The premise of this book immediately caught my attention, and I was excited to dive in. Unfortunately, I ended up DNF’ing at 12%. This felt like a case of my expectations not aligning with the story’s direction.

The author’s writing style and world-building are genuinely compelling, and I appreciated the darker tone of the setting, which I was fully prepared for. However, I had hoped for a narrative more centered on the female protagonist challenging societal norms. Once the concept of “housebreaking” the love interest was introduced, it became clear that this story wasn’t quite for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC!

This had so many elements I enjoyed! Enemies to lovers, intense action scenes, women in power & a spicy read!

Women are in charge in Amarra and they have magical abilities that help them over power any man. A princess needs to kidnap a prince from a neighboring country in order to help claim the throne. Unexpectedly she kidnaps the wrong prince and then the drama unfolds.

I loved the humor in this book, multiple times I was laughing out loud. Women being in power was a refreshing plot, but I knocked a star off since I didn’t like how they treated the prince sometimes. The progression of their love was beautiful. The ending made me feel warm and fuzzy!

Thank you NetGalley, author Tricia Levenseller and Macmillan l FEWIWEL! I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Tricia Levenseller gave us angst, slow burn, secrets, and tension so thick I was chewing on it. This sequel took everything I loved from the first book and cranked it up—more action, more emotional gut punches, and way more longing than I was prepared for (but obviously loved).

I’m obsessed with the way she writes morally gray characters who somehow still make your heart ache. The dynamic between the two leads had me hooked—the push and pull, the guarded walls slowly cracking, the almosts??? Painfully good.

Some pacing issues in the middle slowed things down a bit for me, which is why it’s not a full five stars, but the ending? Worth it. Every time I thought I knew where it was going, it veered off just enough to keep me guessing.

Definitely recommend if you’re into high-stakes fantasy with complicated characters and just enough romance to ruin you a little.

I am a big fan of Levenseller and this book was no exception. I had so much fun reading this, I loved the entire idea behind it and I absolutely loved Olerra and Sanos. I would love a book about Ydra. Levenseller truly pulls you into the worlds in her books, and this is a very bold book in today’s time. I really really enjoyed this!

What Fury Brings is another fast-paced and exciting read from Tricia Levenseller. The characters are fierce, the romance is intense, and the banter keeps things fun. If you enjoyed her previous books, this one definitely won’t disappoint.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting world build. Kinda felt like it was inspired by zena or an amazon woman type political vibe but with more modern romantasy fae world politics and magic systems. It definitely stands out among the other romantasy books that are on the market.

DNF after 2 chapters.

I was all set for a female rage book, maybe like an adult version of Iron Widow, but this story seemed to offer nothing new. Repacking misogynistic remarks into misandry is so pointless to me. Like, what more was Levenseller hoping to accomplish with that? I was thinking this book would be more nuanced, and maybe it becomes that way later on, but for the most part, I was uncomfortable by how...trauma porn-y this book felt? And something about an explicit relationship between oppressor and oppressed is always going to give me the ick, even if the gender roles are reversed.

Shame, I was genuinely looking forward to this.

I'm all for a good revenge fantasy and I have no problems with trigger warnings, so the premise of this book drew me in. The romance between Olerra and Sanos was not believable to me at all, it just screamed Stockholm syndrome. I wish there was more character development/progression since I felt the author was rushing everything along to get to the happily ever after. Overall, this was not what I expected.

I really enjoy Tricia Levenseller's way of creating worlds and telling stories, so I was really excited to receive this title. This did not disappoint. The story was interesting and unique, and I'm glad that she delved into a more "adult" writing style of romance.

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.