Cwen is a unique blend of historical fiction and religious themes, following a young woman's rise in a world shaped by faith and tradition. The writing style feels old-fashioned, which fits the setting but can be a bit hard to follow at times. A thoughtful read, especially for those interested in spiritual growth and medieval storytelling.

This is #7 in the series and I have not read any of the others. I don't believe this impacted my experience at all, and I definitely consider this to be a stand alone read.

It was an enjoyable fantasy and I felt like I had entered another time and age. This fantasy world was obviously based on medieval Britain, but I could appreciate it.

I rated this 3 stars because of the following factors. First, I thought the characters could have been more developed. I would have liked experiencing Cwen's emotions and motivations more deeply than they were described by the author - I wanted more of a connection with her as a reader. Both Cwen and Cadoc were interesting, but they fell just a bit flat; this was maybe due to the British overtones? As for the character of Aescwine, he seemed cartoonish. Honestly, he reminded me of Lord Farquaard from Shrek - they had a lot of similar characteristics! Second, the Christian overtones were very strong, overly so in my opinion. I would have preferred it more subtle in a fantasy read.

If you do not mind strong Christian overtones, and want a fantasy that will immerse you in another world, I say go ahead and give this one a try!

**Thank you to netgalley for this digital copy in exchange for my honest review**

Wow—Cwen is one of those books that pulls you in with its haunting atmosphere and refuses to let go. Bryce Gibby weaves a tale that is both enchanting and dark, filled with an almost hypnotic storytelling style that lingers in your mind long after you’ve finished.

The world he creates feels otherworldly yet deeply rooted in legend, and the characters—especially Cwen herself—are mesmerizing. There’s a poetic quality to the prose that makes everything feel just a little more magical, even when the story takes a turn toward the eerie and unsettling.

This is a standalone title, so it can be read apart from the series!

In this fascinating, beautiful, and exciting historical fiction novel, readers follow Cwen across ancient Germania and Britannia as magic, religion, and war collide in a match for the ages, shaping Cwen’s life and choices as a sorceress and priestess of Ashtoreth. Paired with vibrant and beautiful illustrations, the novel traces Cwen’s life from her childhood with her parents and siblings to a world of power, intrigue, and dark magic under a Seidr sorceress whose power is compelling yet dangerous. With a dangerous quest reminiscent of the fascinating ordeals from ancient literature full of high stakes and epic fantasy adventures, fans of fantasy and historical fiction will love the latest book in the Annals of the Heroic (standalone novels) series and want to explore this world further in the other books. With brilliant characters and an incredibly complex magic system, the novel is engrossing, complex, and incredibly written, and readers will lose themselves in Gibby’s world and the adventures in Cwen’s future. With its incredible setting, fascinating characters, and impeccable world-building, the latest instalment in this incredible fantasy series is a must-read for those who loved the previous books and want to see artistic representations of the world that Gibby has so convincingly brought to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Perlycross Publishers for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to enjoy this book. As a fan of mythology, I was disappointed by the book’s attempts at portrayal and the negative light that was cast on it. Though I will be the first to admit that perhaps a Christian-leaning book wasn’t for me!

After trying multiple times, I could not finish and had to DNF. I don’t think I was the audience for this book.

I've received a free advanced copy of Cwen by Bruce. From Net gallery. For review, all opinions and thoughts written here are my own and I am not being compensated in any way
I think that Cwen is a wonderful book. . In my opinion it tells a riveting tale of a young girl. Just trying to find where she fits in in a changing world where The belief in a Pantheon of gods is the held to truth. Along the way, she discovers Christianity, but throughout this journey she also discovers her own gifts and strengths and is able to lead her people and eventually become Queen. This is by no means an easy tale to tell or standard, because Bruce Gibby does a wonderful job in of using the traditional language of the time and beliefs of the time to tell what could very well be a piece of History leaving together today's traditional beliefs Aunt, the tales of King Arthur.. in a way that fills in the Gap nicely between history, reality and folk legend, I strongly recommend book to anyone who enjoys that sort of thing. Also, another detail that I found very pleasantly surprising is the use of pictures, color pictures in the book to illustrate characters and scenery. It lends this book a very magical quality.
I am overjoyed give this book a strong recommendation and I look forward to reading anything else that this author might have on his mind.
Enjoy!
Thank you Bruce Gibby for producing this lovely piece of art and literature. We're all rolled into one.

