3.5 stars: Be warned, this is a long read. At 592 pages, it left me wanting more from the story, but in far fewer pages.

The story did grab me from the start; a rainbow-haired feisty smuggler roped into a heist turned armed revolution against people-eating monsters? Sign me up! However, it began to lose me towards the middle of the story. The revolutionary plot that started so strong takes the simmer back burner to put the monster romance on turbo boil.

And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But when the story starts with a heavy focus on injustice and political revolution, and then pushes those aside for some lustier aspirations and never really comes back as strong to the original focus? It feels a little funny. Maybe more so at this current moment in history.

Overall, I did enjoy elements of the story, but also feel it tried to wear too many hats and be too many things at once. It is largely being marketed as a monster romance, but it will take you 60% to get those moments. So well I do feel the romance took over the story towards the end, there is a lot to get through first if that is why you are picking this book up. On the other hand, to market it in any other way, you are perhaps also not going to get as solid of a thought out plot line there either.

In my opinion it is a very very ambitious idea, pulling a lot of intriguing sci-if fantasy elements into it, that just didn’t quite land for me. I’m curious to see what others will think.

Mind the triggers; on the page eating of people (the non-sexy variety).

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Voidwalker comes out August 19th.

Thank you to Net Galley and publisher for the arc. Got about 35 pages in and DNF. Was a bit confusing with the magic system /word setup and just could not get into it. The writing itself also threw me. But I appreciate the opportunity to read it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read this eARC! Definitely had so much fun reading this, honestly the characters and how diverse they are, the writing style, and world building were AMAZING! Never thought I would've loved a monster romance so much as I did right now, and I'm loving it! Absolutely would recommend to anyone who likes romantasy, monster romance, and top tier banter between our main characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc of this book for a review! Okay I actually ended up really enjoying this! The start was a little slow and hard to visualize the world and characters but as the book went on I really became way more attached to the characters than I thought I would. This is a really cool spin on alien/monster romance and your classic romantasy. Basically if you took all three of those and mashed them together you would get this book! Also definitely check the warnings at the beginning of the book because the species of monsters that the mmc is in this book are carnivores that hunt and eat humans… so yeah lol it can be a little gross at times. But if that doesn’t bother you and you gravitate towards sci-fi romantasy then this is definitely for you. Also both of our main characters are bisexual so we got some lgbtqia rep in here as well!

I really enjoyed this book. In the beginning it started out a little slow for me, but once I got 4-5 chapters in it started to pick up! Then I couldn’t put it down. The romance between the MCs was hot and I love a good enemies to lovers trope. I thought the ending was really good as well for how their story ends. I know this is going to be a duology, but I love that it didn’t end on a massive cliffhanger and you could easily accept this as their ending.

Thank you to NetGalley, S. A. Maclean, and Orbit Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I knew I was going to enjoy this book. I loved it. Fionamara is a woman who wants to fight for her people even though she is haunted by the decisions she made in her past. Antal is a monster in the dark that is not like his people. He cares for humans. He gave golden retriever energy. While Fi gave the black cat energy. I loved them together. The world-building was interesting. I hope we get more of it in book two. My only negative is that the pacing was all over the place in the first half of the book, which took me out of the story. That’s the only reason I didn’t give it five stars. I’m glad I got to read it in Pride month because it has Bisexual main characters. I highly recommend it! I can’t wait to read book two! Please check TWs.

This was so fun! The magical winter vibes were so amazing and made me long for a snowy day. This is a very slow burn monster romantasy with an extremely unique magic system and worldbuiliding. I’d say there’s almost hints of sci-fi there too. Fi and Antal were so fun together, and I loved her void horse companion. This was a longer book, but I didn’t feel like it dragged. Enemies to lovers fans will love this, even if they aren’t distinctly enemies. It’s very much black cat hero and his scarier black cat girlfriend. No grumpy x sunshine here since they’re both grumpy. I really recommend this to anyone who loves good fantasy with a couple to root for.

