Norcliff is a quick and easy read. This story had a lot of promise, but the plot is overly rushed and is honestly lacking any real depth. There were elements I enjoyed, especially the main character reaching court and the potential for political intrigue. However, this like many areas fell flat. I wish we had pushed literally any aspect further, because every challenge or issue was resolved incredibly quickly. Erin has the potential to be a interesting main character; I just wish we had the opportunity to develop a stronger relationship with her.

Overall, this was a story that left me wanting, but I do believe it will appeal to the younger end of the YA romantasy demographic.

I found myself fantasizing about the love Erin and Hugo have for each other and how after her fiance/husband passing she never thought she could love so deep again with all the challenges she came across with, with her parents being captured. I found myself in Erin's shoes and wish to find love like Erin and Hugo❤️. It's a great book.

This book is a solid YA fantasy. The dialogue really threw me off, because it is written highly and I had a hard time connecting with it. I’d let my niece read it, but it’s not a rave.

Thanks to netgalley for this ARC.

I wanted to like it. I really did. The premise had promise.
The FMC is raised/trained as both a kick ass warrior and a lady. The issue is she’s raised in a medieval land where women aren’t supposed to be warriors. Misogyny ruins the day yet again.
The story started off great and then sorta fell flat. The battle scenes were lacking interest and the end was meh.
There are lots of holes in character development, too.
I kept reading hoping the spark of the first half would reignite. Nope
It’s like the author had a character limit and needed to wrap it up quickly.
Disappointing, overall.

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me at 40%. I tried to read as much as I could before making the decision to not read any further and I feel that I’ve hit my limit.

The cover and premise for this book were fantastic and I was really excited to give it a go but the writing just fell so flat. I felt no connection or care for any of the characters, the plot seems to jump forward very quickly which gives readers no time to react, reflect or think about important events. It’s written in a very “tell not show” style which comes off quite juvenile and doesn’t allow readers to visualise. The dialogue was also very clunky and unrealistic for people who have known each other their entire lives.

I think the story has real potential, the writing just needs a fair bit of work.

If you liked learning about royalty in school and enjoyed films like Brave, this book is for you. I enjoyed the way this was written and I was constantly wanting to know what else was going to happen.

Lady Erin is preparing for the most important day of her life, the start of something new. Little did she know that the new was not exactly what she was expecting. Lady Erin has been brought up with the skills to fight for herself unlike most lady's of the land which is unusual in this time and due to this she really stands up for herself and her family.

I really enjoyed the strong female character that Erin became and how she truly grew within the book. I am really hoping that this becomes a series as I would love to know how Lady Erin gets on as well as her rag tag team of friends.

I loved this book so much. I loved the relationship between Erin and Liana and how they trusted each other and uplifted each other throughout the story. I think the way that Erin's grief is depicted throughout the books is phenominal and the depiction of her internal struggles relating to her grief was amazing as well. While I do think that Erin's strength and communication skills on the battlefield were not then reflected in her conversations with her family and friends, it still did not take away from how much I loved this story and this cast of characters.

A story with great potential but a clear lack of editing and it low-key makes me sad, because this book could've been great. Aside from the many typos, there were also some glaring mistakes such as a prince being addressed as "your majesty"? And that wasn't the only time such. thing happened, which truly sucks in a fantasy book with a monarchy. The book also felt very rushed and I think that is partly because of its length, it definitely needed 100 more pages. 2.5 stars

For me, this is a 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. It was filled with fantasy, exciting battles and heart. It is captivating. I personally think as someone who has been getting into fantasy but still is a bit inexperienced, this is a great book as the magic system and clan set up was something I felt familiar with and could understand easily. The plot was well-crafted and I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC.

I was interested in this book as it had an intriguing premise but unfortunately I found that the writing let it down and ended up DNFing after only 13%. While the story itself featured some darker aspects the writing style itself felt very young, especially considering that the book is marketed as a New Adult novel. I’m sure that had I continued the story itself would have still been enjoyable but unfortunately the actual writing made me unable to continue.

I chose to read this book because of its attractive cover and intriguing synopsis. Reading fantasy was enjoyable. Certain sections felt a little more YA, while other sections felt a little more adult. That coincided with the fact that I occasionally felt the dialogue to be a little awkward and inconsistent. Although I finished the book because I found it to be enjoyable, I don't think I would suggest it to anyone I know. This book clearly has an audience, but I don't think it's me.

