This was EXCELLENT! I absolutely loved this book. At first, I was very skeptical of the narration and the way it makes sense in my brain, the accent took some gettting used to. The transition between characters was seamless. I could tell just by the first several chapters that this novel was planting a lot of seeds and building up to what will hopefully be an amazing trilogy. I did not know how to feel about the male love interest, whose name is now slipping my memory as I write this review. But, I am rooting for him!!! At times, I wanted to throw my feminist urges to the wind and scream at Bry. Such complicated lovely characters. The plot twist at the end and unique POV it offered is unlike any other. Julie Soto is really making her reach with genres, I am a fan!

Wow.. the ending just.. ugh.

Rose in Chains gave me Cruel Prince vibes in numerous ways however, it does center around much darker themes than the CP series. For the first quarter of the book, I had a hard time being engaged in the book. Be it the writing seemed a bit all over the place and I had a hard time connecting to the narrator. However, I was intrigued enough with the storyline and kept with it (and I'll be honest, with the popularity of the book, I didn't want to give up on it right away). Once the story took on some steam, I was eager to find out how the plot would unfold. The style of writing started clicking and falling into place and i ended up really loving the narrator by the end.

Can't wait to get the next part of the story. Such a uniquely different story and I ate up every word.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ALC to review

2.5

Thank you Netgalley for the audio ARC.

I wanted to love this book so much, i really did but I guess it just wasn’t for me. I thought overall it was pretty boring, and didn’t pick up until 80%. Sometimes I won’t mind the build up to the ending but this just did nothing for me. I did find the plot and magic system very interesting and different as it was a mix of the handmaids tale with bridgerton vibes which was fun and unique.

The jumping back and forth in time bothered me and it was too much imo. I also really didn’t understand the two kingdom fued and timeline of things. So they were already at war with each other and fighting But then all this stuff happens to everson (which is the main plot) but then at same time they are all hanging out with each other right before this but also at war? Idk maybe i’m just dumb, but that was confusing to me.

I was not a fan of the MMC I didn’t like him at all. There wasn’t a redeeming quality about him, like nothing was really likable about him to me at all. He felt like a stuck up rude man.

I think this series could be very interesting and promising so I am hopeful I will enjoy the 2nd book more.

As always, congratulations to the author for the amazing accomplishment of writing and crafting her first romantasy. I wish Julie all the best in her endeavors.

I don't even know how to articulate how much I love this book or even begin to explain why it means so much to me. But I will try!! I want this book to be the next hottest thing on the market because it's what Julie and this book deserve. It's 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 good.

What utter perfection. Julie took this incredible fanfiction and remade the story and world and made it even better, which was hard to even imagine as it was already one of the best things I've ever read. I loved every page. I cannot wait to read the other two books in this trilogy. Toven Hearst is the new LOML. Briony Rosewood is my new favorite character. Julie Soto remains my favorite author. I want to read it again and again and again. And I already have! Once I finished the e-arc, I immediately reread The Auction and then went back and read Rose in Chains AGAIN. This book has given me the biggest book hangover and slump ever, and I'm not even mad.

I must have every edition of this book possible. Everyone needs to experience this book. Star rating? Unlimited. Perfection. If Julie Soto has no fans, then I have exited our world. I will scream about this book from the top of my lungs for as long as I live. The other books in this series haven't even been announced yet and I am already FERAL for them. The audiobook was fantastic!!

What to expect in Rose in Chains:
🖤 dark romantasy
😈 enemies to (eventual) lovers 🥰
⚔ opposite sides of a war
💚 dramione inspired
🫶 the best book you'll ever read

Endless thank yous to everyone at @readforeverpub for putting it up as read now on netgalley for 5.2 seconds. Getting it felt like winning the hunger games. And I apologize for all my unhinged emails!!

*I do want to highlight that this book is DARK so please look into the trigger warnings before reading to protect yourself if need be.

Please be advised I received the e-book are so the reviews are going to be mostly same.

I very much enjoyed this book and the world it was set. One thing that annoyed me is how she was stubborn to see that she was being taken care of so good considering her circumstances. However I can relate because I'm same, but it's not nice reading about yourself lol. But anyway, Toven, OMG another male character to gush over, yes queen. I stan for a I will take care of her even if she hates me, such a king.

Julie didn't and still doesn't deserve the hate she got.

Just to add the narrator was banging. I kid you not even though it was a woman narrator and she was narrating Toven, I was flustered 🥵🥵🥵🥵 like ma'am I started to question myself as to how I'm being attracted to a voice. But it was great, big kudos.

