JULIE SOTO YOU ARE SIMPLY AMAZING!
As a Dramione girl since high school, my little heart appreciated this book immensely.

The production of this audiobook and Ella Lynch’s narration of each character painted the story perfectly, and I will be listening again as an immersive read.

The biggest thanks to Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen to this ARC!

Thank you to Hachette Audio for a copy of the audiobook.

DNF @ 60%.

I wanted to love this book. I thought the writing was great. I thought the premise sounded interesting. I thought that I would be able to handle the content and was just unable to do so. I think if you like darker stories similar to the handmaid's tale, this may be the story for you it just wasn't for me.

Narrator: I thought the narrator did a great job and I would listen to something she narrated in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hachette for allowing me to listen to the audiobook early, in exchange for my honest review.

I could not stop listening to this book! The narrator has a gorgeous British accent, and the pacing and characters hooked me after the first couple of chapters. The story is told in dual timelines, which help the reader uncover bits and pieces of Briony and Toven's backstory as we go along. It's a little complicated and confusing to listen to at first, because of the many different characters and complicated war scenario, but it comes together beautifully.

There are definitely some trigger warnings here, including forced sterilization, pregnancy termination, and sex trafficking / sexual assault (the latter occurring off the page and not to our main character), so please be forewarned. The book takes place in a somewhat dystopian/dark fantasy world, with women having very little power or ownership over their bodies, somewhat reminiscent of Handmaid's Tale. It's quite disturbing. Through it all, our female main character Briony perseveres, and she is quite powerful in her own way.

Our male main character has ambiguous intentions and keeps a LOT of secrets, but we grow to love him anyhow. The romance between the 2 main characters is a very slow burn, and ends on a cliffhanger.

I am definitely not the target audience here, being in my 50s, which is about 25 years older than most people I think will be reading this, but I loved it nonetheless. A great production and fantastic narrator. I can't wait for the next book!

Upon finishing this ALC, it has come to my attention that the publisher is actively using this work’s original ties to a toxic and problematic author as part of its marketing strategy. I was hoping that Rose in Chains would be able to stand alone with its own story, magic system, and characters (and it absolutely can, but they’re choosing not to). I stand with the trans community, and I cannot in good faith recommend this book. I received this free advance audiobook from Hachette Audio via NetGalley in exchange for my thoughts.

I’ve been sitting with my thoughts on this book for a while and I’m still having complicated feelings on it. I enjoyed some of the character work and the political intrigue aspects but the world building, pacing and romance left me wanting. Ignoring my feelings on the actual book I thought the audio narrator was fantastic. The book is very heavy and the narrator nailed the intensity and emotion.

The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.
Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead. Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction - and as the heir-apparent's sister, she fetches the highest price. After a fierce bidding war, she's sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun - and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests. Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost.

I really enjoyed getting to know the main characters but I didn’t like them together. The romance felt forced and I didn’t like the dynamic of their relationship. The book is dark which I understand but some of it felt unnecessary. The constant talk of virginity and sexual violence was too much for me. The pacing of the book was slow. It took me way too long to get invested in the story. The constant flashbacks were also unnecessary. I felt like we could’ve used that time to establish more world building. I do like the way Julie writes tension and angst in her books and the last half of the book sucked me in so I’ll probably read the second book. Overall this wasn’t totally for me but I think it will work
for a lot of other people and would recommend it to others.

The world building, the character depth and the premise all intriguing and well written. Briony is captured, stripped of her magic abilities, and auctioned off, fetching a high price due to her status…with the winning bid none other than her enemy, Toven. There is an enemies-to-lovers romance, magic, dark vs light metaphors throughout and many other romantasy elements. I wasn’t quite expecting the many triggering dark topics, but they did further the plot’s storyline and helped solidify the moral dichotomy of good versus evil depicted. Admittedly, I was a bit lost at the midpoint of the story, but the plot did pick up and offer a stunning conclusion.
The sole female narrator, Ella Lynch, did a fine job: her tone and emotions were animated and brought me into the story. 3.75 stars

#RoseinChains #netgalley
💜🌹⛓️‍💥🦊

5⭐️

There is a lake with still waters …

Wowwwwww … this didn’t disappoint what a story! I adore Julie’s other works, and her fanfic writing, so was so interested in how she’d translate that into this new format and well I’ll tell you, she did not disappoint!

This story has the familiar heart I wanted it to have, while still feeling fresh and exciting. I adored our FMC and MMC, Briony and Toven, and there classic forbidden, enemies to lovers, pinning riddled, slow burn romance! The story was engaging and entertaining throughout, i adored the magic system, the idea of the heartsprings , mind and heart magic with the introduction to this new world. The villain/underlying threats were thrilling and felt well established in the story (something that isn’t always easy done!). The introduction to the flashbacks, I felt added some great depth to the story and really helped build the relationship between Briony and Toven.

