Oh My Goodness, this is Steven’s best work yet in my opinion! This book is fuelled by magic and so rich in the darkness of it, it haunts my heart-even after I finished it. I read this in two late-night sittings, and I’m being punished for it by my toddler this morning-but there are no regrets at all!

Without spoiling it: The world building for this novel is layered with lore, pleasure and pain, and it unravels as you get swept into the book, and you are introduced to Saff and her story. I immediately rooted for Saff, who will do anything to avenge her parents who were murdered. Saff must play both sides, and navigate the choices she makes, while a fated prophecy follows her journey.

Steven weaves in good verses bad, with the Silvercloaks and Bloodmoons, amongst the elementary magical system (I can see why people keep saying its like Harry Potter-but I don’t agree personally), which was easy to follow, despite it being complex in the scheme of things. With all the unravelling theories, you just have to keep reading-and get taken aback as the answers are revealed. I need a book two immediately, because I think this probably is one of my favourite books for this genre read this year!!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an Arc for this, for an honest opinion and review.

Silvercloak follows the story of Saffron (Saff), she’s experienced a lot of pain and turmoil in her short life so far and that’s only just the beginning. The plot picks up quickly and we are introduced to a number of characters, many of which are vital to the storyline. There’s clever clues placed throughout and many reveals as well.

I quite enjoyed my time reading this but since I knew it was going to be part of a saga before I set off, I expected that I wasn’t going to love the ending and I was right. I’m interested to see how the story will continue however and would recommend this one to people.

The premise of this book really intrigued me, and I do think it delivered what it promised. The main character, Saffron, is orphaned due to a violent mafia-type group and grows up preparing herself to take revenge. She ends up with the perfect opportunity to join the group as an undercover agent and exploit it from the inside. All of this takes place in a magic-centered world where individual power is fueled by pleasure and pain, putting a unique twist on a world’s rules.

Some of these rules didn’t seem as steadfast as they were originally portrayed at the beginning of the book, and there were some inconsistencies that I noticed but wasn’t terribly bothered by. I do think the series has potential and I’m interested in future books. The romance isn’t over the top, and there was plenty of mystery and plot to keep going. The ending throws in a bit of a twist that I’m excited to see how it plays out in the next book, but it definitely isn’t a traumatizing cliffhanger.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

I was attracted to the plot and the world that the author had built and those are the elements that really made this book stand out.

It was clearly built out of love of fantasy storytelling and it is so evident that the author put effort and thought into building the speculative elements of the book.

The book however faltered in character development and plot. Unfortunately the character actions didn't make sense sometimes and even though we are told stakes are high, it didn't quite feel that way.

The prose felt like the author is still trying to find footing from transitioning from YA to adult, not quite meeting the balance between explaining and leaving the reader to figure it out.

Very excited to see what Steven puts out next.

Thank you Delrey!

ARC Review
Overall rating: DNF

I want to preface with saying that I can see people enjoying this book, but I am unfortunately not one of those people. I was really excited for this book and the plot sounded like it had all the elements it needed for me to absolutely love this. At the end of the day though, I was never excited to pick this up and overall just wasn’t enjoying my reading experience for the 42% I did end up getting through.

Even though I thought the plot itself was so interesting, I thought it moved incredibly slowly and it was taking us forever to get to each scene. The author would also describe every single little thing about the setting within the middle of important scenes. I understand that it was important for the world building, but I felt like it was happening way too often and was really taking me out of the story. To me this also contributed to the slow pacing of this book.

The characters themselves really weren’t that bad and were actually probably my favorite part of the book. I thought that the main ones were pretty fleshed out where I could understand their motives and reasoning behind their actions. Some of the character relationships that were getting set up were also quite intriguing.

Overall, despite me enjoying the characters, I really wasn’t a fan of the pacing/writing of this book and how the plot was developing. I didn’t care enough to find out was going to happen, causing me read this much slower than I normally would. A bit disappointed, but I could see how this type of story/writing would work for other people.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an early copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!

