I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Silvercloak was deals with Saffron who wants revenge on the Bloodmoons, a powerful magical Mafia, who killed her parents. She joined the Silvercloak, basically mage cops, and goes undercover to take down the Bloodmoons. 


The plot was definitely cliche with Saffron wanting revenge and gaining messy feelings with leader's son. I felt the undercover plot was weak bc she just joined so it was so obvious that she was the mole. They should have done a time skip to show she was undercover for a few years. It felt too fast paced bc you have the revenge plot and the slow burn enemies to lovers. 


The story is in first person so we see everything in saffron's pov. She definitely will do whatever it takes to bring down the Bloodmoons so the ending kinda make sense and ends on a cliffhanger. I was so absorbed in the book bc the magic system was interesting. I wish there was more of the Bloodmoons vs silvercloaks action bc there was only 2 major scenes. The truth serum was definitely a plot device and it got annoying fast bc it was still so obvious that she was the mole. 


The slow burn romance definitely kept me reading as we learn more about the mmc. I hope to get his pov in the sequel bc he was the most interesting character.

Overall the story was good. It is an adult romantasy with some spice.

In this first adult fantasy by L.K. Steven we meet Saffron, a young woman who (after the traumatizing death of her parents) works her way up to become a Silvercloak, a kind of magical detective. Saffron is given the chance to go undercover with the Bloodmoons, a criminal organization that is essentially ruling the city. She jumps at the chance to seek revenge for the death of her parents by taking down the Bloodmoons from the inside, but what she doesn't expect is to feel such a connection with the son of the kingpin. This obviously complicates things and leads to some unexpected situations.

This is the most bare-bones description I can give of this plot without giving anything away but let me just say that this is not your typical 'good girl falls for the mafia boss's son' trope but set in a fantasy world. There's SO MUCH more to it!
- The magic system is incredibly interesting. This is a wand magic system but unlike series like Harry Potter, this magic comes with a cost and that can only be paid in pleasure and/or pain. Pleasure to fill your well and pain to increase the strength of the magic.
- This is DARK. There's definitely some gruesome elements so beware if you're any bit squeamish. In addition to the physical darkness there's quite a bit of emotional and moral complexity in this story.
- These characters are all complex. No one is ever only one thing. Everyone has some good, everyone has some bad. And everyone has a REASON for the bad things they do. (It may not be good to you or me, but for that character it's all the motivation they need to do some of their darker deeds.)

The world-building in this book is so descriptive and honestly a little dense. There's a lot of information thrown at you about how this world looks and feels and works. I am an avid fantasy reader so that did not bother me one bit but if you don't like a lot of world-building you may find this book to be slow at times. You can tell there are a lot of bricks being placed to ready us for things that will happen later in the series.

This is single POV and this is purely a pet peeve of mine, but I feel like I enjoy a book better when I have at least dual POV. I also understand that we as the reader sometimes only get to know what our main character is telling us. We have to be just as in-the-dark about other's real thoughts and motivations as the character is.

There are a few 'spicy' scenes in here but they really work to serve the plot. When you have a magic system built on refilling your energy source through pleasure, scenes like this are pretty much expected. (It is not pervasive by any means, either.)

Overall I think the author has set this series up beautifully and I am a little mad at myself now because I'll have to wait for quite a while to see what happens next! I will be recommending this book to anyone and everyone that asks! (And probably even to some that didn't!)

Thank you to Random House for the advanced review copy of this book.

What a breathtaking start in the Silvercloak saga. If you are craving your next fantasy book with cloaks and wands, here’s a book for you! When I started this book, I was immediately immersed in the story. The first chapter was so addictive and exciting that I knew I was going to love this book..

The magic system, where magic is fuelled by pleasure and pain, is very unique. The dangerous undercover quest had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I loved the romance between Saffron and Levan and the spicy scenes were just perfect.

This book is a perfect read for those who love morally grey characters, amazing world building, timeweaving, magic academy and lgbtq themes. However, please note that this is a dark adult fantasy with gore and drug use, so check the trigger warnings.

