What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller is honestly such a fun and unique read. The whole idea of a world where women have to kidnap their husbands to become queen?? I was immediately obsessed with the concept. It completely flips everything we’re used to in fantasy and gives us this wild, matriarchal society where women are the ones in charge. Yes please.

Olerra is such a standout character. She’s tall, curvy, a literal warrior, and so unapologetically herself. I loved that she wasn’t written as a side character or comic relief. Sanos, the kidnapped prince, brings the perfect balance of sass and tension. Their chemistry? So good. Definitely that enemies-to-lovers energy with just enough spice to keep things interesting.

There’s also political drama, great world-building that’s easy to follow, and some deeper themes about power, revenge, and rebuilding broken systems. I liked that it wasn’t just girl-power for the sake of it. It actually shows how messy these kinds of power shifts can be.

This was such a standout romantasy that was fast-paced, bingeable, and honestly just different. If you’re into fantasy romance that plays with power dynamics, gives you characters to root for then this is a good book to add to your tbr.

Thank you so much to Macmillan | FEIWEL, Tricia Levenseller, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I read a lot of romantasy and most of it is formulaic. I don't mind that as long as it's well done and is interesting and this book was both. There are parts that are predictable and consistent with romantasy tropes but it is fast-paced and well-written. I think power corrupts no matter the gender. So I wasn't put off by a how women-led society could fall prey to some of the similar atrocious acts that men have done.

This was my first book by this author since I don't typically read YA book and I think she did an excellent job. Some of the YA books I have read written by authors who write primarily YA can't seem to escape the curse of writing their characters in an immature way. But that wasn't the case with this book. I liked the FMC. She was fierce without coming across as obnoxious and needlessly combative.

I preordered a copy of this book because I enjoyed it so much!

First off, thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read What Fury Brings! Here is my honest review.

Right from the synopsis, I was hooked by the idea/concept of the political/magical system of the kingdom of Amarra, where women are the powerful and dominant figures of society compared to men--which was a big inspiration from how very opposite that is in reality (as stated in the author's note). Levenseller creates this very provoking world where women are the rulers and matriarchs while men take on the submissive roles of being coveted. Kidnapping husbands by badass female characters? Sign me up!

To start, I liked the lore and set up of Amarra and how very different the country is compared to the rest of the world like the Brutes. However, despite the very appealing idea, I think something I didn't wish happened was the treatment of men to be so terrible. I think if Levenseller wanted this to be a commentary of the mistreatment of women in reality--a different depiction of how men are treated in Amarra could've been handled better for a bigger impact. I do love how Olerra's goal was to change the oppressive nature of her kingdom's system--and thus, inspiring Sanos to also change his kingdom as well. I just wished she stuck to her own ideals and acted differently by believing in what she felt right instead of just performing the actions she abhorred. Though I do have to applaud Levenseller for the unique idea of flipping the narrative.

Too add on, I felt the story lacking on the developmental side--where everything in the plot was too fast paced and there wasn't enough time given for the story to feel satisfying or full for me. There definitely was a beginning, middle, and end from the plot and romance and conflict--yet it felt subpar/surface-level to what I actually expected to unfold. I read it rather quickly and was disappointed I'd already reached the end.

I did like Olerra and Sanos's characters, but even their romance happened too soon without much happening, if that makes sense? Like the plot, their romance didn't have enough room to develop to be believable. Their characters were rounded just enough to get the plot going, but I wanted a deeper connection for the both of them in order for their romance to bloom naturally. I enjoyed it, but I think it had potential to be stronger. It all felt too easy without much risk or tension. Again, I did like the romance and sprinkle of smut--I just prefer more build up/growth of the characters.

This book is suitable for beginners who want to read a unique fantasy with romance but are intimidated by the epic fantasy world building--it's very easy to follow along, I just personally wanted more, though I did have fun reading it.

First off thank you so so much for allowing me to be an arc reader! I have been impatiently waiting for its release so this was an amazing surprise. As for the book I had high expectations but it honestly surpassed them. Honestly at this point convinced everyone needs to read it not just women. This managed to be spicy, interesting, while hitting on such important and often not discussed topics. Literally read it in one sitting because i couldnt put it down. Thank you again!

I care, so my violence is different.

Good intentions alone aren’t enough—especially in stories exploring trauma and power.

The premise seemed to promise a feminist lens on authority and justice, yet the portrayal of the matriarchal society often mirrored patriarchal abuses. The idea that a woman-led society would engage in the same oppressive tactics without significant reflection, evolution, or accountability felt disheartening. I was hoping to see a society that, while imperfect, showed growth—one that embraced empathy, emotional intelligence, and healing, especially for those harmed by systems of control.

