**Spoiler Free**

Still trying to formulate my words for this review. This was a great read.

The magic system was awesome. Genuinely unique and not something I've come across before. Laura did a spectacular job of creating a magically world that made sense and was conceivable, and I was enamored by it.
The world building was my favourite kind - enough to get your imagination picturing the places, the objects, people etc but not over explained so you lose interest after three pages of descriptions about a wooden door. The world itself is well built, explained well and the map is top tier.

The characters were well thought out and their personalities really came through in the writing. The FMC was my kind of person. Quick wit, sarcastic in places and she has the best intentions. The MMC was your typical big, bad-but not-boy with a backstory but he most definitely won me over. The side characters also shone through.

The story line itself was gripping. I don't want to go into too much detail here and spoil anything so all I'll say is that it was a good balance of calm moments and action packed moments. The final few chapters had me going with the twists, turns and revelations. It was left deliciously open for a second book, which I will be certainly reading.

All in all, it was a really well thought out book. Fantasy, romance, fate, a smattering of spice... all the good stuff! I thorough recommend this book to those who like those kind of things.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Laura Stevens and Netgalley for the ARC.

The magic system was unique and I appreciated that the magic wasn’t unlimited and the pain/pleasure system for amplifying/restoring the wells.

I would have appreciated learning more about the world it’s set in, but maybe that’s me being greedy. I loved all the tidbits I did get.

It was whimsical, dark, and totally sucked me in. I already want more. I want the next book, I want spin offs from different points of view or histories of the world and different nations, the laws of magic, the wars mentioned in the story, chapters from The Lost Dragonborn.

The first book is a strong start. I think this series has a lot of potential to be something special and I’ll definitely be along for the journey.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

This was such a wild ride! My first L.K Steven book, I am definitely hooked and can't wait to see what comes next in this saga! The world-building was really interesting, the regilious aspects of the magic were also refreshingly unique, even if I didn't quite like the echoes of the magical system of HP in the wands/spell-casting/latin language, but that didn't take away from this book overall.

I loved the morality shifts in the characters, and the depths of why they do the things they do, even if they know it's not right. That last line rocked me! I truly can't wait to see how the relationship between the main characters evolves over time. 4.25/5

I’m obsessed with this book and desperately need the sequel! The mix of nostalgic magic with mafia conspiracy set against a unique pleasure/pain power system have me hooked. I need to see where these characters go next!

The plot: Saffron has conspired to join the elite Silvercloak detective academy in a bid for revenge against the Bloodmoon gang who slaughtered her parents. When her lies are discovered, her only shot at salvation is a dangerous mission undercover within the very same gang. Amid the violence and deception, her growing attraction to the kingpin’s son and his mysterious fallowwolf bring new risks. Can Saffron survive this web of lies, prophecies, and powerful enemies to restore her good name and avenge her parents?

My review: I expect this series will be HUGE and the hype will be well-deserved. L.K. Steven masterfully balances a propulsive plot with deep relationship arcs and quirky magic. The characters are incredibly well-developed, even those who die after just a few pages. Saffron and Levan are incredibly interesting alone (and together) and the collision course they’re on is addictive. I love that the world is openly queer and breaks the confines of more traditional magic/creature systems within the genre. With 100 pages left, I was torn between two instincts: speed read to find out what happens and slow down to savor each page before the long wait for the sequel. I recommend this to any fans of fantasy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Del Rey for this ARC!

Summary: Saffron Killoran, driven by revenge for her parents’ murder by the Bloodmoons, infiltrates Silvercloak Academy to become a detective and bring them down. When her lies are uncovered, she’s instead sent undercover into the Bloodmoons’ world to dismantle them from within. As she navigates dangerous gangs, dark dealings, and her complicated feelings for the gang leader’s son, who may be fated to die by her hand, Saff’s mission blurs with her emotions. Torn between justice and survival, she risks everything in her quest for vengeance.

