In Tricia Leveseller's What Fury Brings, the matriarchy is in charge, women are the stronger sex and men are treated the way women are in today's world. Sounds perfect right? Not so much since they treat the men the way they treat us in this world. Boo!

Olerra isn't your typical warrior, she's got some meat on her bones, is sassy, and has morals that can be swayed. She wants a husband who is meek and submissive, but mistakenly kidnaps the wrong guy, Prince Sandos. While the world expects her to dominate him, he keeps his identity a secret and they actually form feelings for each other; he has conversations with her and she actually starts changing her opinions on things.

The story isn't meant to be a feminist story, it's supposed to show us how the world would be if women treated men the way we are treated, in general and I think that it works well and gives us something to think of. The book, rightfully, made me uncomfortable thinking that women could be just as callous and objectify men the way we are.

I like to think it wouldn't be that way, but it absolutely could. This book made me think and that's always a good thing. This was my first book by Ms. Levenseller, but it won't be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Following Olerra, a prospective heir to the throne of Amarra, a kingdom ruled by women, this fast-paced fantasy is full of banter, world-building, and shocking scenes from start to finish. Olerra needs to prove that she is the better fit to be queen - NOT her cousin, Glen. To prove herself and win over nobles who vote on the queen-to-be, Olerra steals a husband from a neighboring kingdom. She particularly chooses to steal a prince, though she unknowingly steals the wrong one. Throughout the novel, the prince is shocked (just like we are) to learn about the details of Amarra's social structure and functioning. He sees and undergoes very explicit things and is under the power of Olerra. While he plans on trying to escape, things get complicated as he finds himself drawn to Olerra, who is still trying to prove her worthiness for the throne and hide a secret of her own while her cousin schemes against her, threatening the future of not only Olerra but the whole kingdom of Amarra (which Olerra desperately wants to bring change to).

I was absolutely hooked by this story. I loved the fast pace, and I constantly wanted to keep reading not only for the plot and characters but also for the world itself. Levenseller does a phenomenal job creating the world and allowing readers to imagine the kingdom of Amarra. I was so enthralled that I even began taking notes and writing down comments while reading - not because it was confusing, but because I found it so interesting. Essentially, the society in Amarra and the social structure flips the society we know; in Amarra, women treat men the way men treat women in the real world. That premise alone was intriguing to me, but there are so many more details in the story that make the world unique. It was even more impressive because the other kingdoms in the novel don't function like Amarra, so there was a comparison that offered more complexity to the story and world. Every time I had a question about the world, it was answered in a seamless way. Everything we learn about the world was seamlessly integrated in a way that didn't seem overstated or like an 'info dump.' We get to learn about Amarra along with the stolen prince, Sanos, who is pretty much just as 'new' to understanding Amarra as readers are.

I enjoyed the characters and representation in the book! From sexuality to body size, this isn't a 'cut and paste' story. All of the characters were so well developed and complex. One thing that stood out to me was how the book doesn't proclaim Amarra's society as the 'fix' to our current society's issues; through Olerra, we get to explore how a society that flips the power structure is still bad. Olerra wants to change that, though! The explicit and graphic practices in Amarra just go on to emphasize the issues with societies that function on power imbalances; while explicit, they truly contribute to the messages/themes.

I felt that there was a great balance between the romance and the political stakes. Olerra's cousin and their fight for the throne was fun to follow with all of its scheming and tension. I will say that, while the Stockholm syndrome aspect can be gathered from the synopsis, it didn't sit right with me that it is also posited as an enemies-to-lovers and plays out with Sanos coming to accept and willingly engage with explicit abuse under the guise of helping Olerra get the throne.

Overall, this was a compelling book and I'd recommend it. (TW should be taken seriously before reading!)

