This exclusive sample of the first chapters of "Ledge" were enough to keep me intrigued and willing to pick up the book. In this fantasy trilogy debut we get to see villagers trying to survive an unforgiving and harsh cold environment, trapped in place by the landscape and some magical creatures called Glacians, that seem to be culling the humans for reasons no one knows yet.
I could tell the protagonist Dawsyn seemed like my type of heroine - determined to do what needs to be done, well grounded, practical and as this is a fantasy romance book, I look forward to see how her relationship with the so called enemy will unfold.

Thank you Angry Robot for the sample !

From reading the sampler exclusive, the descriptive writing really draws you in. It really leaves me wanting to know what is going to happen with Dawsyn. She has been alone for so long and you can tell she yearned for different scenery her whole life. You can tell she is a strong character straight from the gate with how she is able to handle an ax, as well as clever and patient with the way she is able to make a table for her neighbor Hector.

I'm interested to see what happens next and to see if she does in fact become chosen by the Glacians and departs from the Ledge. If she does, will she be able to come back to help those who live on the Ledge from the harsh living condition? Will she get vengeance on the Levisons for taking her friend's means to provide for themselves? Will she find love? Who knows... but I can't wait to continue reading and find out.

As of right now I give it a 3.5/5 stars. although its very descriptive, it still hasn't pulled me in enough to make me get lost in my imagination. With that being said I have only read the sampling portion, and I expect it to pull me in even more.

Two chapters in, and I'm on the "ledge" of my seat! I will be getting the full edition ASAP. Because..where are they? What's beyond the chasm? Where are they taken? I have so many questions and I'm already so invested in Dawsyn and what her story is going to tell.

I didn’t realize that the sampler only consisted of 2 chapters so I’m not really sure how to give a valid review. So here goes nothing…

The first chapter did not really hook me in. There was too much narration but I couldn’t understand its concept. The second chapter gave a little more details on what kind of world the characters are dealing with. It somehow gave me THG vibes with the sacrifice & starvation among the humans. To be fair, I usually need more than 1-2 chapters to appreciate and get the world building.

Do I wanna read it based on the sample I got? Maybe. Although I am not as crazy into it after reading the first two chapters.

I have seen this story floating around for a long time and I am so happy to have been privileged with reading this sampler before the sequel is released. I enjoyed this sampler so much that I plan to go out and buy the hard copy to read as soon as possible!

This story is EPIC and has my dying to read the second. I love the characters, the world is unique for fantasy, and the FMC is a badass. Must read.

Can’t wait to read the full thing! I’ve loved this authors takes on the genre and writing in general from watching her TikTok’s and couldnt turn down the chance to sneak a peak at this book.

Quick sneak peek of this booktok sensation, with interesting world-building with a mystery. What’s the ledge? Why are they there? Who will be taken next? The camaraderie and feeling of all being desperate in survival mode is intriguing, but not enough in these few pages - but enough that I want to read what happens next.

I wasn't expecting much from this small excerpt but now I need to read the rest of the book (and Chasm when it comes out in September). I loved Stacey McEwan's writing and felt like she was very quickly able to pull the reader in and give a visual of this world and what was going on. Definitely will be continuing to read this!

Let me start off by saying that I really, really wanted to love Ledge. With seeing this one all over my bookish feeds, I wanted to be obsessed but sadly I am left with mixed feelings.

Ledge has everything that I need to equate to a 5 star read: A badass FMC ✔️ Beautiful world building ✔️ A little spice ✔️ And a quick paced storyline ✔️

Yet I simply could not get passed the third person POV. Without being inside the characters heads I struggled to connect to them.

Enter the tried and true old saying “it’s not you it’s me.”.

McEwan has a fantastic talent and I look forward to her future creations but for now I am going to set this one aside. Maybe I will give it another try in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t realise this wasn’t the full book and only a sample, so that was disappointing.
However the sample I could read was really good and I look forward to reading the full book!
2 stars only because it was a tiny section I was able to try!

Ledge jumps right into the world-building with gripping imagery and the survival of the fittest tone from the outset. Dawsyn lives in her family cabin in a village called the Ledge— a flat, frozen piece of land covered in pine that sits on the side of a mountain beside an enormous Chasm. The villagers are trapped there by mysterious winged creatures, dropping off rations of supplies in exchange for one villager to be sacrificed seasonally during The Selection. The first two chapters introduce you to the world and some of its mythology, some of Dawsyn’s key character traits, and gets you just excited enough to consider immediately buying this book and pre-ordering the sequel! The first two chapters may not be much, but it definitely gets five stars from me.

It is hard to judge a book on just 2 chapters but what I was able to read was ok. I might buy the book if I see it on sale just so I can read the rest.

Considering I've only ready a sample of the story. It is very well written and I'm excited to finish.

That first line drew me in immediately. Within the first chapter, our FMC is already fighting for survival. The writing kept me engaged. The premise is intriguing and unique. I’m seeing people describe it as Hunger Games meets the Lottery. I hate winter, but am a sucker for books set in cold, snowy settings. So all in all, I can’t wait to read this story in its entirety.

I already have it downloaded.

I got a sample of the first couple chapters of this book. The world seems really interesting and very unique. Dawsyn appears to be a very independent and strong FMC determined to stay alive. I’m not a big fan of the style of writing so far, but the story has intrigued me, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the book! I will update my review upon finishing the book.

From the excerpt shown here, this appears to be fairly poorly written. It follows a strict format of "She did this. She then did that. She turned and did this. She thought that. She looked at the object. It was blue. It was cold. It reminded her of another object. She thought about the object". I read two chapters and I'm already exhausted by the writing style. In all honesty, considering the sex scenes start on like page 10, it strongly comes across as someone who just wanted to write smut but had to throw a story around it. But perhaps I am just the wrong target audience, as the "Faerie Smut" genre seems to be ever popular nowadays. If that's what you're looking for, accompanied by simple writing, this one might be for you. Really interesting premise though, what a shame.

The premise of this book is really promising. I felt the cold in my bones and I immediately wanted to know more abut the Ledge, the Chasm and the Drop; the world felt completely unique to other fantasies I've read before. However, my interest in the story was weakened by some of the author's stylistic choices. There were quite a few instances where I thought the sentence would be more impactful if it was streamlined and simplified. For example, many of the similes, metaphors and words used actually obfuscate what I think the author is trying to say and left me more confused than invested in reading further. Additionally, the prose often felt disjointed and there are some grammatical errors that detracted from the reading experience. Overall, I'm interested to see where the story goes and would be keen to continue reading past this excerpt. Sometimes I need time to adjust to different writing styles, and that could very well be the case here.

Didn’t realise this was just a sampler when I requested it. I devoured it in seconds, and I’m now looking to get the full book. Already know I’m going to be needing book 2 asap!

I loved this sample into Ledge! It immediately captivated me and I can't wait to read the rest. I am hooked and loving this epic fantasy.