A solid YA fantasy with a sapphic romance and ruthless anti-heroine. This was my first book by the author and I enjoyed her writing style enormously. Will definitely read more!

Okay, I need to talk to the person that thinks it's okay to make books with this much information and things going on, so short! I love a good info dump, I want to know everything about characters and the world, and politics before I do a deep dive into the book journey, but this book definitely deserved more pages.

I did love the story, lots of twists that I didn't all see coming. But now I'm stuck waiting for the next one!

An interesting storyline with intriguing characters, which I felt where very well developed. I'm just not sure I was a fan of the story as a whole. Still would recommend, as LGBTQ+ rep was fab!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this title in exchange for this honest review.

To be completely honest, this book bored me. I did not care about the characters or the world and i saw that plot twist coming from a mile away. The book wasnt exactly bad, but it wasnt exactly really good and memorable either.

In Valle, the religion and the politics revolve around the return of the New Maiden, prophecised to be reborn as a third daughter of the third daughter. Identified as the queen’s youngest child, Brianne, she is named the heir, robbing her oldest sister, Elodie, of a claim to the crown. When the queen dies suddenly, Brianne’s father gains influence. To save the country, Elodie has to retake the throne. She buys a sleeping potion from Sabine to send her sister into slumber, but she has no idea what power lies in Sabine’s sadness...⁠
⁠
This book was a typical YA fantasy. The plot was interesting, the characters good, and the slow-burn romance present, but there was nothing exceptional about this book. I saw it advertised as a book with an anti-heroine, but I don't know if they meant Elodie or Sabine. None of them deserved the label. Elodie sent her sister to eternal sleep by mistake, and Sabine is a thief, but to be an anti-heroine, they would have to do something way more drastic.⁠
⁠
To sum up, it is your average read. It could work better with younger readers.

A gripping fantasy novel with some nice world building and a good set of characters. With a lot of the classic themes of the fantasy genre - power struggles, prophecies, betrayal, secrets, but with strong female leads and great atmosphere. Very immersive.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, Hodderscape for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review*

This book was AMAZING. I already love Adrienne Tooley's work. But her writing since Sweet and Bitter Magic has changed drastically. Her whimsical way of weaving tales is something that I've fallen in love with. I loved Elodie and it's a great first book in a trilogy. The world-building is excellent. I loved it. Can't wait for the second one.

A really exceptional start to what i'm sure will be an incredible sapphic, fantasy book trilogy. The writing was beautiful, I felt transported to this world the author created, the too main characters, who both narrate Chapters on and off Elodie and Sabine have engaging and thought-provoking character arcs. Though who they are and their discoveries of who they are are vastly different there journeys throughout the book are also closely tied together leading to a the start off a wonderful slow burn wlw romance. and I'm sure we'll have a lot more progression of this love story in the books too come. This book is simply a perfect start to a series I have no complaints. It was very much the start of a series this story has only just began which in my opinion is what
the first book is supposed to do in a trilogy. In conclusion I am immensely looking forward to the rest of this trilogy. Thank you to the author Adrienne Tooley for writing this beautiful book.

3.75 stars

This was a really cool take on antiheroes and I loved how depression/anxiety fed into the magic system. I found it to be really compelling, particularly the politics of this world and how the New Maiden was interpreted in such different ways by different groups of people, and the history behind the New Maiden - I could have read a whole book on that aspect of the story. I also really liked our two main characters Elodie and Sabine, and found their POVs easily distinguishable.

I did think that the book could've done with being even 50 pages longer, just to flesh out the development of the characters and of the storyline; a childhood friend of one of the main characters ends up playing a bigger role than you would expect, but it felt like it came out of nowhere, and because he wasn't really present in the story at all until then, I couldn't connect with the emotions surrounding this. There were other moments that happened in the second half that felt quite out of character, and I think that had the book been a bit longer, these moments wouldn't have felt so jarring as we could've come to understand the characters even a tiny bit better.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
I enjoyed reading this book. It was full of family, friendship, love and betrayal. It was everything you could wish for. I couldn't put this book down. I really can't wait to read "The Second Son".

*4.25 Stars*

Elodie has been raised to be an advisor to the throne but all her plans go to shit when her little sister, the (new) queen, choses her dad to advise her instead. He is a man of the Church and will do anything to take power, and manipulate his daughter. So, Elodie choses to put her sister to sleep until she turns 17. For that purpose, she goes to a secret market where she meets Sabine. Sabine's tears are very powerful, added to a potion, they make it incredibly more powerful. Problem is, Sabine got distracted by Elodie and switched up the vials. She gave her the tears instead of the sleep potion... And now the queen won't wake up and Sabine has lost most of her family's income...

