I quite enjoyed the is little fantasy romance. Love is the main theme of the book, everything else fit naturally into the story. The plot wasn't something too intriguing. Some parts were repetitive, and some parts of the story were rushed, everything moved along too fast. Likeable characters.

In a society where sorceresses are seen as monsters, Ilse is forced to work for the king and help solve a series of mysterious murders. I really liked the premise of this book and enjoyed following Ilse and Garit as they worked on solving the mystery of the men washing up on the beaches of Sjökanten. The prose was beautiful, and the witchy vibes will make this a great autumn read. The forbidden relationship between Ilse and Garit developed a bit too quickly for me, though, and felt only partially believable, 3 stars from me for this slow-burn romance fantasy.

This is my first book by Nicole Bea and I loved it! A fantasy forbidden romance that was fast-paced but not too heavy. I loved the writing style, it was so beautiful and had me hooked from the very first page. I finished this book in two sittings because I needed to keep reading on to find out what happened next. Have already recommended to friends.

This book was really weird. I was never able to sink into the story and forget that I was reading. It’s a very passive style of writing. Time would pass and I didn’t realize that weeks were supposed to have taken place because the characters barely exchange any dialogue. Which builds into my second major complaint.

The love story smacked me in the face. I don’t know if it’s the passive nature of this author’s writing style or that the characters are so lifeless that nothing mattered but even though I knew it would be coming, I didn’t anticipate it. These characters express no emotion. I get that a relationship between them needs to be hidden but it’s so lackluster that it’s unbelievable.

Overall the book isn’t awful, it’s just uninteresting, slow, and emotionless.

Perfect for fans of The Witcher and A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins, this new adult romantic fantasy will sweep you away with lush worldbuilding, delicate details, and deep emotions to dig into.

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

2.5 stars? Not a huge fan of this one. It felt like nothing really happened for most of the book? Nor was there much in character/world building. Also not a huge fan of the relationship between the two main characters.

Interesting premise for this YA fantasy (sorceresses are kept separate from human society unless the king needs their help, in which case the chosen sorceress will be bound by a chain that limits her magic), but this novel read like a first draft, not a thoroughly edited final manuscript.

The pacing was way off (looooong sentences, lots of tell and little show, the MC Illyse falls in love with her love interest almost instantly and with nothing done to make us believe in their attraction). We simultaneously knew everything that was going on in Illyse’s head and yet had no idea what her surroundings were like, why her feelings for Garit were so intense (she falls in love with him off screen almost and we’re made to root for that). After the first three chapters I still didn’t have a sense of the stakes, the world the characters lived in (what did it look like??), or any real reason to keep reading.

I hate not to give a better review to an ARC but this book could use several more rounds of edits for its full potential to shine through.

**Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.**

This book caught me off guard with how much I enjoyed it!. The story was told well and was interesting. The writing flowed and was paced well, Took me two days to finish. At times predictable with one small exception, but still managed to be enjoyable.

I enjoyed the cute moments between the two characters in their quick-paced romance. Normally I am a slow-burn kind of person, but the chemistry was good even with their romance happening so quickly.. Sometimes it did feel like the author was trying too hard to make Garit seem poetic, and that really wasn't the vibe I got from him. Honestly, half the time I was waiting for some kind of betrayal Garit was still an amazing character. I kind of wish Illyse had a bit more character growth by the end.

I enjoyed that the main focus of the book was on love and romance and less on the conflict that was happening. The magic felt natural and fit into the story well. I especially liked the little details of ingredients that were used for spells and the how/why of it as well. It made the fantasy aspect and the character being a witch seem easier to become emersed with.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Beneath the Starlit Sea was a book full of wasted potential. The characters were all lackluster. The plot lacked the tension that the world building kept telling us should have existed.

I left this book not caring one bit about anything. The romance was boring. The characters even more boring. My god how many times did Illyse bring up that the shackle weakens her powers. So many times. I don’t need to be reminded constantly, and it just made her annoying.

We are told that relationships between humans and monsters is illegal, creating what could have been an angsty forbidden romance. Instead, THE KING knew about their relationship and just didn’t care. Nobody cared. It made the whole plot thread completely pointless because there weren’t any real consequences. I also just hated that Illyse and Garit were like already in love at the start and we didn’t see their early interactions. This is a fantasy romance, meaning the plot is the romance, so give me them falling in love and getting to know each other. The hesitation about breaking a law and getting caught. The fear of Illyse being imprisoned in an ore for acting on their feelings.

The sorceresses that were locked in the ores supposedly are dangerous because of their anger of being locked away, yet they just were nice and easygoing. Immediately willing to help. GIVE. ME. TENSION. Let one double-cross them.

The conflict with Pieretta needed to be fleshed out more. I just didn’t care, and she didn’t seem evil to me. The nixies were cool in the action scenes, but once again, I wanted more development.

I did love Thierry(?) though. A pet fox is pretty damn cool.

