🌟🌟🌟 3/5
🌶️1/5

❤️‍🔥Enemies to Lovers
💖Slow burn
❤️‍🔥Dark Romantasy
💖Forced Proximity


I am very sad to say that I did not like this book. I was really expecting to love this fantasy read but everything fell flat for me. The pacing of the story was slow and the world building wasn’t explained enough for me so it was really confusing to read. There was so much potential with it but I was left with no answer and a lot of information that didn’t mean anything. The magic system feels rushed and underdeveloped, the whole mind magic vs heart magic was just confusing, why the war and why is it so bad to practice one vs the other?

I was disappointed in the FMC Briony, she made decisions that confused me and she could have been this strong and powerful character but it just never happened. This book put so much emphasis on women being virgin and after that being bought to be a sex slave. I wasn’t a fan. I am not a dark romance reader and I didn’t like the abuse the women got in this world.

The whole romance with MMC Toven felt forced. We get multiple flashbacks during the book, we see Toven and Briony being in school together and I never got the connection or the attraction between them. Where is the romance? Where is the connection?

Overall this book wasn’t for me, I might try again later with the ebook instead of the audiobook. I sometimes have difficulty with fantasy books in audiobooks format because of all the made up names. The performance in this audiobook though, was amazing, the narrator did a great job and I feel like she is the reason I stayed until the end.

Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Listener Copy in exchange for my honest review.

First thank you to Netgally and Hatche audio for giving my the opportunity to have an ALC of this book.

Unfortunately this was not the book for me. I am sure this book is for many people who will love the tropes, the characters, and the “romance”. However, I could get behind none of these things and DNF at 57%. I just could not get into the story for multiple reasons.

One: I didn’t like the characters. Briony just was so unmotivated and felt like she had no fight in her, and I can rationalize that this was a trauma response to everything she experienced prior to the start of the story. However, for the book to get to 57% of the story and there is not even a slight change to her demeanor, instead she starts to reflect on how she liked her OWNER while they were in school together, even though he wasn’t that kind to her then. Which brings me to the second reason. The idea that there is a redemption arc played for her OWNER, who bought her under the guise of her becoming his sex slave/ the person he siphons magic from just didn’t work for me. I understand that this is supposed to be to dark romance but he did nothing that said he wanted her outside of purchasing her, he could have explained to her by the 50% mark why he bid for her and what his end game was or actually gave her freedom around the house. Just something to show that he didn’t have ill intent since it was clear form all her flashbacks that he was someone she found attractive. There are also several other reasons that this book wasn’t for me. I could go on but I won’t.

I will say that the narrator was great, she really embodied the character. I also think that they author put in effort to create a new world with an interesting magic system.

Julie Soto is amazing!

Briony Rosewood is the last remaining princess in her line. Her country has fallen and she is now captured, collared, and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Her academy nemesis has Toven Hearst has won the auction. She navigates this new world while trying not to give herself away or fall for Toven.

This book and audio book were both amazing. I loved the characters and their development. The political intrigue, magic, and secrets make me want more. I am so excited for this series.

Thank you Netgalley for the ALC!

So I will start with I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I read it instead of listened to it. The narrator was fine, but the British accent and voices made it very difficult to separate this book and it's original inspiration.

The story started off really slow for me, and it felt way very similar to other books that started as similar fanfic. It takes until about 60% in to finally start picking up with more action and story progression.

Overall, it was just fine for me? It didn't feel very unique or stand out from other books taken from the same inspiration, but I did find the magic systems to be interesting.

I was provided an early audio copy of this title for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rose in Chains is the first title of Julie Soto’s The Evermore Trilogy, and follow Princess Briony Rosewood after her twin brother and best friend, the prophesied heir twice over, has died and her kingdom has been overrun by the enemy.

Briony is captured and put up for auction along with a number of her fellow Eversuns, and to that end finds herself in the company of Toven Hearst, the first boy to ever touch her heart, and now, her captor.

Read this if you love:
Captor x captive
Magic
Magicians
Prophecies
Dragons
Enemies to lovers
Sentient house
Slow burn
War
Resistance
Found family

Thank you so much to Julie Soto, Hatchette Audio & NetGalley for the early audio copy!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an arc for an honest review. This is a dark romantasy about two kingdoms and different systems of magic. One is mind and one is heart. The main female character is a princess that is captured after the war and sold at an auction for her heart magic. Her buyer is her rival at school but he makes her heart flutter. The women are auctioned and the buyers take their magic to make them more powerful. The women are prisoners to their buyers with chains around their neck to suppress magic. The book stopped in the middle as there will be two others! Can’t wait!

MISS ME WITH YOUR SLAVE WET DREAM FANTASY 😍

if it’s wasn’t for the fact I received the ARC, I’d have dnfed it around 15-20% in. That would also by the end by my review, but since it was indeed an ARC, let’s relive this torture once again 🤡

For what I’m about to say, I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy, unless we’re talking about my enemy — Julie Soto. F you, Julie Soto, you know what you did.