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, they were very flawed and layered and weren't necessarily good people which was fun. I also did enjoy the romance and the intrigue. However, I only realized this wasn't a standalone when I was at like 90% of the book and it threw me off but that was my own fault. I liked the twists and I did not see them coming. I probably should have seen the main one coming but no. It all took me by surprise and that was quite fun. I also enjoyed the world and how the author added little bits of text at the beginning of each part. The romance started a bit fast for me but it was still very enjoyable overall.
So yes, another hit by Adrienne Tooley, I truly cannot wait for the next book, that last page was a bit mean.

DNF after the first chapter - 5%. I was trying to give this book a go but straight off the bat, the writing was very clunky and not easy to follow, I also immediately disliked the main character and just could not get into it

The Third Daughter is the first book in a sapphic fantasy duology with a unique concept that explores the mental health topic and touches upon complex family dynamics, with Sabine's darkness being an allegory for depression and anxiety. I wouldn't call this a slow-burn queer romance, since the characters fell in love quite early in the story, and frankly, I couldn't exactly understand how and why.

Although flawed and predictable at times, it's an enjoyable, quick read if you're looking for a fantasy book with queer characters that has interesting lore and doesn't focus on the romance.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder&Stoughton for providing me with this ARC!

Solid 3.75 Stars Rounded to 4

This is the first book I’ve read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The cover is beautiful and the synopsis is right up my alley.

I found that the characters Elodie and Sabine were well developed and well
written. I loved reading the dual POV as I feel you get a better understanding of the character and their feelings from this.
I loved that there was romance , magic and mystery. The religion aspect was the main part of the story of which the book is based upon.
The world building is fantastic and I loved all the twists and turns the plot threw at me when reading. Some I saw and some were really unexpected! I loved the ending but I hated it’s left it on the perfect cliffhanger for the next book!

Thank you to the author, Publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve been wanting to read from adrienne tooley for a while because she only writes sapphic fantasy books and i’m always here for that. I really liked this one, proof is, i read it in 2 days! now go on and tell me this book doesn’t take place in a fantasy version of the US… I’ll wait. between the whole church/state aspect of the plot, how a certain neighborhood of the city is being abandoned, how the church is weaponizing the religion, i mean they even call the places of worship CHURCHES, what else do you need to see that this is the fantasy equivalent of christianity. i also liked who the new maiden turned out to be because it follows that idea that, if jesus was alive in 2023, he’d be a marginalized minority and hated by the people supposedly following him. maybe i’m reading too much into it but the coincidence was just THERE. i liked our 2 main characters because they both don’t follow the usual stereotypes when it comes to YA fantasy main characters. i mean, one is a princess and the other has magical powers but they both have flaws and make bad decisions, elodie was depicted as ambitious which i always like seeing in my books, we love an ambitious woman. i think if you liked ead and sabran’s romance in priory of the orange tree as well as all the politics of Inys you might like this book as well. no dragons but sapphic slow burn so that’s a win too! 4⭐️ and will definitely read the sequel.

I really enjoyed this book - it is an emmersive and well written fantasy YA book with great characters really fleshed out.

I think the best part of it is how the author writes emotions the characters are feeling and it makes them alot more relatable and fleshed out as a result. I found myself easily sucked into the world.

Elodie the main character was complex which made her completely realistic. Up until the end i understood her perspective, and whilst i judged her actions at times, I could see that she was doing what she needed to protect the people she loves. Her grief for her mother is brutal and heart felt whilst her relationship with her father is a joy to behold.

Sabine is the polar opposite, quieter and more reserved but has the same things driving her at the core. There relationship is slow and simmering and my favourite thing is that they are both just trying to help eachother. The love story isnt a main plot point, it is just sweet and poignant and i cannot wait to see where it goes from here.

The plot is extremely twisty and you have no way of predicting what will happen which keeps you on your toes. The cliffhanger its been left on has left me in no doubt that i will picking up the next title as soon as possible!

In a Queendom where the Third Daughter holds the throne, Elodie, who is the eldest, wants to take some drastic measures in a move she believes will protect her sister, who is due to inherit the throne

This leads to her paths crossing with Sabine, who has magic in her tears and her family rely on this power to get them by.