As far as audiobooks go, I think the narrator did a great job. I usually have a difficult time following fantasy audiobooks and with this one it was pretty easy to follow along and get immersed in the story.

Where I had issue was with the story itself. While it is written well, it didn't feel like all thoughts were very cohesive and meshed well. More so a collection of stories that Julie tried to meld together in a way that did not quite work.

The magic was fun, this whole heroes journey is interesting, I just don't find the story compelling enough to want read book 2 whenever that comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. As always, all thoughts are my own.

4.25⭐️ | I initially rated this book 4.5⭐️, but upon reflection, it feels more like a solid 4.25⭐️ due to a few issues I had with it. That said, the audiobook absolutely deserves a glowing 5 stars. The narrator did a phenomenal job capturing each character’s essence through distinct vocal performances. She’s the reason I enjoyed the story as much as I did.

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🗝️ World & Story

Let’s get one thing out of the way: don’t pick this book up expecting Harry Potter parallels. This is a completely different universe. While the two main characters may slightly resemble familiar HP personalities, the similarities end there.

This story leans dark. There are distressing and heartbreaking scenes, particularly involving women. I strongly encourage checking the trigger warnings beforehand—some of the content hits hard. Julie Soto navigates these moments with care, never romanticizing the brutality, and instead highlighting how truly awful those actions are.

Narratively, Rose in Chains stands out in the romantasy genre. The plot kicks off after the war, with the so-called “bad” side emerging victorious. Following this alternate aftermath was refreshing and engaging. The concept of the Auction added layers of sadness and intrigue that kept me turning pages.

It strikes a strong balance between court politics and romance, and both aspects are integral to the story. I found myself invested in both.

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💫 Characters

Briony is a highlight. She reminded me of Hermione—intelligent, fierce, and full of heart. She’s far from flawless, often stubborn, but I expect her growth throughout the series to be rewarding. I’m eager to see her embrace her full power.

Toven, on the other hand, remains shrouded in mystery. There’s still much to uncover about him, and I’m hopeful we’ll get his POV in future installments. It’s clear he deeply cares for Briony but struggles to express it due to the rift between their groups. His quiet acts of protection—whether training her or simply being present—added emotional depth.

Briony & Toven’s dynamic is messy, angsty, and deliciously complicated. The slow burn is intense—almost torturous—but I’m holding out hope for a satisfying payoff.

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⚠️ My Critiques

• Predictable Ending: I saw it coming from early on. While it dulled the impact, I’m still excited to read the sequel.
• Confusing Worldbuilding: The magic system, politics, and world mechanics were tough to grasp due to heavy info-dumping early on. I struggled to connect with the universe.
• Overwhelming Cast: Too many characters were introduced simultaneously, and their personalities lacked clear distinctions. Even by the end, I couldn’t tell many of them apart—especially the male villains who blended together.
• Lack of Action: Since the story stays within Briony’s POV, we’re kept in the dark about a lot of the plot-driving events. It results in slow pacing and a repetitive loop of seeking answers without resolution until the very end. Thankfully, the audiobook kept me engaged; without it, I likely would’ve felt bored.
• Frustrating Slow Burn: I usually enjoy slow-burn romance, especially in multi-book series. But this one pushed my patience. Toven’s feelings are obvious to the reader, yet Briony spends the entire book second-guessing his every move. The repetitive cycle of denial made their progression feel stagnant.


While their friendship slowly developed, the romantic arc lacked momentum. I’m hoping for more emotional honesty and communication in future books.

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⭐ Final Thoughts

Despite the flaws, I genuinely enjoyed the experience—especially thanks to the stellar narration—and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

Ella Lynch’ was phenomenal. Her accents and distinct character voices made the world building easier for me. Ella’s male voices felt natural, and each female character was distinct without ever sounding overdone.

The story itself is the start of a trilogy and a definite slow burn, but the depth of the characters and the intricate, unique magic system make it worth every minute. It’s a book that requires your full attention. I highly recommend listening with the book if possible.

This highly controversial romantasy was a most anticipated book for me for the longest time until I heard all the HP fanfic rumors then I got nervous and kept delaying picking it up. I finally did give it a chance and honestly I didn't see the HP comps, for me this was more a mix of Shield of Sparrows and Fourth wing and while I did like those books I was kind of underwhelmed by this one. Just an okay read for me. There was a lot of forced sterilization talk, a jailer/captive relationship/romance and a magic school plus dragons. The dragons and the ending were my favorite part. If the second book features the FMC's brother I may just keep going, otherwise I don't think I'll be in a rush to pick up book 2. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

I guess it's my own fault that I jumped into the book without firstly reading the blurb. It wasn't what I expected. To be honest, I hated it more then liked it. I absolutely hated how weak, powerless and whining the main heroine was. I get it - she will become strong someday, but I don't care about it anymore. She also seemed very juvenile compared to others, due to both the narrator's voice and the way she was depicted in the story. I also hated that she was ignorant of what was happening around her and constantly gaslighted by the so called love interest. Felt no chemistry between them. The excerpts from the past reminiscing the magic school were boring and seemed unnecessary, adding zero value to the story. I liked previous books by Soto, therefore it's a huge letdown, but, well, it happens.

