Oh my gosh I loved this book- I couldn’t put it down. It is a DARK fantasy with romance weaved throughout. I liked how it was written with the timelines going backwards and to the present. It kept me intrigued and somewhat confused (but in a good way). The writing flowed so well that I couldn’t put it down. The characters were complex and I loved how they evolved towards the end of this book. The magic system is also unique with heart magic and mind magic. I loved how we were introduced to various characters using these magic systems and could compare how the main FMC and MMC were stronger at using them. While some themes reminded me of other fantasy books, I felt like this story was unique and kept me wanting more. While some themes were quite dark, I felt like the author did a good job of intertwining them to the story overall. I am so excited for this trilogy and look forward to the next book releasing.

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.

My goodness, I didn’t think I was going to love audiobook as much as the epub but the audiobook for Rose In Chains is absolutely fantastic! It made me love the book even more!

I wrote my review on Rose In Chains a few months back, so I want to dedicate this review specifically to the audiobook. Firstly, the narrator was extraordinary. There are a lot of characters in this book and they managed to create a distinct voice and impression for each and every one of them in such a compelling manner. I need to listen to more of their audiobooks!

The production was fantastic, and I think elevated the book much more. Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
Tropes:
* Magic and world building
* Enemies to lovers (?)
* Political rivals
* Forbidden romance

Thank you to NetGalley, Julie Soto, and Hachette Audio for the eALC! I’ve been anticipating this book for months now, so I was quick to start listening to this!

I LOVE the narrator of this book! Her accent, her emotive and strong voice throughout and how she describes things, I couldn’t stop listening! Her voice kept things suspenseful and especially in the more horrifying and sad moments, I could feel the terror and sadness even more. Her pacing is melodic and perfect to narrate this book.

I enjoyed the world building, the magic hierarchies and families. It was a lot to set up, so I did feel like there was much more exposition than most romantasy books I’ve read previously. I really liked the flashback scenes that sets up what is happening in the present in the next chapter. It’s a great organization choice to keep me interested in the plot. The middle is very long but I understand it provides a lot of exposition and setup for her connection with Toven and all the risks they are facing with his family.

It took 32 CHAPTERS to really get to any actual tension and spice between them…and even much longer til they only KISS! This is a SLOWWWW BURN. It actually bothered me with how much wasn’t really happening for the second half of the book. I understand this is part of a planned trilogy, but I wanted to see more happen both in plot and romantically between them sooner. He was so cold it made me question his intentions, when he obviously has cared for her as hinted in the past and the (far end) of the present. I also wondered why she even seemed to want him so badly, considering he bought and owned her, and never gives her any insight into his truthful intentions and feelings for her.

This book is much more focused on the overarching plot of what is happening between all of the rivals, and what is at stake for her and Toven. I just didn’t feel they had a connection until BAM, a very quick and fierce complete 180 from the majority of the book. And it’s just as quickly halted and I groaned out loud. His denial towards her is so aggravating, especially as that is how the book ends. It wasn’t a cliffhanger like I expected and was a letdown. I was confused by the epilogue, so I truly hope the last two books of this series propels the explanation of the twists and romance between Briony and Toven!

2.5/5
Rose In Chains is going to be a HUGE romantasy hit—but I didn’t love it.

Like DMATMOOBIL and soon Manacled, this is the latest of Dramione fanfics getting reforged for traditional publishing. I never read this book’s source material—the Auction—but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my fair share of Dramione fanfics. Rose In Chains has all the trappings of a romantasy that will appeal to that audience; a fantasy setting with a slow burn enemies to lovers romance and an underlying plot binding all the fluffy angst together.

If Sarah J Maas is your thing, you will probably love this. The thing I struggled with the most was the sheer volume of characters that are thrown at us, not to mention a world that I don’t think is constructed very well. I could see the fanfiction actually being much stronger with the Harry Potter world. Tthe fantasy setting here felt like a cardboard cutout of a world meant to stand in for the Wizarding World—and unfortunately many of the characters did too.

The main character Briony feels far too passive and meek to live up to the Hermione Granger I love—almost like the author had to tone her down to avoid being too similar. And while I think Tovin is a very Malfoy-esque character, I think he’d have been stronger if he were a little more morally gray.

In my frustrations with the plot, world and characters I found myself pining for some great romance beats or smut—but this first book was very stingy with those moments. The romance felt incomplete and thin, and short of an imaginary BJ scene, this doesn’t really have much in the way of spice.

Again—I think this is going to be a huge hit, and I think many of you will probably adore this, and I genuinley love that for you. It just didn’t work for me.

as one of my most anticipated reads of this year, this book did not disappoint. Julie Soto had done it once again! I loved the vibes and the entire time I was on the edge of my seat eager to read more. I don’t think you would have been able to have pulled this title from my cold dead hands

Rose in Chains completely blew me away. This was my first time reading a book by Julie Soto, and now I finally understand the hype. The writing is addictive, the tension is off the charts, and the emotional depth had me hooked from the start.