The goddess figure, too, felt like a missed opportunity. If she grants women superior strength but does not intervene when that strength is abused, the spiritual framework seems to condone the imbalance rather than challenge it.

Also concerning to me were the power dynamics between the leads. Repeated scenes involving physical restraint, such as the male protagonist being chained spread eagle to the bed every night, crossed a line into emotional and physical abuse; more traumatic than transformative. Forcing him to wear clothing that was objectifying / bonage attire meant to publicly humiliate, were types of physical and mental torture. She stripped away his dignity, flaunted her new toy. Their dynamic didn't grow or change, even at the end of the book she didn’t trust him. In some ways she was horrible like her cousin but in other ways. The more I sit with it, the more disappointed I get.

Similarly, the story ends without showing any real systemic reckoning, making the resolution feel hollow. A few characters escaping to a "better" kingdom isn't enough when the rest of both societies remain mired in injustice.

To be honest, I didn’t walk away from the book feeling empowered or challenged—I felt uncomfortable and disillusioned. It reminded me of the controversial reception to Firebird by Juliette Cross. In both cases, the main protagonists’ message seems to be: “I care, so my violence is different.” But as readers, we need to see more than good intentions—we need to see the difficult work of change.

I truly believe the foundation of this story is worth salvaging. With a deeper exploration of power, trauma, consent, and healing, this could be an impactful and provocative book.

Thank you to Feiwel Publishing for my ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This book confused me a bit. I didn't get into the world fully until 75% through the book. I only continued reading because I wanted to know what happens but I was minorly disappointed by the ending.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

While I'm not normally a super spicy reader, this book gets a pass. The women have been blessed by their goddess with super strength, and have totally flipped the gender roles norm.

Olerra is in competition with her cousin to become Queen. In their country, women are the stronger sex, and are the protectors of men. It's a tradition for the women to steal a man from other countries, and make him their husband, and Olerra does just that. Along the way, things definitely go wrong, as she stole the wrong man, her cousin is trying to have her killed, and she has a huge secret she's been keeping her whole life.

Overall, I really enjoyed the message this book sent. The characters were well developed, and I liked how the progressed through the story. While there are multiple spicy scenes, the plot is there go back them up.

I have somewhat of an on again, off again relationship with Tricia Levenseller. I read Daughter of the Pirate King right when it came out and didn't like it. I gave her a second change with The Shadows Between Us and really enjoyed the duology. I've picked up that her writing issss... really basic. There's nothing groundbreaking. It is what it is, which makes for a very easy, very quick read, and sometimes that's exactly what I want.

I was really intrigued by the concept of this book (and adult? Yay!) and since I liked her last couple books so much, I wanted to give this one a try. I will say I was very entertained. I liked Olerra's character with her desire to change things. Unfortunately, I don't think the subject matter in this book was given the time and attention it needed to flourish. There are a lot of difficult topics in this book, and I hate to say it, but they were all poorly executed. I read the author's note at the beginning, saying this was meant to be a sort of feminine rage novel, but I didn't find any satisfaction in what happened in this book--except for Glen (sort of?) getting what she deserved. I just don't think this successfully did what it was meant to do. A lot of what happened left me uncomfortable.

The romance wasn't convincing and, as I mentioned earlier, needed a lot more time to develop. I don't believe Sanos could change that quickly when he grew up in a completely different society. I don't believe that Olerra could fall in love with his bland personality and based solely off the fact that he did things for her.

The book is entertaining, don't get my wrong, and I think fans of Tricia Levenseller will eat this up. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Macmillan, NetGalley, and the author for the eARC. of this title. The premise of this book sounded interesting and refreshing, and I was excited to find out about the resolution and hoped it might change some the narrative surrounding men in this story. However, I was mostly left feeling uncomfortable and didn't feel connected to this world. There just wasn't the growth or change I was expecting in a world led by women instead of men. The writing style also wasn’t a great fit - I found myself cringing at times, which pulled me out of the story. I can definitely see how some readers might be drawn to this world, but it just didn’t work for me personally. While I’m grateful for the chance to read and review, I’ll be keeping this one to Goodreads only.