DNF at 55%. It took me 10 days to get to this point and I just couldn’t do it anymore.

The book is trying too hard to be for adults, but unfortunately using the word “fuck” 5 times on one page does the complete opposite.

The moment I DNF’d was when I read the word “chink” for the second time in this book. The word was not used in an insulting way, but considering it has a very long history of being a racial slur, I found it very poor taste to choose it over absolutely any other word that could have been used. By the way, it wasn’t used as the standard meaning we know of, like a chink in a glass, for example. It was used as a sound. And you’re telling me that’s the word you chose to use to describe a sound?!

4.5 / 5 Stars
I really loved this magical book! First a spoiler-free, lay person synopsis: At six years old, Saffron’s parents were murdered by the Bloodmoons. For twenty years, she has had a singular focus: revenge. In a world where magic is enhanced by pleasure and pain, Saffron has been honing her skills and also lying her way into the Silvercloak Academy – the magic equivalent of the FBI or MI-6 – so that she can learn how to take down those monsters. But when her lie is caught, she is given a deal: go to jail for fraud or infiltrate the Bloodmoons, find out why they accumulate wealth and power, and then take them down from the inside. Saffron knows this is her chance, but it comes at a cost. She will have to commit heinous crimes to prove herself to this terrifying organization. And as her moral compass gets more rerouted and lost, she does too with her feelings for the kingpin’s ruthless son. Mix in a prophecy, trying to bring people back from the dead, and the potential to weave time, and this book will really suck you in!

You will probably like this book if you like:
🪄 Unique magical world with spells, charms, wands (all the good stuff!) that is influenced by pleasure and pain
✨ Found family at a magic academy
🪄 Morally grey characters
✨ Enemies to lovers
🪄 Slooooooooow burn
✨ Mafia-esque group of bad guys
🪄 Revenge through an uncover operation
✨ Queer characters

It felt really nice to be back in a really detailed, fully formed magical world. The orphan bit certainly felt like Harry Potter but more grown up and with a Mafia twist. The magical system itself was really cool. I liked the aspect of pleasure and pain and how that could affect the quality and quantity of their magic and how it could restore the “well” of their magical abilities. At times, it did feel like drinking from a fire hose to learn all of the information about the world but I think that is just the reality of this being the first book in the series. I feel like I will have to re-read to fully grasp all of the intricacies (like the different religions, the different regions, and the different histories and myths), but I am excited to do so. And I saw that the print version of the book will have a map which will be super helpful.

I also really loved the found family aspect. I felt like the other Silvercloaks added interesting layers to Saffron’s story and wove into the plot well throughout. Even some of the other Bloodmoons had interesting backstories that you could empathize with.

I found Saffron to be a bit of a contradiction. She spends the first part of the book being a pretty good critical thinker and then the second she gets with the Bloodmoons, she is making bad decision after bad decision. Some of those decisions made a ton of sense and some of them were frustrating. They were especially frustrating at the end. I would LOVE to see Saffron get an upper hand at some point in the next book. She is complex, stubborn, strong, fueled by emotions, and yet, baby girl, just cannot get it together sometimes. I’m still rooting for you, Saffron.

Ooooh baby, did I love the relationship in this book! No spoilers but Levan is morally grey but also a bit of a nerd, but also a lover boy, but also a villain. I tip my hat to you, sir.

I truly could not put this book down which hasn’t happened for me in a while. Even with the immense amount of information, I just had to know what would happen next. Could it be about 50 pages shorter? Probably. Was the ending kind of chaotic and just one bad choice after another? Definitely. Will I be devouring the next book? ABSOLUTELY.

Thank you Del Rey | Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing the eARC! All opinions are my own.

