First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review.

OK so this plot had a lot of promise and had me super intrigued and excited to read. Unfortunately I do feel that it missed the mark. The story in general was OK but I felt that it was just missing something. I felt that not a whole lot happened considering the length of the book, it seemed somewhat lack luster.

Kian, had a lot of potential but alas I did not feel the swoon affect that I hoped I'd have, he felt absent for most of the book, given his curse I understand but it just baffled me a bit how him a Cerise fell so deeply in love when he was barely there.

The Story did have some good twists and I did feel that there were some good points throughout the book but it felt a bit generic and predictable.

I really want to love this book but it is more of a like than anything else.

The writing style was on the YA side in my opinion but OK nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a copy of The Half King. I absolutely loved reading this book. The premise was great and it was perfectly executed. I loved that the characters jumped off the page and were so funny and had banter with each other but not in a way that felt forced. The author is also able to effortlessly give unpredictable twists and turns that add to to the story and describe so beautifully the world, magic, and family ties to magic. 100% recommend - go and read this!

I thought the concept of The Half King was fantastic - a curse which makes the king turn to shadow every evening, and separate curses which blight the firstborn children of each of the different noble peoples across the land - I couldn't wait to pick this up, and I did in fact race through the story.

Part of the reason for reading so quickly was because this has a very YA feel. The writing is simplistic and the story doesn't contain a lot of complexity - most of the 'twists' are so clearly signposted even I spotted them! The characters are fairly one-dimensional - Cerise is pious but wrestling with questioning what she has been taught, Lord Calatrais is incredibly smart and the General is full of anger etc... The titular Half King, Kian, we don't see enough of him to get to know him well, which is a shame because I think he could be an outstanding character in a differently shaped novel. Here we know he falls instantly for Cerise, doesn't trust religion (no surprise given the curse he's under!) and cares for his friends.

The main narrative revolves around a quest which keeps the action moving and ensures the story zips along. There are several narrative dead-ends and actions or occurrences that are unexplained and left me a little bewildered and frustrated. However, I enjoyed how the story addressed religious intolerance - in particular the clear message about the misogyny inherent in most established religions, and how Cerise is her own hero - she welcomes being taught but uses her brain and doesn't need to be rescued (except once when everyone needs rescuing!).

3.5 stars out of 5

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK/Transworld Publishers and the author for the ARC, this is my honest review.

** spoiler alert ** *I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

The Half King by Melissa Landers took me by surprise. You know that feeling when you pick up a book expecting it to be just “okay,” but it sweeps you away, and suddenly you're reading the last page in what feels like a blink? That was my experience. I devoured this story in a single day, which says a lot!

At its core, The Half King blends fantasy and romance with an intriguing curse that gives the plot real urgency. Imagine a king who fades into shadows each night, his existence ticking down to a deadline that no one—least of all him—can ignore. Kian Mortara is that king, and as the curse looms closer, the stakes for both him and his kingdom rise. I found Kian to be a fascinating character: snarky, regal, and tragically haunted. He’s got that sharp-tongued, intense persona that adds layers to his interactions, especially with Cerise, the acolyte who arrives at court and turns everything upside down.

Cerise is another reason I enjoyed the book. Her dynamic with Kian—sparks and all—feels natural, and it pulled me in as I found myself wanting to see how their story would unfold.

What made this book stand out is how Landers builds tension through the curse and the ticking clock of Kian’s fate. The “Great Betrayal” and the curses that follow each noble house give the world a sense of history, and I loved the layers it added to the kingdom's political landscape. The courtly intrigue, the sense of secrets bubbling beneath every interaction, all of that made the story richer.

My only slight hesitation is that there were moments where I wanted more depth from the worldbuilding or to explore the other cursed houses more. But honestly, the pacing kept me so hooked that it didn’t bother me much as I sped through the chapters.

In the end, The Half King is a captivating read with characters you’ll care about and a plot that keeps you guessing. If you enjoy fantasy with a touch of romance, court politics, and high-stakes tension, I think you’ll love it as much as I did. It’s definitely worth your time, and while it’s not perfect, it’s pretty darn close.

A promising start to the series! Whilst I didn't love every aspect of this book, the final third was exciting and revealed a plot twist I didn't see coming, pulling my rating up. Cerise is an endearing MC, starting off naive and firm in her faith, but gradually coming into herself and accepting her powers. I'm looking forward to the sequel

My apologies, I didn't like the book very much. The flow was not flowing. It just felt like stuff was happening but at the same time nothing important was happening. If I liked the characters maybe I would have enjoyed it more.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was heavily plot driven, which is great in any fantasy book!

The premise of the book was interesting and I loved the quest side of it, where they had to retrieve an artefact to try and break the curse upon the firstborn of the noble families.