Thanks to Perlycross Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC! I thought that this book had a lot of great parts. I particularly enjoyed that this was a stand-alone novel in a series (so there was more to read!), the characters were well thought out and dynamic and the overall concept was so thought provoking. It's not the easiest book in terms of emotion but wow was it good!

Cwen is an intriguing story written in a somewhat old English style that will either entrance the readers or enrage them. I am a big fan of books such as the Iliad so the writing style should have been enjoyable for me but it just... didn't. Cwen has an interesting journey whilst being an Italian glassblower's daughter. She finds herself in the crux of Christianity and paganism yet ends up on the side of the christian devil.
I have quite a bit of religious trauma so this is definitely one I should have skipped.

Though I appreciate the opportunity I had to DNF the book. I'm a visual reader. There's a lot of telling and not enough showing. It was very detached. When writing I tend to enjoy all the senses being incorporated into the story. Smells like, sounds like, looks like, feels like, tastes like. It may not have been the purpose but there was little to no life with these characters. It sounded great but I wanted to feel something when the tragic events happened but the words lacked!

Despite my appreciation for high fantasy, I found myself struggling with *Cwen* by Bryce Gibby. Even with both the ebook and audiobook versions at my disposal, I could only manage to get through 30% of the book. Multiple attempts to reengage with the story proved unsuccessful, as I was unable to connect with its focus on the conflict between paganism and Christianity. The use of old English style writing further impeded my immersion. Ultimately, I decided to DNF this book. However, it may appeal to readers who appreciate a narrative centered on religious struggle and are comfortable with an archaic writing style.

I was very disappointed in the "artwork" that was used for this book. It was very obviously AI and it turned me off of the whole thing. As an artist and an aspiring writer, I just can't justify it. I couldn't get past the "illustrations" at the front of the book. I was excited to read this one too.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The story follows the books namesake, Cwen, who is of astounding beauty and wit. She is injured and her father, at great financial loss, summons a healer witch to save her life. Upon leaving, the witch tells him that she is worth more than his business and rides away. Years later, she returns with a pile of gold and basically buys Cwen into her service. Cwen goes willingly thinking she will be part of the fair lady's glorious adventures and will one day marry a fine man above her current station. Instead she is an indentured servant where both her beauty and talent are gruesomely envied and hung over her head at the threat of death. As if meant for something greater, Cwen is guided by another silent power on the ways to navigate her way to the station of high priestess. The story that follows is essentially Cwen's quest to understand her role, her religion and who she believes she is at her core. Before she came to her power, she was raised pagan/norse with the traditional gods of that timeframe. She believes in them fervently and studies what she believes as the goddess Freyja's teachings. Honestly, it wasn't super clear of where the story was going at first, but it becomes pretty transparent that the book's main theme is Pagan vs. Christianity and the cruel goddess she served was a representation of the Christian idea of satan. I'm all for a good theological struggle, but the story leans extremely heavy in the prose that Christianity is the only and right choice, which I dunno, felt a little icky to me. I personally am not into that kind of forced narrative in a fiction story. While I myself may choose that path, I am not at all ok with possibly pressing those views by disguising them as a literary fiction novel. Honestly, up until that revelation I was invested in the story and found the characters to be well-written. The story, while a slow burn, kept my attention and projected itself well. Unfortunately, I just wasn't the correct audience for this type of fiction.