I REALLY wanted to love this book. I've read and loved other Tricia Levenseller books. I don't have problems with trigger warnings, I can read a lot of dark stuff. I thought the premise of the story sounded really intriguing but, I ended up DNF'ing this at 25%. Stockholm syndrome romantacy is not my thing apparently. There is something really icky about kidnapping, humiliating, and torturing a person and having them fall in love with you? I just got more and more uncomfortable the more I read. I'm sure there will be loads of Dark Romance girlies who will love this book. It just wasn't for me.

A dark imaginative world with a compelling hook. Set to make you question everything about our own world and see how both options are problematic and that maybe together we can build a better way.

I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I love the concept of role reversals and mixed up social situations. The book was well written, however, it was fairly predictable and as with a lot of shorter stories the way through the conflicts in this book were fairly convenient and everything happened on a schedule. One aspect that I felt should have been given more consideration is that Sonos upon becoming King, spent all of his time in Amarra and basically neglected his own kingdom. Then to make matters worse, the entire royal family left Brutus for Amarra. Sonos being duty bound in nature would have gone back or made arrangements to have a steward in place.

Like many stories, I feel that this is an awesome concept and would have loved for it to be expanded upon to fill out the story as it deserves. But it is still fun, exciting, and overall enjoyable read.

I am a fan of Tricia Levenseller from her YA backlist and when I saw she was making her adult debut I was very excited! This book is motivated by female rage and revenge , the world is flipped and every atrocity that has ever happened to a woman happens to men instead. There were so many instances in the world building where micro aggressions would happen to the MMC that happen to women daily (smile more, get rid of your body hair it’s unsanitary). I enjoyed the plot and romance of the two main characters and I look forward to more from Levenseller in the future! Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

It took me a minute for this book; I felt like it was an odd concept. But then I realized that if the roles were reversed, I would have eaten this book up! So with a new way to look at the book, I continued on, and I liked it. There may have been some parts that felt a bit forced, but overall, I enjoyed reading the book.

Don't spoil it! Don't spoil it!
Ok. I read this in 2 days. It's one of those books that you refuse to put down and scowl at anything that forces you to do so. Ok, no spoilers. First of all, I would like to express my love for the author. I've been riding along since Pirate King. When I heard the synopsis for this new adult title, I felt secure that no one could do it better. She walked such a line in The Shadows Between Us. It's YA, but ticked so many boxes. It's one of my favorite "villian origin stories". I had no doubts of a world ruled by Amazon Warriors where gender roles were reversed. I had complete faith. There is no world building or magical system dump. You learn what you need to know along with the MC. It's not complicated. I adore epic fantasy, but this does lean into the Romantasy side. That's ok though, because we have crossed the border into spice. Yes, it's an enemies to lovers type of tale. I can only hope that it becomes a series OR we are allowed spin offs set in the same world. It changes POVs effortlessly with no issues in following who our narrator is. I had added this book to my cart, and now even after reading, I'll proudly add it to my shelves when it arrives. I love the characters and can't wait for everyone else to fall in love as well!
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, and one more note. I was afraid that this book might go rouge in the opposite direction into far woke land. I don't like real world politics and such in my reading material. As a woman filled with rage, I would feel more comfortable with a horror such as a handmaid's tale reversed. However I didn't know how I'd feel about equality represented in this fashion. It works. It stays the course without influencing any political feelings except compassion for humanity. Great job.

Wow, I couldn’t put this book down! From the very first page and the phrase “Husband Hunting” and I knew I was hooked. What a twist to read a book where women hold all the power! I highly recommend this book, it was wonderfully written, easy to follow and I just loved the female lead!

