4.25 stars!
dramione fanfiction has my HEART - it would never fail me
if i had all 3 books i would have binged them in one go, this story had me sucked in
this gave me fanfiction vibes but in the best way

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this arc!

Julie Soto has done it again! I absolutely had such a fun time with this book. The magic system was unique and the world building was compelling. I seriously can’t wait for book 2!!

I loved this book! The story was captivating and the audio was fantastic! Definitely recommend to any romantasy lovers and anyone who has read the inspired story. Julie Soto is an auto read for me always.

I usually love a good slow burn romance, but wow—this one really puts the slow in slow burn. I went in with high expectations for the romance, and honestly, I ended up pretty disappointed. There just wasn’t much of it, and I didn’t even feel that typical yearning or tension you’d expect. It started off strong, but then… not a whole lot happened for a while.

There were also a lot of characters mentioned briefly, and I had a hard time keeping track of who was actually important. The world felt like it was already fully built before we got there, but not enough was explained for me to feel fully immersed. That said, we did get flashbacks every now and then—however, I’m not sure how I felt about them. For me, they didn’t really add to the worldbuilding and mostly just felt like filler chapters.

Definitely check the content warnings before reading. It’s not super graphic, but it does touch on some heavy topics like captivity, trafficking, off-page rape and abuse, plus focus on virginity and fertility.

I listened to the audiobook and truly enjoyed the narration—honestly, I think that’s what kept me going. I’m not sure I would’ve enjoyed the physical copy as much, even though the story itself didn’t totally land for me.

Overall, I did like the concept, and I think I might’ve appreciated it more if I’d gone in with different expectations. Even though I saw the big cliffhanger coming, I’m still curious enough to keep reading and see what happens next.

Thanks to NetGalley for the copy!

This is the first title I read by Julie Soto, and really enjoyed it. She built an amazing new fantasy world. The story has a darker storyline, but I thought she did a really good job of highlighting uncomfortable subjects without dwelling on them. I did not see the twist ending coming, and I am dying to read the next book.

This truly couldn’t be more perfect. It was everything I dreamed of and more. I loved the narrator and I was waiting for the day this book was being changed into the trad world and it didn’t disappoint. My only sad point is waiting for the next book because I can not sit on that ending and need more right away. Julie forever will be a favorite and her writing is always elite.

This audiobook was everything and more. I loved the narrators to pieces and Julie Soto even more. I cannot express how excited I am to have received this and how anxiously I am awaiting the next installment of this trilogy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
🌶️

Tropes:
💜Forced proximity
💜Enemies to lovers
💜Angst
💜Touch her and die

First of all, huge thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC.

**Rose in Chains** is bleak—there's no other way to put it. The war is over; Eversun lost. Its princess, Briony Rosewood, is taken captive and put up for auction. She becomes property, with all that entails. In a twist of fate, Briony ends up being bought by Toven Hearst, her former tormentor and personal obsession before the war began.

I want to properly start my review by stating that Ella Lynch did a wonderful job narrating. She was great at representing all the different characters in the book—and we certainly have a lot. The changes in intonation, inflection, and pitch made it so there was no confusion about who was speaking. This helped tremendously since, again, the book has a lot of side characters, and it would be easy to get lost among them.

Aside from that, her voice—and the emotion she put into it—made it a compelling listen.

On to the text itself: I’m not going to lie—this gets *dark*. We’re talking about slavery and implied rape. I considered DNFing the audiobook during the first 30% simply because it made me uncomfortable. In my opinion, the whole auction process was unnecessarily detailed, everything was grim and humiliating. And that oppressive atmosphere carried throughout the whole book.

Briony goes from princess to captive to property in a new world where logic dictates that the conquerors should abuse their war spoils in every possible way—sexually included. And this is another point of contention for me: there’s so much emphasis placed on fertility and virginity in the book, it’s unsettling, to put it mildly.

All that to say, the book worked for me, mostly. Still, I often questioned whether the suffering served a purpose or just leaned into misery porn.

And with that out of the way, I can say I definitely felt the Dramione vibes—in both the characters and the tension they brought. And let me tell you, the tension was *chef’s kiss*. I thought the flashbacks were necessary to give context to their relationship, while also providing a sort of break from the grim atmosphere. Since, in the present, we have this slave/owner dynamic that's really hard to root for—if not for the fact that Toven Hearst surreptitiously helps Briony in any way he can, all while keeping his motivations tucked up his sleeve.

If you’re looking for a dark fantasy that keeps you on edge, full of tension and a good dose of yearning, this might be the book for you. But definitely check the trigger warnings.

