One of the best dark fantasy books I ever read!! The audio was perfect!!! I can’t wait for book 2!!!

(4.5/5 stars)

Julie Soto delivers a slow-burning contemporary romance with Rose in Chains, showing us her ability to write wounded, complex characters and the kind of tension that crackles off the page.

Plot & Vibe:
Rose in Chains blends elements of romance and psychological drama, centering on a reclusive, emotionally closed-off hero and a resilient heroine who’s determined to peel back his many layers.

Characters:
Rose is fierce, compassionate, and patient, a heroine who doesn’t back down from hard truths or emotional messes. Damien is a true Soto hero: brooding, deeply scarred, and hiding something beneath a hardened shell. Their chemistry is magnetic but slow to unfold, and it hurts in all the best ways.

I loved the book and I think the audio version just brought it more to life for me. Highly reccomend!

An interesting story that didn't quite deliver as hoped. This book was a bit all over the place.

Having been originally written as a fanfic for Harry Potter, this book suffered from an inordinate amount of characters. Which can be okay if you're familiar with the IP because then you know the background already of who the author is talking about so you have context. This is a brand new world with characters I don't know, so I struggled to keep up.

The conflicted yearning was done super well! I do like that it's a slow burn, but can't help but feel Briony is kind of willfully ignorant. Like girl....you seriously aren't picking up he's into you at all???

The worldbuilding was extremely clunky. The magic system is interesting and I am excited to learn more about that. But I definitely think it needs to be fleshed out more.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I loved this book! It kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The world building and magic system were incredible, and the character development was so well done—I was fully invested.

Some of the themes are heavy (definitely check the content warning at the beginning), but the story is absolutely worth it. I need the next book immediately!

I was really excited for this as I LOVE Julie Sotos Contemporary books- however this just fell a little flat for me. I think I would've enjoyed it more if it was a dual pov, and if it was actually a Romantasy. This felt full fantasy to me so I was waiting for the Romance to happen and it never did. I'm not sure if I care enough about the story or the characters to read book two as the plot wasn't what I was expecting and some of the themes are darker that I enjoy.

Rose in Chains is a dark romantasy with a master/slave trope and a very slow burn romance. I was eager to read this because I've read Julie Soto's previous works and really enjoyed them. However, the current political climate in the US and around the globe made this already dark story even more challenging to get through.

The part I liked most about this world was the magic. I may not have read enough fantasy to have come across it, but the descriptions of the mind magic, heart magic, sacral magic were fascinating and felt unique. I hope this is further explored in the sequels.

This book was long and slow and felt that way even while listening. There were time also jumps that were sometimes difficult to follow. I think the narrator did a great job providing distinguishing differences in her voice and personality for the various characters.

This was really interesting to me - all of the politics and world building made me both so interested and frustrated because I just want to know all of it and everything going on. I will say this gets pretty dark and points, but it all felt necessary to building the story rather than just adding it needlessly traumatic events for each character.

The ending!! The ending!! I want the next book like literally right now.

The audiobook narration for this is soso well done - Ella Lynch does such an amazing job with this overall and her voice was just literally MADE to be a narrator.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I received this ARC in audio book format so I will first an foremost discuss the narration. Generally speaking I do not love single narrator books and listening to someone do both female and male voices, but this one was not awful. Could it have been better with dual narration sure but the narrator did do a great job of finding the voice and emotions (or lack there of we will get to that later) of the main characters and bringing individual people to life. Honestly I'm suprised they were even able to do so with absolute onslaught of characters we met in this first book. On to the book itself, I went into this with high hopes even not having read any of the fan fiction this book is based off of. Unfortunately I did not leave giving it super high marks. I loved what we did get to know about the magic system and the concept of heart magic vs. mind magic. The main conflict was intiguing but it felt like we never really got a full picture of how we got to where we were. The book goes back and forth between past and present day basically something happens present day and then we go back to get context on why a character acted the way they did. I think because of this I didn't really feel like we got anywhere from the beginning of the end to the story. Slow pacing, dragged out, somehow I still didn't really know the side characters and couldn't keep track of who was who. The "romance" was unfortunately very lacking. Toven Hurst was just an emotionless door knob and Briony for some reason was infatuated with this before and after he "owns" her. Briony is supposed to be super powerful but her actions didn't really portray that and she was like a background character in her own story. l

To begin, I want to give a disclaimer that I read the original fanfiction that this book was based on, which will affect my review.

The TL;DR: What worked best for this book were the times when Soto ~deviated from~ the content of the original work. What worked least was… ::drum roll:: the content from the original work that was most dependent on our prior knowledge of the world/character dynamics from Harry Potter (because, in case you did not yet know, that’s what the original story/fanfiction was based on.

Additional commentary:
The magic system was…fine: heart magic vs mind magic. I mean…it was fine. It does help sort through some of the character dynamics in a more simplified way than the fanfiction would have had you lean heavily into prior HP knowledge.

Someone mentioned that this subgenre of fantasy felt grimdark because of the trigger warnings, but I would disagree. It *does* give off A Handmaid’s Tale vibes.

The narrator was fine too. I didn’t love her rather higher-pitched voice, but that’s a ME preference. She did a fine job.

