Actual Rating 2.5

Isfalk is made up of two classes: the Branded who are often sick and weak, and the Pure who are strong and immune to disease. Nara and Osha are twins who are being raised in the Citadel to be used as breeders for the next Pure generation. But Nara isn’t able to find peace with their fate the way that Osha has, and repeatedly finds way to break the rules. When she goes just a bit too far, a secret is revealed that forces her life’s course to change. As she struggles to find answers and stay in contact with her sister, Nara won’t know who to trust or what answers her past may hold for her future.

I liked the idea of the world and setting and some of the concepts that were included. The area where the story begins had some interesting politics that were incorporated well. I would have liked to see the setting incorporated a bit more, though, as it often felt like the story was somewhat disconnected from it.

This was a decent read, but it felt too familiar in too many places to really keep my interest. From the direction the plot was going to go to the inevitable relationships and betrayals, it was all predictable and likely will be for most folks who read a lot of fantasy. The characters were fine, but similarly weren’t anything special and weren’t well enough developed to really draw me into them. As this is a book one, I hope that will be less of an issue in the following book.

Overall, this was a decent fantasy, but I don’t think it’s enough for me to keep reading the series and wasn’t that memorable. If you’re interested in fantasy with female protagonists, enemies to lovers (kind of), and chosen ones, then you may like this one. The narrator did do an excellent job, so I recommend trying the audio version if you’re planning to read it. My thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published June 11, 2024. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! Very different and still have so many questions I want answered! I need more! This was a great change in the books I normally read.

Note: listened on audio, so please forgive any spelling errors found in this review.

The Branded carries so many typical fantasy elements that it was a kind of comforting read for me.

The world is laid out well with two different classes of humans: the pure and the branded. The pure are stronger and resilient while the branded are weaker and prone to disease. In what is the greatest settlement left on the continent, pure women are raised for marriage to continue strong bloodlines while pure men run the military operations. The branded live as servants and farmers in a village protected by the settlement’s military. In exchange for protection from brutal clans in the wild, the branded serve the pure with their money, their crops, and their livelihoods.

Two pure sisters - Nara and Osha - who, despite being near complete opposites of one another, are incredibly close due to tragic loss in childhood. In the process of trying to help their branded maid, they begin a sequence of revelations that threaten to overturn everything they know about their settlement.

The plot was wonderful to follow, and the slow burn romance smoldered delightfully under the surface. The chapters were long, but for me that’s not a negative.

I feel like we could have benefitted from points of view other than Nara’s, but all the characters hold back so many secrets that I understand the solitary pov. It probably would have dragged a little for me if I were reading a physical copy of the book, but the narration kept it moving for me.

The narrator, Leah Filley, was absolutely phenomenal. This book convinced me that I need to look up others she has narrated. The emotion and uncertainty were portrayed just as well as the anger that fueled Nara through the entire novel.

I will absolutely be following up with the sequel, also in audio format if it’s released that way, because I am desperate to know more.

Friendly reminder to read content warnings before diving into this one! There are some potentially triggering elements involved.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the audiobook producer for the advance copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I am... on the fence about this book.

On the one hand, I LOVED the aspect of mixing together stories like The Handmaid's Tale with other dystopian stories like The Hunger Games (yes, I know there's no nationwide culling of children put into an arena to kill each other but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN). The main characters were interesting, and I was excited to see where it went. However, as the story went on there were a LOT of things that started to annoy me, so I will list both the pros and cons.

PROS:
- Like I said, interesting concept. While we've had SO many stories containing "chosen ones" and dystopian societies, this one just felt a little different to me (or maybe I just haven't read it's duplicate yet).
- The plot kept me interested and I definitely want to pick up the second book to see what happens after everything I witnessed in book one.
- Osha: we all know I'm a sucker for an actually NICE character, and she was a delight to read about.

CONS:
- If I never have to read another book where the main love interests keep calling each other by stupid nicknames, I'll have died and gone to heaven because that will never happen. Consistently calling each other "Wrangler" and "Little Scourge" were the bane of my existence and made me want to put down the book on a number of occasions.
- The ending for Osha... you'll know when you get to it, but I'm so mad. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN GOING INTO IT BUT BECAUSE IT CAME FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE, I'M JUST MAD NOW.
- Nara, Wrangler, and her other man (I literally already forget his name oops) were all insufferable to read about 90% of the time. I didn't care for any of the romance between any of them, I only cared about Osha's romance!!

Overall, a pretty basic story but I'd say still worth your time, at least for listening to the audiobook while doing other things.

