Rose in Chains was a wonderfully easy book to lose yourself in. Julie Soto did such a great job of creating a magical world, without the unnecessary details that I feel some authors spend too much time on. You can dive in and start to understand the relationships between the characters and enjoy the story! I read The Auction and still found myself eating this story up and was so surprised by the curveball ending! Can't wait for the next book! Also I really enjoyed the narrator, I felt she did a wonderful job with the characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Wow. This book was SO GOOD!! And the audiobook is great! I really do like the reader, I feel like her voice fits well for the story.
This story is full of touch her and die moments, secret glances, longing, I absolutely loved every second of it!! I can easily see this being a hit. Every second was enjoyable, there weren’t any moments that seemed like they were added in for no reason. The world building is fantastic and the magic system is very interesting. My only complaint is that I have to wait so long for book 2!!!
Seriously. I am so honored to be able to have listened to this audiobook before it comes out, I may have screamed a little when I got the email from NetGalley that I was approved!! This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and man was it a damn good one!

THANK YOU NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ARC of this audiobook!

I devoured this book. Rose in Chains by Julie Soto completely consumed me with its aching intensity, morally gray tension, and twisted, irresistible romance. Inspired by the fanfic The Auction, this story plunges readers into a dark, dystopian world where nothing is soft or safe—and yet somehow, through all the rawness and pain, it becomes absolutely impossible to look away. Soto’s storytelling is haunting, brutal, and poetic all at once, and her signature talent for emotional depth and character chemistry shines even in the bleakest corners of this world. The characters—flawed, broken, and complex—felt real in a way that lingered long after the final chapter. The slow-burn tension is palpable, the power dynamics are intense, and the emotional stakes are sky-high. And can we talk about the narrator for a moment? If you’re listening on audio, prepare to be wrecked—in the best way. The performance adds another layer of depth and vulnerability to an already devastatingly beautiful story. Make no mistake, this is not a light or fluffy read. It’s dark. It’s heavy. Please check the trigger warnings. But if you’re someone who loves your romances shadowed with pain, power, and redemption, Rose in Chains is going to live rent-free in your head. I was not ready for it to end—and now I’m counting down the minutes until book two.

I absolutely devoured this book. The tension between the fmc and mmc was so amazingly done. Definitely left me wanting more and have so many unanswered questions. Can’t wait for more books in this series!

The Auction is one of my favorite AO3 fanfics and I honestly wasn't sure what to expect it changing to its own story. But Julie Soto was able to create this wonderful story while still keeping the vibes. Actually it's better. I absolutely love this fantasy world setting and all the characters. I'm so excited to read the next one!

I had the pleasure of reading Rose In Chains both visually and via audiobook, and I strongly feel that audio is the best way to experience this story! Ella brings a level of professionalism and nuance to the roles in a way that I really enjoyed, and even though I knew what plot points were coming, she managed to keep me entertained and interested the whole time. I look forward to listening to future books in this trilogy narrated by Ella!

I love Julie Soto as an author and have read all of her books (non fanfiction). I’m not much of a fantasy reader, but I wanted to give it a try since she was writing it. Overall, I did enjoy this book and I certainly will be reading more in the series. The cover is gorgeous and I love how well it represents the content of the novel. When I started reading this novel, I knew it had been adapted from Julie Soto’s fanfiction story based on a relationship between Draco and Hermione from the Harry Potter series. This novel certainly was changed from that world as the explanation of magic is very different along with the overall time and location being otherworldly. Getting into this novel was hard - there was so much going on very early on with so many names and new concepts being thrown at the reader. I was overwhelmed and kinda lost at first. Once I picked up what was happening, it started to make more sense. To help it make sense, I did Google the major plot points from when this was a fanfiction and the timeline of it in the Harry Potter world helped me get on pace for the land of Evermore (and the surrounding areas? Not sure if they were ever given a real name?). Briony is an interesting main character- at times she is terribly naïve but also incredibly headstrong. She is also incredibly intelligent, but has to appear not as smart for the sake of her twin brother, the prince. Toven comes off as a snob, but really develops more complexity as the story goes on. The flashbacks of Briony and Toven were my favorite part of the story because it really led their character development and allowed more explanations to the fantasy world. The content of the book can be dark - while it says the “dark forces” have won, what they do with the losing side is “dark” but I don’t understand what really made them “dark” to begin. It didn’t seem fully explained to me. The losing side is sold to the highest bidder, primarily for magic use, but non-consensual sex is mentioned as occuring to some characters, as well as sexual violence, sexual harassment, forced sterilization, torture, abuse, death, gore, and war violence. While those dark themes do take place and are a huge motivation to Toven and Briony throughout the novel, their story and relationship of being on opposite sides really is front and center. The novel did run long for my taste and I felt really found its pacing much more in the last third of the novel. However, that cliffhanger ending?! I did not see that coming (and from my understanding, is a complete departure from her original fanfiction)! I am being picky in saying I also didn’t love all the naming, from new locations, various magic things, and people’s actual names - they were too complicated, too many named characters, and just difficult to keep track of. I fear I will have to reread this novel before the second comes out or I will forget who all the characters are! I did listen to the audiobook for this novel and I actually wish I hadn’t. I have no idea what accent the narrator was using (I know it’s fantasy and made up!) but I didn’t like it. It also really didn’t make me like Briony (narration in her presumed voice) because it was too formal and also snobbish and whiny at the same time. Overall, this is a dark fantasy read, where most dark moments happen to side characters, but is a war-time fiction. Read with caution, but also enjoyable for a fantasy debut. 3.75⭐️, 1.5🌶, ⚠️

