*4.5 stars*

*Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing a digital copy to review*

This book gave me so much joy. From the world-building to the romance, this book had all the things that I love and more.

The mythology in this world is amazing and has elements similar to those of Greek mythology, something I love. I found the concept of Ever so interesting. Magic is a limited resource that is gradually disappearing and can be accessed by the gods, witches, and the odd human. There’s also the concept of ‘twin souls, ’ which is basically fated mates, a trope I adore.

There are two POVs. Captain Elva, a warrior princess, who agrees to an arranged marriage with Fynton to save her people, and Innes, a witch, goes on a journey to find a way to cure the blight. At first, I thought they were going to find each other, but each woman gets her own love story, which is both unexpected and intense.

I loved both sets of couples. I love, once again, how intense their relationships are. Both couples are forcefully thrown together, where they have to confront their feelings towards each other and how it would work in the situations they find themselves in. LGBTQ+ characters and relationships are present and are a normalised part of this world, with both the FMCs having same sex relationships.

The ending left me with so many questions and theories I need answers to, so I can’t wait for the next book!

Ever Blessed is a compelling romantasy debut that blends mythology, magic, and emotional depth.

The book jumps between two female pov’s. Who I will add are in their early 30s - a refreshing change that made their journeys feel all the more grounded and relatable.

Elva and Innes are complex, well-realised characters whose stories unfold with real emotional weight. Their struggles, between duty and desire, survival and sacrifice, are set against a richly imagined world where divine power is both a blessing and a curse. The romantic arcs are slow-burn and layered, complementing the high-stakes plot without overshadowing it.

I was fortunate to attend a night with Olivia at Harry Hartog in Maroochydoore. It was a great night and opportunity to hear more about her writing process and deep dives into the book.

✨3.5 stars ✨
🌶️ 0.5 spice 🌶️

”Truth or lie?”
“Lie,”
“I would never have chosen you.”

First off, thank you to Harper Voyager for allowing me an e-arc of this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The book is now out everyone!

What to expect in this
* Slow burn romance
* Unique magic system
* Arranged marriage between kingdoms
* Strong female leads
* Two main couples
* A sapphic romance
* Gods
* Witches
* Female Warriors

This was a really interesting book. I found that the unique magic system with the Ever was a really fun and engaging storyline.

The mythology to this book was beautifully done I must say. I found it extremely well written and all the characters were thought out very well.

The FMCs in this. Oh my girl boss. We have Elva, a warrior princess who agreed to an arranged marriage with a rival kingdom to gain hopefully peace.
And on the other side we have, Innes, a witch who is trying to find answers to the blight curse.
Both of these characters were so entertaining. Also massive bonus that both part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Both were so powerful in different ways but both on quests to save their world. I loved the parallels between them but the underlying message being that they were both strong and powerful women.

Now, the romance. Oh my.
The romance between Fynton and Elva brought so much tension and slow yearning. I was a puddle.
And then the romance between Innes and Remi was so strong and almost tragic in a way. I truly had so much fun.

I will say, there was a few moments during the book where I just didn’t have a draw to want to pick it up. That may just be because of busy scheduling and life but there wasn’t that drastic pull to continue reading. However, in saying that. That ending. WILD. I definitely will be reading the next book!

Check TWs and CWs
Happy reading 🩶

It took me a bit of time to get a good grasp of what was happening but when I did, I really loved what I was reading.

Beautifully layered characters, dual POV, excellent world building, political instability and a rich backdrop of mythology, history and ancient magic makes for a really enjoyable debut story.

Ever Blessed is a thunderous, feminist fantasy that pulses with wrath, reverence, and romance. From the very first page, Olivia O’Flynn weaves a tale that is both lyrical and biting—fierce in its anger and soft in its longing.

Told in third person with dual POVs, this story balances two love arcs, and somehow makes both feel equally compelling. I was absolutely rooting for Elva and Fyn the whole way through—Elva is strong and independent, and Fyn? That icy, broody energy had me hooked. Watching their connection melt through shared purpose and sharp banter was a highlight. (Bonus points for a delicious “touch her and die” moment.)