After a little vial mix up, Elodie requires to revive her sister and needs Sabine to help her do it... what she doesn't know is the mix up has also led to issues with Sabines own sister too.

A lot of build up to the end of this book, also amazing development and connections formed between the girls along the way. Cannot wait to see where the story goes after this!

This is out today and thank you to NetGalley, Adrienne and Hodderscape for the chance to read and review this early.

I read the first half on kindle, switched to audio until about the last 10%. Both formats were throughly enjoyable and I think this story will sweep you away no matter what format you choose

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/ 3.5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

The Third Daughter is a story about Elodie, the first daughter of the late queen and Sabine, a girl with magic tears. When Elodie’s younger sister of thirteen is crowned the New Maiden and Queen, she tries to put her to sleep to help keep Velle out of the church’s hands, which doesn’t go as planned.

“Sometimes it takes a monster to keep the beasts at bay”

I was drawn into this book with its gorgeous cover and really interesting synopsis! I had also enjoyed her first book Sweet & Bitter Magic so I was anxious to dive into this new story by Adrienne Tooley!

First thing, I was rather intrigued by the religion where this whole book is built upon. A saint, the Maiden, who performed miracles and whose word is followed after She died. While that was really intriguing, at the same time I feel like a lot was left out and a lot more can be explored in this religion. The same with the worldbuilding, it felt lacking a bit at some points.

I liked the plot, which was interesting and engaging! I did feel like the narrative was rather one-sided. Elodie is not a fan of the René and wants to keep the countries rule out of the church’s hands, but no examples are really given as to why the church would be bad for the country, aside from what Elodie thinks herself. So, I had a hard time believing that until much later in the book when some truths are revealed. So, while the plot was engaging, it wasn’t always as believable to me. I didn’t sense the urgency to what Elodie was doing.

I wasn’t a fan of Elodie at all, and to be honest I was rather annoyed with her and that is probably a big reason why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I could’ve. Overall, she just came across as egotistic and naïve and while during the middle part that really seemed to get better, it took a turn for the worst towards the end, which just frustrated me to no end. I did like Sabine, but wished she would’ve grown more during the story.

The romance was truly a slow-burn one, but a sweet one as well and I liked it! I liked the complicated family relations more though and the fact that Sabine and Elodie both were motivated to save their sisters. As someone with a sister myself, I could fully understand that!

There were some twists and reveals that didn’t all hit as well as they could’ve. I did like the end and The Second Son line, which I won’t say more about haha.

I did like the ending, which I can tell you ends on a cliff-hanger. Not in the sense that I was left shellshocked and needed the sequel, but more that the last sentence really shows the impending doom that is about to unleash in the sequel. I liked the ending and I’ll probably will pick up the sequel.

Overall, The Third Daughter is a book with an interesting and engaging plot, but I wasn’t a fan of the main character Elodie, so I hope I’ll enjoy the sequel more once it comes out.




SPOILER!
There was a reveal about Tal and it being his coupe, which just didn’t hit or shocked me. The reason for this is that he was too unknown as a character and only really mentioned and had a brief appearance earlier, so him being the “mastermind” just had no shock factor for me at all

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Adrienne Tooley for the advanced copy of The Third Daughter via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

I enjoyed The Third Daughter, it was a well written fantasy genre book and the beginning of an exciting series.

Tooley writes emotion and feelings very well in this book and I found myself immersed in the story, imagining the characters and the magic with the associated emotion swirling around. It’s a battle of ‘sides’, perceived ‘good’ vs ‘evil’, ‘light’ vs ‘dark’, ‘her’ vs ‘him’.

Labelled as an LGBTQ+ book, the sapphic nature of the feelings and relationships aren’t a ‘big deal’. There is no coming out, no admission of ‘abnormal’ feelings, no tip toeing around. It’s treated the same as if the feelings and attraction were in a heteronormative novel.

The book really spoke to me on an emotional level, with an underlying story of breaking through mental barriers of depression.

I will definitely be reading the subsequent book(s) and really look forward to it!

Moods: adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional, mysterious, sad, tense
Tropes: mistaken identity, peril
Pace: medium
Character development: strong
Plot or character driven: 50/50
Diversity: high
Spice: 2.5/5
Trigger warnings: Death, Death of a family member, Grief, Violence

Rating: 4/5

This was an exciting and intriguing read, with magic and mystery on every page. Elodie and Sabine were so well written - Sabine's battle with her inner sadness was particularly powerful. Hoping the bond between these two continues to grow - bring on book 2!!

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC.