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.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book!
I thought this book was based on a really interesting premise and was interested throughout as the author compared the Amarran customs vs. that of the other countries in the world (and that of most customs in real life). I enjoyed the dual POV and felt like it was easy to follow the story throughout. I appreciated the trigger warning list up front, definitely check through those before you start just in case! The essential question of the book - “we treat men this way because they treated us this way; what is your excuse for treating women the same way?” - was really intriguing to work with throughout and see Sanos work through as well. I also enjoyed that this was a shorter standalone book but still packed a lot into the pages!

Thanks to Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for the preview. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

This was the perfect read for the ragey mood I’ve been in. There’s a queendom where women have all the power! And the men must kneel! And there’s a 🍆 guillotine for 🍇ists!

Now, it is absolutely essential that you read the author’s note at the beginning of this book. Because if you go into this thinking Levenseller imagines this is the perfect society, you’ve missed the point. Of course it’s messed up! But to see what a flipped social structure would look like, it’s important to point out the issues, and those issues can sometimes be seen more clearly when the injustices are not where you’d expect. Which is exactly what Sanos learns too.

All that being said, this is full of politics, plotting, court game and intrigues. Plus of course a delicious romance. You only think you’ve swooned before when a hero swears that no one will ever hurt the fair maiden again. What’s amazing is when the fierce warrior princess says it to the big strong man.

Loved that this was a standalone, and that the end felt really great. I’d recommend, but only if you really do pay attention to the content warnings first.

“What Fury Brings” is a fiery, boundary-pushing entry into adult romantasy—bold, brutal, and provocative. It thrives when challenging assumptions about power, rage, and redemption, though its discomforting start may not suit everyone. If you're drawn to morally gray characters, heady reversals of traditional gender roles, and raw romantic tension, this book delivers—just be ready for its intense twists before it offers its rewards.

Thank you to Tricia Levenseller, Macmillan and NetGalley for approving my ARC request!

⭐️- Worldbuilding
The world building was absolutely incredible. I love the idea of subverting the current patriarchy on its head. It really struck me that even though the general idea of "dominion" is one I've seen a lot of misogynists use as a way to combat the idea of a matriarchy (These misogynists cannot fathom women not oppressing men to stay in power because it is what they do to us), even this version of the matriarchy is so compelling, and a taste of utopia that we could never find from the patriarchal structure. Despite this idea of dominion, I was pleasantly overwhelmed with the forefront of empathy that the Amarran women had for all walks of life. The diversity through sexuality and gender was also pleasing to see. Amara was a safe space for anyone who needed it, and had full justification for their ruling system. On the other hand, I thought the term for the patriarchal kingdom being Brutus was very fitting. Not only is their god, Brutus, perhaps coincidentally named after one of Caesar's violent betrayers, so true do they only know the primitive and carnal desires of violence and harmful lust. I really enjoyed that there was historical justification in everything that the Amarran's did. We must know our history to build upon the future, and I think it's illustrated well that a matriarchy would follow this mindset. I think the only thing I'd wish for is a little more cast diversity in more than just sexuality and gender. However I also realize the purpose of this book and the weight of the statement it is making.

⭐️- Plot
Of course we all had an inkling of what was going to happen, but that's the fun of it, right? I don't read this sort of romance because I want to know if the main characters will fall in love or not. I read it because I want to know why, and how. The author does such a splendid job of entrancing the reader to want to find out how it happens. The plot, world building and character development all lend itself into a perfect blend.

⭐️- Writing
At first I went back and forth with how I felt with the writing. When I read high or political fantasy, I often want a certain eloquence to the prose I read. Do not get me wrong, Levenseller provides beautiful prose of dialogue and yearning, however I was momentarily thrown off by the phrases that would be more common place in today's modern society. That being said, I found I thoroughly enjoyed the use of it! Levenseller's voice is so easy to pull from her writing, so unique to her, and one that I really liked! I'll also admit, I loved the Captive Prince series, and seeing that C.S. Pacat had something to say about this book made me all the more curious. I'm not the biggest fan of sexual activity in my books, but there is a certain distinct style to which these authors write it, that I find myself enjoying it. Especially kudos to Levenseller. I've had recent difficulty finding heterosexual fictional couples I like because it always feels heavily one-sided towards the man's pleasure. There's always a hidden line of misogyny to the romance that I can't overlook. This book does such a stellar job in showing the importance of consent and sexual equality, that I was so pleasantly surprised about! I can safely say I enjoyed getting to read the relationship between the two characters! I should also say, I've never learned so much about anatomy!

⭐️- Character Development
The characters never felt one dimensional, or as if they were props. They all possessed such a humanity to them, that I was also happy to see. In a story like this, Olerra was such a wonderful protagonist. All I wanted was to see her succeed the entire book. Sanos, definitely grew on me. Watching him have that baseline empathy for the feminine members of his family at the beginning, to watching him grow and question the very fundamental systems of both he patriarchy and this version of the matriarchy was so vindicating to watch. The secondary characters were very intriguing and I do wish we could see even more of them, or even a perspective or two of their's. However I won't say more for risk of giving anything away to future fans!

⭐️- Personal Feelings
There were moments of this book I wasn't sure what to think, however I think a good book will do that to you. Every book I read, I will always critically think about and analyze in some way. This book really got me thinking about some of the structural systems in place now, and what they would look like flipped. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

Thank you again, this was a very enjoyable first ARC read!

Enemies-to-lovers with a twist I didn’t see coming and I’m obsessed! A fierce warrior princess, a kidnapped prince, political tension, dark magic, and so much chemistry. Olerra and Sanos are everything: raw, complex, and impossible not to root for.

The world is rich, the romance is slow-burn and intense, and the twists hit hard.Plus, the cover? Absolutely stunning.

That ending left me reeling I need the sequel now. A dark romantasy standout. New favorite!

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this advanced reader copy.

What an interesting flip on societal norms and gender expectations! I was honestly a little hesitant at the idea of women kidnapping their husbands but I think the author did a really great job in their approach. We got our grumpy-sunshine, “I don’t want to love you”, touch him and die, who did this to you romantasy.

We meet Olerra and Sanos on similar trajectories with their respective roles in their separate kingdoms and then witness some humor and humility along the way of them navigating their feelings (an odd concept, right? Lol) and layers of trust. There’s political intrigue, betrayal, secrets, courtship, some spice, and of course banter.

I found it really comical that the brother we intended to kidnap was a poet and what we got was the battle worn other brother. The dual POV was a nice touch and the flow was seamless. The villain was definitely evil in every sense of the word - both of them, actually.

Now. Some truths. I was toying with the idea of this not being a 5 🌟 but had to ask myself “why not?” The writing was good, the story was interesting, the pacing was great, the slow burn was WORTH 👏 IT 👏…so why was I considering a lesser rating? Because there were themes explored that I wasn’t quite expecting in a romantasy book. HOWEVER, I quickly identified that’s kind of the point the author is wanting to make. Get uncomfortable to see beyond the rose colored lenses. We see this as Sanos comes to some internal discovery about how women are treated in his kingdom and how his entire set of beliefs has been flipped upside down. Likewise, our leading lady learns that men aren’t just ornaments. Overall, super fascinating read and I really enjoyed it!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to Tricia Levenseller, NetGalley, and FEIWEL for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was unlike anything I've ever read. It was dark and raw and sweet and sexy, and completely and totally unique. Reading this, especially in the times we're living in, gave me such a feeling of catharsis. Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. I wanted to crawl inside this world and never come out. Olerra is the FMC I've always wanted. I would read a million of her stories. She's big and strong and fierce and smart and self-assured and I could not get enough of her.

I could sing the praises of this book forever. But I guess I'll have to settle for pre-ordering a physical copy so I can read it again and again.

I was SO excited for this book (Daughter of a Pirate King series is among my top favorite reads). The concept/description had be salivating to read this. After reading I still love the concept (of this backwards, vengeful world and the plot of kidnapping a husband), and I really enjoyed the humor sprinkled into the story! However the story didn’t live up to expectations for me. After a really strong start that hooked me I became less and less engaged as I didn’t feel connected to either FMC or MMC.

I feel like a lot of the story was driven by dialogue and I was working overtime to try to picture where we are and what the underlying motivations and feelings are. I know that the FMC is meant to be very forward and blunt, as in this world women have the confidence and freedom of men to speak like this, but I wish I got to know her on a deeper level than her very blunt statements. The book did a great job of educating the reader on the ins and outs of the world (the politics and society in the country) but I wish we got that deeper understanding of the characters as well. I also would have loved getting more side characters (most side characters I felt like I knew their name but that’s all I knew about them). Also we kept being told the FMC was the best human to ever live but - why??

The romance was extremely unbelievable to me as there was no chemistry. This didn’t feel like slow burn to me because I wasn’t rooting for the characters to get together. I didn’t feel the tension/banter and will they/won’t they emotions. The situation was so abusive it just wasn’t believable to me that feelings would form. When feelings did form it was so sudden I felt like I had whiplash, it went from 0 to 100 for me. Even if I could believe the MMC came to be fond of her as a person, I couldn’t believe that he would fall in love so suddenly based on everything we were told about his character and background. She also was in love with him for no reason other than him being an attractive man, she didn't know him at all. They only had "real" conversations after they decided they were in love.

I feel like this would be better marketed as a dark romance. I do think the read is worth it just for the exciting concept (which I still love) but I didn’t get the same thrill I usually do from romantasy.

4.5/5 ⭐️

i was super excited to receive this arc because i LOVE the shadows between us duology, and have several of tricia levensellers books on my tbr. i am usually more of a ya girly, but i occasionally enjoy an adult romantasy so i thought what better shot than an author i already really enjoy.

first things first, the prose is very engaging and immersive, which is what i’ve found in tricia’s other books too so that definitely continued here. the premise is very different and had a different vibe than usual romantasy, which i found refreshing. however HEED THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. i would maybe even consider this more of a dark romance/romantasy because the main romance is captor/captive. so if you are uncomfortable or completely turned off of dark romance tropes this book is NOT for you, and that’s okay.

personally, i am not really into that myself, however i found everything else about the book to be so engaging and interesting so it did not really turn me off of it. but keep in mind a lot of the topics are pretty brutal.

i have to say one of my favorite things about this book is that olerra is PLUS SIZE! at the beginning they keep describing her as a large woman so i was thinking to myself, okay then she’s plus size TO ME. but later on she is described as literally having a round belly, i was ecstatic lol. you rarely get true plus size/fat girl main characters, ESPECIALLY in romantasy.

one of my few complaints is that i didn’t feel like the made-up labels for sexual orientation/gender identity were necessary? i found it mostly confusing and i felt like the existence of the queer community in this world could have been explained in a way that didn’t involve confusing made up labels. i love that it’s normalized in the amarran society, and that it was being shown how in brutus it wasn’t accepted but i just didn’t find the labels to be necessary, if that makes sense.

i’m not sure if this book is just meant to be a standalone or not. if it is then i think the ending made sense, but if it’s going to continue into a series i would’ve liked to see it end on more conflict and maybe angst in the romance. but if it’s a standalone i think it was wrapped up nicely. although, i did find the ending to be awfully silly and jolly compared to the brutality and intensity of the rest of the book lol.

overall i genuinely really enjoyed this book, even though the smut wasn’t necessarily for me. i did grow weary of the captivity of it all by about halfway through, so just keep that in mind that if that isn’t your thing, you really aren’t going to enjoy the romance.

the concept of the sort of “reverse” society of the amarrans was extremely interesting, and i think the vibe gave off more “game of thrones” than “acotar” which was refreshing as a romantasy genre, just to read something different!

thank you to netgalley and fiewel macmillan for this arc in exchange for my honest review! all thoughts are my own.

I was very excited to read this when netgalley approved my request! And it did NOT disappoint! I devoured this. Especially because it was so interesting how Tricia Levenseller built a world where women are the stronger sex.

All in all, it was entertaining and I enjoyed it. And yes I would recommend this but read the trigger warnings before you dive in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for an ARC of this in exchange for a review!

I really wanted to like this. I’ve liked the authors previous stories, and I was excited to jump into her first adult novel. The premise is very enticing and I was very interested in ready a flipped-script narrative on how women have been treated or viewed, and this missed the mark for me.