This book was goooood. I thoroughly enjoyed a magical world that spoke to the child in me who loved Harry Potter. However, this magical world was uniquely fueled, and I loved the lore of the Timeweavers and the prophecies - I wished there was a bit more, but I'm hopeful for a deeper dive in book 2. The romance aspect was overall good, although I did have a couple of questions by the end of the book about the "greyness" of Levan's morals. I will say, without giving anything away, that the last line of this book was a hook, line, and sinker and will definitely make me read the next in this series. On top of that, the Epilogue created stress that will build a strong base for the continuation of this story. I do wish that there was a tiny bit more world-building - it was sprinkled throughout, but I didn't feel like I had a complete picture. This obviously wasn't a deal-breaker for me, and I can't wait for the next read from L. K. Steven!

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and L. K. Steven for allowing me access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 ⭐️ Wands, mafia, and a unique magic system - magical fantasy with a splash of romance. I was really rooting for this to be a five-star read, but for me, it didn't quite hit the mark.

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

In short, Silverclock centers around Saffron's mission to seek revenge and bring to justice those responsible for the death of her parents.

Things I loved about this book:

Magic system - it's one of the more unique ones I have encountered, with magic having to be used strategically and dependent on pain/pleasure to replenish/amplify.

Romance - I love a slow burn, and while the focus of this book is not romance, I like how it was not rushed and built up over time.

World building - it did a good job of creating a rich and well-developed world.

Things that didn't work for me:

It took me a long time to get into it - once I am locked in, there is nothing that will stop me from devouring the book. However, I found it hard to get invested in and often got distracted, which resulted in me taking a while to get through the book.

The other point I think is that I went into it with the mindset of it being an adult fantasy, but it is YA at best. It felt like a lot of things fell into place, which gave it a younger feel to the book.

For the next book, I am looking forward to seeing what happens next, and still maintain that this series / world has a lot of potential!

Thank you NetGalley and Del Ray for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I came for the Harry Potter vibes, and I was left completely satisfied.

Silvercloak was everything I wanted to see and feel from a Marauder’s/Dark Lord era type book, and it absolutely delivered this and more.

I loved the idea of pain and pleasure with magic. It was unique and mixed well with the romance and darker themes of the book. The magic system was easy to follow and complex enough to keep me engaged. I enjoyed the characters and their reactions (except sometimes Saff could be a bit blegh).

My only complaint was that there were a few plot holes? Despite the inconsistencies, I still really enjoyed the book. Definitely plan to give other books in the series a try when they release.

Wow. This book was an extremely addictive romantasy that also gave me Harry Potter vibes. Laura Steven is such an incredible story steller, I was completely captivated by this story and this world from the start.

Saff our FMC infiltrates the Bloodmoon gang of powerful mages with plans to take them down from the inside and get the revenge she so desperately craves for her own reasons..

The magic system is so unqiue; magic is strengthened by both pain and pleasure. The story intricately explores the fine line between good and evil.

Levan, the MMC is the son of the kingpin (the leader of the Bloodmoons). He is morally gray, and his character has heaps of depth. Levan and Saff's relationship dynamic was unique and interesting. They really are enemies from opposing groups, and their chemistry is INSANE.

The entire plot was so exciting and gripping and that ending left me REELING.

2,5/5 stars rounded down.

Saffron wants to take revenge for her parents by taking down the shadowy organisation Blood Moons that is behind their murders. She joins the Silvercloaks, a magical crime fighting organisation and gets the opportunity to go undercover and infiltrate the Blood Moons. I requested this ARC because a magical detective thriller really sounded so interesting to me. Unfortunately after a promising start the plot showed signs of being underdeveloped and I DNF'd this book at 40% because I just couldn't force myself to read on.

The Good:
- The prologue and part 1 were actually really good and promising. The magical vibes of the prologue, despite the gruesome events, are so so good. The descriptions of how magic is integrated into every day life is very interesting.
- The relationships between the cadets/cohort, especially between Saffron and Nissa is actually interesting. There's tension there, as well as comradery.