The main characters were quite juvenile in their behaviour, but this is largely to do with their age I believe. Also, their relationship was more insta-love than I prefer, but they were still sweet!

A notable mention goes to the characters Nero and Daerick too. I loved these two!

The plot twists were great! One of them I had kind of worked out already but the second I had absolutely no clue about! Furthermore, the epilogue had me wondering what on Earth is coming in the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you're a fan of One Dark Window, you should try The Half King. Landers' writing style is brilliant, I don't think I've been so intrigued by a book's world building, religion & lore before. It was all told so well that I was paying attention and desperate to know more.

We follow Cerise, a second born to a noble family. The first borns carry curses, the second borns serve the Order with the possibility of magic before their 'Claiming Day'. She's yet to show signs of becoming an oracle and instead finds herself enroute to the King's court to replace the previous Emissary. With a vague vision of the future to guide her she is left to investigate the death of the previous Emissary and the possibility of ending the curse on the first borns and save her newfound friends + sister.

The characters we meet along the way are great and many join Cerise on a journey to find a mystical weapon which could potentially break the curse. Lord Blue being a standout with Daerick in a close second. The locations were also vivid and different to usual books in this genre, it was a really welcome change.

I also have to say without spoilers, the final confrontation had me absolutely shocked, I couldn't believe what was happening. I'd thought I had everything figured out but more revelations and the consequences of decisions made earlier on??? I may have had to put the book down at one point to process before finding out what happened next...

Overall, I had a fantastic time reading this one. I was actively looking forward to my evenings and getting to read more of the story. Cannot wait for a sequel and to see how the story continues!

Thanks to Netgalley & Random House UK for the arc.

I love romantasy but sadly I think this one missed the mark slightly.

The world and the plot were intriguing but I think it's important to go into this expecting a story that has the pacing of a YA fantasy. The characters are 19-20 so I believe this is being marketed as "new adult." I wouldn't describe this as a "spicy" book but there are a couple of intimate scenes. Unlike a lot of romantasy books I've read recently, it felt like there was a purpose to these scenes and they weren't thrown in randomly. which was great.

However, I do think there could have been more build-up to the relationship. The MCs barely spent any time together before declaring they were in love with each other. Also, the love interest had no personality, and it felt like they existed simply to be the love interest.

Some aspects of the plot were predictable but there were also some twists and turns I didn't expect.

Would recommend it if the synopsis intrigues you. It was a good time but not super memorable.

DNF'd at 49% - I struggled to keep going with this book. The plot was promising, but it didn't hold my attention and I had no interest in the characters (I found them really basic)

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the advance reader copy,

Firstly I would say that this book has some interesting ideas and I would have liked a bit more written about the magic/belief system because it seems to play a large part within the story.

This book was ok - I think there were pacing issues especially in the beginning and the end. The last chapters felt rushed and I think more could have been put into them.

I wouldn’t say this is YA as there is explicit sexual content, so would say this is more a new adult/adult.

Overall the book was fine, and I’ll probably continue the series.

My thoughts on The Half King completely changed by the end of the book. At first, I thought that it was more YA than the NA it was pitched as, and so the sex scenes were a bit of a surprise when they first appeared, and they stood out from the rest of the book up to that point. I found myself wishing for more of the adult tone that I'd expected, and that it wouldn't just come from the presence of the on-page sex.

However, as the plot progressed and reached the final quarter, I felt like I understood the NA rating. The story had some twists that genuinely took me by surprise, and the impact of these plot points on the characters was emotional and it definitely brought me back around. It left me really excited to read the final book in this duology, and I get the feeling that I'll enjoy it even more than The Half King based on where the characters have ended up.

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.

Delightful surprise! I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did but I flew through it. It was fast-paced and I LOVED the premise. All of the first-born children of the noble houses are doomed to suffer different curses after their ancestors committed a great betrayal of the goddess of creation and tried to kill her. Our FMC sets out to break the curses alongside our MMC, The Half King, In a nutshell. There's magic of course, themes of faith, misogyny and patriarchal systems. I wouldn't say it read like a "scorching-hot NA fantasy", more like an upper YA and the focus is definitely not the romance if that's what you're looking for, I liked all the characters though, (main and secondary), there's some banter, a reveal that took me by surprise towards the end (not the villain - that was obvious from the start) and a cliffhanger that definitely left me wanting to pick up book two.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK and for the eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

This is definitely a book that grew on me. I say that because I almost stopped reading it around 20% of the way through because I was unsure how I felt about it. But I'm glad I persevered with it because I found myself enjoying it by the end.

Our main character, Cerise, is a second-born child in a world where birth order matters. Firstborns are cursed - whether to turn into shadows or turn mad from gaining too much knowledge, whereas secondborns are given to the temple to either be gifted with magic and become a priest for boys or gain the Sight and become a Seer for girls. The only problem is that Cerise hasn't gained the Sight yet, so she can't become a Seer in the temple but instead become a servant.

