an undercover detective, yet every choice she makes throughout the story says otherwise. She’s impulsive, reckless, and disorganized which lends to being a terrible detective.

Characters get killed off so frequently that it lacks any emotional punch.

I can’t tell if Levan is meant to be autistic but he has a lot of characteristics that point in that direction, I would have loved if this was explored more. His childlike love for his favourite series is the only emotional impact I felt from this story. His character flip-flops between this personality and being a brutal killer, which just doesn’t work.

L.K. Steven has had me in a chokehold since Our Infinite Fates, so the moment I saw ARCs for Silvercloak go live, I practically sprinted to NetGalley. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the copy!

From the first chapter, Silvercloak had me completely hooked. The world is dark, immersive, and dangerously addictive. I mean, the concept?? A secret society of mages who use pleasure and pain as magic, and a main character infiltrating them from within? Absolutely wild.

Saffron is hands-down one of the most compelling protagonists l've read in a while. She's messy, determined, and emotionally layered in a way that feels so real. Watching her walk the line between duty and desire had me sitting on the edge of my seat more than once.

The moral greyness of the world adds such depth, and the writing finds that sweet spot between fast-paced action and emotional resonance.

And the romance? Chef's kiss. It's a slow burn, full of tension, and completely entwined with the core of the story. The magic system feels so fresh and unique, sometimes intense and a little eerie, but in a way that really draws you in. It's thoughtful, layered, and leaves you with something to really mull over.

If you're into dark fantasy that still feels grounded in emotion, with lush worldbuilding, morally complex characters, and a story that lingers long after you finish, Silvercloak is a must-read. I'll be obsessing over this one until book two drops!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

An interesting premise but the execution let me down. 

I loved the initial 10% maybe, the world building drew me in with the incredibly unique magic system. Having powers be drawn from either sources of pleasure or pain was very interesting and to me one of the strong points of the story. However, I missed some of the whimsical magic mentioned earlier in the book when the story shifted to focus more on the mafia plot. 

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for me was the confusing characterisation of the Bloodmoons. They were introduced as a terrifying, secretive, and highly distrustful group. And yet… Saffron, a total newcomer with approximately zero proven loyalty, was almost immediately handed top-secret information and given full access to the inner circle. To me, it just felt like the rules of the world were bent for convenience.

To me, the ending was a let down and seemed like a convenient resolution. Maybe I’m just a hater but I think I’m getting a bit sick of the “our relationship was foretold” storyline, which unfortunately was used.

WHAT THE HECK. Omg 🥲

When I started this book, I was a bit skeptical, it was like a lot of information at once, I was a bit lost, but like once I got hooked… jeez. Yes, this is like an adult Harry Potter, like imagine when everything was under Voldemort’s rule. Honestly, the concept was new, it was refreshing, and I loved how the main character had to make decisions that weren't completely black and white. Also, oof I don't think I've read a romantasy book with a "quiet" fmc like EVER. I mean, of course she had some snark but she did know when to be quiet. The cliffhanger was evil to naturally... actually cannot wait for book 2.

THIS is the kind of book I love. A new magical world with a spunky headstrong heroine in an academic setting, truly terrible villains with tragic origin stories, lovable side characters (one’s a pet!🐺🫶) and maybe most importantly - a devastatingly slow burn love story, between two characters who never really know if they are enemies or lovers ❤️‍🔥

While reading this, I wondered if the world building needed to be so complex. Maybe so, I guess we’ll find out in the next installment of the series. Regardless, this book was pure magic. ✨

Thank you so much to Del Rey for this ARC!

I love a good magic system and the unique quality of the magic in this world was really promising at first. The whole book felt so promising! Unfortunately it did not deliver for me.
I enjoyed some aspects of the world building but it felt unequal at times. Some parts felt too rushed, and others sort of drawn out. I was trying to find the happy medium here but overall it felt inconsistent. I will say, the parts of the world building that were done well, were done really well.