Book review: 4.35/5 ⭐️
Genre: romantasy series
Themes: civil war, patriarchy, enemies to lovers
📖 Read if you like: The Gilded Ones, Fourth Wing

If you are in need of a new romantic fantasy series that is dark and utterly addicting, this is the one for you!

With a war having crushed all human decency, former princess Briony Rosewood’s life as she knows it will never be the same. Torn away from everyone she loves and her only home, she along with any surviving allies are auctioned off to the highest bidders. Facing a future of demeaning servitude, abuse, imprisonment or death, life seems very bleak.

Stripped of magic and any forms of freedom, Briony is relegated to a life of fear and ridicule. With the winners a patriarchal society that wishes to subjugate women to serve their needs - all of them, no matter how unwilling they may be, and with little care for their lives, the Eversuns face a dark and uncertain future. After a ludicrous bidding war, Briony ends up in the house of an unexpected former classmate. Toven Hearst is a seemingly cold and ruthless Bomardi with deadly heart magic. As the rules of this new world are made and broken, Briony must determine what role she is to play in aiding the remaining Eversun people. Within the confines of her home imprisonment, she will face another battle entirely. What starts off as a school girl crush may turn into an ill fated love story as secrets are revealed and loyalties are tested.

This story is not for the feint of heart and many aspects on the treatment of women will be repulsive and abhorrent for many readers. Be warned there is a lot of physical and sexual abuse, along with bullying and domineering that may be triggering for some. Thus fairs the spoils of war in any traditional sense, but it can be unappetizing and maddening to read about. The leering and controlling young men in this novel did turn my stomach, but it created a deadly post war environment for the heroine to make choices and play her hand.

I thought it was well done with time jumps between the present and pre-war developing character and relationship dynamics. The enemies attract with one obtuse party was a slow-burn romance that built with anticipation. And did I mention there is a dragon! Overall, there were a lot of elements that created an engaging and engrossing storyline.

I could not stop listening to this audiobook! The narration was excellent and so engaging. I cannot wait for this series to continue and of course purchased the special edition sprayed edged hardcover, because it is just so pretty. I also started reading it in tandem upon arrival, but the audiobook really was a star thanks to Ella Lynch. The accents and pacing really made the story come alive with gripping anticipation. The narration breathed life into these characters that made me listen to it twice already! Thank you to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for an advanced copy for review.

The audio was great! However the story and plot fell flat for me. I think the writing was great, but I can definitely tell that this was a debut fantasy. I think this author has so much room for growth! That being said overall it was a great start, and I’d consider reading more of her work.

In this first book of the Evermore trilogy we get a sense of the world and the systems of government that they hold. We mainly follow Briony as she is our fmc. She is the princess of her kingdom, in her kingdom only men may rule. So after the fall of her twin brother her kingdom is taken over by the other kingdom. This other kingdom believes in taking slaves to force them to make their magic stronger. There is a lot of dark themes throughout the book but there is glimmers of hope. I do suggest you check the triggers before reading depending on what triggers you may have. I can say as it currently stands this book is in my top 3 of books so far this year and I HIGHLY recommend this book. If you enjoy magic and war with high stakes give this a chance. I physically read this while also listening to the arc of the audiobook which I think highly added to how much I love this book. 10 out of 10 no remarks. Thank you Netgalley, Hachette Audio, Forever, & Julie Soto for choosing me to be an arc reader/listener if this book.

I'm giving this book 5 stars because i LOVED it. It was captivating and romantic and delicious. I think this would have been amazing as a fanfic. HOWEVER. I think you really need a solid background of information from both the HP series and the HP fandom to enjoy it. This book leans *heavily* on the worldbuilding and character building from the HP books and from the HP fandom's continued evolution of the worldbuilding and characterbuilding. If you went into this book with no foreknowledge of the HP world, characters, or fandom, I think you'd come away disappointed.

The HP influence is still VERY strong here, and it's obvious with each character which HP character they were originally. Their appearance, their mannerisms, their personality... even their names are sometimes similar. (Hermione -> Briony; Harry-> Rory; Narcissa -> Serena; Voldemort -> Veronica Mallow.) The Hurst family especially are drawn heavily from the Malfoys of HP fandom, rather than of HP canon.