This book gave me some strong Harry Potter vibes through out it. Some positive, some not so much.
Silvercloak felt unique in the way that each mage has a well of magic and it's filled with either pleasure or pain.
It took me a while to get into the book because it had a lot of cliffhangers in the beginning which kind of messed with me and felt a bit annoying. But as the story proceeded I managed to look past that and just enjoyed the ride.
The whole premise of the book is based upon the fact that Saffron, our MC, is immune to magic. She can cast but magic and potions doesn't have an effect on her. There are a few inconsistences to this which kind of annoyed me and it felt like the author changed the rules of the magic to fit the plot.

I wish that the author would have put more weight into the romance sub-plot and into her MMC. The dark haired and mysterious MMC has been used a lot and even though he's supposed to have two sides, a good and a bad, it didn't really feel like we got to see much of that good side.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a lot and can't wait to read the continuation of the series.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC.

This is going to be such a hit this summer. It was a unique story, great characters, sizzling dialogue that it’s electric. I can’t see how anyone can NOT be entertained.

4.25/5 stars

Oh my that ending!!! Can I have book two now??

Silvercloak starts off with intriguing world building at a slow burn that explodes into intense and dynamic storytelling. I could not put this book down once I reached the halfway point and now I can't wait to see what happens next.

Our story begins when Saffron's parents are brutally murdered by members of The Bloodmoons, this puts her on a treacherous path to revenge. When caught in a lie during her final exam to become a Silvercloak she has a choice, go undercover or lose everything she has worked towards. Once undercover things aren't as they seem and every answer seems to bring up more questions. Now Saffron must choose what path she truly wants to take.

I enjoyed the twists and turns this novel takes and the questions it asks. I loved seeing the characters develop and that end has me waiting on edge for more. The magic system was unique and engaging and offered a lot in terms of fantasy and I can't wait to see where this story takes us!

I absolutely recommend this read if you love magic, morally grey characters, twists and turns, and great writing! Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced readers copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very interesting fantasy romance. A lot of the times when you get romantasy or fantasy settings anymore the Magic systems are not always dependent on items like wands. This one has ones and there’s spells but also the people are different classifications of magic like Timeweavers, necromancers, Enchanters, Brewers, Wielders, Healers, Forseers. That is not a spoiler. It’s literally in the beginning of the book before it starts. And you do learn what they all are. I thought the world building was very interesting and I found it easy to follow along with. I really enjoyed the writing style. This is another pen name for Laura Steven’s who wrote Our Infinite Fates, which is on my TBR. And now I’m gonna need to read it sooner than I had planned.
While the other book mentioned that the author wrote was a young adult book, this is definitely adult fantasy romance. There is spice to it, and it was very well written. Our FMC, Saffron Killoran, has to infiltrate the Bloodmoons. These are the people who are responsible for the murder of her parents. Bound and determined to get her revenge. She goes to Silvercloak Academy. It’s after that she goes undercover into the blood moons.
I wasn’t sure at first reading this if it was going to be for me, but I absolutely ended up loving this book. The writing kept me on my toes. It kept me wanting to push forward into the story to learn more and the more I learned the more I wanted to keep on getting further into this world my only complaint is that I don’t have the next book in my hands already. Because after that ending, and that epilogue, I am absolutely dying for the next one. I’m gonna give this 4.75 stars.
Thank you to Del Rey for the complimentary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

ARC kindly provided by the publishers through Netgalley.
I’m gonna be honest, the constant cliffhangers in the early chapters really pissed me off. It felt like the book was trying too hard to hook me. But then something shifted. The worldbuilding and the magic system were so compelling that I got completely absorbed and stopped caring about the cliffhangers altogether.

I pretty much guessed the plot twist early on, and as the story progressed, it was more about putting the pieces together. That said, I was genuinely surprised by the reasoning behind the ascenite, that was a clever touch I didn’t see coming.

The sex scenes were beautifully written. I’m the kind of reader who usually skips them, but in a world where pleasure and pain are so central, they felt essential. I’m glad I read them, they added emotional depth and thematic richness to the story.

Also, I don’t get the Harry Potter comparisons from other reviews. Not everything with wands needs to be linked to that series. The magic system here stands firmly on its own. Still, I do think the semantics and mechanics of the spells could have been explained a bit better.

Absolutely loved the book overall. Solid 4 stars from me. Please, take your time with the next one, no need to rush. I’ll be here waiting.