Unfortunately the plot felt like it was too easy to predict. It read like a YA novel but with mature content, which I think took away from the overall chemistry. I know the main characters are generally emotionally detached but not much about their interactions felt real.

Overall it didn’t quite meet my expectations but I think lots of people will enjoy this book, especially if they haven’t seen The Departed. (Too similar). Not sure how quickly I’d reach for book two but I do want to know where it goes next so I’m sure I will read it eventually.

Silvercloak could have been a lot more. The magic system was sound, wildly inventive, and Harry Potter-esque. The bad guys were indeed super bad guys. But there was a disconnect for me. It could be because magic is fueled by pain and pleasure, that it seemed that was the focus of a lot of the book—the physical pursuit of passion and pain. It seemed more time was spent on how the characters fueled their magic than on building believable characters you can root for. After reading this, I cannot think of anything that stands out about Saffron or Levan. I enjoyed the book, but not enough to continue the series.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing - DelRey, for the eArc. These are my opinions.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this book, with magic fuelled by pleasure and pain, and I was not disappointed - it was so cool!
Our FMC Saffron is a great character, I love seeing the inner workings of her mind as she continually rebalances and reassesses her priorities and what she is willing to do to take down the Bloodmoons. She is very morally grey and I was fascinated by what she could talk herself into in pursuit of revenge, and to keep from blowing her cover. As she spirals deeper into her undercover role, her relationships are tested with those inside the Bloodmoons and within the Silvercloaks and I felt for her. Her immunity to the effects of magic was a really interesting part of the story and I'm interested to see how this affects the next instalment of the story.
There are some great characters in this story - Levan, the MMC, is really interesting and I felt sympathetic toward him while also being frustrated that he lets himself remain in the Bloodmoons under the control of his father. Levan and Lyrian have a tragic past, losing Lorissa, Levan's mother / Lyrian's wife, and it brings into question what a reasonable character would do to honour their loved ones. Saff's Silvercloak friends are diverse in their origins and their personality types and I wanted to know more about all of them (I love found family), I'm hoping we get some more time with them in book 2.
The magic system in this book was amazing, it's such an interesting concept, with characters chasing pleasure to refill their magical well and pain to increase their strength - this felt so unique and I loved it. Also, I just loved the magic - I'm such a sucker for stories with magic users and wands and spellwork and this felt really well reasoned and well formed - it was so enjoyable.
I loved the storyline, there were a lot of twists and turns and that last scene felt like a rollercoaster, just when I thought I had it worked out, we were flipped around again! I'm so keen to read book 2 in this series, I need to know what happens next!

The world building seemed very uneven in the beginning, but by the time I got past the first couple chapters, this was a fairly engaging read! Not the best thing I’ve read this year, but a solid debut!

DNF @ 40%

I tried really hard to get into this. I felt a big disconnect in the plot to characters. The pacing felt kinda uneven to me. it starts out pretty exciting and then it slows down to where nothing is happening??? I’m so bummed about this because I loved the others author other book. But this was a big miss for me.

This promised a unique world with Harry Potter meets the mafia vibes and it delivered.

I thought this was a great set up and I liked the atmospheric academic vibes within the book. There was lot of representation and an interesting take on some pretty standard fantasy tropes. This won't be for everyone but the people who love it will make it their whole personality.

I don’t want to say too much to spoil the story but if your a fan of intriguing characters, spell casting, mafia/gangster energy meium to fast pacing then pick this book up!

Thank you to random house publishing group and L K Steven for the ears!

I finished Silvercloak with mixed feelings. There were aspects I really enjoyed, particularly the magic system, but I found the world-building clunky and felt some of the characters lacked depth. As a result, I gave the book 3.5 stars.

The opening felt a little rushed, with two major events happening almost back-to-back without much build-up or time to process them. It gave the impression that the author was eager to push us into the main story but still needed to include these events for context.

