Rose in Chains by Julie Soto launches a new romantasy series following Briony Rosewood, the princess of Evermore, as she navigates unfamiliar and dark territory after losing the war. Julie Soto has created the next big romantasy hit with this book following Briony after she is auctioned off to long-time infatuation, Toven Hearst of the wealthiest family of the rival nation. Briony finds herself and her people in a seemingly hopeless situation: no hero, no magic, and no freedom. As Briony attempts to learn this new world around her, she finds that she might not be as alone as she thought and hope might not be out of her reach.
Julie Soto creates such a rich fantasy world with a unique magic system. The opposing sides use different kinds of magic, heart or mind. The Bomardsun can use Eversuns to make their heart magic more powerful. Briony is one of the most powerful Eversun, and therefore; Toven has much to gain from using her. With added flashbacks, we get to see Broiny and Toven’s interactions through school and the start of this war. I loved seeing Briony interact with the whole Hearst family and learning who they each are individually. All members of the Hearst family have more lurking under the surface, and we get to see great glimpses of that during the novel.
I listened to this on audio, and I really loved our narrator’s, Ella Lynch, voice for Briony. She sounded exactly like I would have imagined. I didn’t love all the voices she did for some of the side characters, however, I do think that was on purpose. While I would’ve switched up some voices, I really enjoyed listening to this book and can see myself coming back to the audiobook as a comfort listen.
This book ends with a bang, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next installment. This is the perfect read for someone who is looking for their next romantasy

As I liked this story, I was lost in part of it. The flashbacks answered some of my questions, and it seemed kind of dragged out. The slow burn was more tension than romance . Definitely read the trigger warnings as it is dark and the men are awful. I'm glad the princess got Tevon as she did not have to endure as much! I'm curious to see how book two plays out as I think the building in this book will make the next a great one!
Thank you to the author and netgalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I am so happy to report IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT ME!

It’s no secret this is trad published dramione fanfic and it DELIVERS. Warning: this is a SLOW BURN. And honestly that’s probably why I loved it so much. Im living for this relationship. I need book 2 immediately.

I tried really hard not to compare them to dramione in the beginning and quickly realized I wasn’t. These characters and the story felt new and different with just a little something that felt cozy and familiar.

This is a dark fantasy, but honestly I thought it could have gone a little darker. If you’re on the fence about this one and you love romantasy, DO IT PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU.

Where to start... this book captivated me from the start. I believe it was paced well and although I do not usually enjoy dual timelines I found it to be easily followed and captivating. I also am not usually the biggest fan of 3rd person POV but I still enjoyed this read.
What to expect:
- dual timelines
-3rd person POV
- Enemies to lovers?
-slow burn
-dark themes (check triggers)

What I enjoyed
- The tension between the characters and the years of yearning
- the pace of the book
- side characters were interesting and led the plot forward
-writing was enjoyable
- main characters were intriguing, likable, and relatable
- the magic system was fun-- loved the academia setting from the past- wished for more of it honestly
-Audiobook was FANTASTIC, its a dual narration and it was done very well.

Things I did not enjoy
- The world building was very surface level and there was not much discussion at all
- There was no big blot twist to keep the series going in my opinion-- I feel for the characters so I will continue on but not for the plot.
- Where was my BIG SPICY book- I feel like I've seen this marketed EVERYWHERE to be a darkish romance and although the tension was delicious, there was NO payoff.

Final Rating 3.75/5 STARS

First of all, I want to say that the narrator, Ella Lynch, did a great job at giving each of the characters a unique voice.

However, prior to listening, I wasn't aware that this book was based on fanfic and only discovered that after listening about the third of the book. Which of course is not a bad thing. But even before that knowledge just could feel that the characters somehow familiar to me and I couldn't separate their image and those current characters in my mind. Now I know why.

I feel like it should have stayed a fanfic. I'm familiar with fanfiction and read a lot of it back in the day. And by reading the fanfic, I am already invested in the characters I choose to read about. They have history to them and I have emotional attachment to them. Unfortunately, this story on its own lacked this very thing. The author relies to much on drawing parallels to that one series the original fic was based on.

There wasn't enough to make me feel invested in these characters or the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audiobook.

I just… I do not think I will ever get over this book. It was in the top five books I have read this year, hands down. I loved it so much and wouldn’t change anything about it. Julie Soto… you are a queen and I can’t wait to read book two.