The Could Be Better:
- While the whole "pleasure fills up your magic well" and "pain sharpens your use of magic and makes it more powerful" is interesting, it's underdeveloped for sure and inconsistent. The first time Saffron takes an outing in her new undercover role she just had a sexual (pleasure) as they're attacked and she hits her head (pain) and yet she is unable to do anything in this fight.

The Bad:
- So Saffron hides something from her superiors when she joins the Silvercloak Academy and it is revealed that they knew it from the start, but kept her on because her "special thing" would be ideal for undercover work. But why play this game of "she doesn't know that we know" until the actual final assessment after 6 years of training instead of, you know, training her for undercover work? As soon as she's undercover it's immediately evident how green she is.
- So everyone knows the Blood Moons are bad. And the Blood Moons walk around freely wearing red cloaks that could mean only one thing. They also do crime in these bright red cloaks. You'd think it'd be a whole lot easier to round them up! But it's all hand-waved away with "the Grand Arbiter is corrupt". It makes it seem like the Silvercloaks are less of an official and esteemed organisation and more like a neighboorhood watch.
- In the same vein the leader of the Blood Moons is absolutely a 1-dimensional cardboard cutout comic book villain. When meeting him it turns out he already knows literally everything about her? But all his survaillance can't find this one person which leads to them recruiting Saffron to help find them. So both all powerful and all knowing, but also not? Very weak characterization.
- I get that Saffron needs to be marked with the curse so they think she can't betray them. But immediately receiving the red cloak and being treated as one of them (albeit with some supervision from the second in command, does he have nothing better to do??) doesn't make it seem like the shadowy organisation that has managed to elude law enforcement for decades is very competent. They're so organized they can't be stopped, but also lack any common sense.
- The love story with the morally grey MMC that's already being built is very lame, very cookie cutter, and very underdeveloped. Maybe there's more later in the book? I'm not interested to find out. The relationship with Nissa is a thousand times more interesting.

All in all the book had a lot of promise in its start, but when the actual plot begins it left me nothing but disappointed. I trudged on in the hope it would become better, but had to DNF to maintain my sanity and not slide into a reading slump. I'm sure most romantasy readers will eat this up regardless. The prose at least is better than many other romantasies I've tried. But man, if only the writer focused more on the plot rather than the romance. This could really have been something.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved the set up for this. I thought the magic system was clever, and I enjoyed getting hard information on how spells worked.

Things did start to get a bit repetitive. I got a bit tired of the constant explanation of pleasure/pain. I also think I would have enjoyed this more if it leaned into fantasy vs romantasy. At one point (early on), two characters are talking in a public place with a third character outside waiting for our main character. *mid* conversation they move aside and hook up, and then continue on the conversation. It really took me out of it and felt out of no where/unnecessary.

I think it has a bit more meat than some other options in this genre, so if it is one you enjoy, I think it's a good option.

Not for me. This book was less than the sum of its parts: Enemies to lovers + undercover mission + magic + tragic backstories. I liked the worldbuilding and magic systems in this book, but I did not engage with the characters. Plot seemed more important than character development.

I loved this book!! The pacing was perfect and the suspense was there for sure! I’ll be buying a physical copy

Rounding up to 3 stars for this fairly high action fantasy-romance where a woman out for revenge infiltrates a criminal organization - and of course finds a connection with the kingpin's tortured son.

What worked well for me: the queer normative world was great! Saffron was pretty compelling as a protagonist and I liked the bits of the relationships with the others in her class that we got to see. The first couple of chapters were great set-ups and definitely had me eager for more.

However, almost all of these likes come with caveats, such as the queer normative world was great but I wish there had been more world-building, such as how the Bloodmoons grew such an empire in such a relatively short time. I liked what we saw of Saffron's relationships with her classmates but we didn't really get to expand most of them (at least in ways of developing most of those secondary characters outside of plot-specific beats). A lot of surface level things never really got expanded upon or explained. There's a great book hidden under some kind of half-assed aspects, which made it difficult for me to connect with the book we got.