Thank you to Orbit books for the arc!

This has such a new and unique universe; it almost feels like science fiction instead of fantasy. This is a monster romance with humor that's perfect for romantasy fans, and for a duology, the first book does close the story nicely. I also appreciated that the main character was older than 30.

A wonderfully written fantasy book with romance in it!! The story isn’t too fast but never drags and the action keeps you on your toes. The romance doesn’t seem to be the main drive of the story, but the story drives the romance! Very much an emotional roller coaster. Demons who act like grumpy cats, anyone?

I'm afraid something about this book just doesn't work for me. I can't say I found anything wrong with it, it just seems to be a matter of the author's style not being to my liking. I think someone else will really enjoy it but I am choosing not to finish reading it. I will say that the concept seemed really interesting and that's why I decided to request the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the E-ARC.

Fantasy, monster romance with creative magic system and fun characters! Truly enjoyed this book! It ended in a way that it could be a standalone but apparently it's a duology. I'm interested in seeing where the adventure goes!

Thank you to Net Galley and Orbit Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

First thing to note: I enjoyed The Phoenix Keeper, but this book is a completely different vibe, so if you want cozy fantasy, this isn't it. There are trigger warnings in the beginning, so make sure you check them!

How would I describe the vibe of this book? The human civilization, separated between different "Planes", has a more steampunk style, but instead of steam powering everything, think of something similar to Firstlight in Crescent City, but with less downside and less secrecy.

The human's immortal overlords, the Daeyari, are menacing, and their main source of food is human flesh. Their regime is built on fear, and for willing human sacrifices, the Daeyari fulfill the needs of the people, and operate through human Governor figureheads for the most part.

I think the world building was pretty light; there's nothing too complex to make you feel lost. By the end of the book, there's lots of potential for more political threads and rivalry, which I hope the author will take advantage of, as that's one of the things that felt a bit lacking in the story, considering the conflict that transpires.

As far as characters go, I could see the FMC being hit or miss for some. Fionamara is supposedly a renowned and clever smuggler, but she makes some pretty stupid decisions, which propels the plot forward. She's brash, stubborn, and carries a lot of internalized guilt. I liked her though; I think her emotional struggles are very relatable.

The author did a good job with the MMC, Antal. He wears a cold mask of indifference, made up of everything his race and his family says he should be, but there's plenty of history and sadness underneath that is gradually uncovered.

The building tension between the two of them was delightful. I'd consider this reluctant allies to lovers, with a dash of forbidden love. They also both like biting, which was pretty hot.

There were plenty of other relationships I enjoyed as well: Boden, the responsible, dependable brother, and Astrid, the past lover bent on revenge.

Giving it 5 stars. I was unsure how the story would pan out, since the author's first book was cozy fantasy, but the pacing, the fight scenes, the intimacy, the banter, I thought it was all very well done; I enjoyed it way more than I was expecting!

Not a bad book, just not my personal cup of tea. This book definitely falls more into the "monster romance" category which is not something I usually go towards. Since I absolutely loved this authors first book, I was really excited for this one, but it's just not for me. I'm sure there will be lots of other readers who will absolutely love it.

4 stars! This was a creative spin on monster romance. I appreciated the author building a believable economic and political system. I chuckled a lot throughout the story. Fi is a very distinctive character and I liked her internal dialogue and commentary. She was really funny. And Antal was such a great listener and so earnest.

I do wish that there was perhaps more chemistry and yearning between Antal and Fi (but could be my own personal preference). There was plenty of banter, which I appreciated, but I craved a deeper substance to their relationship, especially for how long the book was. It felt like more time was spent on narrating the action sequence and getting from A to B versus nurturing deeper character interactions. This felt a bit more tame on the smut side of things for a monster romance.

I hope there are more books in this series to fully flesh out the world that's been touched on. There is so much potential for more stories in this world, and the biological nature of the daeyari automatically ratchets up the stakes!

