This was such a wildly frustrating read. The bones of a good story was there but the execution was really lacking. No real character development or relationship development, more just throwing the reader from one situation to another with no real depth. I wanted to dnf from about the 45% mark but i really hoped it would get better because the concept was so interesting.

And it’s a small thing but expecting the audience to care about a romance when there has been little to no interaction or building of emotion between the two characters is wild. There was nothing there. There could have been. But it was void of any emotion.

I was really excited to dive into this story, as the synopsis promised a story that sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, it ended up not being quite what I’d hoped for.

The writing style didn’t resonate with me, and I struggled to fully immerse myself in the story. The worldbuilding, a critical element in fantasy for me, left a lot of unanswered questions. For instance, I couldn’t quite grasp the distinctions between the Sidhe and the Riftborne, or the reasons behind their war. The story lacked any in-depth exploration of the politics that might have led to it or the ripple effects afterward. The aftermath of the war was only shallowly described, almost as though it were an afterthought, which made it harder to engage with the stakes and conflicts of the story.
Additionally, certain plot choices felt difficult to believe. For example, the protagonist joining the army responsible for the death of her family and the destruction of her homeland, didn’t feel convincing to me. Similarly, certain events seemed to happen simply to advance the plot rather than arising naturally or serving a meaningful purpose within the context of the world or characters.

Adding to this, the MMC came across as having zero depth or personality, making it difficult to root for him or even tolerate his role in the narrative.
And although the FMC is described as being 23 years old, her inner monologue often read more like a teenager’s. Similarly, the romantic progression, marketed as enemies to lovers and slow burn felt rushed and abrupt.
The characters as a whole came across as shallow and underdeveloped, which made it difficult for me to care about them. On top of that, the timeline occasionally felt unclear—sometimes I’d read a paragraph only to realize that events weren’t unfolding over a single day but a longer, unspecified period.

That being said, there were a few positives. The book was a quick and easy read, and the central idea of the story had a lot of potential. The cliffhanger at the end hints at intriguing possibilities for the second book in the series, even if I can already speculate on some of the developments.

Overall, while the concept behind Riftborne was compelling, I found the execution lacking in depth and cohesion, which prevented me from fully enjoying the experience. That said, it might still appeal to readers who prioritize fast-paced plots over intricate worldbuilding or character depth.

Thank you for this ARC.
This was neither good, nor bad, neither a total dissappointment, nor did it impress me. It was a mix of OK and NOT SO BAD. Idk, there were cliches, and things.. just happened, bc they could.

Unfortunately I had to dnf this book around 20%. I can see it being for other people, but I was just not for me. I couldn’t find myself connecting to any of the characters and I wasn’t sure of their motives or reasonings for anything. The pacing was too slow for me to continue waiting to see if I liked the characters eventually, but there is potential for others to love it (hence the 2 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley and Onyx publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review! I had such a good time with this. Fia is a headstrong Riftborne just trying to survive in the world that conquered her own without facing discovery of her uncontrollable magic. When that plan is a bust, she’s forced to join the Guard by the handsome General of the army himself. As Fia learns to control her power and how to become a braver and person, there’s a shadowy force descending on their world. The army needs to figure out how to combat the shadowy and seemingly indestructible wraiths before everything is destroyed.

This is seeped with magic, intrigue, secrets, slow burn romance, and one spice scene. I liked Fia and her character growth, but some of the other characters I didn’t. First off is the General. We start with knowing he’s hot and capable, and all the girlies drool for him. This doesn’t include Fia at first, and he’s pretty rude and straight up mean at some points. It doesn’t seem like he likes her at all really. At some point we’re told this has changed, but aside from being sexually charged I didn’t see much of a connection. Also… why are we told a hundred times that he has copper hair? We get it! They have like ten conversations total, half of which are rude and he never apologizes for, and the rest is just random sexual tension. But the ending had a nice little twist and hints that he’s not end game and I’m HERE for that. The other person I didn’t care for was Osta. She’s supposed to be a bubbly ray of sunshine who everyone loves, but she just comes off as vapid and self-centered to me. She basically tells Fia to get over herself and her lifelong fears of being MURDERED because of her powers because she wants them to go out to bars.