ARC REVIEW - Thank you net galley and Hachette xoxoxo

This book was dark, intense, and totally addictive!!!!!!!

I found that Rose in Chains was a blend of enemies-to-lovers romance with a brutal fantasy BUT in a way that’s both heartbreaking and gripping.

Briony and Toven’s chemistry was everything!!! Not an easy read, but very hard to stop once you start.

xoxo

I think this is the first Julie Soto book I’ve rated 4 stars. And it’s not because it wasn’t a 5 star read for me, but I think there are issues with the book.

If you go into this book knowing it’s a Harry Potter fanfiction then it’s easily 5 stars. You already know and understand the world. I don’t think Soto adapted it well to a traditional publication. If I didn’t know or understand the HP world then this magic system and world building would be a mess. It would be too confusing to really grasp. It really does feel like you’re expected to already know and understand the world. After talking with a friend she suggested maybe some chapter heading epigraphs to build the world. You can slowly build the world while also being right in the action. It just wasn’t done in this book.
The plot and background of how Briony and Tovin came to be in their situation made sense to me. But I will say that Briony really infuriated me. She is very book smart and that is obvious. But she is so naive, and I think too naive. Way too naive. The level at which she doesn’t understand human social queues seems laughable. And mind boggling. Like Larissa, I also wanted to throw things down and say “I can’t even with you”.
I also don’t think I knew it would be a trilogy. So, I am le sad. And for the first time I’m probably going to read a Dramione fanfic. Because I’m impatient. And if the material is out there then I’ll get my answers now! I am a fanfic reader, just not HP. The way I would eat this up if it was Sailor Moon fanfiction.
Anyways, I really did enjoy this and really loved it. I can’t wait for the next book. And for me personally it’s a 5 star. But I can see why it would get 3 stars and below.

BK-17
1🌶️ - lots of discussion of sex
POV: 3rd Person
FMC 25
🎧: 4/5 Single Narration
Thank you to NetGalley for this audio book for an honest review!

What a ride! I know that this was originally done as FanFic but I never read it. You can see the similarities but I loved the changes that were made!

This book is slow, and I did struggle through the beginning. The magic system is really cool! I loved how unique it was. But the way this book ended! I will be continuing on to Book 2 once we get it!

•
•
•
•
•
Spicy Chapters: 32

This is an addictive dark romantasy with a haunting atmosphere and an unforgettable slow-burn enemies-to-lovers dynamic. Briony and Toven’s chemistry kept me on edge, and the political intrigue and magical world-building added depth without overwhelming the story. The flashbacks were perfectly timed and emotionally resonant. Ella Lynch's narration was pretty good; each character felt distinct and alive, and she fully immersed me in the world. The pacing, emotion, and tension were spot-on. The ending left me aching for more, and I’m already counting down the days to book two. This audiobook was intense, emotional, and utterly captivating. Highly recommended for fans of angsty, high-stakes fantasy romance.

Rating: 5? 4.5? 5 stars?

I HATED the premise of this book. Women (of royalty and not) being sold as essentially magical sex slaves to the highest bidder. THEN forced to have a battle royal in the arena against other magical sex slaves working as source-power for their owners? The depictions of what happened in the dining room at the dinner parties made me sick. That being said, I loved this book.. The enemies to make out buddies, the sudo-found family, the burning rage to get revenge. I. am. hooked.

The fact that book two doesnt come out until the END OF 2026 makes me want to cry.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Rose in Chains
By Julie Soto
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rose in Chains was one of my most anticipated books of 2025 and I am so beyond happy that it lived up to the hype!

The narrator, Ella Lynch, did such an incredible job at bringing the story to life. I’m normally very particular with audiobooks and find that a narrator can either make or break a story, but her voice was perfect for both Briony and the supporting characters. She brought such an energy to the story that had me absolutely captivated from beginning to end!

Having read the original story that this book was based on, I was most curious how it was going to translate. I thought that the adjustments to the story flowed so well and actually prefer this over the original! I also loved how closely it followed the original but the added new details were perfectly sprinkled in.

I am beyond excited to read more of Briony and Tovin’s story in the next book!

Thank you so much to Hackett Audio and Netgalley for the ALC!

Thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for an advanced copy!

This was a fun read! I'm not much of a fanfiction reader, but this was just enough Harry Potter and originality that it was fun. I also really enjoyed the audiobook narrator.

I actually enjoyed this way more than I expected. I’ve never been into fanfic and hadn’t read the original version, but if I was going to give any trad-published HP fanfic a shot, it had to be from Julie Soto, because honestly, she never misses. And thankfully, she’s just as incredible here.