I read the authors note and the trigger warnings, but still wasn’t prepared for how dark this was. It didn’t read like the “revenge on men for how they’ve treated women” idea that I got from reading the synopsis and even the notes and warnings. Instead, it was just “let’s enslave and torture a different gender and make it okay because men did worse 500 years ago in this story”. Maybe it would’ve been different if this story took place right after an uprising where the women got fed up and got their revenge. That at least would’ve made more sense as to why the women in this matriarchal society are STILL treating men like dogs.

I do understand the concept, I truly do. But to me, this was no different than reading one of the stories where the same happens to women. I didn’t feel empowered or “yes you go girl” like I wanted to, instead I was just grossed out that humans would treat other humans like that, even in a book. If the women had gone through what they’d went through, you’d think they’d shoot for a more peaceful society after enacting their revenge and making sure men wouldn’t oppress them again. But I’m not sure that becoming the oppressor is the empowering thing that this book tries to tell us it is.

Regardless, I tried to hold out hope for our FMC. She grew up in this society, and I was hoping that meeting Sanos and getting a man’s perspective on how what they’re doing was wrong would help grow and evolve her character, but it didn’t. She had a FEW lines where she mentioned that she didn’t agree with some of the stuff that happens to men, but then goes and treats Sanos like an animal without a second thought. We barely saw any guilt or fight in her to maybe realize that she was also contributing to the problem in their society. I wanted more complexity in her character, but she fell flat. I wanted her to be the one to change the way things were, and she said she wanted to, but her actions to Sanos and how she even spoke to him for a majority of the book contradicted that. It would’ve been nice to see some development and growth where they could both learn from each other and be greater rulers together.

Even their romance wasn’t my favorite, though. I’ve read plenty of stories where a girl is taken or in the wrong place at the wrong time and meets the broody bad guy and eventually falls for him. It’s a trope that’s pretty common in romance these days, but this crossed the line for me. The FMC emotionally abuses and humiliates the MMC and says she wants his consent but also does MANY things she shouldn’t without caring if he’s a willing participant or not. And Sanos didn’t have as much of an issue with it as he should’ve.

Their progression happened quickly and in a really weird way, too. I feel like we never got to set them actually start developing feelings for each other. It started out as lust and attraction, and then with just a few minutes of conversation total on the page, they know each other so well and love each other? Sanos just decided that he loved her and needed to “get over” how she treated him? And then after he gives into his desire once he suddenly worships the ground she walks on? It didn’t make any sense to me and felt like a very surface level relationship. Why couldn’t we see more conversations with them? Where they open up and start to realize they’ve both been masking how they really feel about the world they live in? I feel like they had so much potential but it was all lost in the talk of sex, as if that was the most important thing to them.

The ending also felt quite rushed. We’re meant for believe that Olerra had a huge conflict where she didn’t feel like enough, but it was revealed and didn’t even end up mattering at all. Sanos also had this secret built up, but it was yet another conflict that was quickly and easily resolved. It would’ve been nice to sit in that betrayal and lies for a little bit, and they could’ve deepened their relationship some more.

All in all, I believe that this concept had potential, but it fell flat. I think this story focused on the wrong things. It seems like the idea should’ve been for women to take the power back and show men how powerful they can be as leaders, but they just turned around and treated the men just as bad as the women in their history were treated. This wasn’t a story of empowerment, just a story of women treating men like garbage and getting away with it because “men do it, too”. I almost feel like this book SHOULD have taken a feminist approach, or at least had the FMC striving for equality and peace a bit more, and it would’ve been maybe a more hopeful tale instead of the dark romance that it is.

Stick 👏🏻 with 👏🏻 this 👏🏻 book.

What Fury Brings flips the patriarchy on its head, with the women being the more controlling and brutal sex. If the brutality of the oppression described makes you uncomfortable, GOOD. It should!

Most importantly, we should be reflecting on why instead of outright icking it.

“Most in my country believe that if we don’t dominate men, then they will go right back to oppressing us. We must behave this way to protect ourselves … What reason is there for the way the men of your country treat women?”

It’s not a feminist manifesto; it’s feminine rage morphed into a large-scale revenge fantasy. And I enjoyed the ride.

I liked the characters and the core relationship as it grew. Just wish there was a liiitle more meat to that piece of the journey to better counter the power imbalance.

Overall, the risks paid off in my eyes. I hope readers give it a chance!

Thanks to NetGalley & Macmillan | FEIWEL for access to the ARC!