Going forward I hope there’s more spice and that this new turn takes the romance to a better place. I would recommend for anyone who likes Fourth Wing, ACOTAR, Avalon Tower, or Of Blood & Ash

Excellent book, loved it! Looking forward to more from this author! Apologies for the lateness of my review

I cannot even start to explain how much I loved reading this book. This world and magic system were a breath of fresh air simply due to the overall uniqueness and captivating world building. Everything was written so beautifully and the tropes played well with one another. It’s not explicitly said but I honestly get chosen-one vibes which one of my top tropes so that was a nice bonus for me. I am super excited to watch it progress through the rest of the trilogy.
This is the poster child for slow burn, and I loved every second of it. The stolen glances, the hot and cold emotions and the eventual spice was all swoon worthy and I desperately wish I could relive it over and over for the first time. The characters had so much depth and so much soul I felt them come alive off the pages. Even platonic interactions between the mains and secondary’s was outstandingly genuine and brought even more depth as the chapters passed.
There was a captivating realness to not only the characters but the class structure and tension that was a direct result. It spoke volumes that even a fantasy world could experience such inner turmoil as the real world. The plot kept this significant for the reader but not overbearing.

I didn't think I would enjoy this as much as I did because this book felt slow to start (it took around 90 pages for me to become fully invested) but I think it's because I was trying to get a grasp on this world. But after those first ~90ish pages I was hooked. Riftborne kind of reminds me of Fourth Wing? But without dragons. Which doesn't make any sense, but the chemistry and slow burn angst, training to be part of the Guard, the Wraiths- it all gave off a very similar vibe. And for as slow of a start that this book had, the last 15 pages were a whirlwind that I didn't see coming. The ending has me spiraling. A CLIFFHANGER TO END ALL CLIFFHANGERS. WHYYYYYY?! I am unwell and need book 2 ASAP. Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Absolutely LOVED this fantasy novel. What a fantastic world and magic system that these authors built. I loved the characters, story, and world building. Also a true enemies to lovers? Amazing! Would 100% recommend this book to romantasy fans!

Riftborne has everything you look for in a romantasy - a mysterious power that is hard to control, a training school for those with the most dangerous of abilities, a friendship that feels more like a sisterhood between two orphans, and a very uneasy tension filled relationship with a General in the army that destroyed Fia’s homeland.

If you’re looking for a new fun romantasy series highly recommend this one.

A story about friendship and unconditional love, loyalty and heavy prejudice. A little puerile and veeery slow burn? An understatement at the beginning but then it gets much better.

What I didn’t like:
So, Fia is blackmailed into working with a special unit, which is described as a secret weapon. But she receives a manual with everything carefully explained. Not very credible…
The first time she channels her power, which she couldn’t even reach, she immediately controls it to a stop…
It seems every character’s hair falls weightlessly around their shoulders.
Oh, and no way a guy would refer to his Scooby-Doo as “his length”.

What I liked:
Fia’s growth as a person. She really discovers her potential and develops her abilities throughout the story.
I loved having Laryk’s POV during that very hot dream. Just like that, completely out of the blue. We realise later on why it happens. With or without meaning, it was hot. Loved it.

Even though there were a few clues here and there, they weren’t obvious and didn’t prepare me for that ending. I didn’t see that coming.

With those aspects I pointed out improved this can be a great story. So please, lady-authors, let’s get to work and pay a little more attention to that kind of detail. Also a few typos here and there… For this my rating cannot go any further.

I am going to read Book II of the series.

I received a free e-ARC from NetGalley and these thoughts are my own.

Loved this! The world building was great, but not too dense that was boring to read! I liked the fmc and mmc and the magic system that was involved. The ending took me by surprise and can't wait for more romance in the next book!