I don't read a whole lot of fantasy, so I don't know if Silvercloak is on par for the genre on not—but there was a ton of worldbuilding up front that felt info-dumpy to me. I could tell that it was setting up important elements of the world for later, but it did feel confusing and fatiguing at times. But the world is truly engaging and unique. Fueled by pleasure and pain is so fun. It also gets really dark—but I love horror so I was cool with it. This is very much an adult fantasy though! Saffron was a great character, though at times she felt a little inconsistent. I loved the enemies to lovers romance—finally true enemies! Fantasy is a great genre to explore true E2L and I appreciated that. It took me a bit to get into this but by the end I loved it and I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Silvercloak.

Let me be clear and start by saying this book is not marketed as having any association, whether inspiration or reimagining, with Harry Potter (HP). There was simply too many similarities for me to not draw that conclusion.

Silvercloak is an "old school" magic (wands, cloaks, curses, prophecy, etc...) fantasy inspired heavily by HP. The FMC, Saffron, witnesses the death of her parents by a brutal gang known as the Bloodmoons at the tender age of 6 years old. She is then raised by her uncles, who own a cloak shop, until she leaves for magical detective school and becomes a Silvercloak. After graduating school, she is recruited for a top-secret undercover job to bring down the Bloodmoons.

Things done well:
There is diverse representation here with main and side characters from all walks of life. The magic system is unique in that it is not limitless or universal and can be refueled with pleasure or pain. If you have been reading fantasy since a young age, the world can feel nostalgic. I thought the pacing was ok as well.

Opportunities for improvement:
I am having a tough time believing this is an adult fantasy. It reads young adult, which is not surprising given the author's history of writing YA. There were numerous instances of telling rather than showing. There were times when the FMCs inner dialogue and actions did not match the details provided. Her decisions seemed very young and not those of a detective. Additionally, the foreshadowing was so obvious that the twist were lackluster. The romantic subplot was not believable, which is unfortunate since it is a very important part of the story. One of the spice scenes was so awkwardly placed, I had to read with one eye closed. The ending felt rushed, and yet again, I was not surprised or left wanting more.

Overall, this story has potential, I just do not feel it was executed well. I believe if you come in with the expectation of an adult fantasy you will be disappointed. However, if you are willing to accept this is more of an attempt at a YA slow-burn romantasy this may be for you.

2.5/5

Oh. My. God. This was everything I've wanted from a fantasy for so long! Beautiful, visceral writing. Secrets, betrayal, a star-crossed love story of epic proportions. I wish this book had never ended. I can't believe I have to wait for more Saff and Levan!

L.K. Steven, I'm a fan for life. Thank you so, so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book!

I wasn't sure what to expect from Silvercloak, but I'd say overall I liked it. For a fantasy romance, I think there was a good level of fantasy, and the romance was believable... I wouldn't say I was rooting for the FMC and the MMC to be together or anything, but I could see why they had feelings for each other. I did have some issues with the book. Some of the descriptions threw me off... I won't give examples, but some of them I had to read twice to check that I'd read correctly... I wasn't a fan of the magic system because they used wands, but sometimes they didn't need them (this was only stated but not shown). This was more of a personal preference thing. The magic system itself was done well, but I did have questions about who could use magic and who couldn't as it wasn't really explained. I think the stakes felt relatively low, and the FMC seemed to be able to get out of dangerous situations quite easily throughout the book. There were also some reveals that confused me, and I was unsure of their relevance. Overall, I think the world building and motivations of characters were well defined, and I did feel like the story flowed well. There were definitely aspects of this book that weren't my favourite, but I was interested in the plot and what would happen to keep reading. I just wanted a few things to be explained better. I would recommend buying this if you enjoy fantasy romance with magic systems and revenge stories.

Thank you to Del Rey Books and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book destroyed me in the best way. From the first few pages, I was fully hooked. It gave me a bit of that nostalgic Harry Potter-esque magical feel, but the magic system was unique and all its own at the same time.

Saffron is such a layered character, and watching her wrestle with her choices, guilt, and unexpected connections made the whole thing feel realistic. I had no idea where the story was going half the time, which I loved. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something would happen that would throw me off.

