5⭐️ 3🌶

This was a debut novel done right! I was hooked from the first sentence. The characters, the world building, the political and social dynamics were all wonderfully crafted.

Dawsyn lives on the Ledge a frozen wasteland with no escape. Many years ago Glacians, a winged humanoid species, kidnapped human villagers and dropped them on the Ledge. Twice a year the Glacians pick humans to take with them back over the Chasm never to be seen again. This year Dawsyn is selected and must fight to escape the Glacians with the help of a half-Glacian named Ryon who has his own agenda.

I loved both Ryon and Dawsyn. Their banter and chemistry was amazing. Dawsyn is a total badass, I feel like in a lot of books the FMC doesn’t always have the skills to back up their confidence, but she did! She was cunning, resourceful, pragmatic, and cared deeply about those left on the Ledge even when they had only ever been her competition for resources.

Ryan was such an antagonizing and yet lovable guy. They way he tried to fight his attraction to Dawsyn was pretty adorable because he didn’t stand a chance.

Dawsyn Sabar lives on a mountain. On the Ledge. She’s lost her mother, father, grandmother and sisters to the Chasm or the Selection.

Glacians rule the mountain and pick humans away from their families. Nobody knows where they’re taken or what happens to them. Until it’s Dawsyns turn.

We meet Hector from the Ledge, Ryon, the Glacian King Vasteel, Glacians, Esra, Salem, Baltisse, the human Queens and mixed bloods, half human/half Glacian.

I loved Dawsyn. Loved the banter between her and Ryon. The stories she was told as a child, the new ones she didn’t know about as an adult and discovering secrets about her grandmother.

The ending….I want the Iskra to unleash its fury please. Thank you. And I can’t cope right now and imma need book two right now!!!!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book has such an original premise for an adult fantasy novel. Dawsyn is the sole surviving member of her family on the Ledge, an isolated settlement of humans confined on an inescapable icy mountain by Glacians. Axe-wielding Dawsyn is as harsh as her environment, but when she is chosen by the Glacians for whatever they do to humans, her survival skills are truly put to the test.

Ledge blends survival story and political fantasy, with a dash of dystopian and of course some romance. I am always a fan of enemies-to-lovers, reluctant allies, and forced proximity, but I expected a bit more from Dawsyn and Ryon’s romance. The pieces didn’t all quite connect for me the way they should have. I want more!

The story is fast-paced, full of action and reveals. The setting and characters were well developed (I really loved the side characters at the inn!). This book kept surprising me until the very end. I’m not sure what to do with that ending…HOLY CLIFFHANGER. I absolutely need to know how that gets resolved in book 2.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted eARC.

I had no idea what to expect when I started this book, but I immediately fell in love with it. 

Dawsyn is such a complex and well rounded main character. She is strong and witty right out of the gate. She has relied on her strength for years to survive her life on the Ledge.

I love that it was never a negative for Dawsyn to be strong, take up space, defend herself, or have a sexual appetite. One of my favourite things about fantasy romance is there are no rules for the social constructs in the world you build and Stacey McEwen built such an incredible world. It was tough and dangerous, but it was also unique and amazing. 

I adored Ryon. He was such a wonderful counterpoint for Dawsyn. He matched her wit and took as good as he gave. He was patient and took the time to understand before reacting. My absolute favourite thing was no matter how much he may disagree with or want to change a decision Dawsyn was making, he understood that it was her decision. It didn't matter what he wanted her to do, it mattered that he respected her ability to make a decision for herself and face any consequences that came from it. He supported Dawsyn and fought beside her. If he thought she was making a dangerous decision, he went with her and tried to keep her safe. 

I also loved that they each had their own purpose and they figured out how to work together towards both goals. 

The side characters were so colourful and entertaining too! They added so much depth to the world.

I am so excited to see more of this world as the rest of the series comes to life. Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot Books for the ARC copy!!

Wow! What a book! I had been going through a reading slump lately and I am thrilled to say that slump is over. This book was riveting, deep, and yet funny. It has a little something for every adult reader: romance, adventure, revenge, royalty, secrets, and the family that you make through friendships.

Dawsyn lives a hard life surviving on the Ledge. An arctic tundra where food is scarce and the people are dwindling. Glacians come once a year to take some of their people at random, never to be seen again. Dawsyn discovers life on the other side of the Ledge and fights for her life, her people, and for revenge.

Ryon has grown up being picked on for being a Glacian half-breed. He has worked his way up through the Glacian castle and learned to fight. After teaming up with Dawsyn, he too will fight for his life, his people, and for revenge.