Briony Rosewood has been captured by the Bomard, and her and the rest of the Eversuns are being auctioned off for their magic. Her whole life has flipped upside down and she is starting to lose hope. Her brother is dead, her friends are being used and abused… and she is stuck in Toven Hearsts mansion as a prisoner. But it seems that all of the other Eversun’s are being treated much differently than she is, while still a prisoner, she has more privileges than the others. Her hatred for Toven is confusing, because she still holds that piece of her heart that use to have a crush on him in school. But this is war..

I LOVED THIS BOOK. This was 1000000000 stars. It had the yearning, enemies to lovers, sexual tension, touch her and die, damsel in distress while also a damsel that can kick butt. The characters were great and although the audio did make it a little hard to keep track of them all, it might not be as hard for someone who doesn’t have 3 kids running around. I did switch back and forth between the ebook and that was a little easier for me.

Excellent book. I can’t wait for book two.

First and foremost, im a diehard fan of Dramione so I was super excited to receiving this ARC!
I was excited to go into this journey again.
Things I really enjoyed: the magic system - it was super cool and layered. The political structure was fun to deep dive into. Briony’s character-building was marvelous and Toven was the perfect morally grey mmc.
What I didnt like? There seemed to be lack of world building as well as character-building in the story. I was very confused as to who was who and was trying to match them with characters from HP, but not only that.. I kept thinking that if didn’t read the fanfic before would I understand or be attached to any of these side characters? And the answer is no and I wish that I was. That would have made the plot more emotional and impactful.

This audiobook reached into the depths of my book slump and pulled me right out of it! This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 and it still managed to exceed every expectation I had. I thought the world building was done very well and I hope to learn even more about heart versus mind magic in future books. Briony was a very strong FMC who still somehow manages to find hope in the bleakest situations. While this story could get very dark, the author did a great job of weaving in tender moments that didn’t feel out of place, and I loved her use of flashbacks to set the stage for Toven and Briony’s dynamic in the present day. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Thank you SO much Hachette Audio, Netgalley, and Julie Soto for an early audio copy of this book. This was one of my most anticipated reads and having not read the original source material, I was very excited to go in blind. And boy, was I happy I did! This was such a breathtaking and immersive story that, while it tackled very dark themes, I thought it was executed masterfully. The content was only enhanced when paired with the audio narration in my opinion. The narrator did such an amazing job juggling all of the different character voices and I really liked the way she crafted both Briony (very earnest and wears her heart on her sleeve) and Toven's (aloof and sultry, with evidence of power) voices in particular. I really liked the use of the dual timeline to show Briony and Toven's history and develop their relationship a bit more than what we initially get to see just in the current timeline. With the narration, sometimes it took a bit for me to understand when it was a flashback vs. the present, but it wasn't a big deal and it didn't take away from the story. I think the magic system and the premise for this political struggle is very fascinating and I just know we'll get to explore these in more detail in the next book. It's been such a long time since I've read a book that just made me feel so much - every character that was introduced, every scene that was written, every detail that was described was designed to elicit emotion from the reader. Plus the tension, yearning, and banter between Briony and Toven was so delicious... I ate it all up whenever they were on page together. I was hooked from start to end and especially given the way the book ended, I cannot wait for the second installment.

An amazing story built in a fascinating world! I absolutely adored the entire story and that cliff hanger!!!!! omg!!!!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 4.5/5 Stars!

I don’t read a ton of romantasy books, maybe two to three a year. But I knew I loved Julie Soto’s romance books so I was very intrigued to check this one out. I don’t think I could explain this story well but all you have to know is you will be hooked! I read it in only a few days and I can’t stop thinking about it. I knew it would end on a cliff hanger knowing it was going to be a series, but holy heck I have no idea how I’m going to move on until the next book comes out. It’s so sexy and a total slow burn between the two main characters, Briony Rosewood and Toven Hearst. I went through all the emotions in the book too. The auction scene had me on the edge of my seat! Some scenes were hard to read but I felt like I was right there experiencing it all with the characters. I was completely immersed. I can’t wait for my friends to read this so I have people to talk about it with! I read and listened to the audio. The audio version was great too!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for my ARC and Audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First I want to say that I LOVE the narrator, I think she has such a good voice for audiobooks. I also think the writing was wonderful. However.. I decided to DNF this 35% in. I'm very disappointed because this was a very highly anticipated read for me, but I simply couldn't continue. I love romantasy and I love an enemies to lovers situation, and I also understand that with that, there's usually a morally grey character involved. (Which I enjoy!) But this MMC is irredeemable in my opinion. I already disliked him as we see that in the years prior to present day, he was just a total dick to the FMC. I got to the part where (present day) he backhanded her across the face with a ring on and that was it for me. And according to others reviews, he then suddenly flips and starts being nice to her after? Also the entire premise of the auction made me sick to my stomach. And we're supposed to think the MMC "saved her" yet he technically owns her? Nope. No thank you. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Despite being on the darker side, I had such a fun time with Rose in Chains; it hit all my romance sweet spots. It did take me a bit to distance myself from its unfortunate source material but generally does read like an original work. Overall I enjoyed the narrator and thought she did a good job differentiating between characters and had good quality of voice. Her voice for Toven felt a bit affected but usually not enough to take me out of the story.