Wow, this book was... a lot. It's brutal and gritty and downright unpleasant to read at times (the sheer degree of violence and torture was hard to stomach) - but I think it's also an incredibly impactful book to read. It completely flips the script on the patriarchal, male-dominated world that we live in and is also the standard in most fantasy books. I don't think the book needed to be as graphic and cruel as it was, but this book isn't pretending to be something it's not -- Tricia Levenseller directly sets the expectations of this book, stating in her note at the beginning that the world she created isn't just a female-dominated society, but one where men are essentially slaves. The author took inspiration from every time men have demeaned her throughout her own life, and spun it into a world that is quite, quite extreme. So, yeah, even though I had fair warning beforehand, it didn't compare to the book's raw brutality.

The frustrating part is that I know in my head that woman across all societies and cultures throughout history have been made to do many of the things that the men in this book did, so I should feel a sense of "justice" in seeing the roles reversed. Maybe in some ways I did, but I think all it did was make me pity and feel such anger for those men in the books rather than feeling some kind of vengeance or a reflection of what it means to be a woman in society. At this point, I'm unsure of what my own reactions to this book mean and how I should feel about them. It's definitely made me think a lot.

What I did love was how in the kingdom of Amarra, every single woman is blessed by the goddess to be stronger than the men. In battle, the Amarran woman are unbeatable and can physically overpower all of the men.
That, I'm on board with - it's totally awesome and the type of role reversal that you never see in books. I kind of wish that that was the extent of it, and that we could've just seen a bunch of badass women without the slavery, sexual and physical abuse, etc. The relationship between Olerra and Sanos was heartwarming, and it was interesting to see how Sanos eventually came to accept the societal norms of Amarra - but not without some severe, severe emasculation and humiliation that was cringey / hard to read at times. But hey, he would literally die for her and he underwent one of the most impressive character arcs I've read to date!

Quite plainly, my feelings on this book are very complex and I myself am confused by them. What Fury Brings is a one of a kind book and definitely an important one, but for me, its goriness partially obscured the powerful message it was meant to convey. Again, it's an important and empowering book - just heed the trigger warnings.

Thank you so much to Macmillan and NetGalley for this ARC!

This is Tricia Levenseller's best book. I am SO thankful she decided to dip her toes into adult fantasy because it fit my tastes so much better.

What Fury Brings is a lot of feminine anger. Justified, most of it. Olerra lives in Amarra, a land where women were given the power of overpowering men and as such, the men serve. In the lower classes, this may just appear as more attentive husbands, but in the noble classes, men seem more like slaves.

Olerra plans to kidnap a noble husband from the royal line of the neighboring land of Brutes as ‘breaking’ such a husband (the Brutes are a male-dominated fighting society) this will be a point in her favor when it comes to being elected crown princess. She succeeds, but unbeknownst to her ends up with the wrong prince. And the story unfolds.

Readers who don’t read the author’s note might be surprised that this story toes the line between fantastical romance and a much darker novel. For that reason, it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It does subvert the patriarchy, but it doesn’t really show a better society with women in charge—just a subverted one.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was hooked by Chapter 4 (about 15% in)– I read this book in a day because I was so riveted by the creativity of the plot and even more so how much character development there was from both the FMC and MMC (mainly the MMC). I won’t provide any spoilers but I will say the level of empowerment I felt after reading this made me feel like I could conquer a mountain!

Thank you for allowing me to be part of the ARC community!

The first chapter was just not appealing to me. I could not immerse myself into the story. I made the mistake of reading the author’s note and it really turned me off to the story. I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is definitely a book with heavier themes and would recommend reading the triggers before continuing. That being said, I did enjoy this book overall, thought was a unique romantasy. Though flawed, I do appreciate the author's attempt in creating a world that features a matriarchal society where women are the stronger sex and men are weaker in every possibleway. I liked that are FMC is giving strong warrior princess vibes with a heart of gold. And I like that our MMC challenges her but also is able to think in real time about the flaws of his patriarchal kingdom. I think one of my negative points is that the main characters understanding that their two kingdoms are flawed could have been expanded upon more. I feel like there could have been a deeper story if that was leaned into more.
I don't think story is for everyone but I do think that this will hold up well with those that understand feminine rage and want to see things turned upside on society.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for this ARC!