I’m utterly SPEECHLESS. I ignored my entire family and stayed up all night to finish this and I NEED more. The slow burn was delicious, and once we finally got to the spice I was out of this world. This was done with absolute perfection.

Fia is Riftborne. She was taken to Sidhe after an uprising killed her family. Fia has a hidden power that she must keep quiet so as to not draw attention to herself.

When General Laryk Ashford witnesses Fia's power - he realizes that he needs her in his Guard. He gives her an offer that she can't refuse - join the guard (and learn to control/use her power) or risk execution. Despite not wanting to be brandished as a weapon for the people that took it all from her, she makes the decision to join the guard and leave behind the life she has known.

If you like a slow burn, fantasy romance - this one is for you! And a shocking twist at the end that I did not see coming.

4.25 out of 5 stars! If you are a fan of romantasy this should definitely be your next read! The perfect enemies-to-lovers and slow burn romance with the best tension between the FMC and MMC.

This story has you hooked from the very beginning and the world that Grenwich and Lennox built was fascinating. I loved the mystery of each character's power and how they utilize it for good or for bad. The side characters in this book are also so lovable and I can't wait to hopefully see even more of their stories in the future.

This book definitely leaves you BEGGING for more and I can't wait for the second book in the trilogy to come out!

Thank you to NetGalley, ONYX Publishing, and the authors for my e-book copy of the ARC!

I love the cover of this book and that had me instantly interested. The romance was everything I could ask for with the perfect hate to love build up. It was a very fun read.

I was pretty excited when I started this book, because it sounded intriguing and fascinating (and because I am a shallow person, and me and this book, well we share the birthday!) (also, I wanted to publish this review a bit earlier, but I was in a slump, more a blogging one than a reading one, luckily, but still… so my plans went out of the window), anyway, all that to say that I started it with a lot of good intentions.

Even so, the beginning wasn’t the best one: I got scared for a hot second here, because I thought I was reading a copy of Fourth Wing and One Dark Window mixed together.
Mind me, I enjoyed both of those books, but copies of other books are rarely nice. Luckily, this wasn’t really the case. At least for One Dark Window, it was just a moment, but the two books are pretty different. With Fourth Wing, I think that it is a whole other story.
Initially, I thought this was just a copy of that one, but going on with the reading this book became its own story. Up to a point. Because after the initial scare, we have some uniqueness, but as the story progresses this book goes back to being similar to the other one (minus the dragons). So much so, that I found the story as a whole lacking in originality.
The wraiths are interesting, and the magical system is fascinating, but even if I enjoyed the reading, and I enjoyed the time I spent with it, I don’t think this is something particularly original or epic or unique, or whatever. I think that this could be a good book to take a break from more demanding reading, I think it is also pretty good as escapism, that’s true, but I don’t really think you’ll miss something if you just skip it.

But mind me, it wasn’t a bad book. I had fun with it and I was pretty captivated by the story. I think that it would have worked a bit better if Fia, our MC, had been a tad more self-confident. (I’d love to see more books with self-confident characters, really. Can we have more, pretty pretty please??). But Fia is a nice MC (even if we have some dynamics between Fia and Oska that skirted my pet peeves for sisterly relationships in books, it was almost there, almost being the operative word here) and I wanted to see more of the secondary characters, because some of them seemed pretty nice (or interesting).

All in all, I had fun and if you are curious about it then, by all means, give this one a try! But if you are in the mood for something original, that would completely enthrall you and would stay with you for a long time, I suggest you try something else out.

Can we talk about this book, because I am obsessed?!

First of all, as a person with a platonic soul mate, absolutely love when best friends writ stories together. Anything written by a BFF duo is an automatic read for me. The cover is absolutely a vibe, and this book is so wonderful, especially for a debut fantasy. Fia is such a mystery that you just can’t stop reading because you just know there is more to her than meets the eye.

Book two will be on my radar for sure!