Cwen was born a Saxon to an Italian glassblower and a Saxon maiden. The key moment in her young life is when her little brother is killed by a noble who was racing down the road of her village. Cwen takes comfort in the outdoors and finds herself deeply in tune with the natural world. The other thing that brings Cwen joy after her brother's death is an old codex her father shared with her. When the sorceress of Seidr comes to her village and offers her a different life, her parents allow her to go. She is trained to become a priestess for the goddess Ashtoreth. From there she ends up in a marriage where her husband only married her to gain power. She starts searching for the Great Magician she read about in her father's codex while trying to save the lives of her subjects in Britannia. In what could have been a good novel, Bryce Gibby becomes focused on proselytizing rather than telling the story he started to tell. He seems to have no respect for pagans and the ancient pagan religions, making it so that Cwen has been serving the devil. I think this novel should be mark as a Christian-centric and not a fantasy/historical fiction novel.

Unfortunately, I struggled to find the motivation to finish this book. I even got the audiobook to help get through it and still only made it 21%. Even though I didn't finish the book I'm going to give it 3 stars because the story was intriguing and I still plan on going back to the book. I just feel like I'm all "fantasied" out and this story is definitely high fantasy. The Old English type of writing was hard for me to comprehend at times and I felt I was missing something because I just didn't understand the words or phrasing. While listening to the audiobook, I couldn't help but think that this would make a really fun and interesting movie because of what Cwen had experienced as a child and what was planned for her future.

I will close this out by saying I do recommend this book if you enjoy high fantasy. Also, the version of the book I got on Kindle has illustrations and they are STUNNING.

I haven't read the other books in the series yet, but I plan to. The author draws readers in with descriptions of nearly everything, from Cwen's childhood home, the forests in which she finds herself, to even the world of dark magic and mystical intrigue. The only downside was that the ending of the book felt as though the author was proselytizing and sending the message that people just reject anything other than Christianity in order to be a good person.

This is a part of series yet can be read as a standalone thus it was interesting and this special thing about this particular title attracted me the most.
The writing style is beautiful and magical, i hadn't read a good thought provoking book and this was such a delightful one. The protagonist grew throughout the whole book and long with it we get to see so many different aspects like history, mystery and magic. It was such a refreshing and unique book.

Cwen by Bryce Gibby is a book that takes the reader on a wild ride through ancient Briittannia and Germania. Gwen is the beautiful, peasant daughter of an Italian glass blower who is “purchased “ from her parents by a witch who intends to transform her into a cultivated woman who can then be sold to the queen’s court. The book is the seventh in a series, I had not read any of the previous books but there was no need. The book does well as a stand alone novel. It’s a delightful mixture of fairytale, history, fantasy, mythology and magic that kept me reading into the night. If this type of book is your cup of tea, I think you will savor this one. I did.

A huge thank you to Perlycross Publishers, Bryce Gibby and last but certainly not least NetGalley for this ARC for my honest review.

This is an absolutely riveting story on a woman finding her way through life. She is striving to be the best she can be while finding herself. She deals with trauma from a very young age and learns the ways of survival/ the way of the world very quick.

I enjoy how Cwen found herself in darkness but came to realize that it’s wrong and not the right way of thinking / believing and quickly turned to believe in “The great magician.”

This story has a lot of family aspects to it including family that is not blood.

I did not find a single dull part to this story.

The author had a way to make it such a full and enjoyable story every step of the way.

I like how the book changed perspectives but only for brief points and mainly kept the book from Cwen’s POV.

The first couple chapters were hard to get through with a death of a child, but I am so glad I didn’t let that deter me from reading this book. I rate this book 5 of 5 stars.

This one grabs and pulls, maybe because the characters were so relatable. It felt familiar, but not at the same time if that makes sense. I feel like everyone could learn a thing or two and apply it towards real life. I was rooting the whole time! Well done.

Cwen is a redemption story at its core about a young girl's journey to living in a way that feels right and good. Author Bryce Gibby's archaic prose felt nostalgic and was relatively easy to read, and fit well with the ancient Germania and Britannica setting. The pacing of the story felt more well-balanced at the beginning and ending of the story; its conclusion wrapped up the narrative with the best kind of fairytale-esque ending and moral theme. Readers who enjoy fantastical and historical fiction centered around religion/faith-based messages may appreciate Cwen!