Let me start by saying, Julie Soto is an autobuy author for me. I simply adore her writing, especially how she writes romance. I was soooo excited to hear she was delving into romantasy, and this has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year. The moment I got an alc, I started it immediately.

I'm very happy to say this did not disappoint! As usual, the writing is fantastic. I LOVED that the book opens straight into the action. It was exciting and thrilling, and I immediately gravitated toward our heroine, Briony. I found her so brilliant and resilient, outspoken and tenacious. The narrator did a fantastic job voicing her in the audiobook.

I found myself really immersed in this world and its lore, and I think Soto did a fantastic job jumping from the present to flashbacks. I definitely saw the comparisons to the HP universe, as I know this was originally HP fanfiction, but I ultimately think Soto made this her own. I really liked reading about heart versus mind magic, in particular.

This universe is dark, especially to women. What I loved about this was Soto's emphasis on women helping other women. The bonds that form with women that have never met before, the solidarity (whether silent or audaciously bold) that constantly occurs sent such a powerful and beautiful message. I also loved how nuanced some characters were, such as Serena and Larissa - I'm obsessed with them, and can't wait to see more with them.

This is a slow burn romance. Emphasis on the slow. But oh, is it delicious. I loved Toven. I found him compelling, mysterious, witty, and sexy. I loooooved his banter and dynamic with Briony - it's the highlight of the book and I need more of them now!

While I was engaged the entire time, I will say it is a little slow in the middle, as not much occurs plot-wise. However, I think this book lays the foundation for bigger and better things to come. I think it sets the tone and scene wonderfully, and with that cliffhanger (which I totally called!), we're sure to be in for an epic continuation. Also, it was hard to keep track of characters, as some names were similar and there are quite a few that we encounter, but this is not a new issue in fantasy novels.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed this. I was totally immersed and interested, and now I'm reaaallyyy looking forward to the next book!

Thank you endlessly to Hachette Audio and Forever Publishing for the advanced listener copy!

After taking a few days to digest and think about the story and get some questions answered from people who have read The Auction, I feel more prepared to give a review.

Things I liked about Rose in Chains - the magic system and use of familiars. I thought these were really well done and a good departure from the fanfic. -The friendship between the women. It gets exhausting reading about women who are constantly in competition with each other or trying to sabotage one another. Soto ditches this tired rhetoric and creates women who truly love and support each other through their trauma.

Things I didn't care for - Briony seems insanely naive for a 25 year old woman. I understand she was protected as the princess but this seems way overdone. -The ending. Mainly that it ends on a pretty big cliffhanger. That's my own issue though and I know plenty of people love cliffhanger endings. Finally, I won't call them plot holes but there are some unanswered questions or things that weren't clarified. These are unrelated to the ending or the next book.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and will excitedly wait for the next one to come out.

This was a fun read that brought me back to my fanfic reading days (the Draco + Hermione ship was a fav).

The first 1/3 of the book was a bit harder to get through (I'm hoping it was just a bit tricky to establish all the world building and establish it away from the AO3); but once we got to the latter 1/3 it picked back up.

While I don't think I read the original fanfic (The Auction), I love how Julie Soto reworked the wizarding/magical roots into this new world. This is definitely on the darker end of the romantasy genre (there are trigger warnings listed).

I'm hoping that this is just like most book 1's in fantasy and the reason it's slow is to establish the world and characters so that the next book can take off running. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

🎧 Audio was good, there were some parts where you could really hear the breathing of the narrator, but for the most part it was enjoyable

I ABSOLUTELY adored this book!!
I couldn’t get enough. I binged it in 2 days (as I work 12 hour shifts) it’s a more darker romantasy and it was exactly the breath of fresh air I needed.
Dramione will forever be my top fave reads! Julie has this vivid way of putting you inside the universe so seamlessly as if she wrote you into the book!
5 ⭐️ read!

I loved the narrator and thought she did a great job at portraying the characters. She was easy to listen to and had a good cadence. I really loved the book! The storyline was amazing and the cast of characters were great. I’m excited to see where the second book takes us!

