I HAVE NOT KNOWN PEACE SINCE READING THIS BOOK.

The tension?? The yearning?? The slow burn so agonizing it could fuel a candle for a year?!? I AM UNWELL. Briony & Toven’s dynamic is everything—enemies to everything in between to lovers, done flawlessly. Their chemistry?? INFURIATINGLY PERFECT. The back-and-forth, the longing, the painful pining??? I ate it up.

And let’s talk about the world-building!! The past & present timelines were so well-balanced, the magic system felt fresh & immersive, and the STORY?? I was HOOKED from page one. The pacing was insane—this book is long, but I flew through it like my life depended on it.

AND THAT ENDING??? 🤯💀 I need book two immediately.

If you love romantasy with high stakes, angst, slow burn, and characters that will RUIN you emotionally, Rose in Chains is a must-read. But fair warning: you will spiral, and you will be screaming for the next book.

Also?? The audiobook slaps. The narrator nailed the tone of the story—totally captured the vibe. I do wish they’d gone with a duet narration though. I mean... they had to have the budget, right?? It always throws me a bit when female narrators do male voices (or vice versa tbh), but that’s just a me thing.

Now excuse me while I lie on the floor and wallow until July 8th when my preorder arrives. 😭🔥

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!! omg😭 one of my most highly anticipated reads of 2025

edited: i received an alc O M G!!!!!!

3.5 stars — and it pains me to say this, but alas i will explain why.

let me preface that i absolutely TORE through this book, could not put it down nor stop thinking about it, and was so beyond happy to return to a familiar world to experience the new content presented. however, it is not without its imperfections.

so if you’ve read julie soto’s dramione fanfic, you know how wonderfully she can add to an existing world by expanding on characters and fleshing out their complexities and emotions, creating phenomenal plot reveals and motivations, and slow-burn romance that is to die for. there are only a handful of fanfic authors that i continuously reread their works due to how brilliantly they’ve written, and julie soto is one of them.

my excitement for her traditionally published work lay in the hope that she write the same way in a world of her own imaginings, and she has proved to me she can do that, especially in her ya debut the thrashers, which i absolutely recommend.

however, perhaps i’m being too harsh and picky in saying that rose in chains was still too heavily reliant on her fanfic the auction? but i felt rose in chains was lacking in the world-building i was hoping to see by julie soto, especially after two (three, by the time this book is published) fully traditionally published novels. i really wish readers had a deeper insight into the political/magical tensions between bombard and eversun, and that there were perhaps more scenes between the characters when they were younger to emphasize how prejudices are taught/learned. i fear that the fanfic to traditionally published books will forgo the fact that readers were so drawn to fanfic BECAUSE they were already familiar with the worlds and characters within the fanfic they are reading. i cannot emphasize enough the importance of world-building, strong character development/motivation, and more importantly information presented outside of flashbacks every other chapter…

the prophecy of briony’s twin brother rory was vague (of course, because all prophecies are), but their relationship as twins was extremely lackluster. again, without proper world-building and character development, this felt extremely two-dimensional.

if readers are going into rose in chains without having read the auction, i think there will be immense shock value given all the traumatic content, but will still be able to enjoy this series as a “new” romantasy rather than one inspired by a hugely popular fanfic. for those fanfic fans returning, it might be harder to separate the original fandom characters from the new characters, but i think they too will still have an enjoyable time.

finally, just a personal irk: the names briony and toven! ugh, girl i just could not help but roll my eyes at the names for our two mcs. every other characters’ names? fine. but out of all the fantasy names why briony and toven…?

all of this to say: i am incredibly proud to support julie soto and will certainly continue the series in hopes that the next two books contain more “original”, never been published to ao3 content than this first book. this is just the beginning and i’m excited to be along for the ride!!

“The boy who hesitated when his Father told him to leave her there.”

<img src= https://i.makeagif.com/media/6-07-2021/rOgZ96.gif>

This was dark, but not as dark as Manacled.
(I haven’t read The Auction, but I can only imagine)
I probably should’ve so I could compare the two, but I still enjoyed this, I love a slowww burn 🔥

As for a captive, girl- It could be way worse for you ☠️ I just don’t think she realizes that sometimes. And for Toven… I might’ve not been able to get into him as much ‘cause the narrator, he just sounded so pompous, but in like a Barbie movie way lmfao. Which is totally not Ella’s fault, but I wish they had did a duet for this though, like I’m sure they had budget.
(Also, the names are so weird to me lmfao. Briony & Toven 😩 I can’t. They sound like horses)

Story wise it was fun, I was always at the edge of my seat like girl 👁️👄👁️ Play the role… Just blend in, like I was fr shaking in my boots, but at the same time- Let me try that elixir real quick…

*Inserts Joker meme here*

The ending was… Whewww 🥵 Gave just enough to want the second book, but for the reveal… It was tea, but I wasn’t as gagged as I would’ve wanted to be. I think it was more like, ok. We got that confirmed 🙂‍↕️
Overall, I always eat up some Julie Soto. The Thrashers was my ish & this is a close runner up!!

This book! Wow. I never wanted to stop reading “Rose in Chains.” It is dark and addicting, and the slow burn romance kept me so locked in to this story. Please check the content warnings on this one. It is a dark story and the content is difficult to read at times. This story starts with the enemy kingdom winning. It’s a hard but beautiful tale to see those in captive begin to rise from the ashes. The world building was so well done. Julie Soto is a powerful writer. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequel.

For those who love:
💟 Forced Proximity
💟 Enemies to Lovers?
💟 Mutual Pining
💟 Dramoine
💟 Slow Burn
💟 High Stakes Fantasy

The audiobook format is a great option as well. The narrator fits well with the story.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.