The second arc brings us a sapphic romance that’s tender, fated, and full of longing. While their bond leans more into the instalove trope, it still carried emotional weight and beauty—and offered a gorgeous contrast to the simmering slow-burn of Elva and Fyn. The transitions between storylines are seamless—no tonal whiplash, just a satisfying rhythm that carries you steadily through grief, rage, and renewal.

The final twists? Chef’s kiss. I didn’t see them coming, and they’ve left me feral for book two.

If you love your fantasy poetic, feminist, and emotionally layered—with a splash of divine retribution and romantic tension—Ever Blessed deserves a spot on your altar (or TBR).

This book is very gay, very magical and very compelling.

It was exceptionally well paced. It follows two different perspectives - Elva and Innes - and both felt very balanced. I was never racing to get back to the other, I equally enjoyed being with both Elva and Innes equally.

And the enemies to lovers!!! Finally some good fucking food. Elva and Fyn are true enemies, thrust together against both their wills, and are forced to find common ground with each other. They find it, the chemistry is palpable and had me kicking my feet and grinning like a little girl.

The world is very unique, and well drawn. It was a lot of world building, but I felt it was delivered very well, my understanding built over time as all the pieces were placed, until I was fully engrossed in this world.

This is very gay, and I have learnt that I like my romantasy as gay as possible.

I don't really have any notes for this. I had very high expectations and I loved this book just as much as I thought I would. I think this will work for romantasy lovers, but is also a fantastic first foray into romantasy for people who haven't tried it before, and also people who love high fantasy, as the politics in this world, the magic system are all amazing and so well done.

What a read!

After being in a slump, and taking a WHOLE month to read one little romance book, I was anticipating it being hard to jump into a new book, let alone a fantasy one. However, as soon as I started reading this I could not stop. The main characters were charming, the world was interesting and it was so wonderfully fast paced that I don’t think I could have put it down if I tried.

This world includes, Gods, Witches, Danaan, and the Ever blessed, an interesting concoction that makes for plenty of secrets, mysterious happenings and fascinating politics. There wasn’t a moment I did have questions swirling around in my head about what was happening, and what was going to happen next. I was kept on my toes in the most delightful way.

I was pleasantly surprised when we met the MMC. Coming from the family of the land that our FMC has been at war with, I expected it to have hostile, arch nemesis vibes. However, Fynton was warm, charismatic and mysterious.

At times I did find that we jumped from one moment to the next quite quickly but this did help the pacing, although whilst jarring at points I still really thoroughly enjoyed it.

I truly cannot wait to see where this series goes.

A delightful debut romantasy, written in third person and told through dual, interwoven perspectives.

Featuring two strong female characters - Captain Elva, a human warrior princess, desperate to conceal her connection with the Ever and the kingdom’s last hope for peace. Innes, a talented witch and healer in hiding, on a perilous quest (her Passage) to cure the blight.

Read for:
✨ Political tensions and intrigue
✨ Unique magical system
✨ Rich mythology involving Gods, giants, witches and ancient magic
✨ Fabulous world-building
✨ Multiple swoon-worthy romances
✨ Richly detailed world history
✨ LGBTQ+ representation
✨ Arranged marriage between long-term enemy kingdoms
✨ Fated mates (called twinsouls in this world)
✨ Queer-normative world
✨ Complex loyalties

This is a fantastic and intriguing debut novel, and I am very excited to read what happens next in the Tides of Ever series, from Australian author Olivia O’Flynn!

With many thanks to HarperCollins Publisher Australia and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of this fabulous story, in exchange for an honest review.

Ever Blessed was an enjoyable read, though it took me a little time to fully immerse myself in the story and grasp the complex history of the gods and the events that shaped their world.

The story is told through dual POVs: Innes, a witch, and Elva, a human whom is ever blessed. Both are on parallel journeys to protect their loved ones and save the world from the blight. Their storylines offer a different kind of romantic story - one a slow burn, the other an instant connection- giving you the experience of both dynamics.
The worldbuilding is visual and immersive, making it easy to visualize the locations they take place in and there is a wide variety of characters.
You will come to learn very quickly who the villains are in this story who you will feel a strong disliking for whilst you will get to know and like others.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC. I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes in the 2nd installment!