I really wanted to like this book. I thought it sounded really fun, and the artwork on the cover was stunning. The first 40% or so of the book did keep me entertained - I liked the characters, I was intrigued by Erin’s skill, and there were some really strong commentary on political climates, societal expectations, and the upholding and subversion of expectations all at once. Unfortunately, that enjoyment didn’t remain. Around about that 40% mark, something switched within the book for me, and I really struggled to like it.
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I can’t remember if it was like this throughout the whole book and that I was too intrigued to notice, but a third of the way in, the writing just seemed really childish? On Netgalley, the book is classed as ‘New Adult’ (18-29 age range) but it does NOT feel like that at all. It deals with some harsh topics (brutal deaths and SA) but it’s written like the audience are children? To me, it was far too simplistic with the style of ‘tell, not show’. I couldn’t immerse myself into the book, as it felt like I was reading “and then this happened, and then I said this, and then she said that, and then this happened”, which was very off-putting.
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All of the speech and description included pointed out the obvious, whilst feeling incredibly clunky. I couldn’t submerge myself in the book, or picture anything myself. With the writing style, everything moved so quickly and it felt like I was getting a bit of whiplash. There wasn’t a second for the characters to breathe, or for the readers to be able to feel anything for the characters or about the plot.
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For me, this was so close to a DNF, as I struggled unbelievably with the simplistic writing style and the fast pace. I’m really sad about that, because it felt like such a strong premise, and I WAS excited about the beginning. Unfortunately, as the book went on, I was getting more and more annoyed by the characters and writing style.
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I do think with a bit of editing, pacing work, and the additions of description, this book could be A LOT stronger. Unfortunately, though, I think I’m going to have to give this book ⭐️.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I DNF this book at 41%
The description and cover of the book was really interesting but the execution of it was very lackluster. I really wanted to like this book and finish reading it but I had issues connecting with the characters because of the pacing and writing style.
In the beginning of the story we have a very forced dialogue with Erin the main character and her maid/friend Liana where it explained Erin relationship with her fiancé and family and a paragraph later her fiancé is killed and her family kidnapped and I have not emotional reaction or attachment to them. We don't know who these people are and as far as I read they are unknown to me. Then almost immediately the story jump to a different scene and location where something important happens for the plot and the story jumps again before the reader has a chance to understand what happened. This cycle seems to continue throughout the rest of the book.
We have more detailed descriptions of the characters' clothing than world building o characters development.
My enjoyment declined the more I continue reading and every time a stop I have to force myself to pick it up again.

i got about 30% into this but it just wasn't for me so unfortunately i had to dnf - i would be interested in reading other work from this author though! this just wasn't capturing my attention.

thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc 🫶🏻

Thanks so much to K.A. Connolly and Netgalley for providing me this arc!

This is a dnf at 41% unfortunately.

I want to start this with the things i liked about this book. Let´s start with the cover - absolutely gorgeous. And that´s about it.

The rest of the book sadly could not convince me.

I could not get into it. The writing style and the weird modern takes written into this book really lost me. The fact that Erin is supposed to be a Lady but has absolutely no manners, and simultaneously being raised as a warrior but there is no substances to the so called "action" scenes. They lack detail as the lack tension.

Character development? What is that? The characters are two dimensional and boring. Why should i care that some character i know for 10 pages betrays Erin and her family? The characters are simply not complex enough for that, plus we get no time to get to know these characters and their relationships. None of them matter.

And the one character that seems interesting in the beginning - Jax - is basically reduced to being a dog on a leash.

The way Erin deals with the loss of her fiance ( which she has apparently known since childhood ) seems so shallow, when she is crying first and two paragraphs later she is laughing about some stupid shit. ( And yes she is allowed to laugh and be happy even though her fiance is dead, her parents captured and kidnapped, but TWO paragraphs later???? ) Also she never even really talks about the loss of her parents?

World-building doesn´t exist? We know nothing about Norcliff other than it being "remote". And you could counteract this with interesting political intrigue - but guess what - we also don´t get that. Because Erin comes and goes to talk to the king in the span of TWO DAYS!!

I could go on but ... i really wanted so much more of this. Really dissapoinited.

I’ve to admit the overall plot was pretty decent but it falls short in the off-key pacing and execution. The start of a female empowering role by Erin was fascinating but as you move forward you begin to see that unfortunately the book fails to deliver what was promised. No offence but I was all for a strong female character who learns from her mistakes after being in the real world for the first time and slowly becomes stronger through hardships yet still securing that feminine wiles about her. But this one just didn’t feel right, I failed to connect with the main character and how her mind worked throughout the whole book. She was imperfect which was totally fine but her continuous foolish decision just irritated me. Most of all her thought process was so hard to follow through and the pacing in the book didn’t help it all. Also the male lead just wasn’t carved out so well in my opinion. I’m just greatly disappointed cause this book certainly had to potential to be a great read but the writing just isn’t it which was saddening cause I would have loved to see Erin and Lianne ending up together as compared to the way the book started I was actually surprised to see there was a male lead (it’s just my personal opinion and in no way affected the story)

Sorry to say but this read was mediocre at best. I loved the main character Erin, a true badass warrior, but she was the only reason I kept reading to the end. If you’re expecting a good fantasy romance you will be disappointed by the lack of fantasy and a woeful romance.
No recommendations from me.

This book was okay but the writing could use some work. I didn't feel connected to the characters or interested in story. With some work it could be good.

The cover is gorgeous and the overall synopsis was interesting and that’s why I picked this book up. It was a fun fantasy read. Some parts seemed a bit more YA and other parts felt a bit more adult. That matched with the fact that I found some of the dialogue a bit awkward, made it feel a bit inconsistent at times. I liked the book enough to finish it but it’s not something I feel like I would be able to recommend to people I know personally. I definitely feel like this book has an audience, but I don’t think it’s me.

DNF 13%

I picked this up so many times and just put it back down. I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get past the writing style. It felt like it didn't mesh with the setting. Maybe a good editor could help polish the book to something that I would be able to read. The book starts off with action, and yet I didn't feel invested. It just wasn't for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and K. A. Connolly for the ARC.