My God…this was my first Julie Soto book and now I’m going to have to go on a binge! This was beautifully written. I was truly awed by the masterful way she can tell a story. I love a good mix of politics and romance in a romantasy. And I love a good dark romantasy, and this one was GREAT!

First of all, I’m so grateful for having the opportunity to read this work in advance. Julie Soto is one of my favorite authors and her fantastic style is just what I love, also her fanfics are truly amazing, so this adaptation is nothing but exactly that: TRULY AMAZING.

I had the chance to read an early copy of Rose in Chains and I also listened to the audiobook, and what a ride it was.

This story felt like coming back to something familiar and beloved —it carries the soul of The Auction, Julie Soto’s fan fiction that many of us fell in love with— but Rose in Chains is definitely its own story. I was surprised and deeply moved by the changes, the new layers, and the emotional depth of the characters. It truly felt like reading the story again for the very first time, in the best possible way. One of my favorite things is that the story had more than one details of not just “The Auction” but all the works from that fan fic series (The Rights and Wrongs) and felt like a revisit of a place that I loved before. But, then again, the changes in the story were in another level, in all the good ways.

As I said, I listened to the audiobook, and although I would’ve absolutely loved for it to have dual narration to better reflect both characters’ perspectives, I have to say that the emotion in the single narration was spot on. The performance managed to capture all the intensity, vulnerability, and tension between the protagonist so beautifully that I was completely hooked. The only bad thing of all this was that it ends to quickly and I have to wait so much for the next two books 😭

This book is emotional, intense, and so beautifully written. Julie Soto knows how to create chemistry and longing like few authors can. It broke my heart and healed it at the same time.

🥀 Tropes:
Forced proximity
Enemies to lovers
Dark romance
Secret pining


🌹 1000000 stars for the audio. 1000000 stars for the book. I LOVED this ALC! I’m a huge Dramione, the auction, and Julie Soto fan so I knew I was going to like the story. I didn’t expect to LOVEEE the narration as much as I did

🌹 The narrators voice is beautiful. I quite literally teared up when I heard her voice. I CRIED. Her intonation is perfect. She changes her voice for different characters perfectly. Her male voice is not cringey. She doesn’t talk with excess spit in her mouth (which bugs me in other audiobooks- so this was HUGE for me). I can feel the emotion through her voice. I can tell that she put her SOUL into this audiobook. I listened on 1.25% for a portion of it and it still felt perfect.

🌹 This is hands down one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. And not just because of the books content, but also because of the narrator. Love her. As far as the story goes, it was everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I do want this review to be more about the audiobook because that’s what I was gifted, but just know it will be one of the best Romantasy books you will EVER read.

🌹 Thank you NetGalley and hatchette audio for the ALC. I will be forever grateful for letting me listen to this book early (it truly was a unicorn book for me), but also for putting it into audio so perfectly.

I'm so torn on how to feel about this book.

First off, I read this in like 48 hours and then I took 24 hours before finally figuring out my feelings. I some how devoured it while questioning a lot of it at the same time. I enjoyed the overall story and I do like the cliffhanger at the end. However, if you were a big fan of The Auction, you might not actually be giving this the five-stars you were hoping for. I think that's why I feel so unsure about it still. Plus, this is supposed to be dark and the fan-fiction felt darker... It has heavy topics still, so be mindful of your content warnings.

Some things were changed a bit to fit into a new world and not fanfiction, but I think the world building could have been a bit better. I'm still kind of questioning why people don't like mind magic wielders to begin with. There were a ton of characters thrown in at the start that you either had to stop and go back to listen about because it was so much at once, or you just moved on. Plus, there was a lot of focus on her having this strong bond with her brother - yet, it felt like it was all one sided.

The romance is a slow burn, like barely in the room. It feels more like heavy tension right now. This is a series so I expect that part. When it got a bit spicy it seemed to pull back quickly.

I also really liked the ending. It's why I'll be continuing but not rushing to read it as soon as it releases. I like dragons and I'm curious to see how that ending plays into the series. THAT felt like it was one of the first things that actually changes from the fanfiction story.

Thank you to Forever and Hachette Audio for the Netgalley ALC.