1 POV / 1st POV // TW below

❓Romance: Mostly crush, not that much happens imo (1,5 spicy scenes)
❓Jealousy/OW: Yes, he's fucking another woman the whole book and FMC is JEALOUS

🌹: The world-building is solid (Even though it's a copy of FW). I'm a fan of class divide in books and the tension between the two countries was clear and well-done. I liked the FMC and how her power was described and dealt with. It took time and effort to control her powers and with each new "ability" we get closer to the final plot twist. I liked author's writing style as well.

🥀: I wouldn't classify this as a romance because the MC is barely interested in FMC, in my opinion. Sadly, it's heavily influenced by Fourth Wing and it doesn't work. Not much happens and some parts are necessarily long while others skip so quickly they might as well not be there. I absolutely hated Osta and found her incredibly annoying and simple-minded. Sadly, I didn't feel any sort of connection between Fia and other characters, except for Ma.

Overall: I wish more happened (which would help the pacing), wasn't a clear copy of Fourth Wing, there was more of an actual romance and there was one clear focus that would overpower other things happening.

Trigger warnings: alcohol, child death/grief (past, on page, talk about a lot), murder, xenophobia, parent death (past)

I haven't read a debut fantasy book as amazing as this one in such a long time. I honestly regret how long it took for me to get to this book, so I'm encouraging you to read it now before you go on any longer without your new favourite fantasy book.

The world-building is incredible and so multi-layered and complex in a beautiful way without being hard to follow. You learn so much about the history of Sidhe and why everything is how it is, but you are also left with enough to discover that you are still waiting in anticipation for the future books. And the magic system is rich and interesting without being overwhelming, like I felt with so many fantasy books. I loved seeing everyone’s individual powers at play, and I am so excited to find out more about Fia’s after *that* cliffhanger. The plot is always thrilling; there was literally never one moment of boredom, and there were so many unexpected plot twists that had my fingers tapping rapidly to get to the next page on my phone. While the conflict is very fast-paced, it was also not rushed in the slightest—just with the perfect pacing to build tension again and again until the climax, where your jaw drops. The plot twist is excruciating, especially because I’ll have to live with my crippling curiosity until the sequel comes out, but it was so worth it.

The characters are so lovely, mainly because the found family trope in Riftborne is executed amazingly. I completely fell in love with Fia, her childhood best friend. Osta (the best friend) and Fia have a grumpy x sunshine friendship that was so fun to read about; they really were the perfect yin and yang. I swear Osta has to be protected at all costs because the emotional damage I will feel if she is killed off will be deadlyyy 😩 Fia was a great FMC. Her character progression came so naturally and made me so proud that she finally accepted who she is and who she has to become. It was also an incredible journey seeing her repress her powers and then become a possibly the most powerful weapon in Sidhe. She is shy yet so outspoken in the face of adversity and sassy when she needs to be; Fia is just a very well-rounded character that you can fall in love with easily.

AND THE ROMANCE DON'T GET ME STARTED. Laryk is definitely a morally grey MMC, so I will say that while I think he is a little toxic and does some things I disagree with, I will also give him some grace because there is a whole subgenre that people love (including me) for his type of character. Moving on... the tension between him and Fia is palpable from the very second they meet, and since that moment you go through a beautifully agonising SLOW burn. I saw someone say what they had was a mentor/mentee relationship, which is a perfect way to describe it, so now imagine how great that sounds with an added 5,000 pounds of chemistry. I could feel the chemistry while reading, and it was so good! I want to learn more about Laryx in the future books, and I'm trying really hard not to spoil but I wonder if this will be a Tamlin/Rhys situation, which I think I'll love just as much! 🤭

Anyhow, if you enjoyed Fourth Wing’s military training setting and Powerless’s magic system, then this is the book for you and if you haven't read those two yet then read this anyways because it is a stunning debut! 🤩

Tropes:
Slow burn
Enemies to lovers
Mentor/mentee relationship
Magical powers
Reluctant FMC
Morally-gray MMC