Another small gripe: I didn't love the cover art. Meh.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio | Forever, Julie Soto (author), Ella Lynch (narrator) for this free, advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Woah! This is not like anything I have read before. I felt like it was a mix between a reimagining of Harry Potter but with a sinister twist on Hand maid’s Tale. Both of which I have seen and absolutely devoured! This is no exception of a master piece. With that being said I am jumping it up to 5 Stars.

I want to say that this book has been a whirlwind! I have laughed, gasped out loud, even shed a tear while reading this. I must admit I was hesitant to pick this up but since @abigailscupoftea was recommending and reading it I had to have a read and thank you to hachett publishing on NetGalley for providing the Audiobook!

This was such a dark twisted fairy’s tale I need more of. Please. I loved it! I Need book 2 immediately!

Julie Soto never seems to disappoint EVER. Im actually thrilled to announce that this was my favorite of hers up to date. I had read others compare this book to fanfic circling around but oh, this was so much better.

I was thoroughly impressed with this book! Julie Soto does slowww burn so well. I thought the political intrigue and magic system was so captivating. Briony is a princess from a conquered land bought by her old classmate and the tension is 🔥.

I need another like immediately. The audiobook narrator was also fantastic!

Thank you NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5⭐️/5

Wow I loved this. I was craving it, couldn't wait for the next chance I had to listen to it. I was obsessed with the romance and the yearning. I need book two ASAP.

HOWEVER, I do think this story benefited from the fact that I am knowledgeable with the HP universe. There world felt lush and dark, but that wasn't from the world building within the book. Despite the efforts to change the story and make it its own, it still felt like a really well done fan fiction.

That being said, I am eagerly awaiting book two!

I love loved the book but it felt so slow after the auction. I am excited to see where this goes in the upcoming books but it wasn’t the best I’ve read.

Yet another banger!

This one wasn't on my radar as I primarily saw it being promoted as a Dramoine kind of fanfic and as a non Harry Potter reader, I just assumed it wouldn't be for me. Boy am I glad I requested this one in spite of that because this one was absolutely fantastic!

The storyline, the narrators, the ending-- all of it, this one was flawless.

I was so invested in Briony and I didn't want this one to end but the way it did- I did not see that coming!! I will be here counting the days til book 2 is released!

She's perfect, everyone should read his book.

I went into this expecting a typical Romantasy with some edge, but what I got was much darker and heavier than I anticipated. This is not a light fantasy romance. It deals with intense themes, including sexual violence, fertility control, and systemic abuse of captured women. If you are sensitive to those topics, I highly recommend checking content warnings before diving in.

That said, the story itself is deeply compelling. The world is brutal, but it serves a purpose. The female main character is strong and watching her dynamic develop overtime with the male main character was one of the strongest parts of the book. Their connection was full of tension that grew into something more. The audiobook narration helped bring that intimacy to the surface and made the emotional moments feel even sharper.

The magic, the dragons, and the political undercurrents added real weight to the plot. And that cliffhanger? Absolutely brutal. I need the next book immediately! Don't let the pretty cover fool you. This is not your average romantasy. It's darker, more raw, and a whole lot bolder.

Thank you to Hachette Audio for an ALC of this! I enjoyed this! I could see the HP comparison, but this did feel incredibly different - the magic system and the premise. The slow burn is SLOW, but I liked the romance.

The narrator does such a great job with all of the characters and has such a pleasing accent. I love feeling like I’m not in the US in a book, and this made me feel enveloped in the story.

Overall, I am loving the direction it seems to be going in! Will definitely read the next one!

Amazing book!
The audio was perfect for the characters, plot worked very well! There was many twist and turns I didn’t see coming. One of the best books for the year!

I give this book 3 ⭐️

I felt the story was quite confusing at the start. I had to pause and go back and forth to understand what was happening since we were going back and forth with the timeline and a lot was happening.

It took a while for me to get into the story but it did get more interesting once Briony and Toven's story got going.

Wish there were more development on Toven's part. I don't understand his side of attraction or what draws him to Briony. With how Toven acts and his personality, I really don't see the chemistry. Maybe we'll get that in book 2. I see the yearning from Briony's side but Toven's was lacking. Was hoping for more with the love story development.

The triggers for this story was a lot to handle and are quite intense. So a warning to everyone.

Overall, the story was okay. This had so much hype before it came out. I had higher hopes for it because I enjoyed Julie's other 2 books I have recently read. I would say I have more of a mix feeling right now. Maybe book 2 will change my mind if I like it or not.
It is lacking the world building, Wish we had more world building so I can picture it while hearing the audio.
And as of characters, I am confused most time who is who and how they are connected. By the end of the story, I figured some of them out but not all. Hate most of them though since most of the men are horrible in this story.

The ending did leave on a cliffhanger that made me go what? That was a surprise.

I would say read or listen to the story and form your own opinion. Like I said, I had mix feelings so I will wait for book 2 to be the deciding factor and hope for a development from both our leads in love and growth.

Thank you Julie Soto & Hachette Audio | Forever
for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book took me on an adventure. I loved the concept of the book and although I do NOT support JKR - this storyline had a great structure and the characters were enjoyable.