Also, a HUGE shoutout to Ella Lynch. Her narration of the audio was seriously a 10/10.

Wow---Stunned what an addictive world and fantastic novel! I love Julie Sotto as a romance author and was excited to dive into her first Romantasy novel! Was captivated from the very first chapter! I appreciated the easy world building, morally grey characters and twists and turns. The tension and yearning in this book was top tier and pays off! Never before have I read any dramione but I am addicted, I couldn't put the audio book down and made excuses to listen at every moment. While the subject matter was dark, I think the world leans more Fantasy than dark romance. loved it so much!

The audio narration & production was amazing quality, the narrator did a great job with all the different characters and the production was incredible on audio! Really amazing job!

Thank you Hatchette audio for the arc of this audiobook! comes out July 8th

4.25 stars!!

I think Ella Lynch was the perfect narrator for this book! Just when I was starting to fear that I was getting burnt out on romantacy novels, this came along and saved me. I need the second book immediately. Briony doesn’t understand how strong she is because she’s been taught her whole life to not outshine her twin brother. She’ll put herself in harm’s way to protect the ones she cares about. Toven is a very layered MMC and I can’t wait for more of his backstory to be revealed in the coming books. I really enjoy the growing friendship between Briony and Toven’s mother and how she protects Briony as her own.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this ALC!

First of all thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio copy of this book. I am so very honored!

How to review this book… I will preface by saying that I am not usually a fantasy girlie and DEFINITELY not a dark romance girlie. I am a huge HP fan and I also read Manacled and adored it so I can’t help but compare this.

I do feel like this book kind of copied Manacled and then released before Alchemised came out in attempts to try to get more clout/sales/casual readers attention and that puts a sour taste in my mouth.

All of that being said the book did keep me interested the whole time and I always wanted to know how it was going to end. I was definitely always rooting for the main character So there are a couple of points in my eyes going toward this book. The magic and world were easy enough to follow (although I know that this is in part due to being based on HP). The narrator was also phenomenal. I think a poor narrator would’ve made me hate this book so I am thankful for such a great one.

I really really really did not like the enslavement parts of the book being wrapped up in the sexual parts of the book, but I know that is a common theme in these dark romance books and that is is just not my jam. I really don’t really know if we need that in today’s society. It never felt like the over-sexualization of the slave women was really very necessary for the plot. That’s one thing that I appreciate where manacled did not lean in to. I think there were parts that were supposed to be sexy but were just gross and made me angry instead. I never shipped the main characters or wanted them together and I think that’s a huge misstep for the book considered its a romance.

I also feel like Briony (Hermione’s) character that I know and love so much was so very diluted. I wanted her to do more to save herself but every time she just kept getting saved by Toven and it just made it not very interesting. I just wanted a little more from her. I know this is a trilogy so I’m sure we will get that in the future books.

All in all I know this is not the genre for me. I enjoyed everything but the smut parts and the slavery parts because they were just too tied together that it was really cringey and uncomfortable to read. I think maybe these kinks should stay in the porn world.. but I did enjoy the magic and the world building and that part of the story a lot! I think the author should’ve stuck more to those parts.

I read the e-ARC and was so fortunate to receive an ALC as well!
I fell in love with this story with text, but Ella Lynch’s narration took this story to a whole new level. She has the perfect voice for Briony, and she does a really good job at creating distinguishable voices for the large cast of characters. Her emotion was strong and I felt so immersed in the story.
I also still am obsessed with the world that Julie Soto has created and I’m so excited for the world to get Rose in Chains!

This is definitely one of my favorites reads of this year. Right away I was intrigued and the world building/magic system was easy to understand. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator Ella Lynch did a really great job. I got immersed into the book quickly because of her and I enjoyed it. My only issue was the way she narrated the male characters it wasn't my favorite but it was something I could overlook. I did have a lot of anxiety because of the darker themes in this book so definitely check out the trigger warnings. I'm a sucker for a slow burn and yearning!!!!! The tension between Briony and Toven was intense. Julie Soto you ate and left no crumbs!! Thank you to Hachette Audio for the opportunity to listen to this arc!