The characters were flawed, raw, and so captivating- especially the dynamic between the leads. It’s dark, angsty, and full of that push-and-pull tension I live for in a romance. I couldn’t listen to this fast enough.

If you’re into dark romance with high stakes and messy, complicated love, this is a must-read. Julie Soto just earned a permanent spot on my TBR list.

4.5 stars, really enjoyed it but a few elements brought it down but not enough to go to a 4.

This is a slow burn dark romantasy story which will be the first of a series. It has multiple dark themes throughout the book so check the content warnings. This might not be for everyone.

This book starts off with action from the very first page but moves to almost constant suspense throughout the book. The story also has multiple flashbacks, splitting the timeline as the story goes on. There are many characters in this book. The main character is identifying a lot of political players involved throughout the book so a lot of names and characters are introduced. Some characters are her friends and others she meets along the way, many of them making lasting impressions. Which makes it harder as she struggles to learn their fates the further along in the book you get. There were times I was frustrated with how slow the characters and the story were. I have a feeling it will speed up in the next book with how much is built up in this story.

I really enjoyed the narrator of this audio book. She was engaging and entertaining to listen to. Her voices for some of the characters were creative and were identifiable as the story continued. The writing and narration of the story is clear to follow. The only flaw in the narration was that I could tell when the audio was edited or re-recorded in a few sections. Her tone and audio quality shifted between sentences throwing off the flow. I noticed this a few times in the first half but only once in the later chapters.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced listener copy for review.

One of my most anticipated summer releases!!! At first I was bummed it was single narration, but with it being single POV this works for book one. As we learn more do I hope to have more POV in later books? Yes, but I digress. Narration was done very well, with clear differences for each character. This is dramione coded and where I have not read the fanfic that inspired this (the auction), I still felt the vibes as well as some Manacled vibes. Now this is dark fantasy with some heavier elements, but between the MCs it was all very PG(mayyybe 13). Rose in Chains is certainly building towards some big actions and as a first book in the series it was done well with progressive backstory and world building. It was fairly slow in terms of action and a lot of info is hidden from us just as it is hidden from Briony who is our POV.

Wow! I have to say I was a little scared to read this book. :) While I understand the backstory of how the book came to be - I was super nervous based on the trigger warnings, etc. I'm often not a dark romance kind of reader but so many people have been excited about this upcoming release. Ok, so, now having read it - it is a complete 5STAR READ! Julie Soto does an amazing job with very difficult subjects. The background of the characters and the "what's not being said" undertones of the characters actions increase the yearning and suspense - ALL THROUGHOUT THE BOOK. It is not overtly spicy (which I appreciate) but while the story is admittedly uncomfortable - I was completely entranced by it. I can not wait for the rest of the series.
Regarding the production - the audio was superb. The narrator did an excellent job with each of the characters and the sound quality was excellent.
I plan on purchasing the physical copy of the book and will definitely recommend to others.

Wow. Did I finish this book or did this book finish me? I am absolutely blown away by Julie Soto yet again.

A big shoutout to Netgalley and the Hachette Audio team for providing me with an advanced listening copy of this book.

In Rose in Chains, Briony's world is thrown into chaos after years of war have left her father and brother dead. Her and her fellow captees are auctioned off to the highest bidder to use for their bodies and magic. Briony must do what she can to break her chains and find help in the most unlikely of places.

This is exactly how I like my dark romance. Sad, angsty, and full of tension. I would highly suggest a look at this book's triggers before diving in.

Something as to be said for the vibe this book exudes. I was not personally part of the group who read this when it started its roots in fanficition, by as an avid fanfiction reader, it manages to hold the essence of its origin that many books loose when going through the publication process. You may read this as "it reads like fanfiction", but it manages to meet the bar needed for me to rate this as highly as I did. It remains recognizable to my heart.

For the audiobook format, I have to say it added so much to experience of the book. The Hachette team brought Briony to life and pulled every emotion out of me in the process.

The narrator did a fabulous job with this one. Having read Julie Soto's romance books, I had high hopes for this romantasy! She did not disappoint! I am so ready for the next book in this series! The slow burn between the main characters truly is SLOW.. but in the best way possible. The politics and world building are interesting and I think this is the perfect romantasy to pick up in the summer!

WOW. I didn’t realize when I started this that it was based on the fanfic “The Auction”. I kept thinking it had Dramione and The Handmaid’s Tale vibes and now it makes sense. I listened to an ALC and the narrator sounded like an adult Hermione and it was perfection. It is forbidden romance, SLOOOOOW burn, rivals to enemies to lovers, unique magic systems and oh, there is a dragon.

Such a beautifully done dark fantasy romance that was emotionally charged but not so heavy that I felt I need to keep taking breaks, which sometimes happens when I read books that are darker than I expect. I highly recommend this book and definitely recommend the audiobook format, as it is superbly done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC!