The world building was very bulky. It was either pages upon pages of lore dropping or nothing of substance at all. Blah blah this or that magic, blah blah introducing 6393922 useless characters, killing some nugus (no stakes, no tension, no emotion), explaining 27292 family trees and its connections, rinse and repeat. It was impossible to remember (especially in audio format), and literally couldn’t care less about anyone.

Were random flashbacks really necessary?

Plot. — honestly still looking for it.

(Herm/)Browny and To(m)(f/)ve(lto)n — really? 😒 that’s the names you chose to stick up with? Names that sound VERY similar to what must be named. APPALLING.

Browny had no spine, no brain, no dignity, and I wished she would die, but I guess we can’t get what we want 😔

Dark themes — absolutely VILE and DISGUSTING. Slavery, human trafficking, rape, branding, abuse, obsession with virginity, forced sterilisation, misogyny, love potions (aka roofies) and what not? Not probably addressed, not written with care, but used as a backdrop to write ROMANCE with a SLAVE OWNER and his SLAVE. 😍😍😍😍

The “kind not-like-others slave owner” narrative being romanticised was ABSOLUTELY CRIMINAL!!! and Soto had the nerve to call it ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS???? It can’t work if there is so much power imbalance!!!!! He BOUGHT her and not set her free the second later. He is a slave owner — IRREDEEMABLE! He hangs out with other SLAVE OWNERS! She literally wears a collar! But he is so nice because he fed her honey buns and her own bedroom, isn’t he dreamy? 🥺🥰
And even if we forgot all about it, they never hated each other 🤪

Somebody with a psychology degree please explain this to me and its implications. Like really, what are we doing here?

If anything sets feminism back, it’s books like this, reaffirming conservative key points. 😃

❗️For future me, do not request audiobooks anymore. ❗️Sorry, but all english ones sound cringe 🖐️ 😬 🤚

The narrator sounded like a mixture of Bridget Jones and a ten year old from some posh private schools overpronouncing every single word. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the voice modulation used for a bunch of antagonists (male and female) was HYSTERICALLY bad. imagine “aww pwincess where are you” tiktok sound

The cover looks pretty. From afar. Up close, you began to see the resemblance to you know what. It does NOT look as if Julie Soto tried to distance herself and the book from you know who. Absolutely disappointing, yet not surprising. All of that in the year of the lord 2025. Unbelievable!!!

Deeply disappointed with authors leaving praise for it. R. Ross and S. Garber. The money must be real good 😍

FUCK EVERYONE INVOLVED IN ACTIVELY PROMOTING IT AS DRAMIONE FANFIC! I guess it sells, but let’s keep some morality. DISGUSTING AND VILE BEHAVIOUR!!!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ARC, absolutely terrible experience, wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy, lesson learnt, it’s my second Julie Soto’s book and it will be fucking LAST.

Things I’d rather do than read this fuckass shit of a “book”:
- having all wisdom teeth removed with no anaesthesia
- go back and relive high school
- being sucked into one of the saw movies
- go to church
- read a book written by a man
- have my limbs bit off by a meth-induced alligator
- run at full speed into a wall

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette for this audiobook! Rose in chains, this was such a great book… give me book 2 already please!
Tropes include:
Fake dating (but more captured prisoner/whore)
Enemies to lovers… ish
Forced proximity
Dark academia
Slow slow burn
Duel POV
Prophecy
Royalty
Duel timelines
Mind magic and heart magic
Political intrigue
War time
Plot twists

Warning it is a cliff hanger!

We follow Briony our FMC, who is the twin sister to the king/prince depending on the chapter, she is secretly the back bone of their leadership (not even her brother knows).
Then we have our MMC Toven who is from the opposing side, but from one of the well off families.
Briony is captured and Toven purchases her… there story goes back to school (where they clearly both have secret feelings for each other).
This is a must read for all my dark Romantasy readers out there

Rose in Chains was easily a 4.5/5 star read for me, almost a 5 star. I read this up so quickly and really enjoyed Briony and Toven’s story. I particularly enjoyed the flash back scenes that were slotted throughout the story. I thought it added much greater background to the characters and depth overall. I'm definitely keen to look into Julie Soto's other books!

While going into this, I knew it was going to have darker elements and deal with sensitive themes. I would recommend those curious to check out the trigger warnings first. I didn't find this first book to be all that romantic (i.e., the romantasy part) but I'm sure that further develops in the coming books.

This story stood on it's own, and I don't believe the marketing needs to connect it to any fandom/pairing, I don't think that does it justice as it's own piece (but I suppose that's a whole other debate).