I’ve seen some reviews compare this book to Harry Potter, though I honestly don’t see the connection. While Harry Potter follows teenagers at a magical school, Silvercloak features a 26-year-old FMC and an older love interest. That said, the characters sometimes felt juvenile, which made me wonder if the book was originally intended as YA and later aged up.

I struggled to connect with the characters and their relationship, which meant I never felt fully invested in the story. The world-building also leaned more on lore dumps than organic integration, something that tends to pull me out of a narrative.

What I did really enjoy was the magic system. The concept of pleasure replenishing magic and pain amplifying it was fascinating, I also liked the fact the magic had limits

Overall, while Silvercloak didn’t fully land for me, I’m intrigued enough by the magic system and the ending to continue with the series. However, I would like to see some depth added to the characters.

I thought I would enjoy this as I loved Our Infinite Fates and this is Laura’s adult debut, but I have to say whilst I’ve read a lot of fantasy this year and a lot of it has been blurring into each other this has been a stand out in what good fantasy should be.

It took me a minute to get into because a lot happens right from the start, but the magic system is wonderfully complex, well thought out and unique. Just like Our Infinite Fates the quality of writing has you not wanting to turn the page for fear of what might happen next and also unable to stop reading.

The world is absolutely brilliant, the idea of pain and pleasure being responsible for magic, in an environment where an awful organisation are thriving and the “good guys” are essentially magical detectives trying to stop them, very reminiscent of the Aurors in HP with an undercover operative blurring the lines at every twist and turn.

The romance in this one was done in a way where whilst it existed it really was not the forefront of the story and actually added something to it.

The last 20% my heart was absolutely in my mouth unable to predict what was coming next and I loved it.

Overall, cannot wait for the next instalment in this series. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book had a lot of potential but in the end it just wasn't for me. I loved the idea of this book more than I loved the execution. I didn't love the main character and her choices really frustrated me. I did enjoy this magic system and the idea behind it and was one of my favorite aspects of this book. I was honestly really excited and I walked away from this book just feeling underwhelmed.

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

So so good!
I loved that this has a very unique magic system.
The characters were well written and fleshed out.
I really enjoyed the relationship between the two MC’s and was impressed with how this wasn’t your standard romantasy. It’s very much an epic fantasy with romance in there.
The plot twists were perfect.
My only gripe is overpowered characters but I guess we’ll see how that plays out in the next one 👀

3.25/5 stars

While I didn't dislike this first in series dark fantasy, I had hoped to enjoy it more.

It features a unique fantasy world where magic is accessed/harnessed through an abundance of pleasure and/or pain. And yes, it does sound a bit sadomasochistic (there is a small amount of that). And I think those added "musts" add some horror and very dark moments to this book.

All of the characters were flawed here with conflicting natures often at war with the other, and for me, even the mains were mostly difficult to like. There's a lot of subterfuge and torture (physically, mentally, and emotionally), and like I said the mains were not spared or blameless from this.

I do plan to read the next book as this one ended in a definite cliffhanger, but since I had mixed feelings about this one, I'm not in a big hurry for it.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore / Del Rey for providing the free early arc of Silvercloak for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

I enjoyed this book but it was too slow paced and somehow predictable for me.

The prohecy at the beginning was intriguing, but then it was mentioned so many times that I started feeling like "get it over with already! Can we just skip to when that happens, since every time Saffron is in trouble she reassures herself that the prophecy has yet to come?"

I really liked certain ideas: the pain and pleasure fueling magic , the fact that magic empties a sort of pit that needs to be replenished, the undercover mission, the superpower-nonpower of Saffron (and I don't want to spoil it), the classes of magic and how Levan controlled so many of them, without ever seeming to drain his maigc reserves, the fallowwolf, Saffron's necklace. I thought these were well conceived and intertwined.

Certain parts did not work so much for me. I couldn't get over the fact that Saffron is supposed to go deep undercover and she manages to get in on day one and within the first week she already has intel. Isn't the basics of any deep undercover mission that it takes months, if not years, to gain trust and climb the trust ladder to reach some crumbles of information? And the night coup for the cargo? I don't want to spoil it, but... come on! Didn't The Departed teach us anything?

