This was SO good! The narrator was amazing. She did all of the characters voices in a way that they each sounded different and also fitted them each so well.

Book 2 is about to be my most anticipated read and I need it like I need air to breathe😩 How am I supposed to wait with that cliffhanger!?

This magic system was fun to learn, the world building wasn’t hard to follow along with. The main characters were incredible. Toven was so mysterious, romantic, and I just so it is going to get better and better with each book! Mallow better watch out for our girl Briony, because I know she is gonna come out swinging in the next book!

This book is full of unique magic from the mind and heart. With secrets around every corner that had me on the edge of my seat, waiting to know what would happen next. While this story ended up being darker than I originally expected, the story swept me up with its emotional intensity, unique magic system, and gripping dual timelines.

Briony, our resilient main character, endures unimaginable pain. From losing her kingdom, being sold for her magic, and constantly navigating power she is still learning to control, she never loses her strength. I admired her resilience deeply. Tove, her mysterious captor-turned-love interest, is equally complex. I was constantly trying to unravel his secrets or decipher his endgame with Briony. The magic academy flashbacks, woven seamlessly with the tense present-day enemies-to-lovers timeline, brought added depth, chemistry, and heartbreak to their dynamic.

The stakes are high, the romance is deliciously slow-burn, and the cliffhanger ending left me desperate for book two.

Tropes:
-captor/captive
-enemies to lovers
-magic system
-slavery
-DRAGONS
-Dramione fanfic inspired
-forced proximity
-slow burn
-warring countries

Rose in Chains is a must-read for fans of unique magic systems, the slowest burn of romances, and heroines who never back down. Perfect for fans of Firebird, Throne of Glass, and Heartless Hunter.

4.5 stars

Yep, I loved this book! I went in mostly blind aside from the general premise, but after seeing all the glowing early reviews and hype about the book, I had high expectations—and Julie Soto did not disappoint. Her writing is eloquent and evocative, with a strong third-person POV that lets Briony truly shine through without ever feeling detached.

Briony is a fantastic FMC: brave, smart, and always choosing action and agency, even when she’s not the “chosen one.” In a fantastical world filled with magic, her character still felt grounded and relatable. Sure, she’s a little naive about some things *cough sex cough*, but when it comes to what really matters (i.e. the war, her people, the other women), she absolutely shows up. And maybe this is just me being, ahem, a mature woman, but I actually appreciated that she (and I) didn’t just fall at Toven’s feet. He’s not some flawless dream man—he’s deeply flawed, emotionally armored, and clearly dealing with his own mess—but we love a complicated man doing complicated things for the sake of his family.

The tension between them? So good. Painfully slow burn, possibly too slow for my personal taste, but still completely satisfying by the time it hits. Every charged look and guarded line just ratcheted things up more.

Notes on audio production: the audiobook narrator was absolutely fabulous. Her accent was perfection, immersive but never distracting. She didn’t try too hard to perform the male voices, which I really appreciated, and all the female characters were distinct without sounding cartoonish. The performance enhanced everything: Briony’s emotions, the quiet tension, the world-building. It was a great listen!

The only thing holding me back from a full 5 stars is the ending- but no spoilers here!

Thank you Hachette Audio for the early listen!

This is my first Julie Soto book and I was SO excited to be approved! With all new fantasy series, I assume there's a little learning curve to the new world and magic scene. I felt like the curve for this book was a little steep, and I even had to look up if I accidentally requested a second book in the series without having read the first.

Once I just decided to roll with the plot despite feeling a little thrown in without much background, it got a lot better! I feel like I still have so many questions and few answers, so that gives me something to look forward to in the next book.

I liked the narrator a lot! The voice acting was great and it was easy to keep track of characters based on their voice alone!

I'm so grateful to have had the chance to listen to Rose in Chains! Thank you for the opportunity for an early read.

Endless amounts of stars!!!

Julie Soto is one of my favorite authors and this magical romantasy book is worth all the hype it’s getting !!!

The story has lots of time jumps but I promise you, you won’t get lost. The tension/ banter between the fmc and mmc was electric!! Ugh I can’t wait to continue this series to find out what happens next. The magic, romance, action, and just EVERYTHING about this book was amazing.
NetGalley gifted me the ALC of the book and the narrator did an amazing job. Her voice transitions between different characters was very smoothly and entertaining. She truly brought out the emotions of the characters and enjoyed it very much.

If you love romantasy I HIGHLY recommend adding this book/audiobook to your tbr!!