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook.

Rose in Chains is about Briony Rosewood a princess of Evermore and twin to the prophesied Rory. Except, Rory doesn't win, Bomard does and Briony is taken captive to be a magical battery to her school bully and nemesis Toven Hearst. I listened to the audio book and narrator did a great job.

Briony has been told by her father all her life that only Rory matters and it's her duty to ensure that he outshines all. So in school uses her magic to cheat for him to make him look good. I will say I didn't like her father or her brother. And it annoyed me that she made him look good in school, to just set him up for failure in the "final" battle.

Early on we get whole chapters about Briony's life at school. The Evermore kids had to go to school with the Bomard kids, and they each learn to use their respective magics Mind Magic for Evermore and Heart Magic for Bomard. But then some characters can use both and that kind of confused me. At school Briony is teased and picked on by Tovan and his cronies...and she just endures it. Which makes her snarkiness as a captive feel out of place. Toven is the dark brooding type, but we neve see the yearning or pining. I really feel like the book could have been better if we had gotten a few POV chapters from him. It's meant to be a slow burn romance, but there is no spark to light it! Their interactions just felt awkward and boring.

One big event in the book is the auction where women are sold to the Bomard men as heart springs (aka human magical batteries) with the implication of SA. It kind of just happens around Briony and it's dealt any real intentional purpose. It feels like just an excuse to get Briony into Tovan's house and then isn't really mentioned ever again. There is one Bomard woman who ends up for sale without any real explanation as to why. And why would Bomard, a country lead by a woman named Mallow, allow such a thing to occur? The Evermore's aren't much better with their patriarchal society. Maybe more will be explained later in the series. I think if the author provide some additional world building, the story will greatly improve.

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and this audiobook narrated by Ella Lynch was done so well. Her voice was able to really transport me into the world of Briony Rosewood and Toven Hearst. When I finished it in 5 days, I was surprised at how the book had a lingering effect on my thoughts.

Note: Please take the time to listen/read the content warnings. This book is not meant for children and is marketed as New Adult.

As a reader of the original fanfiction that Julie Soto posted on Ao3, I made sure to separate the two works in my mind. Although there are similar story beats, the world she built is pretty well thought out. With the use of a non-linear timeline, it does help build out a map of the world if you are just listening to the book. While I wish I could physically see the map, the descriptions of the places and how the seasons were still gave enough context clues of how far north one might be.

Continuing on to the characters, Briony's flaws and motivations were really easy to pick out. Toven, on the other hand, is kind of a grey area. I would not really classify this as a full enemies-to-lovers, but it still has some semblance of that. All of the surrounding characters give extra life to the story and help flesh out the overall threat to Briony's world. I do wish she was given just a bit more interaction with certain characters to really drive home the importance they may have in any future plots.

The reasons for the context warning are pretty evident just a few chapters in. While not as intense as some other books readers may be experienced with, it is still a rough subject matter. Is it necessary to the story? Yes. It actually is a major plot point and is not really something that can be skipped.

Finally, when the epilogue happened, I was surprised and look forward to all future books set in this universe!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this book.

To address the most obvious, yes, Rose in Chains was originally a Dramione fan fiction. To those who didn’t read The Auction (like myself) this absolutely does hold on its own (as it should). You don’t need any previous knowledge of the fic or the original source material to understand and enjoy this book.

Fair warning to readers, this book is DARK! Please check trigger warnings before reading.

If there’s one thing Julie Soto knows how to do it’s writing tension. I swear, the tension between the two main characters is unmatched. I also thought she did a terrific job with world-building. We clearly aren’t given everything since we are only in Briony’s head, so I’m excited to see the world expand in the next installment! Having listened to the audio, I thought the narrator did a good job. There were a few of the voices that I wasn’t particularly a fan of, but it was supposed to be that way because the characters were slime balls. So kudos to the narrator for effectively making me hate them.

If I could change any one thing it would be the pacing. There were a few times that I thought the plot was repetitive or a scene didn’t add anything to the story. However, I still had a great time.

Overall, this was a great dark romance/fantasy and I’m excited to see where the rest of the series goes!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review!!

Whoa…what an ending! I went into this book blindly and didn’t hear about original idea of the fanfic until halfway through. I could see that underlying story, but also the vibes of A Handmaid’s tale and ACOMAF.

This magic system and world still felt unique despite so similarities to other romantasy books out there. The twists and turns, the harshness of their world and the layers of secrets all kept my attention from the beginning. With the market flooded with romantasy books right now, this one stands out among the crowd. And, while this was a little darker than what I typically read, I’ll be patiently waiting for the rest of the books in this trilogy!

A note on the audiobook: the narrator is excellent! Ella Lynch was great at differentiating characters, but it was really hard sometimes to know when you were transitioning from a flashback to current time.

Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio and Julie Soto for the ALC. All thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️♾️

I had the absolute privilege of getting an ARC of the Rose in Chains audiobook from Hachette Audio, and I am NOT okay (in the best possible way.) 😭 This story absolutely wrecked me all over again!

If you’re a long time Dramione lover like myself, you might think you know what’s coming… but trust me, you’re not ready whatsoever! Julie Soto has taken one of my all-time favorite fics and completely reimagined it into something intensely dark, emotional and DEEPLY romantic.

Please, please, please read the content warnings. This story and the themes it tackles are NOT for the faint of heart. I’d describe it more as a dark romantasy that happens to be a slow-burn, rather than your typical romantasy. But if you're still in after the long list of trigger warnings, or if you were obsessed with The Auction, then buckle up—you’re about to fall in love all over again. 🙂‍↕️

Briony and Toven circle each other in the most spectacular way, and the slow burn between them is positively SIZZLIN’ ! The romance is subtle, perfectly paced, and full of nuance. Toven is everything I’ve ever wanted in an MMC and MORE ! Oddly enough though, Toven’s parents—Orion and Serena Hearst ended up being two of my fave characters after the main duo!

Rose in Chains has all the addicting, can’t-stop-reading, sleep-ruining magic of the best fanfics, but it’s also a fully realized novel with a stunning original world and characters who truly hit you smack dab in the heart.

And I have to shout out Ella Lynch, who narrates the entire beast of a book all by herself and absolutely BLOWS IT OUT OF THE WATER!!! I was briefly disappointed it wasn’t a duet or dual narration, but honestly? I have zero notes. Her portrayal of Briony and Toven is absolutely PHENOMENAL. I can’t imagine anyone else capturing the horror, grief, and the quiet moments of hope woven through this story the way she did.

It’s a rare and amazing feeling to go into a book with incredibly high expectations… and still be completely blown away. BRAVO, Julie Soto!! I’ll just be lying here in my reasonably-sized puddle of tears, waiting (not so patiently) for the next installment!

-1st book of a trilogy
-releasing July 8th
-dark romantasy
-Enemies to lovers
-Slow burn
-Force proximity

-listened to this with in 24hours.
-ARC review audiobook review (ALC)
-I loved everything about this audiobook
As a fan of The Auction. I’ve been waiting to read this for a very long time and it was not a disappointment at all. The yearning and tension between Briony and Toven had me wanting more and more of them. Banter on point! Now the ending had me wanting the 2nd and 3rd book asap.

-audio narration is so good! She did an excellent job for portraying Briony’s voice and how she was feeling emotionally and physically.

Favorite quote: "I'm not sure how many more times I need to say it. That heartspring is mine. Her mouth is mine, her magic is mine, her skin is mine. You will not touch her, under any circumstances. I purchased her. I do what I please with her."

I received ARC audio (ALC) of this from NetGalley and publisher Hachette Audio. So thank you! My own opinions of course

Loved this! Thank you for the audio arc. Let’s start with the narrator. She brought a comfort and familiarity to this story that allowed you to reminisce on the origin of the creation while not distracting from the new story itself. Her voices for characters, emotional inflection, and timing were truly flawless. The story itself…the twists! The turns! Thrilling from start to finish.

2025 is the year for Dramione-inspired novels and Rose in Chains by @juliesotowrites was my first, and I have to say I loved it! I'll start off by saying I generally stay away from dark romance because there's often times a lot of reference to rape and sexual assault whether on or off page and it just isn't my thing. With that said, the first few chapters of this book did make me uncomfortable. I had conflicting feelings because I was very intrigued by the relationship between the two main characters, but the references to the mostly off page SA was still disturbing. I would say this is a "lighter" dark romance, but rape, SA and sexual slavery is a recurring topic throughout the book, so just FYI if it's a trigger for anyone.

Moving on. There's some world building to explain the two warring lands and the differences in the magic they each use. I wouldn't say either the world building or magical system is really detailed, but you get enough for your imagination to fill in the rest. The slow burn between Briony and Toven was what got me. I was very invested in their growing relationship and I thought @narrator.ella did a fantastic job narrating all the various characters. I particularly loved her as Toven because it's sometimes hard to connect with a character when they're voiced by a narrator of the opposite sex, but I was loving the audio! Ella did a great job making me hate the bad guys even more with her interpretation of them.

I finished this book within a day, which is saying something! Even with audio, I still have to take a lot of breaks, but I binged this one even though it had difficult themes. This one is definitely a top contender for my favorite Dramione-inspired book!

I need to preface this review with the fact that I have not read the “Dramione” fan fiction that this originated from. It would also be very remiss of me, should you be interested in reading this book, to not strongly advise you to look up the trigger warnings prior to reading. They are not mentioned lightly, but truly prevalent throughout the book and a main part of the plot. Now that all of that has been said, my thoughts are in the comments because there is not enough room here.

Rose in Chains was a highly anticipated title for me due to all the buzz around its release. I was excited to receive an ARC and excited to read it. Unfortunately it did not come anywhere near close to meeting my expectations. If you go into this read knowing what to expect, you should be prepared (as I was) for a very dark book with very dark themes. It delivers in that aspect. What I was not prepared for was the complete lack of character development and world building. The reader is thrown into this deeply upsetting world full of deeply upsetting people, with no backstory and no understanding of how we all got to this bleak timeline. With no foundation to stand on, I found it impossible to care about any of the characters, or become invested in the romance. The lack of support bleeds into the entire book, and because of the intense themes involved, I think that its absence was exacerbated.

The romance is scarce and heavily overshadowed by abuse. By the time we finally get to a spicy scene, it was uncomfortable, unbelievable, and frustrating. The pacing is medium, which worked well with the plot. The plot itself kept me interested, but near the end, I felt like it unraveled into a cheesy mess.

I can’t imagine the original fan fiction had these issues, as the world building and character development in fanfiction is already there for you. I’m curious about how fans of the fanfiction will react to this book, and I can’t wait to read more reviews.

Thank you to Forever Publishing for this ARC! Opinions are my own.

***ALC REVIEW**

This was an absolutely delightful experience!

Let's get straight to the things I LOVED.

- This story. I don't know what it says about me, but I love the dynamic of an Auction in dark romances. Especially when the purchaser is doing it for noble reasons... even if those reasons are a secret.

-The flashbacks. They were placed in a way that made sense and moved the story forward even though it was going back in time.

-The Pacing. I was never bored. I feel like every scene and exchange had a purpose and I was perpetually in a state of wanting to know what happens next!

-The relationship between Briony and Tovin. There's so much secret yearning and desire on both sides. It's a SLOW SLOW BURN that is still burning at the end of the book. I can tell we are in it for the long haul with this one.