So excited to read this again, while counting down the minutes to the next instalment!

🎧
Listening to this story in audio format, narrated by the exceptional Ella Lynch, added a great depth to the story! Ella was enhancing, engaging and entertaining from start to finish, so pleased I got the opportunity to consume the story in this format!

Thanks to Julie Soto, Hachette audio and NetGalley for this audio arc!

Read the trigger warnings there are some dark themes, these were handled respectfully and with great care.

Thank you so much to Hachette Audio & NetGalley for this e-arc.

Ella Lynch did a fantastic job narrating. Her unique character voices, captivating British accent, and flawless pacing made this an unforgettable experience. I loved the universe the author had built, and it was a really enjoyable read. Briony's point of view alternates between the past and present throughout the book. I'm very excited to read the upcoming books!!

✨ Hooked on Evermore! ✨

I loved Rose in Chains by Julie Soto and am officially obsessed! This story had me in a chokehold from start to finish, and I already can’t wait for the next book in the Evermore Trilogy. If you enjoy dark academia, magical rivalries, and enemies-to-lovers tropes with serious tension, this one’s for you!

I listened to the audiobook - thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review - and I highly recommend it. Ella Lynch’s narration was phenomenal. Her enchanting British accent, distinct character voices, and perfect pacing made this a standout listen. I genuinely wanted to start it all over again the moment I finished!

The story is rich and layered with:

💫 A dual timeline structure – flashing between the post-war present and school-age past

🎓 A magical academia setting – think dark rival factions: the intellectual, mind-magic-wielding Eversuns vs. the powerful, emotional Bomardis

⚔️ A post-war dystopia – the Bomardis have won, and the fallout is brutal: women like Briony Rosewood are forced into a horrifying magical slave trade

💥 A slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance – full of mutual pining, morally gray choices, sizzling chemistry, and political tension

🧠 Unique magic systems – mind vs. heart magic, with mental barriers and memory manipulation playing a major role

🖤 Delicious romance tropes – captive/captor, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, slow burn, denial, secret crushes, “touch her and die”… just YES.

Though inspired by the Dramoine fanfic The Auction, this reimagining creates its own world that feels both familiar and fresh. The alternate history - what if the bad guys won the war? - was absolutely fascinating and gave the entire story a morally complex edge that I couldn’t stop thinking about.

⚠️ Trigger warnings apply, so check them beforehand, but I found it to be on the lighter side of “dark” romantasy.

📚 The deluxe edition (with those gorgeous sprayed edges) drops July 8, 2025, and you bet I’ll be adding it to my shelf. Waiting for book two feels like torture, but I know it’ll be worth it. I already want to relisten and relive this incredible story!

I feel conflicted about this one, and I decided to DNF at 54%.

Rose in Chains is a dark, tense enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance. With significant power imbalances between the two MCs, I struggled to root for the relationship. 😬

I haven’t read anything else with this kind of set up for romantic tension, and I just didn’t buy into it personally. The hype around this book gave me FOMO, and I can understand why some people enjoy it.

While the book seems fast-paced, I also didn’t really feel like much happened to move the plot forward in the first half of the book.

I tandem listened to the audiobook while reading an eARC. Ella Lynch is great. She delivers a strong performance with unique voices for multiple characters.

I had really high hopes for this book but I’m sad to say that I was disappointed. It was sloooow paced and repetitive. Some flashbacks were told twice, so was other information. The flashbacks slowed it down even more and some made the story feel chopped up. Since Briony acts about the same way when she is 17 as when she’s 25, it’s hard to see her as an adult. The romance part is almost nonexistent, they look at each other but I wouldn’t call it flirting most of the time. The narrator makes different voices for different characters which I find a bit annoying. She could have changed her voice slightly to make it more clear who is talking, but the weird voice she uses for some characters makes it hard to listen to. I know Briony is upset a lot of the time but the narrator makes her sound like she is about to cry, like all the time. It doesn’t matter if she is angry, sad or confused. If I look past the pace, recurrences and narrator I think the story is still intriguing. It’s good against evil, magic, royalty, gruesum and thrilling story..and a dragon. It’s exactly what I usually like, but this one didn’t deliver. I've seen quite a few five star ratings so obviously this book still has its audience.

Arc review ✨ Edited as I’ve been able to really sit and digest this over the past few days. It was not a terrible book! I just think it wasn’t for me. I’m sitting at a 2.5 stars.