Wow!!!! This book was amazing. The narration... so good! It was a perfect romantasy, not too much romance and the perfect amount of fantasy. I have yet to read the fanfic that this was derived from, but truthfully I have read all of Julie's other trad books never once thinking I was missing out on some background knowledge, and the same can be said for this. The audio narration was great but I think I reference the linage and familial lines quite often because it did get a little confusing. But, as per usual, vibes were vibing. 5 stars. Can't wait to reread it already.

Thank you to Julie Soto, Hachette Audio | Forever, and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy.

✨𝒜𝐿𝒞 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌✨
🎧: Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, Book 1)
🎙️: Ella Lynch

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.💫

Princess Briony Rosewood, mourns her kingdom’s defeat and the loss of her magic and freedom. Sold off to a cruel fate, she discovers her prior antagonistic classmate and future heir to a nefarious family has won her in an auction.

Teetering between despair and hope, she endeavors to survive and play her part. But prospects of help and secret alliances blossom into possibilities.

Tropes:
🚫Enemies to lovers
🕰️Dual timeline
🩶Morally grey MCs
🏰Courtly intrigue
📜Prophecies & magic
💫Familiars & magical bonds
🔥Fem rage

Ella Lynch delivers a knockout audiobook performance, embodying each character skillfully and bringing this epic tale to life. I loved the nuance and subtlety used in Briony and Toven’s interactions that hint to deeper intentions, repressed feelings, and forbidden desires.

The pacing of the story is fast and unrelenting, delivering devastating twists and heartache within the dual timeline narrative. My emotions cycled between rage, shock, and heart fluttering swoon. I will be anxiously awaiting the next installment!

Dark and captivating, Rose in Chains unleashes a new Romantasy brimming with thrilling magic, high-stakes, and tantalizing tension.

Beyond grateful to the author, Hachette Audio, and NetGalley for the audio listening copy. This is my honest and voluntary review.

4.5/5

Briony Rosewood, princess of Evermore, is captured and sold after a devastating war with Bomard. Along with her people, they are auctioned off for their magic and bodies. Briony is sold to Toven Hearst, a former school rival and heir to one of Bomardi’s most elite and secretive families. Briony must navigate a dark world of politics, desire, and survival if she hopes to reach the resistance and get free.

Rose in Chains was so good that I didn’t want it to end. I will preface that I have read the fanfic that this was inspired by and I liked this better. I found the world building and magic system so interesting that I really wanted more and I can’t wait for this world to expand in the other books.

As far as the romance goes, this is a Dark Romantasy so I recommend checking the trigger warnings. That being said, I love a good slow burn and this delivered. So much tension and yearning!

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great. Ella Lynch’s performance made the story come to life. Her voices for each character were distinct and her pacing was good. She nailed the emotions and tone of the book.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This is Soto’s first foray into romantasy and she quite frankly, crushed it!

The Eversuns, who possess mind magic, and the Bomardsuns, who possess heart magic, have always had a complicated alliance until the Bomardsuns kill the Rosewood king and throw the two regions into war.

Briony Rosewood is an Eversun princess, whose twin brother Rory was recently named king after the death of their father and previous king of her kingdom, has been killed and her kingdom overthrown.

Briony and the remaining Eversuns are captured and auctioned off to wealthy and noble Bomardsun families to live a life of servitude and be used to boost the magic of their captors among many other heinous things.

Briony ends up in the home of Toven Hearst, who is a man Briony went to school with and who she has a history of stark interest in. Briony discovers that while her new circumstances most certainly make her a prisoner, her hand has not been dealt as steeply as many of her fellow Eversuns. Briony must discover what made Toven pay such a steep cost at the auction to acquire Briony and what her true new purpose is all while trying to contact the resistance and develop her relationship with Toven.

This was a great start to what is anticipated to be a trilogy and contained an interesting magic system and world building and the audiobook was a delight. I am excited to see where the story goes and to watch the progression of Briony and Toven’s relationship!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

6 MF STARS
Book of the Year. No competition.

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto is everything. The only book that even comes close is Manacled, and honestly? This stands firmly on its own as a masterful reinvention of that Dramione energy.

Enemies to lovers. Secret lovers. Tension so thick it hurts.
The slow burn? Excruciatingly good.
The emotion? Gut-wrenching.
The writing? Flawless.

There’s a mother’s love in this that absolutely broke me. And the structure—alternating between present day and flashbacks—adds such a deep, emotional layer to the story. You feel every choice, every consequence.

The dark themes are handled with such grace and care. It’s heavy at times, but never gratuitous. Just right.

And that ending?? I’m already emotionally unwell just thinking about what book two will bring. It’s not even out yet and I need it yesterday.

Huge thank you to Hachette and NetGalley for the ALC. This book has me in a chokehold.

First off, I want to thank Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. Getting to review my most anticipated read of the year before it’s published is such an honor.