VOIDWALKER is great for fans of monster romance, sassy heroines and gentle heroes, and stories where a ragtag group goes on an adventure to defeat the Big Bad.

The MMC is an immortal overlord that eats humans and the FMC is a void-traveling smuggler who gets caught up in a coup to overthrow the MMC. It’s safe to say these two start as enemies and it makes for the most delicious romance!

What’s to love…
- vivid world brought to life with lush prose
- interesting magic
- TENSION
- A+ Banter
- an MMC with a tail (iykyk)
- gradual world building
- bi4bi m/f romance
- Open Communication
- THE ROMANCE IS THE BEST PART
- Slow-ish burn

What’s not to love…
- phew, some phrases were repeated A LOT. (I'm looking at you ozone smell and rainbow hair)
- in a similar vein, there is some repetition in plot points & details, plenty of reminding the reader, something I am not a huge fan of in adult books. I prefer the author have a little more confidence in their reader
- plot could have been a little more exciting. The stakes didn’t feel quite high enough

DNF at 18%.

I mean, I was Extremely Concerned when I saw this comped to Sarah J Maas and Rebecca Yarros, because hi, I hate both of those. But I really loved MacLean’s first book, The Phoenix Keeper! I have the illumicrate special edition and everything! Of course I should ignore my doubts and give Voidwalker a try!

Welp.

The worldbuilding is extremely basic (Cosmere? I don’t even like Brandon Sanderson, but comping this to his Cosmere is an insult) with four Planes that are each stuck in a single season: the Winter Plane, Spring Plane, and so on. Didn’t love that but fine, this wasn’t giving the vibes of a story that needs a lot of worldbuilding – as much as I nerd out for detailed worldbuilding, it is actually possible to be a great book without that.

But.

Our MC, Fi? Is an idiot.

It’s not difficult to justify characters taking huge, stupid risks: we see it all the time. The easiest motivator is usually something like money; we have a character in poverty, or in need of extremely expensive medical care, or desperate to pay the cruelly high cost to get a beloved sibling a good apprenticeship or a place at a posh school that’ll open all the doors for them. Something like that! And then, even though our mc has All The Doubts because something about the situation is Extremely Sus, they go ahead and do it anyway. Because they need to.

Fi doesn’t seem to need to: although she’s wide-eyed at the payment she’s offered for the job that kickstarts the plot, she’s also pretty indifferent to it, giving it away almost immediately. Specifically, she gives it away to her brother, and this would have been a great motivator! All you needed to do was establish that the brother is in desperate need of funds/resources, and Fi is desperate to help him. But no??? The exchange was clearly meaningful for the brother, but Fi is weirdly blase about it, and doesn’t spend any time thinking about her brother’s situation, or that of the tiny town he runs (which, again, was all set up to be in desperate need of Fi’s help, but then that was barely touched on). So if it’s not the money, why does Fi take the risks she takes? There’s a very vague, handwavey attempt to say that her reputation as a smuggler will be trashed if she ditches this clearly-dangerous job… But it’s like when you ask a misbehaving child for an explanation, and they give you a mumble: they know they don’t have a good explanation, and neither does MacLean for Fi’s behaviour.

(It’s literally revealed to us that Fi has a vanishingly rare superpower that makes her priceless as a smuggler, so??? She’s not going to stop getting jobs. PLUS, I’m pretty sure ditching a dangerous job that your clients lied to you about will only give you a reputation for…ditching jobs your clients lied to you about. Won’t that just make your future clients better behaved???)