One of the apparently “most anticipated reads of the year” and I’m starting to have trust issues with the most anticipated recs being.. not stellar to put it nicely.

Right from the start, the plot takes no time at all before it goes really dark- check warnings before heading in. It starts early with mention of many dark topics. From there.. it was a slow go.

The thing that I noticed started bugging me really fast were the flash backs- I found them to be a bit disjointed. I get what this was trying to do, give us a history between our main characters, but it didn’t really do what it had intended. I found myself getting frustrated as I just wanted to focus on the present day events and it did not do much in the way of helping me feel the connection between the characters.

I’m left feeling a tad unsatisfied with the characters as a whole and because this is a character driven story, I didn’t love it. With such a serious tone, they were quite unserious and very almost young adult vibes. It was riddled with dark topics, I just expected an adult dark fantasy romance. What I read was what felt like a bunch of teenagers in adult scenarios with no supervision when they clearly needed it. Maybe this was supposed to be more new adult? Not sure. I think I have just outgrown the YA/NA era.

Notes on the audio version specifically-
I have no big complaints really with our narrator. She did quite well. I did find myself wanting to read the book vs listening to it though as she did make it feel more YA as well. It may have helped me connect with the characters better. Although I am not sure anything really could help there.

Ah well. On to the next one!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange of a review!

I want to thank @hachetteaudio and @netgalley for the ALC of Rose in Chains. The narrator is Ella Lynch and she has such a wonderful voice to listen to! She did a great job depicting all of the different characters.

In my opinion, I wouldn’t consider this a romantasy. I would consider it more of a fantasy with like a slow burn, slooow burn romance. You may like this if you like

💜dark fantasy
🥀Enemies to lovers
💜Captivity/forced proximity
🥀Political rebellion
💜Unique Magic

I didn’t love some of this book, but the plot was interesting. It did take me a moment to be pulled in.

Briony is the Princess of Evermore and has been captured and sold at an auction to the highest bidder. Her brother and the king have been killed. She gets sold to an old classmate Toven and she thinks she has him figured out. Throughout the book they reveal secrets and twists that has her questioning her initial thoughts of Toven, his family and their actions.

What a great way to start this summer filled with Dramione-inspired books!

Briony Rosewood is a princess of Evermore. After the fall of her kingdom and the death of her brother, the king, she and her fellow citizens - Eversuns - are auctioned off to the highest Bomardsun bidders to be used in whatever way they please. Mistress Victoria has taken the throne. Darkness has risen, and Briony can't do anything against it. Is all hope lost, or is there still a light at the end of the tunnel?

I loved this dark romantasy book! It was such a good read, and I enjoyed the world the author had created from the fanfic source material. Mind you, the story is tragic, so if you're sensitive to some topics, I'd check the trigger warnings for this book before reading. It contains lots of problematic topics (it is a dark romantasy), which might not be for everyone.

There are alternating timelines in the book, switching between the past and present from Briony's POV. I liked the magic system of having some people who use Mind Magic (the Eversuns) and some who use Heart Magic (the Bomardsuns). Briony was so witty, and Toven so mysteriously angsty. And the slow-burning romance and yearning, I ate that up!

By the end, I felt this book had the potential to be a 5-star read. However, my final score ultimately came out to be 4.25. There were a few things that lowered my score for this book. Firstly, the beginning of the book was a bit slow, and it picked up pace 2/3 way through. Secondly, some of the name choices weren't the best in my humble opinion. Every single time the narrator said Briony, I heard brownie. Toven's name doesn't suit either, since to me the name sounds like he could be a gym bro. And then the main villain is just called...Victoria. Which is just...meh.

I did love the narrator of the book. She did such a good job giving all the characters their voice and bringing Briony's inner voice to life. But I'd love Toven to get a separate narrator for the next books in the series :)

But overall, I really enjoyed the book! I can't wait to read the next books and see more of the world and worldbuilding!

Thank you to Netgalley and HachetteAudio for providing me with an ALC copy of this book!

Thank you Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the free ALC of this book.

After reading Julie Soto’s YA thriller The Thrashers earlier this year, I knew I needed more of her writing. I did not know what I was walking into with this one… definitely a dark fantasy. In Rose in Chains, Soto builds a world filled with forbidden magic, sex, and rebellion that hits a little too close to home in the current climate.

I have very mixed feelings about the story, because it’s so dark and problematic. There were so many scenes I really struggled with. I highly recommend checking trigger warnings before reading this book.

I eventually liked the alternating timelines, but sometimes it lost me when it came back to the present. It took me sometime to remember where we were in the current timeline and catch my brain up. There are a lot of characters and limited world building, that I’m hoping gets explored and explained more in future books.