A dark fantasy story full of magic and unique spells with warring magical factions, the Silvercloaks (magical detectives) and Bloodmoons (magical Mafia) and one Mages quest for revenge after the death of her parents at the hands of Bloodmoons.

I loved the beginning parts of this book with Saffron’s tragic backstory and the scenes in the magical academy - it felt very Harry Potter for adults. But I would’ve loved more of the academy and some more of Saffron rising up the ranks to show the development of magic and of her close relationships with her fellow cadets.

Saying that, I continued to enjoy the story immensely and found the history and the world building interesting and the pace of the story was good.

There were unique elements with the use of magic and the parts I enjoyed the most were reading about the spells and what they did.

I did feel like Saffron had a bit of an easy time with a lot of freedom after infiltrating the Bloodmoons (after we are told how awful they are) but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading these parts.

A solid start to the series with well developed characters, interesting plot points and a really great ending that sets the next book up nicely. I’ll definitely be continuing with the series!

3.5 stars rounded down. A promising start to the series, but one that ultimately fell a bit flat for me.

You'll enjoy this if:
- You want to read about a queer-normative world
- You like the idea of a magical school that leads to different occupations
- You like enemies to lovers, especially misunderstood enemies to lovers
- You're a fan of cute dogs
- You like romance as a subplot (that sometimes becomes the main plot)
- You like a mystery that follows throughout the entire story

You should avoid this if:
- You don't like overpowered main characters
- You don't like plot armor
- You don't like characters that dwell a lot on their actions as children
- You're uncomfortable with moderate bodily harm
- You're hoping for an epic mystery that comes to a clean, neatly tied-up ending

All in all, I didn't hate this book, but I think that at times it left a lot to be desired. My biggest complaints (as evidenced by the avoid section) are that we see a few classic tropes that crawl into the spotlight at the very end. I don't think that this was enough to completely ruin the read for me, but it did take me out of the immersion enough to briefly sigh. The last 20-25% of the story was what unfortunately flopped for me, but I thought that the worldbuilding and the plot setup at the beginning were very strong. I'll likely pick up the other books in the future, but am not certain that it'll be a rush to read.

As always, all my thanks to both Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read and review an early copy.

It gives me adult Harry Potter vibes with the wands! I want to keep this spoiler free.

The magic system is very unique in which pleasure and pain = power. There are some plot twists. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about them yet.

There are some parts that were repetitive which I personally do not care for but that's just me. I tend to remember details so I don't personally like it restated over again.

Some spicy parts that are very explicit so not safe for YA but the romance wasn’t overpowering at least not to me. I think it's definitely worth the read and I'm very excited for book 2. Hope I can get the arc for it as well!

In a sea of romantasy books, this felt unique and I loved every second of it! This was a highly anticipated release for me and it definitely delivered!

The magic system in this book is super interesting: there’s different types of magic users and they use wands to cast their spells. Once their magic runs out, their ‘wells’ need to be refilled by either pain or pleasure in all forms. In principle, the user decides how they want to refill their well, but sometimes there are other factors/emotions at play and the choice is not theirs anymore. This added an extra layer of depth to the characters which I very much appreciated! I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of the story and the world building was expansive enough for my tastes (keep in mind though, I’m a romance reader at heart who dabbles her toes into the fantasy/romantasy genre every now and then).

I loved that our FMC is slightly older than usual in the genre, making her easier for me to relate to and understand her choices. I’ve heard some people say the enemies-to-lovers storyline fell flat for them, but personally I thought it was extremely well done and there was a lot of tension between the characters (which I always love)! Both the romance and plot itself kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and while I did see some ‘twists’ coming, others caught me completely off guard. I can simply not wait for the sequel and need to know how the story will continue! I would HIGHLY recommend reading this!

A huge thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey for providing me with an ARC for review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

Gripping from the first page, Silvercloak is a captivating new fantasy with a dynamic cast of characters, a uniquely fueled magical system, political intrigue, excellent world building, and compelling twists.