I really really enjoyed this book. I actually sat down and read the whole thing in one sitting. I really enjoyed reading about a strong female main character for once. It was nice to read a story of women who are superior in gender. One thing that threw me was it was sometimes hard to figure out which chapter was for each character. If they were labeled, it would probably be a little bit easier., as far as the fantasy element goes it’s a small part of the book. I don’t feel it’s so heavy romantacy. overall I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Y'all...I know we're fans of the great Tricia and you will be reading this anyway, but LET ME TELL YOU you need to start requesting your ARCs and pre-ordering A S A f*cking P!!!! If you think her enemies to lovers is 11/10 in YA....watch out because her new adult fantasy is next level. Why is Olerra the greatest heroine I've ever met? She's such a freaking badass and I loved how she flipped the entire patriarchy on its head. We so need more women like this out there. She writes political romantasy like no other, and I need the next one right now.

I love a story with a good twist for the characters and What Fury Brings used it’s switcheroo to bring us such a fascinating story.

3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this ARC.

This is a tricky book to review because I loved the writing, I mostly loved the characters, and I loved how funny it was. I adored Daughter of the Pirate King and Daughter of the Siren Queen by this author because they were just so fun and funny and the angsty romance was sooo perfect, and that's just what I was hoping for; a fun time. The problem though is that while there were a lot of funny and cute and fun moments, the story ended up being completely overshadowed by the fmc's sheer hypocrisy.

- I felt like this was a slightly exaggerated inversion of a patriarchy, and I wouldn't have minded how dark it was had the female characters had any self-awareness, but they really didn't. The laws of this kingdom don't even make sense - how are there happy queer men in a kingdom where men aren't allowed to own land or hold jobs? What do they do for a living? Where do they sleep? We never get to meet any of them, or the trans man, or the supposedly happy and equal straight couples.

- The reason the women act the way they do feels unjustified after 500 years; they can no longer claim female revenge because it's been long enough that they've just turned into the worst of the men they condemn. How many more innocent men do they need to enslave before it's too far, you know?

- The fmc has so much entitlement over the mmc that I couldn't root for her; she'd get angry at him for things she'd had no right to, and she didn't seem to realize she'd had no right to it. She and her kingdom did vile things to men, and that would be one thing except that she would turn around a chapter later and condemn men for doing the same exact things. To me, this is unquestionably a slave/master romance, and the mmc never stops feeling like a slave.

I really want to read more by this author, I've loved two of her books already and I know I really enjoy her writing style. I think this book, however, just had too much of a difficult premise to work with, and I personally don't think it managed to make it work.

Flipping the script and making it work, I love a society where woman are the more powerful ones. the slow burn was burning and the banter was amazing.

Closer to 4.25
🌶️

The tables have turned in this Queendom. Women are the providers and soldiers, and men are the weaker sex. Women need to kidnap their husbands from nearby kingdoms. And that is how Olerra, our feisty protagonist, kidnaps the second born prince of the kingdom of Brutus. Except that she mistakenly kidnaps Sanos, the crown prince.

The plot is intriguing, the situations regarding men’s status are sometimes hilarious and sometimes terrifying. It’s a quick and enjoyable read, hard to put down.

Slow burn
enemies-to-lovers
‘good boy’ vibes
Female empowerment

This book was unexpected!! Talk about flipping the script on a “traditional” romantasy, every plot twist had my jaw dropped quite literally. The main character Olerra is vying for the throne of her kingdom Amara, where a matriarchal society reigns freely. The storyline includes a very diverse set of characters which I so appreciate, and what I truly loved about the book and the main characters. There were a few spicy scenes but phew- please check your trigger warnings because I was not prepared for that! Overall, if you are looking for a book that is in the Romantasy world but challenges the traditional male and female character “types” this is the book to read. The writing was engaging and well done, and I can truly say I have read NOTHING like this before!

I think the bones of this book are good, but it could have used a few more passes of revisions before being ready for publication. The author has a unique voice and I look forward to seeing what she does next, but there were some scenes where the location was uncertain, characters lurched into insta-lust a bit suddenly considering the dubious consent of the moment, the povs moved back and forth too many times in a chapter, etc. There were quite a few moments of telling instead of showing, and hitting the reader over the head with the cousin being the main female character's foil. Mostly just things that could be fixed with more time and work, but I was motivated to keep reading by the premise.

Reading the synopsis of this book made me immediately want to pick this up. A matriarchal society in which women are the dominant sex and noblewomen steal husbands from foreign royal families? It’s absolutely refreshing and intriguing in the best way. I didn’t know how this premise would be executed, and after reading it… I can say that, while I had a lot of fun and laughed at some of the outlandish situations, this was more of a novelty quick read (at least for me) than anything else.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy myself. I did. I really liked learning about this world and how it functioned, especially seeing gender stereotypes and expectations flipped on their head. It was fascinating to explore how the kingdom of Amarra and its society developed into what it is.