🎧 : I thought the narrator did a lovely job voicing Briony, her tone and cadence matched the princess well. I do wish it had been dual narration though, a different voice for Toven and the other men — although her Raven voice was quite eerie!

3.75⭐️

So hi. This review is coming from someone who has only read the first three HP books, seen the movies, and didn’t read the fic.
Also thank you NetGalley and Hachette audio for the ALC.
Now let’s get into it. I’m just gonna say there was a lot going on but not a lot of explaining happening. Like I wanted to be fully invested and I had one foot out the door. There was just so much that was left unexplained for those of us who are not super fans and I feel like that does a disservice to the reader. I shouldn’t have to do research or fully read another series to read something disconnected as this was supposed to be.
For the story that I read and followed and understood, I enjoyed it. I wasn’t frothing at the mouth to listen to it every single second of the day, but I made the time for it and finished it fairly fast. I’m hoping it picks up more in the second book (how many are there going to be btw?) and can’t wait to see how it goes based on that ending.
Thank you again, all thoughts are my own.

This book gave me the same heart-pounding, claustrophobic tension I felt when Feyre was trapped under the mountain in A Court of Thorns and Roses. The stakes are high, the magic system is dark and layered, and the political power struggles are brutal and consuming.

I listened to the audiobook, and while it was captivating, I do think the complexity of the world—especially the magic and political structure—might be easier to grasp in physical form. There’s a lot of depth here, and it deserves to be savored.

Briony is such a compelling lead, loyal, strategic, and holding on to whatever agency she can. Her devotion to her brother and the sacrifices she makes had me hooked. And then there’s Toven… I still don’t know what to make of him. One moment he’s cold, the next something more. The dynamic between them is tense and unpredictable, but because the story’s in third person, I did miss the intimacy of being inside both their heads.

The heart magic, especially the mind manipulation aspects, was fascinating, and pretty terrifying. There’s so much groundwork laid for future twists, betrayals, and possibly redemption arcs. I don’t know how many books this series will have, but I’m definitely along for the ride.

This book was one of my most anticipated releases of this year. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Julie Soto is quickly becoming my favorite author. Everything she writes is pure gold.

I love Toven and Briony so much! They are the slowest of slow burns and I am so here for it. I love that she challenges him and he allows her to be herself as much as possible. I cannot wait for Briony to finally figure out that Toven cares for her.

After that cliffhanger, I need the next book immediately. I cannot wait to see where the next book goes.

The audio started out really slow for me. I had to start it over four times because I kept losing track of what was happening. Once I got about 10% in, though, I was hooked and I did not want to stop listening. I thought Ella Lynch did a really great job of differentiating between all of the characters. They all had their own voice.

"That heartspring is mine"

I truly believe this is going to be one of the biggest books of the year! Absolutely a 5 star fantasy read for me.

Some tropes in this book:
-Forced Proximity
-Enemies to lovers(?)
-Morally Grey MMC
-Slow burn/No burn


I really enjoyed the world building and the magic system Julie Soto created in this. While I do have some questions, I feel like a lot of them will be answered in the following books. If you're looking for a romantasy book, this is not it. It is straight up fantasy with just a little bit of romance (although I'm sure that will change later on). I mean the first half of the book just feels like one giant info dump and introduction to a lot of characters. But it is extremely necessary to really understand the setting and tones of the book.

Definitely read trigger warnings before, as this may not be a book for everyone!!

Briony, a smart young magician and the Princess of Evermore, is the only living survivor left of her family. She is sold off in an auction after the war to be a heartspring for a Bombard.

Toven, a powerful magician and Bomardi, buys Briony in the auction.

While they have a complicated past and come from different sides, together they find they just might be fighting for the same things....

Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!! I just finished Rose in Chains by the amazing @juliesotowrites

I received an early Audio ARC from @netgalley for an unbiased review!

I’m a Die Hard Dramione Girlie! And the Auction is a top tier Dramione for me! I had very high expectations for this book… in the first few chapters I had to remind myself that this was a new world build with totally new characters, so stop comparing them to HP! After that pep talk, let me tell you…. Julie can write!!! Move over Draco bc Toven Hearst has entered the building!!!

The world is so stunning! It came to life in my mind almost immediately. The characters are strong and the magic is a chefs kiss for me!

You either draw from the mind or the heart! It is just perfect!

I could go on forever with how beautiful this story was! I cannot wait for book 2!!

10/5 stars! This is a top tier slow burn romantasy! Thank you Julie!!!

#netgalley #juliesotowrites #juliesotobooks #romantasyreads #romantasybook #tovenhearst #roseinchains #roseinchainsarcreview #arcreader #theevermoretrilogy #imteamdragon