I wanted to savor this book because there were so many great quotes within it. Stacey McEwan really put a lot of thought and planning into this masterpiece. I can't wait for the second book in this series! My favorite character was Salem who was primarily concerned with feeding everyone and I can relate.

I would recommend this book for adult readers who enjoy fast-paced adventures with romance. Especially for readers who enjoyed The Hunger Games series. This book does have the following triggers: violence, starvation, suicide, and death of a child.

Please note: an electronic ARC of this book was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

TW: suicide, attempted SA, very questionable POC and non binary rep, infantilization, death of a child

Actual - 1.5

The premise was fun and I was excited to read this but it fell flat in every way. Im not generally a harsh reader in terms of critique since I read for vibes, but there were too many issues for me to not be anything but.

There were too many inconsistencies. The world building was so bad. The main “villains” need humans souls in order to stay immortal, which is cool and all, but tell me why they held their captured humans where the environment / wild animals / the literal edge of a cliff could kill them?

The FMC is constantly described as being weak due to growing up in starvation so why is she so strong in action? Why is she so perfect and everyone is in love with her and her beauty and would do anything for her? Except the love interest refusing to stop calling her “girl” despite her asking him to multiple times.

The supporting characters introduced were not all relevant to the plot (or showing up out of nowhere to heal people everytime trouble brews), and I felt like some were written just for a tick in the “representation” box. And that rep by the way? Incredibly questionable. The love interest is described as a black man who is a beast, violent etc, and the non binary character was only there for being the token gay best friend. I think a sensitivity reader should have been hired because perpetuating these stereotypes is too harmful.

Outside of all that, the story itself was boring. The pacing was slow and it felt like nothing happened for a good 1/3 of the book. There were too many wholes in the world and the plot itself to not make it enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Angry Robot and Stacey McEwan for the eARC of this.

The people of the Ledge have been trapped by a vast chasm and sheer mountain face for as long as they can remember. There is no way to escape, without falling through the chasm to their death. Dawsyn’s people know nothing of the outside world other than the fact that, that is where the Glacians live. The Glacians bring the people of the ledge meager rations and in exchange, each season sacrifice random townspeople from the ledge. After being randomly selected as a human sacrifice, instead of death, Dawson finds herself on a dangerous quest to save the people of her town on the Ledge from their icy prison.

Wow wow wow I really really enjoyed this one. The world building is phenomenal and easy to follow. Not only do you get mythical creatures, but this was also a slow burn romance (when I say slow burn I MEAN SLOWBURN). I loved the friendship, and relationship between Ryon and our MC Dawsyn. Not to mention the side characters that live at the Inn and befriended Dawsyn. They made me laugh constantly. The cliffhanger at the end had me absolutely shocked. I am very excited for the next book in this series, to see where this is going to go.

I highly recommend this one, you should look up trigger warnings for it as well.

#ledge #staceymcewan #theglaciantrilogy #netgalley #bookreview #bookrecommendation #fantasy #fantasybook #fantasyromance

From the beginning this book was giving off Maze Runner and The Hunger Games vibes and I am here for it. It had a unique setting mixed with the perfect amount of slow burn and enemies to lovers. I can’t wait for the next book !

Five Stars! Such a great fantasy/romance book! It definitely gives off GOT meets ACOTAR vibes. You will definitely enjoy it if you like a strong heroine, strong world building, and the enemies to lovers trope. I highly recommend and will most definitely be reading the sequel.

thank you to netgalley for the opprotunity to read this book! iI really enjoyed it. I am not normally a fantasy reader, but the characters and the way this book was written really held my attention! I was pleasant;ly surprised by this one. I will be reccomending for sure.

A powerful female character leads Ledge, a narrative about justice and survival that moves quickly. Dawysn is fearless, brave, and bold. It took me a little while to become engaged in the plot, but with each page that passes, the second half gets better. Up to the very end, the plot twist has you on edge.
The scenery is incredible, and the world-building is simple to understand. The slow-burn romance provides the right amount of spice to the plot and the hot, sexy half-breed glacian love interest makes it worthwhile.
It's always worthwhile to read a fantasy book with a romance as a side plot, but since this is a very popular genre, it might be a little challenging for the authors to come up with something new each time. Stacey McEwan accomplished that in a very icy, chilling manner. She has produced an astounding world.

3.5⭐️
This was one of my most anticipated read this year and i was so thrilled to receive an early copy.
Maybe it was all the build up, but i felt slightly let down. The story and premise was good, but in places i felt bored. The Dawsyn was irritating and i get it she’s been through so much, but the moaning got a bit too much ion places. The side character where more entertaining and i would of like to see more back story with them, which I’m hoping for in the next book.

Will i read the next book though?? Absolutely

Ledge was so good! This was probably one of the books I enjoyed reading the most this year.