This book was absolutely fantastic! As a reader of the original “auction” fanfic, I loved how true to the story this was, while creating a whole new world. The plot is great and I literally can’t wait to read book 2! My only dislike in this book is the wacky names of some of the characters, but that’s literally my only criticism. Everything is wonderful and I’m in love!

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I will say that I read (and really enjoyed) the fanfic that this book was based on a while ago, so I was interested to see how it was transformed into an original work. Comparing it did take me out of the story sometimes, but I still really enjoyed the story anyway.

I will say, make sure to read trigger warnings before reading, as there are some quite dark aspects to the story.

I loved any and all scenes with mysterious and complicated Toven, and the tension between him and Briony was top notch.

The magic system is a bit confusing at times but the flashbacks helped to build on it. With respect to the flashbacks, I’m not always the biggest fan because sometimes they throw you around a bit and take you out of the story, but in this case they worked really well.

Ella Lynch’s narration was lovely, the British accent fit perfectly and she really bought the characters to life.

Looking forward to the next book!

I was a fan of the fan-fic, and I love this re-written version. I think it has a good plot and the romance is pretty much the same vibes as the original.

Thank you for the free ALC in exchange for an honest review.

We all know where this story started out and yet this could not be further from the source material if it tried.

The world building and magic types are well fleshed out and the characters and connections interwoven so well that Bomardi and Eversun appear to be worlds we've known all along.

My only criticism is that the slow burn is a little too slow for my liking, with Toven coming across less 'mysterious MMC' and more 'pathetic only child who has no personality other than being a love interest' at times.

The narrator did a great job at bringing this title to life.

Rose in Chains is my first read from Julie Soto, and I finished with an immersive read of the hardcover and the ALC.

This story will grab you by the throat and won't let you go. CHECK YOUR TWs! Women being sold for their magic and bodies is the main part of the plot, but so is women banding together and showing their strength.

The tension and banter between Briony and Toven will have you sweating, in particular a scene featuring sticky buns 🫠🫠.

And that ending...the last 10% had me sitting in my van, ears glued to the sounds of mystery and intrigue, the slow burn sizzling and the huge reveal knocking me back in my seat.

As for the narration, the narrator nailed her roles. The smarmy men sounded like that guy from Princess and a Frog, and all the women had unique tones and intonation to their voices. Toven was unique in that he sounded like a man at war with himself rather than a scoundrel like the others. This was my first ALC, and it's made an audiobook fan out of me!

Thank you, Hachette Audio, for the opportunity to listen to this book, and thank you Julie Soto and Forever Pub, for this addictive dark romantasy!

Oh, my heart. Julie Soto is a wizard. The biggest mistake I made was listening to this absolute gem of a book BEFORE the other books in the series are out. Now I have to wait and I fear that it is going to feel like an eternity. In the midst of all the pining and electricity between Toven and Briony, Julie Soto wrestles with tough (TOUGH) topics in an utterly compassionate and thoughtful way. Bravo! And, also, boo.

I really enjoyed this book. I had a great time with these characters and the magic system was really interesting. I’m definitely interested to see where the story goes in the rest of the series. Also the narrator did an amazing job bringing these characters this story to life

July Edit: I mean we already knew I was obsessed with this book from the initial review, BUT THE AUDIOBOOK?!?!? Holy shirt balls! Ella Lynch is perfection. I could not have wished for a more perfect narrator for this book. I've already listened to it twice and I see no end in sight. I simply adore everything about it! Thank you to the teams at Hachette Audio and Forever pub for this ALC. I hope both sides of your pillow are always chilled and that your coffee (or tea) is perfectly brewed!

If you love Dramione vibes you will love this series. Loosely based on The Auction fanfic. Super slow burn. The plot was pretty slow, wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but it redeemed itself. Check your triggers though. This is dark fantasy and includes forced sterilization, slavery, non con, grape & a whole slew of other triggers.

so you finally get to your most anticipated release of the year and... it's not as good as you hoped.

Rose in Chains is Soto's fantasy debut and an okay one at that but a weak first book in a series. tha pacing of the story was incredibly slow, no action whatsoever until the end of the book, and long flashbacks that i was tired of to be frank even though though they were needed. So overall the world building was not great and the romance did nothing for me.

I think some authors confuse slow burn romance with slow paced action and that is the main reason i still dislike romatasy in most of it's forms.

Last thing, the characters felt like 16yos roleplaying as adults, so when i got to the dark bits of the book, i did not like it at all even though i don't mind dark books.

3 stars is far from a bad rating, it just means the book was okay. If the second book isn't stronger and more fast paced then i will not continue the series, as i was only kept interested enough to finish this one already.

Audiobook performance was good but a bit high pitched.

I really enjoyed Soto’s dive into the fantasy world. And while I’m not familiar with her fan fic or the fan fic inspiration I really liked this story. It was a little tough to stomach at times but I’m curious to see where it goes in the future books.