First let me just say that this was not a bad book. It wasn’t too much of a slog to finish, and the writing was accessible, if a little uninspired. The premise of the whole world is very cool too, but it just felt poorly executed. It’s easier to complain than praise and I fear I lean into the negative too much. I might read book 2 but theres also a good chance that in one week I will have forgotten this ever existed.

The audiobook itself I found to have quite deadpan delivery. Particularly at the beginning. It isn’t helped by the exposition that accompanies the beginning of every fantasy book but the narration came across as bored and thus boring. There is an argument to be made that Nara is bored of her life and therefore a dull tone is fine, but it wasn’t bored in the writing… it was nothing in the writing. She wasn’t desperate to get out but nor was she content to be where she was. It sounded a little like whining. ‘Oh I hate my life with plenty of food :( I would much rather starve in the forest’ as a cool girl. The side of ‘id rather starve in the forest than be a glorified broodmare’ was not explored enough.
From deadpan exposition a lot of the dialogue was then weirdly angry in tone? For some reason everything came across petty and with a snarl that got real old real fast, and contributed to my next issue.

Within the story itself, I found Nara to be an incredibly unlikeable character. I don’t think she is supposed to be. The author plants the seeds of ‘she’s had such a hard life, she will do anything to protect her sister!’ but we dont see that in a meaningful way. She’s desperate to escape the school because she’s bored, not because she wants better for her sister. And then this girl embodies ‘out of sight, out of mind’ about pretty much everyone she ‘cares’ about. I have nothing endearing her to me because there didn't seem to be a single truly meaningful moment here.

The prejudices she has against the other tribes in this world made me so violently uncomfortable to read. She is from a place that literally just treats these women as baby machines, then when another tribe does it they’re somehow barbarians and uncivilised and evil??? Without giving the same vitriol to her own people? She only hates those ones because they were going to do it to her. I genuinely could not stomach parts of it and I think that really contributed to me never being able to root for her.

Similarly, when she finally realises that her upbringing was so incredibly biased and wrong, she does nothing with that revelation. There is no re-examining of everything she ever thought she knew in a different light, but she has to be proven wrong about everything individually. She meets a good guy from a different race and it’s not that huh maybe I was indoctrinated into hating them it’s ‘oh wow theres a nice one? Definitely an anomaly because all of XYZ group are evil and uncivilised brutes and have you heard how they treat their women?’

When there are cryptic hints dropped by other people Nara seems able to recognise that theres a deeper meaning, but then does nothing to explore that. She just goes ‘ah what a weird way to say that… anyway’.

All of the characters are underdeveloped, the love interest’s personality is ‘strong strange man’ and there actually isn’t a complete story arc here.
The whole book goes school -> forest -> kidnapped - > rescued -> kind kidnapped again. That is not a story arc. That is not a plot. There is no main conflict that got resolved. I understand that this is part of a series but in order for it warrant separate books there has to be a complete story with each one. It can be part of one overall arc but I need a satisfying resolution for it feel like a book worth reading. This is why priory of the orange tree, while 800 pages, is one book. There is one story arc. To break it up into smaller chunks would leave 2+ books without a complete plot themselves.

A little rambly but I have had many thoughts since finishing it and to be honest the more I think about it the worse it holds up in my memory.

DNF @ 60%

So I dnfed because I found the fmc to so selfish. People are literally dying and she’s just exclusively thinking about her problems (which aren’t as bad people dying because of diseases and getting sick). I think maybe if I were able to push through she might have gotten better but I couldn’t make it that far unfortunately.

Sometimes a book comes a long that makes you want to re-rate so many of the books you have previously read. Her skill at world building while actively moving a plot is a wonderfully done. I was never bogged down at any point in this book, which is something that happens for me with some other super popular authors. I loved the rich characters, the pace, the folklore/prophecy within the world, the beautifully lyrical writing and the surprising ending that left me wanting more. This has shot to my top 5 reads this year.

I was not familiar with the author before picking up this audiobook and was pleasantly surprised! Riccioni's world building is phenomenal. The dialogue between characters is top-notch. And the romance, ohh the romance! This fantasy novel was a breath of fresh air in a TBR full of fantasy. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

The audio is well-produced, but I did not enjoy the prose. It wasn’t done terribly at all, I just have a difficult time with first person perspectives. I have to be interested very quickly and that was not the case here.

