Daughter of the Downed Empire is a YA fantasy, with a slow burn romance in an academic setting. There's plenty of mystery and intrigue, with an interesting magic system and mythology.

I found the main character, Lyriana, to be a strong, determined young female protagonist, and I did enjoy the relationship between her and her sisters, as well as with Rhyan (who I think I'm a bit in love with!)

Given this is part of a series, not much is resolved but it certainly makes you want to pick up the sequel immediately !

This was a great start to a romatasy series. The world is vibrant and exciting with everything from magic to warriors, mysterious artefacts and fantastical libraries under pyramids. The stakes are high, the action doesn't stop and there is plenty of intrigue to keep you thinking. The main characters are fab, the baddies are loathsome and the fantastical creatures are wonderous. Also, I'm a sucker for a slow burn romance so I LOVED that side of it.

Please excuse my late review, I thought I had already submitted this months ago, but it must not have went through!

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was beautifully written with strong world building and a unique magic system! There was political intrigue, action, romance and well written characters! Lyr was great main character and I can't wait to read the next book!

For the first book in a series this was an okay read for me. The world building makes it really slow but I've learned that's what is expected of fantasy stories. I'm more of a contemporary/dark romance reader.

The romance wasn't really the main focus but more on Lyriana and her story of not having magic and her sisters having illegal dark magic. She trains to be an assassin and is an apprentice of someone from her past.

Lyris boyfriend isn't great and I'd probably slap the sh*t out of him if I ever got the chance to meet him lol. She's too good for him, she's too strong willed and resilient for someone as foolish as he is.

I'm not sure if I will pick up the rest of the series tbh as I just found that this was missing something but I'm not sure what it was/is.

3.5 Stars.

This was a super easy read and I really enjoyed our female main character Lyr. I did not enjoy the romance of this book - but I am assuming that was intentional because it seems to be setting our girl up for a forbidden romance which I am all here for. Honestly, thought, if Rhyan hadn't been brought in I probably would have DNF'd as besides Lyr the other characters fell a little flat for me.

The beginning was a little slow, as expected of a fantasy series building the world and helping the reader understand what is going on before throwing us the biggest curveball and ramping up the tension tenfold. from about 30% all the way to the end I was hooked. I really enjoyed my time with this book and will be reading book two! I'm so intrigued as to where this is going!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the storytelling in Daughter of the Drowned Empire and relatable, likable characters,. Loved every single second reading it.

I had high hopes for the book as I had been recommending it by friends. The book however was a disappointment. I’m not sure if it was because it was an arc copy but the writing was bad, with things being repeated over and over again just in the same page…did you know Lyriana is Heir to Arkasva, but f you didn’t I don’t know how you missed it as it was mentioned on every page.

My biggest gripe with the book was that it you’d finally got to grips with the way the world worked and the animals and weapons and then suddenly something new would be thrown in and you were expected to know exactly what it was (I know there was a glossary at the back but I shouldn’t have to stop reading and go search through the glossary to find things out ).

Overall a carbon copy of Fourth Wing but with even more confusing elements thrown in.

Whew, was this story addictive or what? I was completely captivated by Lyr’s world, its dangers, and her own plight. Obviously, her boyfriend is a fool but that’s easy to overlook when there’s the tempting, dark, brooding Lord Hart in the picture. It’s impossible not to feel for Lyr, who’s thrown into a terrible situation which lands her in a whole heap of life and death situations but she’s resilient and determined, so watching her character develop and strive to succeed is compelling. However, it’s also super stressful because her peers are absolute beasts and Lyr is the underdog. She has to be strong, and ruthless to win and with everyone against her, things won’t be smooth sailing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see what happens next!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4

Daughter of the Drowned Empire fell onto my radar entirely by chance. I found myself very interested by the premise and I knew I had to request it when I saw it up on NetGalley. For the most part, I found this to be a really fun read. Jam packed full of action and intriguing court politics, I was very much into the story from the get go. I found the magic system to also be very interesting, at least from the information that was given at the start.

However, I do have to say, I personally found the pacing a little bit too slow for me. The writing style was pretty great, but the world building, especially as you progressed into the story got a little confusing. There were so many side characters and names of things being introduced that I completely lost track of some of them and that kind of took away some of my enjoyment of the book.

Although, I will say; I quite liked the slow burn romance we get in this book. There’s so much tension there and the ‘forbidden love’ trope just adds that extra oomph.

All in all, I did enjoy Daughter of the Drowned Empire . The plot and the story line and the way things ended was quite intriguing so I will be reading the rest of the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I was really excited about it as the premise of it sounded so interesting, but the execution left me hanging.
I think the plot itself was good, but it wasn't enough to hold my attention.
The writing was a bit clunky and I didn't enjoy the way the dialogue was written. The FMC felt very not like other girls and like the kind of YA main character that I just don't enjoy, even as an avid YA reader. I also wasn't a fan of the romance and the love triangle, the constellation was quite awkward and I didn't really care for either love interest.
The worldbuilding is really cool and I did enjoy that a lot, and as I said, I think the plot is good too. I will not be continuing the series as everything else wasn't for me.

This was a fast paced story that I read all at once. The magic system and the societal implications were interesting and created plenty of conflict - right from the first chapter the stakes were set incredibly high.

The complex political schemes were brilliant to read but some of the plot twists felt a little easy to spot - one in particular I think I called about a third of the way in and it’s not revealed until right at the end. The ending also felt a little abrupt to me, I felt like there might be more of a resolution but it sort of cut off to set up for the next book in quite a sudden way.

I would like to thank Hodderscape and Netgalley UK for the for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really, really enjoyed Daughter of the Drowned Empire. The magic system is so incredibly unique, there's a slowburn, forbidden romance and the world-building is complex in the best way. You are thrown into the deep end with a plethora of unknown terminology when you first start but as you read on, you start to understand the world and its lore a bit more. There's also a huge guide at end of the book which pretty much explains much everything and everyone although it's hard to reference when you're reading via an e-reader like I did.