The magic system worked better than I thought it would - magic being derived from pain or pleasure in a romantasy novel has the potential to be extremely cheesy, and I didn't find that to be the case! I did find the magic system to be a bit lazy, such as having such a big deal made of Saffron's magical immunity and then when she isn't immune in a non-dangerous situation, she just kind of . . . shrugs it off? And Levan being all-powerful felt very convenient. I don't know, a lot of the magic and the book in general just felt like "here are some great ideas that I can't be bothered to expand upon" - everything was very surface level and could fall apart with just asking a few questions. (This also applies to the plot "twists," which I won't get into for spoilers, but suffice to say, they were fairly predictable."

While this didn't work for me, but I can see it working for a lot of other readers in an obsessive way. I do recommend for readers who like mafia romance and magic - you'll have fun with this and will definitely want to come back for more.

Thank you to the publisher, Del Rey, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

A FMC who isn't 19! And she's 6 feet tall!! 😱😱😱 Also there is a DOG and he is a very good boy

There were some similar beats to standard romantasy, but the worldbuilding was interesting and fleshed out, and I loved the organized crime plotline (syndicates in fantasy are always my weakness). As a warning?, the magic is based on pain and pleasure, so there's a fair amount of horniness and torture, like the cutting out of an eyeball with a letter opener, and in the first smut scene with the MMC Levan his hand is IMPALED. I did not enjoy and felt panicked; I had to skim read to make sure that he didn't somehow rip his hand off.

I actually liked Levan. There were complexities to his character that aren't often seen in romantasy. Romantasy MMCs are usually dark and broody and cold at first, but somehow they're all that in the exact same way. Levan wore many masks. He was both sweet (a book nerd who wanted to go to a con and play dress up!!) and machiavellian (yikes that ending). I did think he and Saff fell in love too fast, which is how I often feel in romances, but I do love how that ended and the cliffhanger. I seriously cannot wait for time travel highjinks. I haven't felt excited to a sequel like this in a long time.

Silvercloak is everything I want in a fantasy novel. Laura Steven has characters with depth, a unique magic system and a plot that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. Ms. Steven outdid herself with this breathtaking novel, and Saffron and Lavon shine at the stories center.

Saffron is fierce, flawed, and utterly compelling, a protagonist out for revenge that you will find yourself rooting for even as she makes impossible choices. Lavon, with his quiet strength and layered morality, balances her perfectly. Together, their dynamic is electric,full of tension, trust, betrayal, and a connection that feels dangerously alluring.

The main themes of the story are political intrigue, magic, and deeply personal stakes weaved with masterful precision. The world of Silvercloak feels expansive, as unique like I am playing an open world video game in my head. Every plot twist will keep you on the edge of your seat!!

I finished it breathless, already hungry for the next chapter in their story. If you love harry potter and or a fantasy with heart, fire, and unforgettable characters I highly recommend silvercloak for you.

For whatever reason, I got into my head that this was a YA book. I'm going to blame the Laura Steven's previous work, Infinite Fates for that. And not me overlooking that this is most categorically NOT YA. Not even a little teeny tiny bit.

True to Steven's style, that opening..it is an absolute heart stomper. I knew it would be, but the vivid imagery of the entire scene makes you feel like you're in the pantry with her. That pivotal moment sets our heroine in motion... it's a wonder the poor thing made it out in one piece. My heart broke for Saffron.

I absolutely love the magic system. Magic has to be replenished once the user hits the bottom of their well. Pleasure or pain can refill magic. Which I love the concept of. You can't create it from nothing, it has to be pulled from a source and the source needs to be refilled as its used. This is so clever! (Also I loved Saff's necklace, what a beautiful concept to wear your loved ones so close to your heart. I'm not crying, you're crying. Shut up.) Pleasure fills the well up, but pain is what makes it stronger.