This debut from Olivia is so freaking good! ✨

Ever Blessed is a dual POV story following Elva, a Vettonian warrior captain secretly hiding her spark of magic (called Ever), and Innes, a witch in hiding and trying to make sense of why the Ever is fading.

I loved the dual POV and watching their stories progress! The side characters were amazing and I’m excited to learn and read more about them!
Fynton is the sexy, mysteriously aloof prince 😍 (we love) and Avi and Oriann made me laugh. Remi and the rest of the warrior women were strong and fearless.

Tropes/themes:
💙 arranged marriage
💛 fated couple
💙 forced proximity
💛 trials of faith
💙 LGBTQIA+ rep
💛 war between magical races

Ever Blessed has all the ingredients of an epic fantasy romance: mythology, warrior princesses, witches, and an enemies-to-lovers arranged marriage. It makes for an exciting premise and while it didn’t fully land for me, there were still aspects I appreciated.
The story unfolds through two POVs: Elva, the captain of the Warriors in Vettona who is betrothed to the heir of a neighbouring kingdom to help end a long-standing war; and Innes, a witch on a mission to cure the mysterious 'blight'. I initially enjoyed both perspectives, though as the story progressed, I found myself more drawn to Elva’s chapters. As a result, Innes’s POVs fell flat for me and at times felt disconnected from the central plot.
The world O’Flynn has created is vivid and imaginative, and she does a good job with descriptions that make the setting easy to visualise. However, I did find the lore and world-building somewhat dense and 'info-dumpy' which occasionally left me rereading passages to piece things together. That said, it all came together more clearly by the end.
The romantic threads were enjoyable—one centered on an arranged marriage and the other on the fated mates trope. I also appreciated the queer-normative world the story was set in.
While Ever Blessed didn’t fully click for me, it lays a solid foundation for the rest of the series, and I’m curious to see how the story and characters develop in the future.

Ever Blessed is the debut romantasy novel by Australian author, Olivia O’Flynn, following a fierce warrior princess, Elva, and talented witch, Innes as they each embark on their own life-altering journeys.

I think Ever Blessed has the potential to lead a great romantasy series. While a little stilted at first, the novel contains two separate romantic arcs with some of my favourite tropes. We get an arranged marriage with forced proximity, and a fated mates (known as twinsouls) storyline, with a healthy dose of miscommunication and misunderstanding thrown in the mix.

I really enjoyed the magic system and found it quite intriguing! Ever can be wielded by gods, witches, danann (giants) and humans that are Ever Blessed, but it is still quite mysterious and I don’t think we’ve seen its full potential yet. This book would definitely appeal to you if you enjoyed Throne of Glass —while vastly different in storyline and with some added spice, Ever Blessed reminded me of the tone of the first couple of books in the series.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books in the Tides of Ever series. This was a great debut novel and I can see the potential in the characters and storyline developing as the author really finds her voice. The mythology and lore surrounding the storyline has some beautiful complexity to it, and I’d love to see this explored further in subsequent books.

Special thanks to Harper Collins Australia for giving me the chance to read an Advanced Reader Copy of Ever Blessed.

A great fantasy read, with lots of world building and history around magic, myths, gods, witches and giants. Sometimes I felt a little lost with what was what, and who was who, so I hope that there is a glossary in the print book that defines the words that are new to us. I enjoyed the slow burn and banter between Elva and Fynton. I loved the queer normative world, as well as the twinsouls (fated mates) aspect of this book. This was one of my most anticipated reads this year, I do wish I loved it more.

'She was made of magic & wrath'
3 stars for this debut novel from Olivia O'Flynn.

I did enjoy this easy read however it did take me a bit to sit down and get into it.