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the Advanced Listeners Copy of this book!

This story was much darker than I originally anticipated however I enjoyed it. I found myself needing some breaks from some parts but I was compelled to come back because the story is so good.

The narration worked well for the book.

I cannot wait for the rest of this series!

Wow! It’s hard to gather all my thoughts about this book.

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed Julie Soto’s writing style. Her words are very engaging and it was really special to again see her words in a new genre.

I think the worst part about reading this book is that I do not have the rest of the series in my hands to continue reading them!!!! I think there is a lot of unique characteristics of this fantasy normal and the slow burn is killing me. I am desperate to see what happens next and there were several twists that I did not see coming.

I will absolutely be reading the rest of the series. It was a bit darker than I anticipated, but I’m grateful for the content warnings to help prepare for some of the information.

4 stars

I'm trash for this book lmao. I'm mad that so many things are unresolved, but I'm glad there's a continutation.

The beginning of Rose in Chains had me in its enemies to lovers clutches. Julie Soto is really able to capture the appeal of the ship between Briony and Toven, especially the mismatched socks and tree scene. I will say, my enthusiasm fizzled out a bit the further in because we didn't have as many cute ship moments in the present timeline compared to the school day flash backs (understandably because we're in the darkest timeline at the moment).

I mostly enjoyed Rose in Chains, but I felt the urge to shake Toven because he needed to just spit it out. Briony was a too dense for my liking... girl put two and two together because Toven is smitten with you. Serena was my favorite character. Sometimes you need a protective mama bear to get you through it all. I can't say I'm surprised by the reveal at the end because it was pretty obvious from the hints throughout. I haven't read the Auction, so Idk how this will play out, but I really want Briony to be the heir twice over LOL. I need both our leads to do more things in the next book. I'm also looking forward to learning what the Hearst family's deal is.

Audiobook performance: Played at 1.75x speed. I listened through this within a day, so needless to say I was engaged with the narration from start to finish. Even when the story was dragging a bit, I still wanted to know what would happen next. The narrator makes the character's voices distinct. The back and forth between the voices for Briony and Toven works well.

Thanks to the publisher for providing the audiobook for review!

I did not read "The Auction", but I am familiar with Dramione fanfic. I was hooked from the very beginning. I enjoyed the story between Briory and Toven, but be aware that this is a slow burn. The flashbacks from their time at school helped put their love story together. If you were looking for worldbuilding, this would be what I would say this story was lacking. You were with a cliffhanger, so I am excited to see where this story goes in book 2. Shoutout to Julie Soto, Hachette Audio, Forever/Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for a alc in exchange for a review.

Omg I need the next book already - this was such an engaging story and I was totally hooked until the end. The narration was great, I felt like the voice fit the character well and gave Briony depth. My only issue was that there were a lot of characters and it was difficult to keep track of who was who, especially in audio format. I appreciated the content warning being included in the audiobook too, as it's not always read as part of the track.

I was granted the audio arc for this book and I am so grateful. This book was amazing! It honestly got me out of my major reading slump. I love Julie Soto’s contemporary work and her dive into fantasy is *chefs kiss*. I already cannot wait until the next one! The narrator was amazing and gave the narration just the right amount of emotion.

I loved “Rose in Chains” so much. Now admittedly, I am the target audience for this book - I am mildly (majorly?) Dramione obsessed and the list of WIPs I am subscribed to on AO3 is almost as long as my TBR. I have also read and enjoyed Julie Soto in the past. So yes, I loved this book. (And am still slightly bitter I missed my Fairyloot Romantasy subscription invite simply because of missing this book.)

This book definitely borders on/is dark. There are numerous mentions of rape, murder, forced sterilization, and slavery, so know your triggers. I will say that nothing super graphic happens on page, at least in this first book of what is expected to be a trilogy. There is little spice, though I would expect that to change in the future books. There is, however, loooooots of tension and a delicious verrrrry slow burn. FMC Briony moves from a naive, under utilized (at least in any good way) sister to the heir to a much less naive woman who knows she has talents to share and is determined to keep some control of her own existence. I definitely wanted her to put so many things together about MMC Toven and his feelings and actions, but I, as the reader, benefit from a more detached perspective than someone dropped in the middle of a war and its aftermath.

I read this via the audiobook format and the narration was top notch. It worked well as an audiobook and I definitely found excuses to do things that would allow me to listen.

5 stars. I cannot wait for the next book. Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

i have to give it to the narrator, ella lynch did an amazing job narrating this story; she made it as engaging as it possibly could be, with distinct character voices AND most of all, with a clear and easy to understand voice.

i think the story itself needed several more rounds of editing to remove the… former editions's *coughs* *coughs* characteristics such as the repetition. my god, the repetition drove me up the wall, sometimes i wondered if i'd already read this section somewhere else. the main characters didn't interest me, toven was as boring as they come and brioney (?) could have passed for a ya novel heroine. the rest didn't stand out enough for me to say anything about them.