Lydia Gregovic

I need romantasy authors to STOP making me choose between the broody love interest and the morally complicated one because I suffer enough in real life.

This sequel had me STRESSED.

We follow Lovett after winning the Vainglory and becoming engaged to Noé… except before she’s allowed to marry him, she’s forced to solve a murder or risk being sent to the cloisters.

And honestly? The concept of silkwitches basically being discarded if they’re unmarried by 21 is terrifying and I REALLY show more wanted even more political intrigue surrounding that system.

Because the romance was EXCELLENT.
The tension was delicious.
The love triangle... unfortunately… I was eating it up.

This gave very subtle Pride & Prejudice energy in the romance dynamics and the writing itself was honestly gorgeous. Super lyrical, immersive, and easy to sink into.

But I won’t lie… for a book this long, I wanted MORE plot outside of the romance. The beginning hinted at deeper corruption and politics and I kept waiting for it to fully unfold.

That being said… the character work was so much stronger here. Anais especially surprised me because she started off unlikeable and somehow became one of the most interesting characters for me.
Also Clio was definitely giving that Top-tier “love to hate” energy.

If you love:
✨ yearning
✨ complicated love triangles
✨ lush writing
✨ romantic tension
✨ magical courts and secrets
✨ emotionally messy characters

…this sequel is still worth the read.

Thank you to Random House Children's Books/ Delacorte Press for the gifted eARC through Netgalley. All thoughts are mine.

Confession: morally complicated love triangles own me every single time. show less

In the land of Balmoore live silkwitches. Their hair is magical. Silkwitches have until the age of 21 to be wed to Weavers, a line of sorcerer men, who will use their hair to weave Magesilk. Should the silkwitches not find a Weaver husband before their 21st birthdays, they are sent to the Cloisters, to spin magesilk. But then they are never seen of again.

Lovett Tamerlane is a silkwitch. Born into a life that deemed her unacceptable, she escaped to the city where she now uses her Wit, opening show more doors, to steal from wealthier families. Until she meets a handsome stranger, Eliot Lear. Eliot proposes that she be entered into the Vainglory, a competition to find a silkwitch wife for the most eligible bachelor, the son of the Weaver King.

Lear’s motives are simple. His sister Ophelia died during the Vainglory the previous year, and he wants to know who is responsible. If Lovett can solve the mystery of Ophelia’s death, Lear will find Lovett a suitable Weaver to marry. But if she fails, so many things can happen that might find Lovett in the Cloisters, or worse.

This novel was enchanting. Lovett is a fierce woman who thinks she always has the upper hand. Until she meets Eliot. Their companionship will bring both to their knees, but in the end, Lovett truly has one goal, win the Vainglory and become the bride of Noé Alaire. While Eliot does wish to know his sister’s murderer, he will find working with Lovett maddening. They are two extraordinarily stubborn people.

So many characters with dominant personalities. Men who have had pretty much everything handed to them on silver platters. Silkwitches who have grown up on the right side of the tracks and know that the Cloisters will likely never be their fates. I loved this novel. I loved the intrigue of the Vainglory. Not so much the actual competition, but how the challenges were handled. I loved how fearless Lovett could be, even at the risk of her own life.

What I didn’t love? Knowing I will have to wait for the next book to know how this one is going to play out.

If you love fantasy with a lot of intrigue, this novel should be something you’d enjoy. It has all the elements. Mystery, catty women, beautiful aloof men, romance, crime. Very long, but worth every page. show less