There's a few parts in the beginning that felt a little rough. The f-bombs (and I do love some f-bombs) felt strangely out of place and for lack of a better term, crass? (I know I'm one to talk, but bear with me.) It was like they were wedged in, and didn't quite fit into the sentence or scene. Saff's schoolmates hadn't quite become people yet, and I had a hard time telling them apart. Except for the one with the forked tongue allegedly descended from a dragon. As we get to the 20% mark, we can see Laura Steven has hit their stride and settles into the characters and their mannerisms nicely.

Saff is on a mission that she put herself on the path for since she was 6 years old. Suffering after the brutal murder of her parents by the Bloodmoons. An opportunity comes, with a price. She has to flunk out of special training, be publicly shamed, and spend a small bit of time in a dungeon. Easy peasy. Then she'll be able to infiltrate the Bloodmoons and have them brought to justice. Oh, and she has to hide a huge secret about herself and her abilities from everyone. Easy peasy.

Nope. Not easy. Not peasy.

Saff is queen of not picking the right choice in just about everything she does. You love her for it though because you can just see, girl is TRYING SO HARD. In an impossible situation with a huge secret to hide, she has to choose whether justice for her parents or the possibility of changing the entire future is worth her life. It doesn't help that the Bloodmoon kingpin's son is distractingly hot and oh so perfectly damaged. There are definitely some spicy moments, but nothing felt gratuitous or overly drawn out for smut's sake. The way it's worked into magic system was actually perfect. Playing the double life is tough for anyone, and Saff has a heart bigger than she should with all that trauma hanging around. (There is another element in play here, and those that read Steven's previous bestseller may guess what it is, but I won't go into detail as it could fall into spoiler territory.)

Laura Steven does an incredible job of keeping up with the pace of a high-stakes, high-risk situation tempered with some truly vulnerable and tender moments from almost her entire cast of characters.

This is a perfect slow burn enemies to lovers to...? Well, you'll just have to read it to find out. Silvercloak hits stores July 29. I highly recommend picking up this one and getting lost in this innovative and imaginative fantasy world.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book gets full marks for world building! I hesitate to say it borrows from any other canon because it's clearly so thought out, but necessarily it will call back to... previous bodies of work with the wands and spells and cloaks. I didn't find this to be an issue. For me the bigger piece that was hard to swallow was the mob aspect and particularly the use of the word "kingpin" which jarred me out of the story every time for whatever reason. At times the world felt incoherent, but it was there and I think it will find its audience for that reason.

I'm certain the main character will also find her fans, though I will be honest and say at the start of the book, I genuinely thought I'd accidentally requested a children's novel given the writing style and character actions. The very graphic sex interspersed with that stylistic choice was also jarring. It found its footing later on in the book but never quite lost its oddly dissonant world, characters, and actions. The main character never endeared herself to me, unfortunately.

That said, the plot is complex, the world is bright, the plot is fast-paced and engaging. I probably won't be reading any sequels, but I'm certain many will and will enjoy them.

Thankyou NetGalley & publisher for this arc at first I was hooked this book was high stakes fast pace as the main FMC seeks revenge for her lost family, as the story went on I felt like the FMC lost the reason why she tried to become a Silvercloak and seek revenge & redemption from the blood moons, the world building of the magic felt lazy to me and at times felt disjointed. I felt the FMC made trivial decisions that turned the storyline into something completely different. This book had so much potential in my eyes with the world building, the witty humour but towards the end the book fell flat which really disappointed me as this book was a book I was excited for this year.

This was such an anticipated read for me and it completely blew me away!!! This world and magic are so unique. I love Laura's writing. It's so lyrical. I cannot wait for the next one after that cliffhanger!!


links to come

Silvercloak

Omg! What did I just read! This is like Harry Potter with murder, corruption and sex.
I need book 2 NOW!!!
Everything about this book was fantastic- the characters, the world building, the magic system… I just loved it!!

Thanks to @netgalley and @delreyuk for letting me have the arc!