I would recommend this is as a young adult/mature read. not a teen read**

I think this book was such a great idea, but the lack of character growth, particularly with our FMC, just made the book fall short. My true rating would be a 3.5, but I’ll round up. In What Fury Brings, the FMC, Olerra, is from a matriarchal society. Women living there were gifted strength to overpower men when their Queen was abused by her husband. Centuries later, women still rule with fury towards men for their previous crimes against women. While Olerra isn’t as cruel as the worst of the female nobility, she still falls into societal practices against men to achieve her goals. She kidnaps a husband, Sanos, who she publicly humiliates to break him. She repeatedly promises that one day it’ll be different from the two of them, but will it? The book ends on a note of feeling hopeful for their future, but I think seeing more growth from Olerra would have made this book so much better. Either Olerra needed to start off worse and learn to change, or she could have done more to fix the system during the events of this book. Even an epilogue 10 years in the future showing changes would have helped. Since she doesn’t change, her constant promises to the FMC feel hypocritical and got annoying. The master/captive relationship isn’t an automatic no for me, as I have read books with this dynamic before, but I don’t think it worked here because Olerra didn’t change and didn’t show enough morals during the book. It is definitely a case of Stockholm Syndrome.

I thought the setting was intriguing. At times, the treatment of the males (not so much the MMC but other minor characters) was hard to stomach. This book had much darker moments than the other book by Levenseller that I read, but it still had moments where I was chuckling to myself. This book was satirical and had me drawing comparisons with the current culture I live in. I think this book could be an interesting read for a book club to draw out those comparisons.

It was so interesting to see the roles reversed in a fantasy book. The women holding power and the men being seen how women usually are was such a unique twist and I think the author did a wonderful job writing it that way. Punishing people for the crime that they committed with the crime that they committed was such a good idea for Olerra's kingdom. There was structure and everything seemed so balanced.

Sanos is a bit stubborn, but I loved watching him come out of his shell and let his guard down the more he learned about Olerra. I think if he didn't keep his true identity a secret for so long, they could have communicated and worked on a solution to the problem together. Olerra is such a good FMC that she made everything work out by using her wits. I'm so pleased with what happened to her cousin Glen and how the story ended. Thank you to Netgalley, McMillan, and Tricia Levenseller for an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion.

I really liked the premise of the book, but I couldn’t immerse myself into the world. I do think ALOT of people are going to eat this up so fast. Definitely give this book a try.

*sigh* Where to begin?

This book was marketed as a matriarchal society where women hold goddess given power that enables them to overpower men told through the lens of a gender flipped society as social commentary of the inequalities women faced in the past and still face today. That was all I needed to hear and I was chomping at the bit to read this and was thrilled when my application for an e-arc was approved.

Brief Synopsis:

The FMC's matriarchal kingdom Amarra has a shortage of noble marriageable men because of a past rebellion by these noblemen that lead to mass executions. Now if a noblewoman in Amarra wants to marry, she must kidnap her husband from neighboring kingdoms. Olerra (FMC) is a princess is competing against her cousin Glen for the throne and wants to prove her goddess given strength over men by kidnapping the second son of her sworn enemy, the king of Brutus, Amarra's rival nation. However kidnapping a Brutus prince might be more trouble than she bargaining for.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE BEFORE I BEGIN MY REVIEW:

I encourage anyone still curious about this book to read the author's note before beginning. It gives important context into Levenseller's motivations behind writing this book, namely her collective fury with past experiences of gender discrimination by men and funneling her frustrations into writing this book.

As a woman in a male dominated field, I can absolutely relate and empathize with her feelings of extreme frustration over the inequalities many women face on a daily basis, having experienced similar situations myself. My misgivings about this book have nothing to do with the topic, and everything to do with the execution.

I want to preface my review by saying I have read both The Shadows Between Us (#1) and The Darkness Within Us (#2) by Tricia Levenseller and I liked both with The Darkness Within Us being my favorite of the two. So I have experience with this author's other works and know that she is capable of smart female characters that hold their own in male dominated societies.

That being said, unfortunately What Fury Brings is not even close to the quality of her other works. This read like a proof of concept first draft rather than a polished book ready for publication. I sincerely hope Levenseller does some major editing before it releases because not only is this book poorly written, it also, in my opinion, contains damaging rhetoric about gender equality/inequality that undermines feminism to a harmful degree.

BELOW I DISCUSS A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE MAJOR PLOT POINTS IN THE STORY- DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED.