I really enjoyed the story and the world building was great, not too much and not too little. I also really liked all of the characters, especially Dawsyn and Ryon.

I’m really excited for the second book, I think right now I’m most interested in how this is going to be a trilogy, I can’t wait to see where the story goes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Angry Robot, and Ms. McEwan for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

The premise of Ledge is interesting: a group of isolated human villagers, living on a ledge high on the side of the mountain above an immense chasm, eke out a miserable, half-frozen existence and are periodically “selected,” or culled, by Glacians. Glacians are a winged species who live high up on the mountain across from the ledge (across the chasm). They are described as vaguely gargoyle-like, marble skinned, winged humanoids who are impervious to cold. Periodically, the Glacians drop supplies to the Ledge inhabitants to keep them alive (since they can’t grow any good nor obtain materials or goods). At each Selection the head of each family stands in front of a line of their relatives; visiting Glacians snag a few humans with their talons and fly back to Glacia to suffer an uncertain fate.

Dawsyn is the only remaining member of her family and stands alone at a Selection at the beginning of this book. She is of course Selected, along with several other humans, and flown to Glacia where she is offered the choice of soulless (literally) servitude, death, or a trial in which she may attempt to escape and evade being hunted for the Glacians’ entertainment. It should be obvious which choice Dawsyn makes as otherwise there’s no book, but suffice to say, half-Glacian Ryon is one of the hunting party attempting to track down Dawsyn on the mountainside.

I was really hoping the book would spend more time on the Ledge and in Dawsyn’s escape down the mountain. I would also have liked more background on the Glacians – a little more of their history, how their society and magic worked, how they got there, etc – and a little less time spent in the inn with the charming, but sort of one-note, side characters. The plot trajectory was not original and anyone who has read YA or NA fantasy can make a reasonable guess at each point about what will happen next. The ending did surprise me a bit: I was really surprised that the author would end a standalone book like that. I had not realized this was a trilogy.

I would be interested to see where Ms. McEwan takes the story from here, as I think Dawsyn’s next move(s) will be very interesting, and how she plans to stretch this story into a trilogy. ⭐⭐⭐

For a long time during my reading I danced between three and four stars, leaning more toward three: I wasn’t bored but I wasn’t as invested as I thought I’d be, especially with the somewhat dystopian feeling the beginning gave me. Boy, was I wrong.
Well, I admit some parts were less engaging than others, yet Ledge managed to surprise me anyways, with twists I could see coming and others I wouldn’t have ever thought of - that ending!!!
The slow burn in this book was impeccable, with the right amount of enemies to lovers and forced proximity in order to survive, and then some. It’s rare to find a good balance between all these elements, and I admit, I wanted a deeper insight into both Dawsyn and Ryon’s feelings, and not only about one another.
Dawsyn is a true force of nature, although sometimes she is somehow portrayed as undestroyable and omnipotent - I struggle to completely accept that - and I love her snark. She’s very, very down on earth, her feet rooted into it, even, what with all she went through in her life. It was nice to read how her cold self could warm up to others, and the rest of the characters - mainly three others - are awesome and really want to read more about them.
Ryon is a half-Glacian, as the plot states (a plot that doesn’t give away much, thankfully), and he’s Dawsyn’s kindred spirit: hardened by life, untrusting, and with an agenda of his own. He saw Dawsyn as a means to an end first, and as a human girl later; this didn’t stop him to care. We like that, don’t we?
As I said above, there were a few parts I wasn’t into at random times, in the beginning, middle and ending, parts that I could easily move on from, and even are quite forgettable once you get to the few plot twists scattered around. The last one, especially, is what makes me so ready for the sequel. I demand answers!