-Briony- She's so smart and brave and loyal.

-Tovin- He's a dark and broody boy, but I can tell he's so soft and gooey inside. Even without getting his POV, I can see his love for Briony. I have a feeling he's trying to keep his feelings locked up tight for the safety of Briony and his family. I'm sure more of that will play out in the next book.

Now for the audiobook aspect specifically. It was really well done. The narrators voice was pleasant. She emoted the proper mood for each scene really well. She also used a unique voice for the characters and even use a lower register voice for Tovin which was fantastic. It wasn't distracting at all which it sometimes can be in other audiobooks. The sound quality was fantastic. It was a very enjoyable experience to listen to this story.

As far as world building goes it's hard to objectively say how well this book stands on its own. I went into this book knowing that it was a rework of an HP fanfic, but I had never read it. However knowing it was based on the HP world, made it hard to separate the original world to the new one in this book. In the beginning I spent time trying to connect the dots on which character the new character was based on. It also made it difficult to be able to judge if the world being built in Rose in Chains was solid or if my brain had already constructed the HP world in my mind when reading it so it felt like there was a bit of a head start on the world building front.

Overall, it was a five star experience and I would recommend it especially ff you love a dark romantic fantasy with power dynamics, an MMC who is absolutely morally grey (Does super bad things, but also is secretly Nobel-ish), and an ending that will have you wanting more!

Thank you to Hachette Audio, NetGalley, and Julie Soto for the chance to listen to this book early!

What a ride!! This is a bit of a mixed review so bear with me…but know I did really enjoy it overall.

I have never read The Auction prior to reading this. However it’s surprising to me that it’s a Dramoine fanfic because aside from the descriptions and the use of a magic system I wouldn’t have known that or guessed that? This book was predictably obvious to me and I was never surprised by anything that happened but it was still an enjoyable read!

I do wish that the magic system was more descriptive and the setting as well. I never knew things like portaling was an option until they were doing it. I did like the idea of the girls banding together and wish we got more of that and the idea of the boys club with that concept. The audio was really well done and I’m very excited to see where the next book goes!!

I'm conflicted about this one. To start with, if you don't know this is a rewrite of a Dramione fic (The Auction). I never read the Auction, but you can still sometimes see the scaffolding of the stories and characters that this used to lean on. please check all trigger warnings before reading this - there are a lot of horrible things that happen to women in this world.
So yes, this originally was based on a story based on characters by JKR. Just want to make it clear that I do not support her in any way, and intend, to the best of my abilities, to treat this as a work separate from its source material.

To start, I love Julie Soto's writing, and this book solidly confirms my opinion on that - I just love how she builds relationships and layers tension so perfectly so that when romance eventually happens (at the 97% mark!!!!! talk about a freaking slow burn), it feels earned. Her characters feel real and solid in their world. I really just enjoyed the relationship between Briony and Toven - their shared history, the tension and slow burn between them, their whip-quick banter and interactions. (Toven had me yelling and shaking my fists at him for how slowwwwwww he's making things go)

However, the world building is a bit rough. Don't think too much about it, and it won't bother you (I got over it quickly). If you're a stickler for strong world building, maybe stay away from this one. But there are dragons, and I have a feeling that they're going to be a larger part of future stories. So there is that. I'm also intruiged by the greater things going on in the rest of the world that we haven't gotten much of a peek at yet.

That being said, this is a rough book. I like fantasy for how much it can remove me from what's going on in the real world. This is not a great book for that. the men in power are horrendous and abusive to women. there are talks of racial purity and racially motivated hatred and violence. lots of talk of sterilization and the value of virginity (among many many other things). it is a captive/captor/slave romance.

But it is, still, a romance. As someone who believes that we can still continue to have good things while the world burns around us, I am a huge fan of the romance against a bleak, horrendous backdrop.

I listened to the audio, and I would say that the narration is fine. not the most spectacular thing I've ever heard, and there were a lot of moments that I wished I had a physical copy in front of me. The narrator did a solid job.

I devoured this audiobook! I thought the world building was wonderfully complex and interesting. The characters were multidimensional and didn’t fall flat. I enjoyed the plot with its secrets & twists and the ending was just enough of a tease to keep me hooked for the next book!!

The audiobook narration was wonderful as well! I felt the narrator did a good job adding inflection and the pacing was perfect! 😊