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and Hachette Audio for the free advanced audiobook. Before I jump into the book review, I would like to recognize the amazing narration by Ella Lynch. She did an amazing job as Briony (and the other characters). This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint (I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook first). I would strongly recommend reviewing the trigger/content warnings prior to starting this one. Briony has been taken prisoner after her brother, the prophesied hero, falls to the Bromard forces. After being stripped of her magic she is auctioned off to the highest bidder - Toven Hearst, Briony’s former schoolmate who she has always been attracted and drawn to. I loved the slow, slow, slow burn - the pining and yearning was done very well with the flashbacks showing how Briony and Toven’s relationship develops throughout their school years. While captured, Briony longs to gain back her freedom, her magic and find any remaining allies and family that may still be imprisoned or in hiding. I cannot wait to read the next book in the trilogy. 5/5 stars, I highly recommend this one.

THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS??? I need the sequel immediately pls. 🙈
I read The Auction and the twist at the end of this totally threw me off.
I can't wait until the next one comes out now!
The narrator was very good in this.

Thank you Forever and Hachette Audio for the advance copy of the audiobook.

Story: 5 ⭐️
Steam: 3🔥 smut is very low but content is high (see trigger warnings!)
Audio: 5 🎧


This book was really good. I had a little bit of a hard time getting into it at the beginning because the time jumps, but once I settled in, I was hooked from then forward.

This is the slowest slow burn that ever did burn slowly, but I anticipate that it’s going to be absolutely fantastic once it gets to fruition . I’m not sure I’m going to survive waiting for the next book.

The audiobook performance was great and I honestly hope that one day we get this book from Toven‘s perspective because I can imagine what he’s thinking, but I would love to actually read it.

If Julie Soto writes it, I’m absolutely going to read/listen to it! I have loved all of her romance books and I could not wait for this venture into romantasy. I’m always captivated by worlds with magic and when characters have different magical strengths and weaknesses. I ADORE the Dramione trope that this book is derived from. That being said, you don’t have to know anything about it to love this book. It is definitely dark and you’ll want to check your trigger warnings. Briony and others endure some pretty horrific things. Despite that, Briony continues to show her strength and hope for the future. I truly don’t think I could do the same if I were in that situation. Toven keeps you guessing and makes you blush while also making you want to punch him in the junk. Julie Soto does a such a wonderful job describing the thoughts and feelings of the characters, that you can’t help but feel like you’re experiencing everything alongside them. One of the most delicious things about this book is the tension between Briony and Toven. I’m so glad this is going to be a trilogy because I need more of them, and even then, it might not be enough! The cliffhanger at the end, though!! That’s one way to keep us invested. Ella Lynch was PERFECTION for this role. I cannot express enough how much her voice brought even more enjoyment to the story. I’m so glad I got to listen to this audio!

This is my fourth Julie Soto book and unfortunately I am just not a fan of her romance writing. Rose in Chains had a lot of dark themes (check trigger warnings!) that made me deeply uncomfortable and made it hard to read. Which is crazy because this is also supposed to be a romance?? I also did not connect with the FMC or MMC. I don’t think I’ve really liked any MMCs in Julie Soto’s books. I did not enjoy the world building or magic system, most of it felt hopeless, and i did not care about their relationship at all.

I guess I can’t get behind a romance with a slave/master background even if the MMC isn’t technically abusing her. Just having that be the main plot made me feel icky the entire time. Reading this as an audiobook helped me get through it, but if it were a physical book I would have definitely DNFed. I will not be continuing the series.

This is definitely one of the easiest five-star ratings I’ve given this year. I can’t wait for everyone to dive into the fantasy world Julie has created because it is PER. FECT.

First, she did an amazing job recreating this world in her own way while still giving a nod to the original fanfic readers. She’s such a gem for doing that, and I love her even more now.

Second, the story is fantastic, and she made it even better with this traditional publication. The characters, storyline, world-building, and progression of the plot are all gold. I adore Brioney and Toven so much, and I can’t believe I have to wait so long for book two *sobs as I open another Dramione fanfic to soothe my soul*

This audiobook was also great overall I enjoyed it and felt that the narrator did a great job with all the characters!