I really enjoyed the audiobook! The narrator did a great job distinguishing between characters without it feeling confusing, and her voice flowed beautifully, really adding to the atmosphere of the story. I did struggle a bit with the flashbacks, while I get thats the goal in audio is to ease you into the character’s POV, I sometimes had trouble tracking when a flashback started or ended.

rose in chains ⛓️🥀

5 stars 🌟

what a book!!!

the magic system and world-building were so incredibly unique. It was easy to understand and I didn’t find myself having to reread things multiple times (which is always a plus lol!) the dual timeline was so fun to read and gave such good context to the characters and world in general! I’ll be curious to see if the dual timeline carries throughout the series or if we get any potential Toven POV’s in future books!

I loved Briony as a fmc (she is so intelligent and I just know she is going to be an absolute badass in the future (she already is though)!!) and Toven already has my whole heart!

Say it with me… we love a slow burn!!!!!! 🤭🫠🥵😮‍💨 I love their dynamic already hehe - so much tension!

I will say, please be sure to check the content warning, as this book does dive into numerous heavy themes and topics and it’s consistent throughout the entire course of the book. 🤍

The audiobook version of this book was amazing! I loved the British narrator, and she did a fantastic job throughout the book. I loved this book even more the second time around!

I honestly enjoyed every single second of this book and am eager to see where the series goes!

I went into this book blind never having read any of the fanfics this started as. I wanted to review it based on its own merit. And given the hype around this book I thought I was in for a real treat but sadly I was mistaken.

Firstly the fmc Briony; shes the princess of a kingdom whose slowly losing the war. You think after several years at war she would be at least slightly hardened but I feel like shes completely soft. Complaining about having to move castles, not that people are dieing and that they're loosing. She has literally 0 military intelligence even though shes been sitting in on war councils for years. And the biggest ick for me is that the fact that she puts herself as less than her male counterparts in literally everything.

Tovan the male fmc fell flat for me. I honestly felt no honestly connection between him and Briony. I get that its supposed to enemies to lovers but you can still respect your enemy. I felt like he treated her childishly and with contempt most of the book. I never once felt the slow burn that was advertised.

The story itself was lack luster. I felt there wasn't enough backstory presented on how the magic worked or why each kingdom felt they had to be all or nothing with the different types. I felt like so much of the story was slow with parts that presented no real movement to the plot. There was also in my opinion too much focus on other things namely, Briony's virginity and how it must be kept intact.

The one redeeming thing I found in this book is the ending, mainly because the dragon was sick of everyone's crap and I was right there with em.

Thank you net galley and hachette audio for the
arc I received for my honest review.

5/5 Stars 1/5 Spice

Tropes:
Romantasy
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn

Big 5 star read for me. I loved this one. I had been looking forward to reading this story since it was announced & the audio was EVERYTHING! The character development & world building was so well done. I loved the political intrigue & magical system. I am usually not a single POV audio girlie but this one worked so well. The narrator did a *phenomenal* job weaving the story for us. The twists had me a chokehold the whole story. & Toven was so yum. The cliffhanger however - I need the next book right now immediately!

*thank you so much to hachette audio for this ALC it was *chefs kiss*

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
4⭐️
🌎4.5 📖3.75 ✒️4 👭4, ❤️4, 🌶️.5 🎧4.5
I’m a Julie Soto fan as well as a Harry Potter lover so of course I’ve been anxiously awaiting this release. I may of jumped when I received an arc of the audiobook.
For those who don’t know, Rose in Chains is an adaptation of the popular Dramione (Hermione/Draco) fanfic The Auction. This book follows Princess Briony Rosewood after her kingdom has fallen. Stripped of her magic and sold to the highest bidder, she finds herself in the hands of her former classmate—and now enemy—Toven. As Briony struggles to adjust to her new reality, she quickly discovers that not everything is as it seems.
I really enjoyed being immersed in this world, and the audiobook was an absolute delight. As a Harry Potter fan, it was easy to catch the parallels, which made the experience even more engaging. That said, I’ve never read The Auction, so the story itself felt fresh and new to me.The narrator did an amazing job—at times, it genuinely felt like I was living inside the book.
My only real critique is that the story felt a bit incomplete. I know this is book one, and that feeling might shift once book two is out, but just as things really started to pick up, it ended. It definitely left me wanting more, which, to be fair, is exactly what you want from the start of a trilogy.
I think Dramione fans will find a lot to love here, but honestly, even readers who’ve never touched Harry Potter could easily fall in love with Soto’s world.
*this is new adult and readers should pay attention to trigger warnings before starting
Thank you NetGalley & forever publishing for the arc