Their village is trapped on the ledge - what price will Dawsyn pay for their freedom?

So I went into reading this with high expectations because I was so ready for an exciting new fantasy and totally adored the concept. The village trapped on the ledge, where human sacrifices were made to the deadly glacians was right up my street. In reading it though, I felt the idea was quite a bit stronger than the story itself. While Dawsyn’s character often fits the role of a strong heroine, at times I felt frustrated by the way she acted without thinking and often that didn’t help her own cause. I was also disappointed that the villains that made up the glacians weren’t explored as much as I’d hoped - they seemed to be evil for evil’s sake and I felt they were too easily defeated and killed off, especially for beasts described as so powerful compared to humans. While the frosty setting was really cool, I unfortunately felt like the plot was fairly predictable and - unluckily - I think I wanted to love the story more than I actually did by the end of the book. It’s a debut where the author is still finding her feet with storytelling - so I could be tempted to read book two because her ideas are so strong and I think she can only get better from here. Huge thanks to the author, Stacey McEwan, and publisher, Angry Robot, for this advance review copy. Views my own. 3*

First book by this author but wasnt too impressed. I usually am a reader for fantasy and romance but this one just didnt hit the spot for me. I started losing interest about 1/3 of the way through. Sorry for not a great review just didnt have much to say on this one.

"Ledge" was a commendable debut from Stacey McEwan. The vibrant ambiance created the perfect backdrop for this new adult romantic fantasy. The world building was interesting, and it is always fascinating to see a new fantasy world unfold. What stood out to me the most was the lack of cliché heroines that saturate this genre usually. Dawsyn was refreshingly different from the usual "chosen one" trope, with her intellect, passion, and strength setting her apart.
However, the initial promise of the story seemed to fade away as the plot progressed and though I didn't fall in love with it, I am interested to see what McEwan has in store for her readers in the future.

DNF

I really struggled to get into this but I can’t put my finger on why so I’m so sorry! There have been so many great reviews of this though which shows it shouldn’t be discounted on my opinion!

I thought I would absolutely love this as the premise sounds so promising and I did actually adore the little village by the ledge and how daunting the constant fear of falling in was but overall for me the story was very lack lustre and really didn't hold my attention. I became distracted by everything whilst reading which isn't usually a problem for me unless i'm really uninterested by a story and unfortunately that happened to me with this one. I think the characters felt very 2D and it was hard to resonate with them at all and I felt the writing style was quite bland.

I devoured this within days of picking it up and I can’t wait for book 2 because that cliff hanger has me on the edge of my seat. I haven’t read a fantasy for so long and this hit the spot perfectly and now I need more!

It was fast paced with twists and turns that will leave you gasping and I love myself a strong lead female character and Dawsyn was exactly that.

Also Ryon had me in my feels right from the very moment he saved Dawsyn. I wouldn’t mind myself a half-glacian that’s for sure!

I thought the plot was very interesting and different. It was giving me rated R maze runner vibes. Overall the book had a good pace. Just when it would start to feel slow, it would pick back up. The story mainly focuses on Dawsyn and Ryon. Dawsyn is my spirit animal. I don’t know what I loved more, her inner dialogue or her sassy conversations with the other characters. I also appreciated that we got dual POVs about halfway through the book. I love a strong main female character POV, but I really love getting the POV from the man that is pining after her. I would have liked a tad more world building and slow burn, but it was still a strong book. It does leave off on a cliffhanger so be prepared!

Love this book. The writing was so vivid that I felt like I was in the freezing cold setting. Four out of five stars.

This was everything thing I was hoping it would be! Amazing story and characters, I had a great time reading this.

Ledge has an interesting concept, following Dawysen and a community of people who live a desolate life on, well, a ledge, trapped between a chasm and a mountain. This community are at the mercy of the Glacians, winged semi-human creatures, that give sparse food offerings and yet take human tributes. Survival is dismal with people fighting each other or ending their own misery, Dawysen herself has lost everything, she has no family left, only 1 friend, not much to hope for, and then the Glacians in their latest attack take her. Dawysen is given one chance, she will be let go but the Glacians will hunt her as she tries to run. In the hunt is Ryon, a Glacian hybrid, but he has his own reasons to run.

The world building is done well here, frustratingly you don’t spend much time on the ledge not much time with the Glacians, the majority of the book is Dawysen’s survival and she attempts to escape. You feel the menace of this race though and the action and fight scenes are enjoyable. This isn’t a big book and yet it achieves everything it needs to do.