Rose in Chains is a romantasy story that is fast paced, full of magic, and features a delicious slow burn enemies to lovers romance!

Briony, the Princess of Evermore, has been taken captive by Bomardi enemy forces when her castle is attacked in battle. She now finds herself stripped of her mind magic and sold to a cruel and powerful heart magician from Bomard. He is none other than, Toven, the mysterious and brooding man she has simultaneously loathed and secretly pined for since school.

The story is told through Briony’s POV, and the plot unfolds across dual timelines as we go from present day to the past in alternating chapters which help the reader learn about the world, magic, politics, characters, and more. Fantasy books can often start off slow for me with all the world building, but I felt like the pacing was strong throughout this one.

The story is an adapted Dramione fan fiction, and knowing this, there were parts of the world and characters that felt somewhat familiar at times though not enough to take me out of the world entirely. I was actually very intrigued by the lore and different types of magic.

The audiobook narrator was very engaging and embodied Briony well. I did occasionally struggle with some of her interpretations of male voices at times though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and did not want to put it down. I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

Thank you to Hachette Audio for providing this advance listening copy for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audiobook for an honest review.

Oh, my...this audiobook was epic! The storytelling, the narrators...everything was so masterfully done. There is so much I loved about this book beyond the slow burn, enemies to lovers storyline. The magic, the world building, the dark and tragic time of war and politics...I could go on and on! My only complaint is this is book one in a series...gah!!!! How can I possible wait for book two?? And that ending...sigh. Counting down to the next installment and fingers crossed it will make it to me quickly...

5 stars

3.5/5 stars
0.5/5 spice

I’m frustratingly conflicted about my rating for Rose in Chains by Julie Soto. It was easily one of my most anticipated releases for the year, so receiving an Audio ARC felt like winning the lottery.

Negatives:

I think my biggest disappointment was in not understanding people’s motivation and how things came to be. Firstly, what was the reasoning behind the war? Did I manage to completely miss a huge part of backstory because I never understood the war and how they got to where they were. Next, what was everyone in the Hearst family’s motivation? Why were doing all the things that they did? I know sometimes you have to build to revelations but it just felt like a plot hole. Next, why is Maddow in power? I know she excelled in a particular type of magical ability and had the dragon but why was she in charge? She wasn’t giving “big bad” at all. We were told that she was, but not quite shown. She was a villain, absolutely, but not an impressive one.

The other thing that didn’t quite add up to me was our FMC. I felt like there was a fairly long period of time where she just forgot entirely that there was a lot of really horrible stuff going on outside of where she was. That her people, her friends, her family, were in horrifically traumatizing situations. It seemed as though she had to be reminded by seeing it herself to start thinking about it and caring again. For a while her motivations were solely based on what she wanted, not what she needed to accomplish to help the greater good. She also didn’t question the Hearst family nearly enough. She was confused at why they were acting the way that they did, but essentially never questioned what was going on, or tried to figure out more about what was going on with them and what their ultimate motivations were. I think there were multiple things that weakened Briony’s character and I really hope that she grows and gains more tenacity over the next two novels.

In regard to our MMC, Toven (hate that name, sorry), he felt not fleshed out enough. A husk of a character many times. Yes, he’s supposedly this secret “good guy” but he’s also not? And he’s supposed to be morally grey but he wasn’t? Like he just wasn’t really anything tangible. He was lacking some really fundamental characteristics to make him a real character.

