Ledge 🧊

4⭐️

First of all, I am really impressed with this book as a debut novel. Our Stace has absolutely delivered here.
It was well written, she is highly eloquent. This isn’t a big deal for everyone but it is for me.
The plot is great! Can’t fault it at all.
We meet a range of characters cast for purpose. I like that they all had their part, no ‘fillers’.
I liked that the pace kept my attention, I found myself wanting to return to the book. It wasn’t so detailed that I felt overwhelmed. This sometimes happens with fantasy where I feel I can only read on with undivided attention. So yay for the lack of info dumping!
It ticks all my favourite romance trope requirements too.
The cliffhanger though!!!!! That ending! Put me out of my misery and announce a release date for book 2 - I beg!
I want to say a heartfelt thank you to Stacy and Angry Robot for allowing me to read an early copy of this book. A dream come true as I love Stacey’s account and live for romantasy reads. All hail!

I very much enjoyed this book and was about to give it 4 stars - but then the last two frigging pages happened and I am screaming - 5 stars for that frigging cliffhanger alone. Dammit, now I don’t know how I’ll wait until Book 2 comes out - we don’t even know a release day yet 🙃

The world building was phenomenal, the characters were kickass. Enemies to lovers that need to hold each other for body heat to stay alive? New favorite trope unlocked!

I didn't really know what to expect when I dove into this. I defintely held my attention, which is hard to do sometimes, and although the beginning was brutual to read about, it definitely fit the themes of the book and wasn't brutual for brutual's sake. Dawsyn was a badass from day one, and I would have hated to be any of the other folks that discounted her. (Men underestimating women and paying the price is one of my favorite past times.). Ryon was a good hero, even if some his plans seemed kinda crack pot and didn't quite trust as easily as he should.

The setting was well developped, the magic system seemed cool, characters were great, but I have do have one big gripe with this book and that is the ending. I know it's supposed to be a cliff hanger because it's going to be a trilogy, but that cliffhanger... I feel unfulfilled because I won't know what happens for quite some time. I'm really happy that Angry Robot picked this book up, and they better follow through with the remainder of the series, because I NEED TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS. Also if we're never reunited with the tavern characters I will riot.

Otherwise I highly recommend if you need a wintery, chilly, lady kickass time.

Excellent dystopian fantasy novel by debut author Stacey McEwan. I loved the characters, the fast paced plot, the unique premise., and the enemies to lovers trope. I couldn't put it down. I literally read it in one setting. Big cliffhanger. It is the first book in a trilogy and I can't wait for the next one. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot Books for an advanced reader copy.

An interesting premise that neither flops nor sails to this reader. I found that the main character and dynamic were trope-ridden, while aspects of the setting would stand out as refreshing. Altogether, I would give something else by this author a go, but it would be hesitant.

I didn’t enjoy this. The main character annoyed me so much that it took away from the story. The premise itself was interesting and fairly unique but it had the same feel as so many other ya fantasy/dystopian stories I’ve read. Others will enjoy this I’m sure, but for me I just couldn’t stand the main character.

Bloody Amazing! With a cliffhanger ending to rival literally all over cliffhanger endings! What I loved most about this book
Forced proximity
Enemies to lovers
Banter for days
The trio - Ezra, Salem and Baltisse
He fell first
Strong, enduring, empowering mc's
Touch my partner and die
Has an impressive wing span kind of vibe
A slow build start but then everything just synchronises perfectly.

Saw this book on tiktok months ago and was so excited to read it! Dawsyn has spent her whole life on the Ledge, and uninhabitable slab of ice housing no more than a few hundred people, all fighting for survival. With the Glacians coming every season and choosing a new sacrifice, Dawsyn must fight for her life in a new world where nothing is as it seems. Teaming with an unlikely ally, Dawsyn is not afraid to do what it takes to survive.

The writing felt juvenile at times, which makes sense for a first time author. I liked the chemistry and relationship between Dawsyn and Ryon, but felt it could have been more developed. The relationship felt as though they went from trying to kill each other to lovers without any of the in between. I really enjoyed McEwan's writing of them and the tension, so I would have loved to see more building between the characters. The story has an interesting premise and certain aspects were done really well. The setting and the background of the Ledge and Dawsyn are very interesting and I loved reading about her character. This included the classic enemies to lovers and forced proximity tropes which were done well. Overall, this was a great book for a first time author and I am looking forward to more from McEwan. Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot publishing for the ARC!

I was so very excited when I was granted this book on NetGalley. Stacey has one of my favorite Bookstagram accounts and I had been hearing a lot about her book. I also had super high expectations knowing this was a fantasy book and the fantasy genre is SUPER hot right now.