The relationship between Dawysen and Ryon comes across really healthy, which is good because it’s a big part of the book - full agency is given to Dawysen, Ryon worries for her and is protective but he is not suffocating with it. He steps back and gives her space and supports her in her actions and choices. Consent is also a thing. Yes Ryon is a typical YA cliche, his broad shoulders, broody disposition and wings, but his most attractive quality actually isn’t very common (unfortunately) in this type of book where toxic, almost predatory dynamics are shaped as the ideal. That’s why I didn’t mind the sex scenes, ok I was all for them lol, because there wasn’t a power imbalance, it wasn’t predatory, it felt an equal, fun and healthy exploration.
That said, I’m not sure how many times it was mentioned in this book how big Dawysen’s boobs were, not even solely in sex scenes, but it felt like a lot …

The book comes to a neat conclusion leaving you with an idea of where the sequel will be heading - and then the floor is ripped away under you in the last few pages so I can’t wait to see where the next book goes with this all!

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review, I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Stacey is AMAZING. Ledge was a delicious slow-burn that captivated me from the moment Dawsyn was introduced. The writing was lovely although I'd like to have had a bit more world building. Overall, an amazing book and I cannot wait to read the rest.

I DNF this book at around 40%. I could not connect with the characters. Thank you for the opportunity.

I am absolutely overjoyed with the privilege to have finally read this. I will 100% will be buying a physical copy and await its sequel. This book has brought me out of my reading slump.

I've been following Stacey McEwan on Instagram for a long time now and i was incredibly delighted to find out she was writing a book! This was a great fantasy debut and I really enjoyed it. While I will forget everything that happened by the time the second book comes out, I will definitely be looking forward to reading it!
Super excited for Stacey's writing career!

A decent fantasy novel. The plot and characters enjoyable. The romance was a little quick for my reading preference. I was very interested in the backstory, which we only got glimpses of and I hope are more prevalent in future installments. The story concept was good but the pacing was off. The story pacing was very quick. Due to the quickness of the story I felt I didn’t get to know any of the characters. I also felt that I was missing a big part of the story because there was little detail said about each part. This plays into the pacing. I will say I liked the twist but like the rest of the book it went fast and lacked information. I will read the sequel after that cliffhanger ending though.

I didn’t know this author from TikTok but since joining have realized who she is and how lucky I was to receive this Arc. I truly enjoyed this story and felt immersed in the wonderful world she built/created! You feel chills because it feels dangerous at every page. I’m so excited for book two, and kudos to Stacey because I was shocked to learn this was a debut!

This fantasy romance definitely had an interesting premise, but you can clearly tell it is a debut novel. Not that that is a bad thing, on the contrary, I really think the author can go places if she improves her skills, which a lot of authors do.

Ledge follows Dawsyn, a woman stuck in a poor, desolate village on a ledge (we saw what she did there) of a mountain. At the beginning of every season, winged creatures swoop down and steal away humans for unknown malicious reasons since they are never seen again. And of course, the heroine gets taken. What follows is a slow-burn story of forced proximity, enemies to lovers, revenge plots, and some political schemes.

The beginning and the world-building were very slow, it would have been great if the pace was a little bit faster in the beginning and not the end, which I feel like it was a little rushed.
I liked the characters, and I want to read more from them. Both the heroine and the hero were intriguing enough that makes me want to have the next book right away to find out what will happen next. Especially because there are a lot of unanswered questions that bugged me and I hope we get conclusions to that.

Ledge is a mythical place that receives rations from another species in exchange for a periodic human sacrifice. Unfortunately, this time it is Dawsyn's turn, a strong-willed female protagonist and the only surviving member of her family. She's ripped from her icy home and suspects imminent death but instead finds herself trusting a half-Glacian called Ryon to escape.

This is a part-dystopian, part-romance and part-fantasy novel. It did take me a moment to understand the world-building, but once I was in the story I was IN. The plot, characters and writing style captivated me until that fast-paced cliffhanger ending. I loved Dawsyn and Ryon's enemies-to-lovers dynamic and the tension just added to the story. Looking forward to book two.

I am always dubious on TikTok people becoming authors but truly I feel this book was good! As a debut especially and I can’t wait to see what else comes along! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this title.

Ledge by Stacey McEwan
5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

I can confidently say that this is going to be a top of 2023 read for me. My preferred genre is always NA Romantasy and this world is an original and captivating read that will have you hooked from the start.

Dawysn has lived her whole life on the frigid edge of a deadly chasm, fighting for survival and hoping today is not the day the Glacians come for her. After being selected as a human sacrifice, she decides she would rather go down fighting - even if the thought of freezing to death is less than appealing. With the help of a half Glancian, Ryon, who has also been looking for a way out, she decides that she can't just survive. She needs to live. And she needs to fight.

Ledge was released in September and the sequel - Chasm - is due to come out this coming September. The cover was just revealed this week and OMG it's so pretty!!! If it's not already on your tbr, it should be! And, Stacey, PLEASE let me know who I need to push into a chasm to obtain an arc!
.
.
.
Special thanks to Angry Robot for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.