The book begins on the battlefield between the kingdoms of Brutus and Amarra and culminates in a standoff between the king and Olerra with her throwing a rock at the king's head, knocking him out, and capturing him. With the king bound, Olerra tries, unsuccessfully, to negotiate a trade for one of the king's sons. Having gotten nowhere, she decides to strip the king naked and dump him back in his kingdom to humiliate him. None of this proves to be relevant at all in the storyline except to showcase the king taking his humiliation out on his sons by beating them black and blue and forcing them to fight injured. This serves as a rather on the nose example of the king of Brutus being brutal and that a man has an unfit temper to be an effective leader or father.

Back in Amarra, Olerra receives permission from her aunt, the Queen, to kidnap a Brutus prince as a show of strength against her cousin Glen, the other contender for the Amarran throne. Olerra wants to keep Glen off the throne because she is cruel to the men she owns (her harem) and even goes so far as to purchase a 13 year old boy for her harem. Rather than intervening directly, Olerra vows to do everything in her power to win the throne to rewrite the laws that take away power from males. What will be these new policies that create a better country with equality for all? She doesn't know and neither do we.

She disguises herself and infiltrates a brothel in Brutus to kidnap Andrastus, the second prince of the Brutus. She seduces "Andrastus" whom she has an instant attraction with and after some heavy petting, she drugs him and transports him back to Amarra. On the journey back, "Andrastus" who is actually Sanos, the crown prince, warrior, and heir to the throne of Brutus, discovers Olerra mistook him for his docile poet brother. He plays along with this mistaken identity while Olerra tries to prepare him for life at Amarran court. He refuses to listen and tries to escape unsuccessfully.

From this point on, the story gets messy and moderately uncomfortable so brace yourself, you've been warned.

Back at court, "Andrastus" is prepared for court (including a forceable full body wax) and tied to a bed naked while Olerra tries to arouse him by touching herself to gauge the size of his penis so she can choose the right size dildo to practice with as she is a virgin and it is a crime punishable by death for a man to make a woman bleed, even accidentally through intercourse. She then leaves him tied to the bed so he can't touch himself as punishment for not cooperating because what better way to warm him to the idea of Amarra than binding him to the bed every night?

Olerra presents "Andrastus" to court with an armband around his bicep that shows her ownership of him and cuffs around his hands and feet. As she's presenting him to the queen, he takes a swing at her and Olerra punches him in the groin and holds a knife to his throat to get him to behave, then shackles him to a chair while she holds court. But don't worry, she's not actually a brutal person at heart, she hates acting this way, but to earn the respect of the court, she has to demonstrate control over her man so this is all for show.

Glen challenges Olerra to a duel between Andrastus and a man from Glen's harem. He and Andrastus battle and Andrastus wins which earns him a night unshackled to the bed, lucky him. He uses the opportunity to try to escape the palace (as he should) and Olerra catches him and uses it as an opportunity to thoroughly trounce him in combat to show him her goddess given gift of being stronger/unable to be overpowered by men.

She takes him back to court and in punishment for the escape attempt, she puts him in nipple clamps, a collar and leash, and makes him walk barefooted and kneel next to her while she converses with her court. But if he behaves, she'll be nice and not do that again because she's more benevolent than Glen. Later she takes him to the countryside to see how Amarrans live with men being sold in sex markets and rapists being sentenced to having their penises chopped off in a guillotine as punishment for their crimes. Olerra tries to justify these punishments as a way to retaliate against past abuses of men and take back their power. Levenseller attempts (unsuccessfully) to use these shocking gender-flipped cruelties as a way to get a man (Andrastus) to realize men's abuse of their power is worse than he realized.

Spurring social commentary about the injustices women face by having women enact cruelties of their own is, in my opinion, an ineffective and extremely harmful to the idea of female empowerment. In the author's note, Levenseller does say, "Please note that this is not what I think the world would look like if women were in charge. Far from it. Rather, this book is flipping the tables to show a new lens through which to view our own history." Although that may be the case, if this cruel world is not the society Levenseller believes women would create, then what is?