I liked the Dual plotlines of Elva and Innes, however at times i did find myself skimming over paragraphs. I loved the story of Elva and Fynton more than Innes and Remi. I don't know what it is but i love a good married off to a warring kingdom trope. Their love was a slow burn and then you slingshot to Innes where is was love at first sight. I'd prefer the waiting game than the instalove.
This book has great world building, adventure, tonnes of magic (the Ever) and mythology thrown in as well.

I would read the next book but i think i would add it to my TBR pile first.

** Thankyou to NetGalley & Harper Collins for this eArc
Happy reading!

'Ever Blessed' is the first book in an adult romantasy series from Australian author Olivia O'Flynn, and it is a promising beginning!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where a type of magic known as 'Ever' was once plentiful, wielded by witches, danann and gods alike, a blight now afflicts the land as the supply of Ever diminishes. A century ago, the gods won a war in which it was determined that they alone should control the Ever, and to this day anyone else found to be capable of accessing Ever - the 'Ever Blessed' - are executed. In this book we follow the perspectives of two Ever Blessed individuals who are forced to conceal their magic. Elva is both a princess and a warrior, and at the beginning of the book has reluctantly agreed to marry the crown prince of a neighbouring kingdom in order to stop the drawn out fighting for resources between the nations. She hides from everyone around her that she possesses a tiny amount of Ever, just enough that she can sense when others around her are wielding it. Innes is a witch from a region protected from being found by a magical barrier. She is tasked with travelling to a nearby kingdom in order to find out why the Ever dwindles, as the barrier is fading and it's fall will mean inevitable persecution for all witches within.

I really enjoyed the world-building and plot set-up for this book. The magic system was interesting, with each type of magical being wielding Ever in different ways, and there was a lot of intrigue throughout. However, as can often happen with dual perspective books, I was much more interested in one perspective than the other. This romantasy leans heavily in the romance direction, and there are romantic plotlines in both characters' perspectives. While I enjoyed the slow burn of Elva's romantic plot, Innes' romance was instalove - quite literally. The world this book is set in has a magical soulmate connection called a 'twinsoul', which means that Innes falls literally instantly upon touching the other person. While Elva's chapters featured a good mix of world building and romantic tension, Innes' chapters were almost entirely devoted to her budding romance and I was a little disappointed that Innes' main personal conflict was brushed off so easily.

This book has a lot of promise as the introduction to a larger world and premise. I'll be keeping my eye out for future installments for sure!

ever blessed is olivia o’flynn’s debut novel. rich in detail and the world’s extensive histories, olivia o’flynn has introduced a unique magic system based around a person’s ever, a form of magic the characters beliefs and identities are centred around. few humans have access to the ever except for the ever blessed, mortals gifted by the gods themselves, but anyone who has been discovered with accessible ever is persecuted. the world the characters find themselves navigating is fraught with dangers, from internal conflicts and external threats, as the ever is fading and slipping through divine control. this book blends rich magic and political tensions within a slow-burning romance; all within a crumbling world struggling for survival amongst the chaotic turmoil unfurling across the kingdoms. olivia o’flynn’s style of writing delivers an epic, detailed narrative that is complex and multi-layered, and her level of world-building is considerable with a natural insertion of an incredible cast of lgbtqia+ characters and the way it’s presented as within this world.

i love the idea of the dual perspectives and the two interwoven stories as they follow different aspects of the world, giving us an interesting and thorough way of exploring the conflict and the environment without relying on one character’s perspective. however, as much as i love this concept, this book is dense in world-building, with a strong emphasis on heavier details around the intricacies of the world’s beliefs and the magic systems, all told through the perspectives of innes, a witch who travels to vicenttia to source a solution to the blight, and elva, a woman warrior who has been betrothed to fynton, the prince of the clochain, to secure a strong, political marriage to protect their people. it was unclear whether innes and elva’s journeys followed the same timeline, or how much difference and distance was between them, and as we followed two distinct storylines a vast majority of this book’s beginning felt rushed and incomplete.

naturally, fantasy books will have incredible world-building; the world and its environments are vastly different from reality so there’s an expectation of there being elaborate exposition. however, i believe it’s fair and reasonable to withhold some details and information if the narrative is set across multiple installments, as you can then slowly unravel the world’s complexities without overwhelming the reader. with how much information was released within a short period, it was difficult to follow the details and remember the information as it was often shared all at once and never reiterated. at times, this made the book feel slow and almost tedious to read with its indigestible content. the author’s use of the ‘tell not show’ method was one of my biggest issues with this book, which failed to make this book engaging. a majority of this book was told through extensive paragraphs of world-building and information dumping, without engaging dialogue or scenes, resulting in no critical thinking or thought processes.