There are definitely some gruesome/gory moments (and I’m a baby about that stuff), but it never felt too excessive and was always appropriate for the setting and the story and added a depth to the characters and their world. This was easily one of my favorite reads this year, and I’m counting down the days for the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey for an eARC of this book!

This book's premise surrounding the magic system was quite unique... I really wanted to fall deeply into this book and it was enjoyable and entertaining but it wasn't quite something I was entirely obsessed over. The pleasure and pain aspect of magic was interesting but I wanted more. The world building was very well done and I did appreciate the interpersonal dynamic between the characters, including that of the characters in the romantic plot. I do feel the fantasy arc could have been even better it was an interesting ya feeling book but with some spice.

Summary

Silvercloak follows Saffron, who has made it her purpose to join the Silvercloaks, the protectors of the city. Saffron’s plans are derailed when she is offered the opportunity to infiltrate and take down the organization that murdered her parents when she was a girl, the Bloodmoons. To complete this mission, Saffron must go in alone without the help of the Slivercloaks all while under the watchful eye of the Kingpin’s son.

Review

The lack of character development and a plot that fumbled around, made this book fall flat for me. It is difficult to connect with a stagnant character. If you cannot connect with them, why root for them? On top of that, the plot was not well paced and seemed to be thrown together without a clear end goal in sight, which would have been more forgivable had the characters been likable.
Calling this book the “Adult Harry Potter” is setting up for disappointment and ultimately failure. There is nothing that distinguishes this book from any other average romantasy book. I really hope that as the series continues, it hits a good stride, because I feel there it potential, but this was not a solid start.

Thank you so much to L.K. Steven, Del Rey and NetGalley for sending me the eARC of Silvercloak in exchange for a review!

4.5 stars for this one!

Silvercloak follows Saffron Killoran, whose parents were murdered by the magical mafia, the Bloodmoons, when she was a child. Years later, she is sent undercover into the Bloodmoons to find out their plans and deliver information to the Silvercloaks, a magical detective organisation that Saffron is a part of that wants to bring down the Bloodmoons for good. There, she meets the man that she's prophesised to kiss and then kill, the son of the Bloodmoon kingpin, who may be just as ruthless as his reputation says. In this world of pleasure and pain, Saffron's lies may destroy everything and everyone that she's ever loved.

I so enjoyed this one! The world and magic being so focused on pleasure and pain was such a fun concept, and I adored the use of wands in this. You don't usually see wand usage in fantasy these days, so I really enjoyed that element. The worldbuilding was so amazing, and I cant wait to see the map in the finished copy so I can work out where everything is. The magic system was really unique too; mages have a well of magic that can be replenished by feeling pleasure or pain, which leads to a world where sins and vices are quite out there and spoken of, rather than hidden. The amount of hot chocolate that they must go through in this world is great to think about, and I would so down litres of it if I were a mage in this world.

Saffron was a really engaging main character. She went through a horrific thing as a child, and as an adult still feels so much guilt and trauma over it that it really affects her. I enjoyed reading from her perspective, and really related to her in some points. Levan as our MMC felt so real and raw; he has his own trauma and guilt that affected his behaviour and life in general, so the two characters mirrored each other nicely. Their romance was your typical enemies to lovers, but with a sweet, softer side from both of them that I really enjoyed. And don't get me started on Rasso; I ADORED him so much. I need Rasso to be real right now, please!

The pacing was a little off in my opinion; some moments seemed stretched out and dragged, whereas others were a little rushed, but I still enjoyed those parts and was never bored. The ending was a whirlwind and I'm so eager to read the sequel to see where Saff and Levan go from here!

If you enjoy mafia/detective stories, revenge arcs, enemies to lovers, a unique queer-normative and sex-positive world and magic system, and amazing animal companions, I think you'll love this one. I definitely recommend it!