The only world shown in the book is one where men are sold to harems, kept as sex slaves, forced not to speak unless given permission, put to death if they make a women bleed, are unable to keep their own property, and more. By writing this world, the implication is that women created this world from the power they wield rather than a better one which was alluded to, but never explained or shown. This idea that when women finally have more power than men, they would use it to not only right past wrongs, but to take things one step further and subjugate men the way they had been is not at all the society I believe women would create and again, an extremely dangerous implicit statement to make, especially in the current political climate of the United States with women's autonomy and equality being whittled away every day. Would it not have been more effective for Levenseller to show the society she believes women would create when given the opportunity rather than the society they wouldn't?

Later, Andrastus is working out at a gymnasium and is baited into a fight with a man from Glen's harem. During the fight, Andrastus unknowingly pushes Glen out of the way who falls to the ground and scrapes her elbow bloody, which is a crime punishable by death. Glen demands Andrastus' death and Olerra substitutes herself to take the punish, but since it is forbidden to kill female royals, the punishment is a violent beating. Olerra saving Andrastus' life and taking on his punishment softens him to Olerra and they form a tenuous truce to work together.

After Olerra recovers, her and Andrastus venture out in the royal carriage to introduce her people to the princess' intended and are attacked by assassins sent by Glen. He helps her fight off the assassins rather than using the opportunity to escape. In gratitude, Olerra asks if she can pleasure Andrastus and he agrees.

His wrists are tied and he's hoisted aloft to the ceiling, balancing on his toes turned away from the door. Olerra then fingers him anally until he cums, which is absolutely crazy thing to do for your first sexual act with someone.

A few other diversions happen that have no particular relevance to the story. Andrastus trains with Olerra and her warriors, performs at a talent show by juggling/throwing flaming daggers, Andrastus confesses to being given a dagger by Glen to kill her but decided against it because now he's all in on Olerra becoming the new queen since she'll be a much better ruler than Glen. Again why? Unclear except being less cruel to men than Glen is. And just like that, Andrastus falls for Olerra and suddenly doesn't mind being a captive without autonomy anymore.

All of a sudden, Glen rushes into Olerra's quarters with guards, convinced of a secret Olerra has been keeping about her powers. Glen had sent the 13 year old slave boy she purchased for her harem to bump into Olerra in passing and succeeded in making her off balance, which should be impossible to do if she had the goddess given gift of being more powerful than men. Glen also exposes that "Andrastus" is actually Sanos, the crown prince of Brutus who concealed his identity this entire time for fear of Olerra trying to kidnap the real Andrastus and send Sanos home. Olerra throws him in the dungeons and then taunts the king of Brutus with the knowledge of his captive son. We're expected to believe that there is not even one singular Brutus spy in Amarra that had knowledge of Sanos being kidnapped and engaged to Olerra and that the king was unaware that anything had happened to his son the whole time?

In the meantime, Olerra somehow extrapolates that Glen had another secret plan of opening the city gates to allow troops from Brutus to enter Amarra. Why would Glen do that and how does Olerra figure it out? No clue! But Olerra devises a way to get the king of Brutus to confess to the plan, stop the invasion, and out Glen as a traitor.

Olerra dresses up Sanos in provocative clothes and puts on a show of owning him to enrage the king, which Sanos happily accepts because now he is in love with Olerra and wants to stay with her, despite having hated her and trying to escape this whole time.

Olerra successfully goads the king into a one-on-one battle, taunts him enough that he confesses Glen's plan to invade the city, and then succeeds in killing him.

The book wraps everything up in a neat little bow: Sanos is now the king of Brutus and wants to negotiate peace between their nations, Glen is branded a traitor and exiled, Olerra is voted as the crown princess and heir to the throne, and Sanos and Olerra get married and move Sanos' family into the royal quarters. Who is going to rule Brutus with the whole royal family living in Amarra? We don't know and it's never resolved as the story ends in an unfinished happily ever after.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The overall concept of this book of female empowerment and commentary on gender inequality is of vital importance, particularly now under the current administration dismantling previously held freedoms for so many underrepresented groups, including women. But to speak on this topic in a way that effectively and positively adds to the progress of gender equality and feminism requires nuance and careful balancing that to me, this book did not accomplish, rather the opposite.