I mainly requested this because I was looking for a new fantasy romance to swoon over and sadly this didn’t make the cut. The characters were so under developed and I didn’t care for them and for me to love the story. I have to want to root for them to succeed. This read more as a YA contemporary than a new adult romance.

I don't typically like first person narratives but Nicole Bea's prose was definitely lyrical enough to keep me reading. I read this in one sitting, if that says anything!

The premise of this book was so interesting and I liked the conflict but I didn't love the romance part of the book and for a book that is a new adult fantasy romance, I need to be invested in the romance aspect, which I wasn't.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC in order to provide my unbiased review.

Like other reviewers, I was drawn to this book for two main reason. 1) The cover is beautifully designed and eye-catching for a reader that likes a particular genre. 2) The synopsis of the book presented an intriguing story.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF (at 24%) for me. While historically DNFs are not usual for me, I am trying to be more conscious of the time I dedicate to reading. and on ensuring that I read only things that are enjoyable to me. Beneath the Starlit Sea just simply was not an enjoyable experience to me.

I agree with many other reviewers who feel that this book has promise, but could have used at least one more round of editing and re-writes. Though the quality of writing does improve slightly after the prologue (which I found particularly jarring), it was not enough to encourage me to finish the book. There is little-to-no chemistry between the leads, because we do not see them go from strangers to friends. I truly had no vested interest in whether Ilysse & Garit got together or not. There were also Many repetitive phrases throughout this book. Ilysse waxes poetic about her own hair color on multiple occasions. There is more detail given to scenes of her picking out her clothing or putting on makeup than to actual plot-based action. Ilysse reiterates over and over how horribly humans view her kind and laments the fact that she could never be with Garit due to it being forbidden. Girl, we get it, you want the forbidden fruit, let's move on.

I would not recommend this book at this time. I think after some pretty thorough editing, the general premise of the story could be crafted into something much better.

So, I wanted to love this book. The cover is what first caught my eye and it seemed so gothic romance meets magic and murder, that I was in. I will say, the ending surprised me and I didn't necessarily see that coming, but otherwise, that was about the only surprise.

I felt like some of the details were rushed, especially when it came to the romance between Illyse and Garit. Even the battle scenes were kind of disjointed and not fully developed. I finished the entire thing but I probably wouldn't recommend to someone else. I wanted more, so much more from this!

Illyse is a sorceress or, in the perspective of her nation, a monster. She is dragged out of her peaceful life by iron chains in order to assist in putting an end to the mysterious killings taking place in the realm. She must work with Garit to find the answer to this issue while adhering to the kingdom's fundamental prohibition against man and monster relations.

I was quite fascinated by the book because it moved along so quickly. I adored the descriptions of the world and magic of Illyse.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC

Beneath The Starlit Sea is a fantasy romance between Illyse, a sorceress and Garit. It follows a Illyse who basically has no choice to help the king solve the murders of men in the area. The tropes that include enemies to friends to lovers, forbidden romance, forced proximity set for the precedent for the novel.
The relationship between Illyse and Garit is toxic to say the lest, her actions a very questionable and one does question her actions against Garit.
The story overall is interesting and the plot and world building is built and created really well.

Beneath the Starlit Sea presented itself with a lot of promise. The summary sounded interesting and I dabble enough in the romance genre to be sold immediately on the book once it mentions Enemies to Lovers.

With that in mind, I’m afraid I DNFed the book at 45% because I could no longer read it. I wanted to like it, I really did, and while the writing was not bad, it was, sadly, not even mediocre, much less remarkable or memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sword and Silk Books for providing an advance review copy in exchange for this honest review.

3.5/5 Stars

This book had a very good premise and a decent story. However I could not quite get into the lovey-dovey, slow romance of the story. The mystery portion of the story felt too quickly solved, and the forced miscommunication was a trope I could have lived without. However, if you do not mind these kinds of story additions, then they made for a pretty decent story overall.

Thank you Netgalley and Sword and Silk Books for the book. All my review here is my honest review!

Actually I like the conflict here, about mysterious murder of the man in the area. The way they must investigate the cause until they found the cause of it. But then the focus of it swift too much to romance. Well I think the romance is good enough despite I don't even know how these main characters falling in love. Because we just know they work together for the case and suddenly we can see that Illyse already interested to Garit and vice versa. We didn't really see the development of their relationship. We only see their doubts because this is forbidden. The relationship between sorcerers and human is forbidden in the Kingdom. And we will also see many misunderstanding happen between them. I don't really like it because I think it's not a good misunderstanding.

Illyse is too doubtful. Garit is sweet to her but I also doubt him. I feel like he is not a good characters. The only think I like maybe the battle or the final battle. I think it's great and very well described.

Thanks for the ARC.

This was okay. The story line had potential but unfortunately didn't hit its mark for me. I found the wiring to be mediocre and the characters to be annoying.

DNF 25%