I suppose one negative is that not much happened in terms of plot and action but I'm assuming that's because book one is setting us up for the rest of the series, which I'm excited to read!

Hidden power/ forbidden powers
He helps her when she has panic attacks
Forbidden love
Mentor & bodyguard trope
Who did this to you
Slow burn
Love triangle + FMC is in a relationship

Daughter of the Drowned Empire is the first book in a 7-book series (+ books 1-3 were written in the MMC’s POV, so 10 books total).

I didn’t expect to find the love triangle trope in this book, so I was a bit reluctant to read it.
Lyr, our FMC, is already in an established relationship from the beginning. They have been together for a few years and plan to get married.
Lyr has forbidden magic and must hide it at all costs. This is complicated as her boyfriend is part of the mages fighting against forbidden magic wielders.
The MMC, Rhyan, is her mentor, and they are linked by a sacred bond that forbids any relationship between the two of them.
I don’t like love triangles, and even though we can easily guess who she will end up with (we even have two portraits at the beginning of the book of the 2 MCs, so we know even before starting), it didn’t sit well with me that she was in a long-term relationship and that she loves him but at the same time was getting very close with Rhyan.

The bullying seemed a bit uncalled-for to me. Some characters have a real «reason» in their own narrative for bullying her, but others do not. I don’t really get why the whole school hated her that much; it doesn’t really make sense to me.

The book can be a bit overwhelming at times. It is a simple story, and the world-building should be easy to follow. Somehow, it got complicated, throwing terms that don't bring anything except getting you confused.

I wasn’t invested in the story; nothing really stood out to me. There wasn’t enough depth to the characters, except for the FMC. Even Rhyan didn’t stand out to me; it seemed like he wasn’t the MMC.

I give it the benefit of the doubt, as it is book 1. I’ve read a few first books in series that were disappointing. I will probably have to read book 2 to see if I want to continue, as it’s going to be a long series.

I received an ARC copy in return of an honest review. Thank you, Frankie Diane Mallis and NetGalley, for this ARC of Daughter of the Drowned Empire.

I have to admit it was hard getting into this book, especially with all the titles and the background of what is what and who exactly is who here, but once I got into the swing of things, this book gripped me.
Sometimes, there was an issue of info dumping, especially regarding some of the lore, but other times it did feel like the story was being told to me.
Our main character, Lyr was written very well, and I loved her character arc, but if I have to hear her say one more time that she is a high lady and should be treated as such after her decision I'm going to pop a vessel. At some points, I didn't feel sorry for her for what she was going through because girl, you reap what you sow.
I also love the mystery encased around this whole story! It is very well-paced and keeps me on the edge of my seat. I would have to get my hands on the next instalment quite soon.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC for my honest review.

DNF at 29%

I really didn't get on with this book from the very beginning, and I think it's best to leave it here.

I'm finding the world building and all the characters confusing and overwhelming, the plot doesn't seem to match the blurb very well, and I don't like the sexual undertones that feel inappropriate in some way - I'm just getting really bad vibes from this book, and I don't like being uncomfortable when reading.

The writing so far is average at best, not too bad but nothing impressive to me.

Who knows, I may come back to this in the future, but it's not worth spending time on right now.

Loved reading this book. Next upcoming fantasy. Similar to Throne of glass and the way the storyline goes just makes me want to keep reading all the way through.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC

This is the first installment in a new romantasy series and I'm looking forward to rest of the series! I found the world-building a bit hard to get into, but then when I got into the rythm it flowed easy. I liked our fmc and how she grew stronger and stronger throughout the novel. A great character development. I also liked her relationship and the forbidden love. Her training and the mix of mythology made me never lose interest in the action nor the slower parts either

Great story and great characters. Lots of world-building lore to take in and perhaps this could be easier but overall very enjoyable.

Would recommend

I'm learning and growing a lot lately. Sometimes learning and growing hurts. Sometimes it brings me a lot of good too. One of the things I'm learning is that life is too short to finish books I'm not reading with joy. I know, sometimes books hide the clue of the story in the last couple of chapters. Sometimes you will only understand and get a book when you reach the end. However, there are too many books to read everything I want to read. Sometimes I have to make choices.

I therefore chose not to finish this story. The beginning of the book is rough. There's a lot of mythology, politics, history and other information. It's impossible to understand exactly what's going on and what's happening. It's even more impossible to remember all the information we're given. I had hoped that at some point in the story the amount of information would lessen and I'd start feeling more comfortable in the world. However, I'm at 45% of the book and I'm still struggling.

I like politics. I like magic. I like stories about complicated characters in a complicated world. But, I've almost reached the halfway point and I'm still forcing myself to keep on reading. I don't feel a connection with any of the characters. I can't care about Lyr, I can't care about her two love interests, I can't care about what happens. The book failed in making me invested in her fate and her romances. The book also failed to have me invested in the plot.

I think we've gotten quite a few hints that something wonderful waits for us at some point. I'm pretty sure there will be some reveals and everything that has happened will make sense. But, I have over five hundred other books I really want to read. It feels like I'm wasting my time on a book that's clearly not a right fit for me. I wanna feel something while reading and this book doesn't make me feel anything apart from dread when I realize I'm not even at the half-way point yet.

I love fantasy romance books and this title has intrigued me ever since I first spotted it! I started it with great enthusiasm and I'm so glad I wasn't disappointed at all! I was captivated by the bewitching and evocative writing, the intricate and intriguing story, the complex and well drawn protagonist, the amazing secondary characters, and the highly sizzling romance! I can't wait to continue the series!