♡ elva + fynton
of the two perspectives, elva and fynton were the most interesting. a marriage of convenience set between two warring kingdoms, not fuelled by enemies to lovers as commonly featured in romantasy. i appreciated the slow burning, natural progression of elva and fynton’s relationship and the way their mutual feelings of attraction unfolded. it wasn’t instantaneous, nor convoluted; and while there aren’t deeper feelings involving love or affection, the physical attraction they shared was honest and natural. it takes over half of this book for the characters to acknowledge each other’s presence and begin growing feelings, and this comes down to the dual story-telling format this author used. due to the lacking scenes between elva and fynton, it does become easy to view their relationship as rushed.

♡ innes + remi
queer representation is something that we need more of in fiction and as excited as i was for remi and innes, the instant-love between them watered down the relationship, making it feel inauthentic and underdeveloped. it’s difficult to balance fated mates—or in the case of ever blessed, a twinsoul—and romance, and more often a fated mates approach results in rushed development and underwhelming connections shared between the two characters. i love slow burning romance and yearning from afar, as it allows readers an opportunity to learn more about the characters, but also come to appreciate the relationship developing across the scenes. unfortunately, remi and innes were a letdown, which is really a shame because they were perhaps the two most interesting characters in this entire book!

with some refinement on the world-building, clear direction on the two coinciding storylines and further development on the relationships, ever blessed would have been a significantly more engaging fantasy romance! the last 40 odd percent of this book had by far the most interesting and compelling moments and exchanges in dialogue, and if this was the standard from the beginning i feel i would have not only rated this book higher, i’d also feel more inclined to continue this series.

I was so excited to receive an e-arc of Ever Blessed but unfortunately it missed the mark.

For a book that had characters in their early 30’s, they read as the average YA- new adult late teens- early 20’s. This book follows dual plot lines, one of which following Elva and the other following Innes. The idea of a dual plotline was very interesting in theory however it was not executed properly. Both plotlines felt incomplete and rushed as the book was trying to fit too much into the word count. I think it would’ve been better to split this book into 2 and allowed each characters story to develop, breathe, and grow. Due to the dual plotlines, it felt like for most of the book nothing was happening. Jumping between the two perspectives did not allow for their respective storyline’s to develop till 50% into the book, rendering the first half pointless.

One of the main issues I had with this book however was its lack of narrative features in the way it failed to even include a basic narrative function of show don’t tell. Most things in this book were told to the reader through long paragraphs or pages of world building and info dumping which resulted in no critical thinking skills or any kind of thought whatsoever going into this book. I think because of the telling and not showing that was done in this book is why I suffered so much to understand the magic system or the politics of this world, because everything was forced down my throat in a way that wasn’t digestible.

The romance between the 2 couples was subpar. It takes over 50% for the fmc and mmc to to acknowledge each other and start to grow feelings, but considering the first half of the book there are barely any scenes between them, even once they do start blossoming something at 50% it feels insta love and rushed. This is the same with the second perspective and her love interest, while I love seeing queer representation in books, this one started out really good but very quickly turned insta love and rushed as well.

Also I feel it’s important to mention there was an attempted rape scene in this book but it was handled so poorly in the way it was literally a sentence or two and then never mentioned again. I have been seeing sexual assault scenes in romantasies become more ‘popular’ for a lack of a better word and I think authors need to stop using people’s trauma and their real experiences as filler scenes in a book, or for a way to set up the mmc’s first move towards the fmc. Very rarely does any kind of sexual assault or harassment further the plot or character development and this is an instance where it definitely does not.

All this being said however, the book does get better eventually but not until the 60% mark and after you’ve sat through reading pointless conversations and story filler.