—

A lungo durante la mia lettura sono andata dalle tre e quattro stelle, tendendo più verso tre: non mi sono annoiata, ma non ero tanto coinvolta quanto pensavo sarei stata, specialmente per via dell’ambientazione quasi distopica che sembra esserci all’inizio. Cielo, quanto mi sbagliavo.
Beh, ammetto che alcune parti fossero meno coinvolgenti di altre, eppure Ledge mi ha comunque sorpresa, con twist che potevo prevedere e altri a cui non avrei mai pensato - quel finale!!!
Lo slow burn in questo libro è impeccabile, con la giusta dose di enemies to lovers e forced proximity dovuta al senso di sopravvivenza, e altro ancora. È raro trovare un buon equilibrio tra tutti questi elementi, e ammetto, volevo più introspezione relativamente ai sentimenti di Dawsyn e Ryon, e non solo riguardo quelli che provano l’una per l’altro.
Dawsyn è una vera e propria forza della natura, sebbene qualche volta sia dipinta come indistruttibile e onnipotente - faccio fatica ad accettare completamente una cosa del genere - e amo la sua irriverenza. È molto, molto coi piedi per terra, tant’è che probabilmente ci hanno piantato pure le radici, visto ciò che ha dovuto passare nella sua vita. È stato bello leggere di come il suo freddo sé si sia aperto con altri, e il resto dei personaggi - tre in particolare - sono fantastici e voglio leggere molto più sul loro conto.
Ryon è un mezzo Glacian, come dice la trama (una trama che non fa intuire molto, grazie al cielo), e lui e Dawsyn sono spiriti affini: reso insensibile dalla vita che hanno vissuto, non si fida di nessuno, e ha un fine nascosto. All’inizio, vedeva Dawsyn solo come un mezzo per raggiungere ol proprio scopo, e poi ha iniziato a vederla come una ragazza umana; ciò comunque non gli ha impedito di tenere a lei. E questo ci piace, no?
Come ho detto sopra, ci sono alcune parti che non mi dicevano nulla, proprio a random, all’inizio, nel mezzo e alla fine, parti che potevo facilmente superare, e che sono anche piuttosto dimenticabili una volta raggiunti i diversi plot twist sparsi qua e là. L’ultimo, specialmente, è ciò che mi gasa per il sequel. Necessito risposte!

This book was such a great read. I wished for it on NetGalley, and my wish came true. Thanks lol.
Okay so this book was a blend of fantasy and dystopian. Dawsyn was a confident, bad a** strong FMC who bowed down to no one, she got her personality and attitude from her grandmother. She doesn’t let anyone see her emotions from her facial expressions or voice. This book was a double POV (mostly Dawsyn, i dont like MMC POV but this was an exception)
The hot poker scene killed me lmaoo. The romance was sooo good, and the tropes featured are: guy falls first, slow burn romance, enemies to lovers, forbidden romance. There were some plot twists in this book, and i dont like how Dawsyn reacted (since she was thinking selfishly).

This book was SO GOOD! I loved the world building, and the characters. I could not put this book down, ask my husband, I had him watch our twins for a few hours so I could finish the book with no interruptions! I'm going to reread this before the next one comes out because THAT CLIFFHANGER!!! It's so good though! It has all of the tropes we know and love in it as well as a great writing style and beautiful cover.

Straight away this book had me captivated, from the first few paragraphs I was intrigued by Dawsyn’s life on the ledge.
I found myself desperately, and this is actually the word to describe my feelings in how to picture the home that Dawsyn has in the frozen rock, and trying to figure out what the Glacian’s actually look like. This book really draws you in, I thought the first 6 chapters were fast paced yet gave you a lot of detail and backstory which you are hungrily waiting for. Exceptional writing on the authors part from the beginning. Feels very much like a novel that Matthew Reilly would write. And to me, that is a huge compliment.
I love the way we find out more about the Glacian’s, Dawsyn, and their world as a whole as the book evolves, such as the fact there is a whole new world away from what the two main protagonists know.
By half way through there is a change of scenery and a welcome development between Dawsyn and Ryon.
This book is quick paced, with a lot of action and travel that you find yourself reading on quickly to find out what happens next.
I enjoyed the friendship entity we get from Baltisse, Salem, and Esra and these characters bring a great element of comedy to the book to which is much needed.
My only negative is the cliffhanger at the end and the fact I have to wait for book two!

Really not too bad for a debut novel!! Dawsyn is a strong bad B and I love it!! Plot was good I feel like something was missing though. I don’t know what. But solid read that’s for sure. Oh and that cliffhanger……I was like wtf!!!!!!!

Ledge by Stacey McEwan is a thrilling new adventure!

Dawsyn lives on the Ledge. She has grown up on the Ledge and only has stories from her grandmother of life before her family was brought to the Ledge. The Ledge is a small spot on the ledge of a steep mountain. There is no escape other than death or being taken by the Glacians. There is the mountain face or a steep chasm, the people of the Ledge are trapped until the Glacians come at the end of the season to steal away a selection of the people. It is unknown why they come or what happens to those who are selected. Dawsyn is selected at the end of the season and her story begins.

I enjoyed the writing style and pace of this story. Stacey McEwan has a way of writing that really brings you into the story. The world building was stunning and vivid. You can feel the cold of the mountain with Dawsyn and feel like you are right there with her on her journey.

The banter between Dawsyn and the male main character, Ryon, was sarcastic and enjoyable. They are both quick witted and had a quip for each other constantly. The plot of felt original, entertaining, and kept the pages turning.

I would give this book 5 stars! Ledge is a great read for anyone that enjoys Adult Fantasy, great dialogue, deep characters, and adventure!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.