In Ledge, Dawsyn and her family have been stuck on a mountain ledge for the past fifty years. Dawsyn's grandmother was one of the first people brought up there and her family has been stranded at the mercy of the Glacians. The Glacians arrive at the start of each season and take human sacrifices across the Chasm. No one knows what happens across the Chasm. During one of the cullings, Dawsyn is violently taken across the Chasm and discovers the Glacians are stealing the souls of those selected on the culling days. Dawsyn is given an option. Sacrifice her soul or try to make it down the mountain before the Glacian's find her. Dawsyn chooses to run and finds an unlikely ally in a half-glacian named Ryon. Ryon hopes to make it down the mountain and get Dawsyn's help to overthrow the Glacian king. Dawsyn reluctantly agrees after she realizes she won't make it down the mountain alone, but she has ulterior motives. Dawsyn hope that if Ryon can overthrow the king, she can also save her people. Both Dawsyn and Ryon know their journey will be difficult, but neither one of them is ready for the other.

I had a lot of anticipation for this book and it definitely served! It wasn't the best fantasy book I've read, but it did have many good aspects to it. I loved the character development and the blooming of Ryon and Dawsyn's relationship. I really liked that Dawsyn held true to her self even after falling for a male character who was obviously so much stronger than her. Her will could have lessened with love, but she was just as stubborn as ever and I definitely admired her for that. In return, Ryon didn't try to quell Dawsyn's spirit - hell, when she tried to kill the queen Ryon was holding back the guards instead of trying to protect her! Their relationship was amazing.

Another great thing - the cliffhanger! Girlllll I better get my hands on this next book soon to figure out what happens!

While I did enjoy the book, I found that at times the suspension of disbelief was too much for me. i.e. the scene in the pool of souls, the unpreparedness of the king's army, the unwillingness of the guards to protect Dawsyn after they found out who she really was. There were points when I though, no way would that happen! But, I am not a huge fantasy reader, so take that with a grain of salt.

Regardless, I did enjoy the book and I am excited for the next in the series!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars from me!

The cold is not alive
Stay the frost
Watch the chasm

Dawsyn lives in a human settlement that is situated between a sheer mountain face and an icy chasm. She is an axe wielding badass, who will do anything to survive. The humans know nothing of the world beyond their ledge, except the evil winged Glacians who live on the other side of the chasm.

Ryon is a half-glacian, who works in the glacian palace. He is handsome, winged and secretly rebellious. He has some very swoony lines.

This book is Stacey’s debut novel. It’s a Fantasy romance that is masterfully written. The world building is so well woven in with the plot, that you never feel like you need more of one or the other. It’s enemies to lovers with a plot full of secrets, treachery and many twists.

This is now my favourite read of the year, no competition. This book is a masterpiece. This review does not do it justice. Do yourself a favour and pre-order this books ASAP. It’s out September 13th.

This book was definitely a roller coaster for me and I really enjoyed it! The beginning was very dark and heavy but with the pacing being done so well, the author didn’t just have you sit there in the gloom and did a good job of giving you an awesome character to root for in Dawsyn. The world building was wonderful and gave you a really interesting and unique premise that you can understand well without info dumping which is a huge plus in fantasy (in my opinion).

The relationship between the two main characters goes from enemies to lovers but not in a super predictable way. I really enjoyed the pacing of their relationship too! It was very well done and the author threw in some good twists and conflict for their story without anything being too predictable. Their banter also was PERFECT. ❤️

I appreciated the trigger and content warnings because there were definitely some darker moments to the plot that I’m grateful for the heads up for. Overall, I really enjoyed the book- until the ending. I’m excited for the very big cliffhanger because that means a sequel (hopefully) is coming. However, after everything that happened in the story, there’s a huge moment in the last few pages that took this read for me personally from a solid five stars to four.

Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for this ARC to review.

Received an arc from Netgalley

I was looking forward to reading this book as I was aware of the book from tiktok and the author’s video about it.

What drew we to the book was concept of the book and the cool and unique world the author had created. However I felt generally the book lacked depth and development of major aspects like the world building ,characters, magic system.

Overall it is good debut novel and intriguing start to the trilogy.

I've followed the author on tiktok for a while now, and jumped at the opportunity to request a copy on Netgalley.

Overall I enjoyed Ledge, the premise is great--a group of humans surviving on the side of a mountain but live with the threat of being kidnapped by winged creatures on the daily. Plus the fmc is a bad ass with an axe... Who wouldn't be on board? That being said, I did find the writing style to be a bit choppy at times, and had some issues connecting with the characters in the beginning. Other than that I liked, and it's a pretty great NA Fantasy.

Ledge by Stacey McEwan is the first book in The Glacian Trilogy set in an icy fantasy world.
 
This world gives off all the winter vibes and is really interesting. At first, I was severely confused by it and needed a bit to understand it. Humans are basically on their own and trapped surrounded by mountains. Then there are the Glacians who are mythical winged creatures, and they sometimes bring the humans some food or other rations in exchange for sacrifices.
 