In this books defence, it was easy to read. Olivia O’Flynn’s writing style is very simple in the way she forms her sentences and structures her paragraphs, but it is in a way that disregards basic narrative conventions and features.

Firstly, thank you so much to Harper Collins Australia for this advanced reader copy. Based on the blurb and the beautiful cover, it was something I really wanted to read!

This romantasy book follows 2 perspectives - Elva and Innes. Both of these characters are LGBTQIAP+ and are strong in their own way, which we love.

The world-building itself was a visual/imaginative masterpiece.

There was definitely a different point of view with the plot lines which I sincerely appreciated. The writing style was right up my alley and the first two chapters had me roped in from the get go.

For me, the pacing of both perspectives seemed strange. Most things happened really quickly and after finishing the book I wondered what the book's timeline was, as it felt like merely a week and that a lot of the story was about the history of the realm. At times, there felt like a disconnection between the characters and plot. The incorporation of mythological elements in the history was welcomed, however, I did get a little lost and overwhelmed with it. Truthfully, I'm still not sure which is which and who is who. I'm also not sure if anything actually got solved in this book. There are many elements of problems, but there was no completion of anything, which felt a little deflating.

Though there was no completion of anything, the ending of this book was captivating, interesting and different, so I look forward to the second book to see where it takes us. The writing style and world-building was enough to keep me interested.

I would like to thank Olivia O’Flynn and HarperCollins Australia for allowing me to review Ever Blessed through being offered an eARC via NetGalley.

This book is full of detailed world building, political intrigue, magic and mythology, a bit of spice and wonderfully interesting characters.

I really enjoyed reading about Captain Elva, warrior princess of Vettona, betrothed to Prince Fynton in the hope of bringing peace to their warring nations.
Also, following Innes story, a healing witch, trying to find a way to save the land from a ravaging blight, was very interesting.

There were a few times where the writing had an innate ability to elicit the feelings of the characters, especially how Elva felt about Advisor Gudren. These were moments of highly immersive storytelling.

I can’t wait to see more of Elva and Innes intertwining story.

Ever Blessed is the beginning of a promising fantasy romance series, and I really enjoyed the collage of different mythology inspirations at play. I will note the romance is pretty light in this book compared to other romantasy books but I suspect the romance will take up more of the plot in the next book. This was great for me as I much prefer fantasy, but heads up so readers have appropriate expectations.

Captain Elva, warrior princess of Vettona, is promised to Prince Fynton in an effort to bring their nations long-lasting peace. The world they live in has a bloody history of war and vengeful gods, and now the Ever Blessed (those with the innate magical abilities and access to magic's source) are the target. Elva must hide her powers, and play the role of gracious princess to a man she knows almost nothing about for the good of her people. She is also recovering from two heartbreaks, the woman she left behind for her betrothal, and the woman who was killed by Fynton's people in a battle. I think Elva is a decent example of the 'stabby fmc' archetype which I don't love, but she's definitely a strong character and I love that she wasn't made to be naive or infantilised. Fynton was interesting, albeit a little bland, but I didn't get swoon-worthy vibes from him. Avi on the other hand? PLEASE.

The second storyline follows Innes, a witch in hiding, who embarks on a dangerous quest for an explanation and solution for a blight ravaging their land. This brings her into path of a band of Vettonian warriors and into the arms of an unexpected love interest. I much preferred Innes' storyline over Elva's and I wish they were a bit more balanced. Innes has a lot of heart and is willingly to risk her life for the people she cares about, but I felt like she wasn't really a protagonist in her story, everything just kind of happened around her. I also love witches in fantasy in general, so I would've liked more witchy-ness.

Ever Blessed is set in a queer-normative world. There are multiple LGBT characters and relationships which aren't painted as unusual or shameful which is always fantastic. I just really struggled through the middle third of this book, it had a super strong orientation and the ending did a bit of work to redeem it, but I mostly remember struggling to pick it back up.

I am undecided about whether I'll continue the series, but I probably will if I can find a comprehensive recap of book 1 when the time comes because I wouldn't read this again.