The worldbuilding in this book, what we get of it, doesn't always make sense and, like the characters, often feels like a skin over the HP world.

Despite all that, Julie Soto is an amazing author and I absolutely loved every moment of the story. The love story between Briony and Tovan is deliciously drawn-out and implied and full of stolen moments and is-he-or-isn't-he. I was so into the story that I was upset when it ended and can't wait for the next one to come out.

There is a lot of cruelty towards women, and women forced into sexual slavery, and it's very intense and detailed, so that's something to keep in mind. It's not for the faint of heart or those with related trauma.

The audiobook was really well done. The narrator's voice is understated, which works really well for the rather buttoned-up Hurst men. They imply more than they say, and that comes across really well. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook and would listen again.

*thanks to Forever and Hachette audio for providing an early copy for review.

3/5 🌟
Would reread? Maybe
Would recommend? To the right person
Genre: dark romantasy
Vibes: 🥀❤️‍🔥✨⛓️ 💫💜🩸🦊

The slowest of burns and the darkest of romantasies . I like Julie Soto’s writing, but they did this book wrong by marketing it as HP fan fiction. I have not read the original “The Auction”, but the whole time I found myself trying to relate it back to JKR original texts and stories. There is a LOT of discourse about this one in regards to it promoting HP, and honestly. Yeah it does. I wish there were more original lore and world building here, that could have separated the stories more! I did like the Heart vs Mind magic concepts though!

I also found out that the book is a trilogy. Will I be continuing to read it? Uhm, maybe? But probably not. It’s predictable and waaay too dark for me and not enough happened to keep me locked in. I did appreciate the flashback style to get us to root for them and add context to their previously existing relationship.

PLEASE check content warnings first if you do not usually read dark romance. This book was DARK!!!

Tropes & Themes:
-magical world
-war / rivalry
-captivity
-childhood frenemies to war enemies to lovers (almost)
-SLOW BURN
-magical "familiars"

For fans of: Harry Potter, Dark romance, magical realism, and lots of murd3r/violence in their books.

Thank you to Hachette Audio for the audiobook and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC/ALC. I'm glad I read it and the accents in the audio were very great for immersive reading.

How I think this series will end: my guess is they get together and have a kid and the kid is who the prophecy is about, and her brother is alive

Cw: forced marriage, slavery, r@pe, forced sterilization, violence, gore, death, collared, chained humans, mentally/physically/sexually abused , manipulating memories and actions, more...

Tried a few times but just couldn’t get into it. The plot was hard to follow and the jumping timelines didn’t help. I know a lot of folks love it, so it may just be a matter of preference but I will respectfully say this was just not for me.

This was my first audiobook, I loved it so much! Even tho it took me some time to get uses to the formar, the story was super captivsting.

I would read anything Julie writes! This book was impossible to stop. Thank you so much for the audio book! The characters, writing, and story were 10/10

Ahhh I need the next book! There are so many questions and Toven is such a mystery I need answers. I really enjoy her books and the depth of them. It was interesting reading a fantasy from her when that’s not Soto’s normal genre. She did a good job with coming up with some new concepts for fantasy and making it a little different.

The human trafficking piece was a little hard to read as well as the way most of the men treated the women in general throughout the book. I am so curious to know what happens next in the story!

if you're looking for:
✨slow burn
✨political intrigue
✨dark elements
✨all the pining and even more tension
✨morally grey characters that you would sacrifice everything for




5/5 ⭐
2/5 🌶️

Julie Soto, you absolute genius - you’ve done it again. I am in love with Toven, and Briony is the perfect amount of strong and independent with a level of sass that is to be envied.

The world building and magic system were so artfully laid out, and gave so much detail without feeling so heavy like I feel a lot of first books in a fantasy series struggle with. The tension between Toven and Briony is P A L P A B L E. This is an incredibly slow burn in the physical sense, with *SPOILER* a kiss not happening until the last chapter *SPOILER* but so satisfying. Serena and Orion are fantastic. I am definitely struggling on who to root for, because the Hearst’s are fantastic.

What a cliffhanger we leave off on, and a phenomenal ending. I cannot wait for Summer 2026, and I will be rereading this for sure to pick apart every line.

Now, on to the audiobook. I really enjoyed the narration. Ella Lynch did an amazing job, and has such a soothing voice. As someone who struggles to stay engaged and following in unfamiliar audiobooks, I was hooked from the start. I am so thankful to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to access the ARC via audiobook, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.