I also think that knowing the origins of this story came from Harry Potter fanfiction did affect my consumption of Rose in Chains significantly more than I thought it would. I kept picturing Draco and Hermione and it wasn’t making sense in my head. And that’s frustrating because these are supposed to be entirely different characters, so it was unfair of me to picture the characters they had originally been based upon when it was a fanfiction. I kept desperately wishing that I hadn’t known about the Harry Potter connection because I think I would have had an entirely different reading experience. Not necessarily better or worse, but very different as I wouldn’t have been comparing it to a series I knew well in my childhood. I also felt like I couldn’t help but trying to figure out who each character was based on from Harry Potter and I was annoying myself when I would do that. These are obviously all “me” problems but they were ones that I genuinely didn’t expect to have.

I think my expectations for fanfiction-turned-traditionally-published-books is based on contemporary romances, where the only real cross over between the new work and the original source material is typically the physical description of the characters and parts of their personalities. In a Fantasy book like this, however, it’s much more than just the two main characters that are based on another story, it’s the setting and the magic and the plot too. And unfortunately, at least in this case, that ended up doing the book a disservice when it came to my enjoyment.

Positives:

But then we get to the parts I liked. First of all, Rose in Chains by Julie Soto is compulsively readable. I listened to the first 50% without taking a single break. I was invested. I slowed down a touch in the second half because some of the negatives had started to creep into my thoughts whilst listening, but it’s still was easy to fly through. I listened over the course of three days and found it hard to put down when I needed to stop and do something else.

The plot itself was also unlike anything I had ever read before (in a published works - it did remind me of the fanfiction Manacled in many was so I am VERY curious to see how Alchemised, the reworked and published version of Manacled, compares to both Manacled and now Rose in Chains). It was absolutely engaging and I was curious where the novel was leading us, as I knew it was a trilogy.

I was also fortunate enough to receive an audio ARC so I got to enjoy the audiobook format of this book. I thought the narrator did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life. Briony had a wonderful delicacy about her. I think Ella Linch really embodied her. She also did a fantastic job voicing one of the antagonist, Raven. She gave him a sneering, grating voice that helped me loathe the character even more.

Finally, the ending. This is Julie Soto’s first (published) series, so I am certainly curious how well plotted the next two books in the trilogy will be. But I think she certainly set herself up for success with the epilogue of Rose in Chains. I was always going to continue on with this series, but she definitely did a great job at further enticing me with that ending!

Overall, it wasn’t exactly what I expected both in a good way and a bad way. This book has a ton of hype so I am certainly curious to see how it will be received by the general public. So far, the ARC copies have received glowing reviews, and I’m curious if that will be the same once it hits bookshops around the world. I love Julie Soto and I wish her great success so I hope that this ends up being a smash hit for her. I absolutely think that she has the ability to knock me out of the park with the remaining books in the trilogy and I’m excited to find out what the rest of this series holds!

thank you netgalley and hatchetteaudio for an early copy of rose in chains. This was everything I expected it to be and more! The narration and production of this audiobook felt immersive! I was truly never bored when listening to this book. Julie is one of my favorite authors and I'm so glad I was able to get my hands on an early copy of her book Enemies to lovers will always be one of my favorite tropes!!

I ended up DNFing. Sometimes the jumping back and forth in the timeline didn't quite work for me, and I wanted a bit more from the worldbuilding. I also thought the narrator sounded WAY too young for the MC, especially given the content.

I have not read the original series this retelling is based on nor have I read the author’s original work before it was reworked into Rose in Chains. This book does stand on its own.

It is a little slow moving, as it covers two months with some chapters going back in time to relate towards what is currently happening. Love the slight enemies to lovers and the slow burn. I wasn’t expecting the dark themes to be as dark as they were, made for a very emotional read a few times.

The narrator did a wonderful job conveying the emotions of FMC and what all she is going through.
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Overall I really did enjoy this work and will recommend. Cannot wait for the next one to come.

Thank You NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Julie Soto for the early ALC!

Soooooooo damn good!! I haven’t been this obsessed with a book in a while!

The slow burn was done extremely well and trust me when i say it is Lit-er-al-ly a slow burn…. The kiss doesn’t happen til 95% and oh the tension leading up until this point is spot on…. BUT boy was I tearing my hair out with how frustrating it was to be patient lol.

The political games and patriarchal dominance present here is nothing short of terrifying, dangerous and gut wrenching. Reading as a woman made me feel the same distraught, sorrow and anger the females feel in this and I cannot wait to see how Briony’s struggles develops into the fierce strength I know she’s capable of.