I am a bit conflicted whether I will continue to the next volume: I am just really intrigued by the potential of all the magic world described in the book, I fear a little another 400-500 pages of quests with rookies on the brink of death saved by the bell.

✨𝒜𝑅𝒞 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌✨
📖: Silvercloak (The Silvercloak Saga, Book 1)

⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

In a world where magical wells are restored by pain or pleasure, Saffron Killoran has worked tirelessly to become an elite Silvercloak. For years, she’s molded herself to be singularly focused and unrelenting in order to take down those responsible for her parents' deaths. Through carefully crafted deceptions, she finds herself one step closer. But will vengeance lead her to her own downfall?

Burdened by grief and a prophecy, Saffron finds herself slowly entangled by her lies, collateral damage, and unexpected conflicting emotions. These characters are morally grey and harbor their own secrets and agendas. Time will tell how they choose to allow themselves to be defined.

In Silvercloak, the author depicts a sensorial and evocative portrait of the sequela of anguish, revenge, and grief.

Huge thanks to the author, Random House Publishing Group, Del Rey and NetGalley for the review copy opportunity. This is my honest and voluntary review.

3 stars. But hear me out. I want to read the next book. If the whole book was like the last two pages, it would have been an easy 5 stars. Unfortunately, it was not.

For a world with such a unique magic system, the lack of indulgence into it is a real shame. The book had the potential for bacchanalian chaos, but it just fell short.

Slow in pace without a need for it. The MCs lack any real chemistry, even when they finally get together.

Am I worried book 2 will be a disappointment? Sure. Am I going to read it with the hope that it’s not? Absolutely.

I hated this book.

If you come in with low expectations, then unlike me, you might actually enjoy this novel. This is the type of read where you'll fare a lot better if you turn off your brain and don't question anything.

Also, if you're of the ACAB persuasion, don't even bother.

The synopsis sounded cool, but the whole undercover thing felt amateurish to the point where you really have to work hard to suspend your disbelief. Early on, Saffron pulled a Pete Hegseth, and I just couldn't get over it.

The writing style and characterizations were very YA and romantasy, even though this is advertised as adult fantasy. I had to double check to make sure that this isn't being published by Red Tower Books. It sure as hell belongs next to Fourth Wing.

And in Red Tower knock off fashion, of course the nepo baby bad boy love interest was explained in excruciating detail:

"He had the chiseled face and physique of the carved statues that stood outside Saints halls."


"His body was a map of the person he was. It was lean and toned from his running and combat training, knots of muscle in his arms and shoulders and chest. His stomach was more concave than she suspected it usually was, with two hollow grooves either side of his belly button, the sharp V of his hips disappearing into his waistband."


"His hair felt impossibly soft. Every other part of him was hard, honed, a stoic construct against the world, but his hair felt like skimming the bolts of satin her uncles used for the royal cloaks. As her nails scraped over his scalp, he let out a long, slow sigh. She felt the reverberation all the way up her arm."


The way that Saffron instantly folded every single time she saw him or interacted with him was giving hormonal teenager. I'm too old for this shit. I didn't sign up for a Red Tower romantasy. Get me off this ride.

Every time a new concept was introduced, it was overexplained to the point of exhaustion. It felt like reading footnotes. More than half of the time I didn't care about the history or backstory of x, y, z. They added nothing to the story. It was so much fluff.

Turned out the ending plot twist was the only thing I ended up liking. It was like something out of a Marvel comic book or movie. And I'm a basic bitch for that kind of thing. And trust me, the twist was the epitome of cliche.

Actually, there was another scene that I liked. But only because I'm a freak.

***SPOILER ALERT***


Saffron shoots Levan's dick and balls with a magic spell to make him cum while they're having sex. That was fucking hilarious.


***END SPOILER***

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for this arc.