1 star.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan/Feiwel, and the author for an e-ARC of this book.

This felt somewhat like a reverse handmaid's tale and not in a good way. When I saw this was a "sexy, empowering romantasy" I thought I would love it but what we got was too off putting to me. The concept of a society run by women sounded so intriguing and exciting but the men being treated as property really didn't feel good to me. I also didn't feel any romantic connection between the two MC's and didn't feel the heat. Maybe this was just a case of wrong time/wrong book but I was not feeling this book at all.

I have read a couple of this authors other works and enjoyed them but this one was a miss for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan | FEIWEL for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just finished What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller, and I’m seriously impressed! This book delivers everything I love about epic fantasy — fierce warriors, high-stakes battles, and a richly built world that feels alive and dangerous. The characters are complex and driven, with motivations that keep you guessing, and the story moves at a great pace with plenty of twists and emotional moments. Levenseller’s writing is sharp and immersive, making it easy to get lost in the action and drama. If you’re into fantasy with strong heroines, political intrigue, and intense, fiery conflicts, this book should definitely be on your TBR. Highly recommend!

I was excited about the idea of the story. So different from anything out right now, but felt like the opening of the book needed more context, we were kind of just thrown in and left to figure out what was happening. I loved to power play in the dynamics of it all. The relationship seemed like it happened over night. This is where I think I could have benefited from being longer, so we could see the relationship developing. But over all a fun read, if you read the premise and it sounds like it’s for you it’s a fun time.

I smiled at the dedication at the front of the book. I am glad that it came with Trigger Warnings.
But I also liked that the author said she was flipping the script on men who tried to make her Less. She also mentioned in the intro that it was her fury that started the whole book. Very interesting ! There is also a chart with Amarran Terminology in the front of the book too.

This was an astoundingly great book ! Yes, there was one deserved but gruesome scene that made me wince but the rest of the story was great ! Even with all the WEIRD sexes and couplings that are not something that I usually read. The tension between Olerra, a warrior princess vying for the throne and the kidnapped Prince Sanos was off the charts awesome ! I loved how the author admitted in the intro about a lot of her rage was worked out through this very book. Rage at being made invisible, to look less than, to be underpaid for great books just because of her gender. Being a woman I totally got it and it came through in this book. In the beginning they each had utter contempt for each other and their respective kingdoms. It made me wonder how on earth that would ever work out without either one of them getting killed? And at times its a close one because both of them had enemies in the her compound. Sanos was fighting hard his attraction to Olerra and she just wanted to break him to show her power and become the head of the kingdom to bring about good change. I hated her cousin who turned out to be evil more evil than originally thought. Olerra was well aware that her cousin wanted to kill her, but still this was her cousin who once loved her ! Their Queen was in Olerra's corner but there was only so much that she could do for her.
There is tenderness in this story, and near deaths, sacrifices that are painful but also life changing.
The ending was Spectacular and VERY satisfying. I would read it again !

I was nervous about this one due to other reviews stating that this is not a feminist book, but I actually LOVED this. It was nothing I expected and that is not a complaint. There are so many books with overpowering males who take control of women and this is the complete opposite. Olerra might be my favorite warrior princess ever. This book made SO many good points that apply to the real world and honestly, I think everyone should read it. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed this book, but for me, the spice was a bit heavy for the amount of plot that we were getting. It was a unique premise, which I liked, but I just wanted more.

Revenge. This is a pure female dominant kingdoms. This will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea so definitely check trigger warnings, but for me as a female I enjoyed it. It was a long book to so that had me sucked in. It was a good romance/fantasy but it is not one I would re read.