This review contains SPOILERS.

This book was a masterpiece. As a lover of the fanfic I was NERVOUS. I knew undertaking a whole new set of world building would be a challenge, but in Julie Soto we trust. Not only did I find the world building well thought out and impactful, I found the character changes smart and compelling. Making our FMC a royal with a less-than-genius twin was cheeky. I particularly liked the change to two nations at war with legitimate stakes and people at risk. Everything felt less genocidal and more realistic. Even the change to making the “good guys” be a nation with a monarchy versus the “bad guys” be more of a democracy was such a fun way to subvert the original text and how “pure bloods” were viewed. I particularly enjoyed our main villain being changed to a woman. It adds a layer of complexity to the auction itself.

It’s clear to me that every change was carefully thought through and dissected before moving forward. I think the real power in Soto’s world building though is the creation of two separate magic systems. THIS is what the fanfic was missing. The justification for the auction itself felt very hand-wavy in the fic, but in Rose in Chains, Soto has created two systems of magic where one can draw upon the magic of another. It creates purpose to why these people are slaves and raises the stakes. I’m also looking forward to exploring more with the familiars in the future books since that is a completely new element in RiC.

But let’s talk about our MMC shall we. Toven Toven Toven!!! Julie Soto understandings YEARNING y’all. In fact Toven yearns so hard that I worry Briony is a moron. The flashbacks are perfect and really builds up the fact that these two people are crushing HARD on each other and have been for sometime. Toven is way more explicit in his compliments than Draco ever was. I hate where we leave things at the end, but I’m patient. I can wait. If this follows the arc of the fic, then book two is gonna be SPICY.

Now to things I didn’t like. Very few honestly. I’d say the big two are her father and the big Rory reveal at the end. It made me so sad how discarded she was to her father. I mean I literally gasped when they were fleeing the school and she was just left behind. I don’t understand this writing decision, but I also don’t buy that Briony is some simpering woman willing to do whatever her father says, even if that means selling her off as a bride. I’m sure there’s intention here, I just didn’t enjoy it. Lastly…Rory. I fear I need him dead in my head. This is a MASSIVE pivot from the fic. Obviously it’s left in a very cliffhanger manner, so I don’t think I’ll be satisfied until book two, but mentally I’m struggle that the boy who lived…lives.

I am so sorry but I did not like the narrator for this story. Now to preface this I don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks that are not dual narrated. Also this is the first time I have heard the narrator Ella Lynch. It’s just…. I was bored. The plot of this book is a Evermore Princess, named Briony, is capture in the siege of her castle. Briony is stripped of her magic and sold to the highest bidder. She is sold to Toven Hearst of a rival family, known for their cruelty. Toven was also a boy from her past. And Briony must decides if she can trust Toven as she fight to escape and secure her freedom….. that sounds AWESOME. Like so amazing however with this narrator I was bored. All the male characters she voiced sounded like Licus Malfoy from Harry Potter. And yes I know this is based off the Hermione/Draco fanfic “the Auction”. However every male character doesn’t need to sound like a text book evil English wizard stereotype. The first time Briony mentions Toven, no matter what their relationship is at the time, it should have sounded like she was doing more than talking about the weather. No passion in it whatever so ever. That’s a huge moment in a romance book. This is one of the characters I’m going to support this whole story and his first mention gave NOTHING. It took me some time to even figure out he was the MMC because of how passive it was. And what really kills me is I LOVE Julie Soto. Im a huge Reylo fan and have read all her work. Im no stranger to fanfic or fanfic becoming books. I think her writing is incredible. When the actually book drops I’m going to read it myself because with the plot of this book being that good I need to see if reading it myself does it justice.

A phenomenal read. Everything I crave in a fantasy romance. This is true romantasy at its finest.

I hadn’t read Julie Soto’s previous work but after devouring Rose in Chains in a single day, I know I’ll be reading everything she writes. This book pulled me in completely with its raw emotion, sharp tension, and beautifully layered characters. The romance was breathtaking in that aching, addictive way that makes you forget the world around you.

When it ended, I wasn’t ready to let go. I needed more. Still do.

Thank you to the book gods that approved my NetGalley request to listen to this one early! Thank you to the publisher and author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing. I loved the story, I love the magic system and I loved the love story. It had just the right amount of all everything! This book has got to be the next big one because it was just that freakin good!!

It’s definitely got its darker scenes and moments, so definitely check the trigger warnings!

Book review: One person shouldn't be able to be this talented. The world building was well done, the beginning didn't lag like some fantasy books do. The story had me hooked right away. I have a lot of questions and can't wait for the next installment. I will be buying a physical copy to reread obsessively until then.