4/5 stars

This was a fun and fast read and I didn't want to put it down but at the same time I didn't want it to end. It was fast paced and I truly enjoyed the story. And now I have to read the previous books by the author too.

The magic system was fun and refreshing. It was cool how it revolved around pleasure and pain, and the "old school" element of casting with wands. It was also realistic in a sense that there were no unlimited amounts of magic, and at times it gets depleted which means it takes time before one can use magic again.

I liked Saffron as a character. She was determined and did what she thought was right at all times. And Levan was such a sad boy I had to feel for him. I enjoyed how morally grey he was at times, but as we got to know his reasons it also felt realistic imo.

Speaking of Saffron and Levan, I also enjoyed the relationship development between them. Can't wait to see how it develops further in book 2!

Highly recommend it and hope this will get more hype around it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I enjoyed the romance and the internal struggles the characters faced those parts added some great tension and emotional depth. The banter had its charm too, though it sometimes felt a bit off considering the seriousness of their circumstances.

The magic system started off interesting, but it became messy fast. When powers seem limitless, it’s hard to understand the boundaries, and that weakens the impact of the worldbuilding. Maybe it all gets explained better in the next book.

A fun read in parts, especially for fans of morally gray characters and romantic tension.

This book seemed super intriguing at first. I thought the main character, Saffron, who was initial described as introverted and rational was made perfect for an undercover position with the gang who murdered her parents in cold blood. But at about 20% the storytelling began to change, there parts where we spent WAY too long describing things which was not really pertinent to the story or where Saffron’s character completely changed. Without spoiling everything, the reasoning for others personalities changing was because of magic and therefore no fault of their own. I felt at times I was glued to the books and then at times where I could set it down for two days and not care. There are other times towards the end where Saffron did something totally out of character which almost made me put down the whole book itself and I’m sure I’ll continue the series after that. It was beyond inconsistent with everything that means something to her and felt wrong to me as the reader. I couldn’t in good conscience rate this story high after that. I really enjoyed the male love interest and thought he was multifaceted and more interesting than saffron to be honest. I wish we got some of his POVs. All and all, the premise and the potential was there but it was extremely inconsistent and for a character who was mute and didn’t speak much in general she couldn’t shut up especially in front of the Kingpin so again inconsistencies. There was a lot that we didn’t figure out about her but somehow she spent more time trying to figure out everyone else like girl are you not interested in your own magical maladies? I was entertained but I think the editing and character plotting of the book could’ve been a smidge better and this would’ve killed.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, InkLore | Del Rey for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I truly did not expect this book to have Harry Potter mafia meets Six of Crows vibes when I picked it up, so that was rather surprising for a little while.

I do wish that we got a little bit more of the training/academy scenes than we did - it would maybe even be a fun prequel or novella. I think it would give the reader a deeper insight into the characters and their relationships to one another during their training.

I enjoyed the romantic subplot, normally I do enjoy it being more front and center but the slow burn nature and the overarching main plot were both more than enough to satiate me throughout the story - the writing style is beautiful and atmospheric without being overwhelming.

Silvercloak had so many of my favorite tropes - mafia, forced proximity, morally grey characters, slow burn, etc.

stunned. bamboozled. shook. AMAZED.

I knew from the very first chapter this book was going to change me and I was RIGHT. a romantic fantasy in a world where their magic is fueled by pleasure and pain? I mean instantly that pulls me in.

I was kept on the edge of my seat as Saff gets deeper into the underworld of the Bloodmoons, the group that was responsible for killing her parent. This book did something few books do well- there were some predictable storylines but the execution of them was done so well that I wasn’t even upset that it was what I expected.

And there were some lines at the end that set up for a BANGER of a sequel.

L.K. Steven’s adult debut blew me AWAY and I can’t wait for the rest of the world to get their hands on Silvercloak!!!

Del Rey, you are my queen for sending me an early copy. I am forever in your debt!!!!

Pub day is July 29!!!