For two decades Saffron Killoran has had one goal, to join the ranks of the elite Silvercloaks and bring down the cutthroat criminal organization responsible for the murders of her parents, the Bloodmoons. She lies to gain admission to the academy and when her lies are discovered she is given a dangerous mission, join the ranks of the Bloodmoons and bring them down from the inside. Can she survive the brutality of the Bloodmoons? Can she live with the atrocities she is forced to commit as one of them? Can she resist her growing feelings for the kingpin’s son? Will she doom everything and everyone she knows and loves?

Starting with an excellent backstory and continuing with a well thought out plot, fast-paced action throughout, and chock full of magical powers and spells, L.K. Steven delivers in the first book of the Silvercloak saga. If you love morally gray characters, magic and capes, prophecies and time manipulation, enemies to lovers and slow burn then you’ll love Silvercloak!!

I really enjoyed this one.
Like others have point out, magic system built around pleasure and pain. Queer, morally grey characters- no guilt surrounding their preferences, just accepted normality. Mages with wands, different classifications of magic types. Tragic family trauma, loss/murder of parents, violence, death for both main characters, and that moment altering their trajectory forever.

Gritty mage street gang wars, enemies to lovers to enemies, ruining your own life for a chance at revenge. Illegal magic, if you could change everything, would you try? Even if you ended up a villain by the end of it. When going undercover goes too far, and there's no turning back.

Saffron is hiding a lot of secrets from everyone, like for one she's immune to magic, but can cast, even if it doesn't seem to always be exactly right and she doesn't seem to excel at any of the normal magical strengths. She's wanted to be a Silvercloak, with the main goal of eventually taking down the Bloodmoons, the gang that killed her parents and ruined her life.

Levan is the Kingpin's son, his father is head of the Bloodmoons, his mother was a timeweaver, a mage able to control and alter time, and she used it to carve a bloody, wealthy path with a goal of taking over the throne. Timeweavers nearly destroyed the entire world in an old war and were wiped out as a result. Haunted by his mother's death and his father's cruelty, he hides himself in a mask of pain and carrying out his father's orders, but there's a lot more to him than he lets on.

I really liked this one immensely.
Saffron is an incredibly reckless character, and she just kind of goes for it and finds out later, and with everything unraveling around her, I can't wait to see how she chooses to go forward.

This book has been on my radar for quite some time. Mostly because the author had stated a little bit of Pokemon Firered was in this story(I'm laughing as I type this because I can kinda see it). Each tidbit that was teased further piqued my interest. Laura Steven is obviously a very accomplished author and has such interesting concepts for her books. Despite that I wasn't absolutely in love with the story which is disappointing. It's the same I felt about Our Infinite Fates. Wanted to love it but ended up liking it. Maybe the more so since it's very HP coded with the MMC very Draco-esque. Hope this helps anyone out this considering to check out this book.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me the review copy! Silvercloak has a very interesting magic system concept. I was really drawn in by the fact that magic users have to regenerate magic by inflicting pain or pleasure. This seemed very unique to me in comparison to fantasy books I have read so this was really refreshing!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the arc!

I thought the magic system was very interesting and a new twist on the fantasy genre. The characters were fine but they were missing something that I just couldn’t place

This book follows Saffron who joins the Silvercloaks elite academy after her parents are killed by a rival gang called the Bloodmoons. Saff wants to get revenge on behalf of her parents, and the opportunity arises when she goes undercover as a Bloodmoon for a mission. Things get complicated though as Saff develops feelings for the Bloodmoon's heir Levan.

The magic system in this book is pretty cool, and revolved around casting spells using a wand where your well of magic is replenished by either pain or pleasure. I enjoyed the slow burn enemies to lovers, and thought the plot was pretty action packed, but did feel like the pacing was off slightly in the middle of the book, and that there were a few jumps between situations.

Overall I enjoyed it and am definitely eager to find out what happens in the next book.

(ARC provided in exchange for an honest review)

This was incredibly good, and my first thought upon finishing was —gods when is the next book out? Only to be reminded the first one isn’t even out yet 😂

It’s been ages since reading something so completely different, so elaborate and so new. The world building is complex yet grappling, the balance of good and evil keeps you guessing throughout the book, and the characters have believable, relatable flaws which make you like them even more for it.

I thought it’d be impossible for me to actually like the MMC and yet here we are at the end. A true, burning, addictive enemies to lovers and vice versa trope.

I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy, read it again, and read the next ones.