Audio review: Ella Lynch was a fantastic narrator. She seemingly created the world with ease and it was really immersive.

I both enjoyed this book and feel conflicted about it. The characters were interesting, the magic system was unique, and I enjoyed the writing. However, the main plot of Briony and other women from her kingdom being auctioned off as property after it's overrun just gave me the ICK so hard, and I never really got over it. In my opinion, there wasn't enough world-building or reasoning given (however twisted) to try to explain why the auction exists and what its purpose was. I also just had such a hard time imagining these people who used to be schoolmates and work on class projects together now just treating Briony and the Eversuns so inhumanely. Because of this, it felt like it existed simply as a shock factor and made so many parts of the story overly sexual and creepy.

Toven was a confusing love interest, and I still haven't decided if I fully like him yet. Don't get me wrong, I like a morally grey man, but most of his actions and words felt too obvious. There were so many times when he was clearly longing after her and chose to say something horrible and pointed at Briony's weakest points. This routine started to feel a little repetitive by the end of the book, and I wish we had gotten to see their feelings and actions toward each other evolve a little more by the end. I definitely liked his softer moments, but he always managed to find a way to ruin it.

I have to admit that despite my feelings about the concept of the auction in this book, it did hold my attention, and I was curious to find out where things were going. I feel like the auction sort of stole the show in this first book in the series, and I really hope that in the next book, we start to see some more questions answered about the divide between kingdoms, the auction, and which side many of the characters actually stand on.

I really enjoyed being immersed in this world and the audiobook was a delight. As a Harry Potter fan it was very easy to see the parallels. However. I have never read the auction so this was a new story to me. I thought the narrator did an amazing job of making me feel like I was living in the book. My only negative is that the story felt incomplete. I know this is book 1 and my thoughts may change with book 2 but it felt like as soon as everything started going it ended. Definitely left me wanting more which is what you want from the start of a trilogy. I think Dramione fans as well as those that have never read HP will fall in love with Soto’s new world

I started eyeball reading this book and when I got accepted for the audio I switched to listening and I sadly could not do it!! I already had all the voices in my head so could not continue. But I’ve heard great things about the narration!!

Let’s start with that ending! That was a surprise epilogue I was NOT expecting, and it has solidified the fact that I will read book 2 when comes out in the future.

If I’m being honest I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn’t known that its origin was as a Dramione fanfiction. I am absolutely against any support of JKR so the fact this was advertised using her characters, had me coming in questioning if I should even read it. I kept drawing comparisons to how this would have read as a fanfic, and I feel like that took me out of the story a fair bit.

Overall I definitely think it’s a solid book, the plot is interesting, despite a few holes, and the slow burn is slowwwwwww. I did enjoy seeing where that burn started. I’m interested to see where the story ends, especially with the way it ended.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC of Rose in Chains. I really enjoyed the quality of the narration, and I loved Ella Lynch’s voices. The audiobook kept my attention easily as well. I do think personally it was a little slow, but nothing a cheeky 1.25x speed couldn’t fix.

4/5 stars 🌟 🌟 🌟🌟
1/5 Spice 🌶

Firstly, thank you, Hachette Audio, Forever & NetGalley for the advance reader audiobook. This was my first book by Julie Soto & most certainly not my last.
Secondly, please read the trigger warnings before starting this book. They 100% necessary on this one.

Let's start with what I liked about this book. The magic system, while nothing earth shattering, was enjoyable and well developed. Our main character, Briony, was easy to relate to & be inside her head. While she needs practice & training in her magic, she has a lot of potential for growth. The mmc, Toven, was everything I wanted from a mmc: broody, morally grey, mysterious, possessive of his girl. While the spice in this book was low, there was a lot of angst & build-up for what will hopefully be coming in book 2. I love a good slow burn. The ending was a good amount of cliffhanger to make me want to continue the series, but not in a frustrating way. Ella Lynch did an excellent job with the narration. Her voice was easy to listen to & not at all distracting.

On to what I feel could've been better. Pacing is a bit uneven. The book starts you in the middle of an action scene, where our fmc loses her position as royalty, is imprisoned by the enemy & awaiting her own auction. However, the middle takes a long time to explain the magic system, building the world, and introducing too many characters to keep up with, without enough action in between. By the last 20%, the plot really takes off again. This story is told in the present, but shifts nearly every other chapter to the past (4 years back). I found it a bit hard to follow with the time shifts giving me whiplash.

Will I be reading book 2 when it comes out? Absolutely! I feel this book was a good setup for what's to come in book 2.


Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity
Touch her & die
Slooooooow burn
Mysterious mmc
Powerful fmc