Dawsyn is a human, and her only companion is the ax she wields to protect and use the trees around her. She is a tough and badass protagonist who doesn’t easily give up and I appreciated that. When she is chosen to go with the Glacians, she is not a fan of that and doesn’t want this to be her faith.
 
Ryon is a half breed Glacian and therefore treated badly. He despises the Glacians and wants to destroy them. He sees an opportunity with Dawsyn’s resistance and decides to help her. He is also very hot and the spicy scenes in the book were well written as well.
 
The two then go on quite the journey together and I really liked to follow along and to see more of this world. It’s a very adventurous and survivalist story and that was very enjoyable.
 
Overall, Ledge is a very unique fantasy story and would be perfect to read in the wintertime. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

Ledge by Stacey McEwan

I’ve been dreading writing this review because this book was not for me. I so badly wanted to love it.

Things I really liked:

The premise is amazing. A group of humans trapped on a mountain, preyed upon by mystical winged creatures? Yes, please. A strong female lead with some amazing survival skills and the ability to wield an axe? Um, say no more. I loved the group of women Dawsyn grows up with and the quirky friends she makes.

Things I did not appreciate:

I found the writing to be choppy, and the main characters lacking in depth. I had trouble caring what was going to happen to them. Some of the plot felt repetitive. A few things felt a little to close to A Court of Thorns and Roses to be original, to state what might be considered a spoiler so I’ll leave it at that. And the dialogue had me cringing in several places.

I think die hard fans of NA fantasy will still enjoy this book but it fell flat for me.

Content warning: mature sexual content, threats of rape, explicit language, heavy violence, death, suicide

This was my first fantasy ever and I loved it! It was beautifully crafted and so captivating. The unfolding of the world Stacy created was chef‘s kiss.
The introduction of the ledge was full of suspense and I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.
Two things I did not exactly love: this is part of a series, so you will have to wait for it to continue and the explicit scenes were a little too steamy for my taste.

Rating: 4 Stars

Ledge was an entertaining and strong new adult fantasy debut. The premise and characters were so interesting and I just loved how fierce the heroine was throughout the story. It is the first book in The Glacian Trilogy as well, so be warned that this book does leave off on a cliffhanger.

While it is mainly in the heroine’s POV, there were a few chapters from the hero’s POV, which I really appreciated. There were also some great tropes like: force proximity, enemies to lovers and a slow burn romance. I would recommend checking the content and trigger warnings before reading though.

The writing and story development was really good. The premise was intriguing and filled with action, politics, deceptions and secret allegiances. I will admit though, it did take me a bit to understand the world and certain aspects, but the story did flow nicely and was quite fast paced as well.

The heroine was absolutely my favorite. While, I would have liked a bit more backstory of her time on the Ledge and how she learned certain skills, I thought she was quite bold, strong and resilient.

The romance between the main characters was a slow burn but with insta-attraction. I did like their banter, build-up and overall romantic development. I also loved their unexpected allegiance and how well they worked together. There was a bit of spice as well, which was amazing.

The last 20% of this book absolutely had me on the edge of my seat. The ending left me speechless and with so many questions. I definitely cannot wait for the next book.

Overall, just a great debut and start to the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The book begins with a fabulous intro to the ledge that leaves you needing to know more. The rest of the book feel slightly flat for me. It felt like the story didn’t really go anywhere and then suddenly a lot of life changing decisions had been made that seemed to come out of nowhere. Finally the book ends in a cliffhanger that leaves you hanging onto the ledge.

I enjoyed the premise and the authors poetic narrative style so I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book surprised me a little more than I was expecting. It definitely will be a hit in the book tok world, which I think was really the goal of it in the first place.

The world-building was interesting and I think she did a good job with it. There were enough things going on to keep me interested along the way.

Brilliant. I absolutely loved this book.

I would usually feel the need to be analytical about a book but I would just like to bathe in the greatness that is Ledge.

Stacey's writing is beautiful. She truly has a way with words. Her writing is eloquent, there is no simpler way to put it.

Though, it did take me two or three chapters to really get a feel for the book, after that I found it hard put down. I was so engrossed by Dawsyn and her life on the Ledge. I loved finding out more about her abilities with an axe - Dawsyn is a badass - and once Ryon entered the picture, I knew I was going to fall in love with them both.

Ryon and Dawsyn are both well-developed characters. I found that they are quite similar. Both strong, fierce, and try not to show vulnerability. Yet, they found that they could be vulnerable with each other. Their relationship was beautiful. Dawsyn and Ryon are both strong characters yet they are not overbearing. Ryon doesn't overshadow Dawsyn's strong nature, which I find is what usually happens in novels.

Now, that ending! What the hell? I most of the plot twists coming but that one? I was shocked to my core and am still in denial. I will be needing the next book ASAP - please and thank you.