That is until she's suddenly sent to the Mortaras kingdom to serve as the temple emissary to King Kian Hannibal Mortaras. He's the last of his line and is cursed to fully disappear into shadow one day and never come back. Whilst there, she meets others such as Father Padron, the head of the Order who commands the priests, and Daerick, a firstborn destined to go mad. Circumstances lead to Cerise attempting to find a way to break the curse that her goddess, Shiera, had laid upon the noble families a thousand years ago - will she do it? Will she get the Sight? And what about her attraction to King Kian?

I will say that this book does not read very NA or adult. I'm not sure what it's being marketed as, but it felt very YA. In fact, the very first chapter had me thinking it was a flashback and that the main character was about 5 or 6. It wasn't - she was 19! That gave me a bit of whiplash, and I found Cerise to be very naive about things. This is explained in that she grew up in the temple, a place where neither the women nor men give in to love or desires to avoid ruining the purity of their magic. She grew up a bit throughout the story, but she remained a little too innocent for my liking.

The other thing that I found myself side-eyeing was how fast things progressed. Character development and relationships that should have taken weeks or months took only days. I think the whole time period between the start and the end is like...two or three months? Not enough for me to truly believe the love and relationships, but I experience this a lot in books, so I just have to take it with a pinch of salt.

The friendships were great in this, with people caring for Cerise wanting to see her succeed and protecting her. The villain was as terrible as you'd expect, and there was plenty of magic involved to satisfy anyone who wanted a fantasy kick.

Overall, I found myself enjoying this the more the book went on, and it managed to pull itself up to a solid 4 stars!

4 stars - fantasy romance.

Cerise's kingdom is split into four noble houses, that were cursed years ago due to an uprising against the magical goddess Shiera. The curses are different per family, based on the part they played in the uprising, and affect the first and second born children. House Mortara is the royal family who's only remaining heir is cursed to fade into smoke, Cerise learns she is potentially the one to break the curses, and travels to meet King Kian. A quest begins to find the objects to break the curse within the next three moons, before Kian turns to smoke forever.

It took me a little while to understand the world building and curses of the story but once it fully began, I found it hard to put down. Once the mission / quest began I found the story quite easy to read and quite fast paced with the different aspects of the plot and romance coming together.

I would say the story starts as YA and ends up becoming Upper YA / NA with some moderate spicy scenes that I felt relevant to the story progression and didn't take away from the overall main story.
I found the characters very likeable and I was rooting for a happy ending between Cerise and Kian, I especially loved Blue!

I was shocked by the twists and turns towards the end of the book and heartbroken by one of the deaths. The epilogue was so intriguing and I will definitely be picking up the sequel.

Brilliant! I absolutely loved this book I have been in a fantasy slump and this just rekindled my love! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this title.

I really loved this book! A lot of books in the romantic fantasy genre tend to be similar to others, but this one was totally different and fresh! The world building and magic system were so unique!
I loved the characters, especially Cerise the FMC. She had so much character growth throughout the book! I loved her relationship with Kian, who was another complex and well written character! There is some spice but not a lot that it takes away from the plot.
The friendships in this book were another aspect I really loved. No one could resist Cerise's sweet nature and charm, even the tough general referred to her as my girl! (Swoon) Blue also deserves a mention as being the best pup!
I thought this book was very well paced and full of twist I did not see coming. The ending wasn't really a bad cliffhanger, which is nice! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book though!

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

Stayed up late to finish this one last night! It reads a loll bit younger than expected, but I actually found myself enjoying that. It made the love interest a little bit more believable for me, it made the story flow in a pleasant way; and if you’re looking for your next romantasy shadow-daddy, this might hit. (Because he literally turns to shadow every night.)
There is some spice here, but it’s not a ridiculous amount. (Great for me, easy to skip)

The plot itself moved fast; a little too fast in certain scenes. I found myself having to go back a few times, just to make sure I was following correctly.

Overall, this was a solid read, and I’ll probably pick up the sequel!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Wow!! An absolute page turner! What a fantastic read! This was my anticipated read and it did not disappoint! An exciting and fast-paced adventure that grabs your attention from the first page. With vivid world-building and intriguing characters, this book pulls you into a captivating tale of political intrigue, personal growth, and unexpected alliances. Landers masterfully blends action, emotion, and suspense, keeping you hooked until the very end. Fans of sci-fi and fantasy will love the clever twists and the strong, relatable protagonist. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a thrilling and immersive read! A must read!

I loved this book so much! Really into my romantasy era now and this was so good!
One of those books you will just fly through, such a page turner!
I loved the characters so much!
So I happy to have a beautiful fairyloot edition of this book!