Book 1 of The Branded Season series
Audiobook narrated by Leah Filley

I got really into this storyline, and I credit that to how well the banter was executed. The dialog between characters is where this book shined. I thought it was a really entertaining read and am already recommending it. The audiobook complimented the book well. I thought the narration was strong and well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jo Riccioni, and Bolina Audio for this audiobook ARC.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC copy
This book is def slow to get into. It's a slow burn romance, enemy to lovers troupe. While there are magical elements in the book they are in the background. I fele like this book sets the stage for book 2 :)
I enjoyed the book and am looking foward to book 2

Nara and Osha are twins with an unknown heritage. They are living in the pure citadel, learning to be Moor ladies. Whereas Osha is following the guidelines, Nara is a bit of a rebel, learning fighting and hunting with Brim - who becomes a warder guard.
Nara finds herself on the outside and meets Wrangler. Danger and hostility are all around.
Fast paced, compelling and gripping.
Well narrated. I loved it.

OMG was this book amazing! The world-building, the characters, the plot, THE ROMANCE! I had a blast listening to it, the narrator was great! It also explored very interesting themes, bordering on dystopian, if I'm being honest. The writing style was gorgeous and I loved listening to it. And the characters were just so good ugh. I have one thing to complain about and that is the pacing which I found quite slow and I struggle a little to get into it until maybe the 30% mark. 4.5 stars

For fans of:
- Blood of Fae Series
- Awakened Fates Series
- Naming of the Queen

Nara lives in a world plagued by illness where only a select few remain immune. Women who are immune to the disease, like Nara and her twin sister, are protected and coveted in their community as breeders. Despite their sheltered lifestyle, Nara dreams of life outside their community walls where she can be something more than a baby-making machine.

This book includes:
- forbidden love
- one horse trope
- twin sisters with opposite personalities
- gladiator games
- disease, poverty, prejudice, and famine
- clairvoyant abililites
- mysterious talismans
- cliffhanger ending
- check TW

This is a great romantasy in a world that explores the themes of segregation in a world where illness and immunity are the centers of all of civilization. Nara is daring and is brave enough to question the status quo. The book is engaging and I was fully immersed into the story the entire time.

I found it a little frustrating that we got 0 answers in this book, but I understand that it is the first book in a series and that's probably the point.

I received this audiobook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Bolinda Audio, and Jo Riccioni for the opportunity to review this book. This review is also available on my GoodReads - check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863

3 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one... I struggled a bit. But not because it's badly written au contraire it's because the subjects it deals with. Every time I see a book with The Handmaid Tales vibes, I stir away from it, and if I knew this had those vibes, I wouldn't have picked it up. Still. This was interesting, and although intense, it was also very engaging.
I liked the twins, Osha, a bit more than Nara and their journey.
I had the pleasure to get this on audio, and the narration was lively, and it added to the story.
Overall, this was a good book 1, and I'm definitely picking up the rising next!

To hunt or to cure - what do you choose?
A great fantasy book to escape from the real world. I was pretty invested in Nara and Osha's life and waited for them to find a happy end. But life in a world divided between pure and branded does not make it easy to be happier. As they grew up under their tyrant’s nose, Nara awaited an escape - and life offered it in strange form. But with freedom also comes danger, that may tinker with an unknown dormant power.

There are prophesies, special capabilities, hooking plot twists and sort of a love triangle to keep you engrossed. The stark contrast between the two siblings is apt! The world buildup is done at an expansive length (which I don't see that often) with grey sides to each character, no one here is totally good or bad, just human enough with their own traumas and abilities to deal with difficulties of life.

But... the author had to close this on a cliffhanger! I have no clue when the next part will be out and the ambiguity is killing me. Who drops a b*mb like that and then just poof 💨 acknowledgements... 🤷‍♀️

Thank you for the ARC @joriccioni @angryrobotbooks and @bolindaaudio
I hope I get my hands on the next part soon
Genre: #fantasy #adult

Loved this book. I'd describe it as a YA fantasy book, with a level of segregation based on if people are branded or not. There are strict rules and politics. It's well written and the world building is accessible to all. Can't wait to read the next one.

I did not want this audio book to finish. I loved the character and the world build, so vividly written that I could picture it. Outstanding. I can’t wait for more from this author!

It's a fantasy book with an amazing world building. As the book 1, the author indeed paid more attention to the world building and the background of the characters in the plotline.
I loved the way the plot is weaved in and the plot is well paced one. As an audiobook, it was an amazing experience to listen such a good book.

This book hooked me with its premise from the first chapter and kept me wanting to know more as the story progressed.

The challenging dynamic in this dystopian world between childhood friends as well as siblings leads the reader down a hole full of secrets and desperately hoping for relationships to be preserved.

As the story progresses, the action scenes intensifies and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat while being frustrated by some interactions between the FMC and her love interest. The angsty, slow burn is at a height in this book!

Finally, the ending made me stare in silence wishing I could pick up the next book of the series immediately to find out what is going to happen next.

The dystopian world building and depth of characters that Riccioni created in this novel has created a world that I am excited to launch back into at some point.