I also loved the FMC, Olerra - a tall, full-figured woman with battle prowess, cunning, and strength, but still possessing a certain softness and empathy. It was delightful to see a fantasy heroine with that kind of physical and emotional range.

And the smuttier scenes were great fun! There was one in particular that really took me by surprise (in a good way!) and made me think, Yes, we need more of this in fantasy romance. It was hot, bold, and fit the story well.

Now, coming to the aspects that didn’t quite work for me:

While seeing a matriarchal society and its intricacies in a fantasy romance novel was an interesting novelty, I’m not sure I loved the way it was executed, particularly in how the power dynamics played out.

One element that left me conflicted was how Amarra’s matriarchal system resulted in the mistreatment of men. Olerra explains that this structure emerged after centuries of oppression against women, and once they were literally empowered by a goddess, they rebuilt society in their favor.
I understood the logic and symbolism behind this reversal, especially as a commentary on how often heroines suffer in patriarchal fantasy worlds, but I still didn’t find it satisfying to watch the same cycles of harm repeated. It didn’t feel like justice or progress. It felt like a flipped version of the same cruelty (something the MMC points out himself multiple times). It made me reflect on how normalized it is to see female characters suffer in fantasy, but also how deeply uncomfortable it is, no matter the gender, when abuse is used to maintain power.
I wish the story had offered more critique or nuance around that idea. While the FMC did express notions of wanting to rebuild and change these aspects of her world, I guess it still felt a little too hollow to really resonate.

The romance, too, didn’t fully convince me. I enjoyed Olerra and Sanos’ humorous interactions and chemistry, but when their relationship turned more serious and their bond turned more romantic, something felt missing. I think more time spent building out their emotional backstories would’ve helped deepen their connection. As it was, it felt a little surface-level.

All in all, I appreciate this book’s unique setting in a genre like fantasy romance, which often feels overly familiar and trope-filled. While the execution didn’t always land for me, I still had fun reading it. I sincerely hope more published authors take creative risks like this! Even if it doesn’t fully work, it’s always exciting to read something different.


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

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller was a fun, fast-paced read, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression. The premise was promising—a matriarchal society where women kidnap husbands to maintain power, and our fierce princess Olerra decides to abduct an enemy prince. It’s a great setup for tension and drama.

I enjoyed the banter between Olerra and Sanos, and there’s definite chemistry between them. Levenseller knows how to write compelling, high-stakes romance, and there are a few genuinely swoon-worthy moments. But despite the strong romantic tension, I couldn’t help feeling like the story leaned too much on familiar tropes.

The pacing was also a mixed bag. Some plot twists happened so fast they barely had an impact, and I found myself wishing the story would slow down and dig a little deeper. Certain character decisions felt a bit too convenient, and I would have liked more exploration of Olerra’s and Sanos’s backstories.

Overall, What Fury Brings is an enjoyable read with a unique premise, but it didn’t quite live up to its potential for me. I’d recommend it if you’re in the mood for a fast, slightly steamy romantasy, but it’s not one I’ll be rushing to reread.

Thanks Netgalley and Macmillian for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to Macmillan, NetGalley, and the author for the ARC.

On the surface, the premise of feminine rage and a female General kidnapping a husband to help her bid for becoming the future Queen, super intriguing and something I could get behind.

in execution, and I fully acknowledge this is addressed by the author upfront, I'm less into simply flipping the narratives and structures of power and maintaining the same level of misbehavior and inequity and abuse. I didn't find it particularly empowering or exciting: hurt people hurt people, but have they considered therapy and a better path instead? Like, doesn't the concept of women only being stronger than men because of *jazz hands* magic undermine the narrative a little?

Appreciating that this was a standalone, I would have liked to see more of what was hinted at when it came to dismantling both systems of some pretty terrible behavior. I think some more development and editing would have helped make this more compelling: I generally liked Olerra and Sanos but everything felt superficial and I wasn't quite convinced of their chemistry or conflicted relationship.

Definitely one of the more unique reads for me this year, overall well written even if I wasn't the biggest fan of the content, and I do genuinely appreciate the opportunity to read something that wasn't a grab bag of tropes loosely strung together. I hope publishers continue to support and encourage the opportunity to market and publish content outside of what can be condensed into a cute emoji laden checklist.