And let’s be clear: Fi takes some absolutely nonsensical risks with this plot-starting job. First, she doesn’t cut and run despite the clients leading law enforcement to the meet. Then she doesn’t go ‘lol bye’ when she discovers that what she’s smuggling isn’t wine, it’s bombs. Then she doesn’t balk when she discovers that the bombs are going to a capital city (pretty sure these aren’t demolition bombs for a construction site so what legit use could they HAVE in a city Fi???) Then the clients pull a ‘well, actually’ and change the terms on her, and she still doesn’t tell them to go fuck themselves. Not even when they want her to play getaway driver for a heist that is clearly not a real heist. Not even when it becomes clear that the clients work for the immortal demony creatures who run the world here. (Fi genuinely thinks, oh wow, these guys have done their homework, because they wear the uniform so well, and know exactly where they’re going in the municipal building, NO FI IT’S BECAUSE THEY’RE NOT FAKING THEY DO WORK FOR THE DEMONS ACTUALLY GTFO OF THERE!) Not even when the demon lord they promised was on holiday shows up AND SEES HER FACE (and super distinctive rainbow-coloured hair). (I loved the rainbow hair right up until we learned, a few pages in, that Fi meets with clients in person, and therefore they can all describe her very distinctive hair to law enforcement.)

It is just beyond believable that Fi is not infinitely more suspicious of this Ridiculously Suspicious set of circumstances, and that she doesn’t cut and run long before everything actually goes wrong. Again: this would all have been fine if she’d BEEN suspicious BUT had a really good reason for needing the payment – I’ve seen characters take even bigger risks in other books and not thought it weird because they had very good reasons for taking those risks. But Fi doesn’t! She just has some vague thoughts of her smuggling reputation. MA’AM THAT IS NOT EVEN NEARLY A GOOD ENOUGH REASON FOR NOT RUNNING FOR THE HILLS, WTF.

So no, I’m not continuing with this one. Because I am deeply sceptical that this is going to be any good at all when the author couldn’t be bothered to give Fi a real reason to do what she does (seriously JUST GIVE HER A DECENT MOTIVATION, ffs! The brother and his town are right there!) And this is without getting into how I don’t, actually, see any benefit for the humans in letting the daeyari rule them (you sacrifice a member of your town to be EATEN ALIVE so your factory can get new parts, okay – but where the hells are the daeyari getting the parts? If your crops fail, how do the daeyari replace them? Do they have healing magic for when a town gets hit with a plague? You keep telling me the humans benefit so much but it doesn’t make SENSE!)

I’m definitely willing to read MacLean again, on the strength of Phoenix Keeper – but maybe not anything that gets comped liked Voidwalker did.

This is just the kind of romantasy I want to read. A queer one with great characters, a complex and interesting plot, originality, big stakes and thrills, and good writing.

Please, give me more.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the eARC. I loved this book. The world and magic are very unique and well written. Fi is in her early 30s which was refreshing to have an older female main character. I loved Fi and Antal’s chemistry. I also loved Fi’s personality and her growth through the story. I will say I was very skeptical at first, as I don’t usually pick up monster romance stories, but I am very happy I gave this one a chance. It’s not every day you get to read a story about a clawed and fanged MMC who prefers sleeping in rafters and tree branches and has a tail whose movements betray his emotions. I can’t wait to see where book 2 takes Fi and Antal. I highly recommend reading this one - so far one of my favorites of 2025.

This was technically my first monster romance and I absolutely loved it!! I think the FMC, Fionamara, is such a great character full of raw emotion, strength, determination, and wit. The banter between her and Antal was so entertaining. They suit each other perfectly. I highly recommend this to anyone who, like myself, has never really found any appeal in monster romance for whatever reason - if more were like this one I would definitely read them. This story was super unique and deliciously spicy. The ending was wrapped up nicely as well. Thank you Netgalley and Orbit!!

oh man, when this was first announced i was pretty sure i was gonna love this, and now after reading it i can tell you that i really really did. Antal has big grumpy cat energy and i love him. Fi is great, although my one complaint is that her rainbow hair was mentioned a bit too much and came off as like a "look at me i'm so quirky" thing lol. but anyway yeah love these two feral bisexuals!! also really liked the rest of the characters. the concept of Voidwalking is really cool. the whole Shaping thing was a little confusing, but still cool. anyway yeah i had an absolute blast reading this!!!

REP: bisexual main character; bisexual love interest; queer side characters [bisexual author]