I really enjoyed this fantasy romance tale! The world building and magic system were so unique. There was lots of action, romance and an intriguing plot! I really likes both MCs and their chemistry! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. Magic system where magic is fueled by pain and pleasure? Yes, it's as kinky as you think. Interesting lore and forbidden magic? Check? Enemies to lovers? Check. Moral ambiguity all the way through? Hell yeah. Was it predictable? Sure. A bit too neatly resolved in terms of connections? Ya. But it's been a while since I've been looking forward to getting back to a back when not reading, so 4.5 stars

You can see that Laura‘s writing style improves with every book and I have to say I did thoroughly enjoy this in the world in which created but her original books will always be my first loves.

I will unfortunately not be reading this book since the author made some posts mentioning the Harry Potter series!

i’ve read silvercloak twice already and nothing can change how I feel about it. I first read this back in november or december. I felt like this book changed me as a person (I shall never be the same again). I then reread it once it was released on audiobook.

laura steven is quickly becoming a fast favourite and auto buy author for me. I can’t get enough of her books and her worlds. her creativity is unmatched. the world building she put into silvercloak was so intricate and fun. I wanted to learn more. there wasn’t a second of info dumping. everything was perfectly sprinkled in to give the reader a taste without scaring them off.

the characters were incredibly fun to read about. both saff and levan were loveable. I really enjoyed watching them banter with one another and fight side by side.

I would absolutely recommend silvercloak to anyone who’s wanting an exciting fantasy read set in a queernormative world.

Silvercloak follows Saffron, who is on a mission for revenge against the Bloodmoon's who murdered her parents when she was a child. To begin with we see Saffron at the Silvercloak Academy, and then as she goes undercover to try and take down the Bloodmoon's. But things are never that simple, and the complication here comes in the form of the son of the Bloodmoon's kingpin, Levan.

The world that is built here is incredible - magic is fuelled by pain and pleasure, and there are different classes such as healing and enchantment. Morals are different in this world, and you'll certainly be thinking about what's right and what's wrong. The writing is sharp and descriptive - similar in ways to Our Infinite Fates - but check out the trigger warnings here!

There's a romance here, and it's a slow burn - I won't give too much away, but its worth the wait! Levan is an MMC worth paying attention to.

And OMG that ending. I can't wait for Book 2!

(Sorry - I reviewed this on social media back in June & have just noticed I forgot to post the review on here too!)

🪄 'Silvercloak' by L K Steven is set in a magical world where magic is fuelled by pleasure or pain. It follows Saffron, who has lied her way into a job as a Silvercloak (a magical detective) so she can get revenge on the mafia-style criminal organisation (the Bloodmoons) who killed her parents. She goes undercover as a Bloodmoon, and soon finds herself in way over her head.

❤️ I'm calling it, this is going to be a bestseller when it publishes next month. It's Laura Steven's best one yet - much better than 'Our Infinite Fates' & has more depth than 'Every Exquisite Thing' (although I loved that one too!)

🌙 The world building was refreshingly good. I've found a lot of fantasy novels have felt pretty stale / overdone lately, but this one was a breath of fresh air! The politics was convincing, the threat was believable, and there was so much vivid detail that will just sweep you into the story.

🔎 If you like crime thrillers or detective mysteries, you'll devour this. Saffron was great as a talented but newly-qualified detective, who means well but still makes mistakes. Plenty of moral dilemmas as well - how much harm is it ok to cause if it benefits the greater good? Can someone working for an 'evil' institution actually be a good person?

🪄 Loved the traditional wand & spell-based magic, but with the originality of an unusual magic system. Lots of intriguing hints dropped which I'm hoping get picked up later in the series.

💕 The romance in this is top-tier. Adds to the plot but doesn't take over, and explores significant ethical dilemmas involving relationships as undercover law enforcement.

🐾 There's an excellent dog / wolf side character and I can assure you that he survives the book in good health!

🌟 Overall, an explosive start to a fantasy series which I CANNOT WAIT to continue. L K Steven, take a bow!!!

🗓️ Publishes 24th July. Thanks @netgalley for an advance reader copy.

- Katie

I adored this novel. It shares similar beats to a children's fantasy series I loved as a child, but this is absolutely for adults. The worldbuilding made so much sense, I loved how the magic system was incorporated, and the author has crafted a really beautiful world of places, characters, and cultures.

Saff was an engaging protagonist and I loved how she approached the obstacles in the story. Pansexual protagonist too! There are a few scattered sex scenes and allusions to kinks, but most importantly magic has actually been used in sex, something very few romantasy authors even seem to consider properly.

The plot was strong, each part felt contained enough that you could stop reading and resume as you like, though I ended up reading it all in one night. Great supporting cast.

As a non-binary reader I also just want to say that the inclusion of a minor supporting character who is non-binary was done well, it felt like that was just normal, it didn't stand out too much or tokenise them at all. I'd love to see polyamory/ethical non-monogamy explored more in the sequel(s) since that's alluded to as well, beyond just sexual positivity and freedom.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

God this book was EPIC. It took me little while to get to grips with the intricate world building and magic system but I absolutely LOVED it.

Saffron is on a mission for revenge and justice against the Bloodmoons who murdered her parents when she was a child. She goes undercover in the hope of getting that revenge but things are never that simple.. especially when she meets the son of the Bloodmoons kingpins son.

The writing is so beautiful and descriptive - the imagery of this book as I was reading is nothing short of amazing and would make an insane adaptation to screen!
The magic system is fuelled around the elements of pleasure and pain and isn’t like anything I’ve read before!

This is possibly my book of the year!

I loved everything about it. I really want to write a constructive review but all I can say is that I loved the characters, the world building, the plot, the writing... and the second book cannot come out soon enough.

What a fantastic first step into the adult fantasy genre for an incredible author

This was such a unique, interesting idea and I enjoyed the world building greatly. I loved it was a fantasy detective story. The magical system based on pain and pleasure is so intriguing. Loved it, loved the undercover bit and I really can't wait for book 2!

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.

This was fantastic! I've been in a real slump with romantasy, but this has just the right balance of everything that it worked. I can't wait for the sequel, I loved the characters, the magic system was super interesting, and LK Stevens has my heart!

So I really struggled with this one. DNF @ 63%.

Thank you to Cornerstone and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book, mostly because the world sounds so interesting. But I've placed this book down 10 or 15 times with an intention of "eh, I'll get back to it". I haven't felt compelled at all to continue, and I'd mostly chalk it up to the fact that I just don't find the main character interesting enough.

We follow Saffron on a quest for revenge against her parent's murderers. Basic plot but works well and keeps you interested enough. She's got super duper rare powers, check. Messy love life, check. All the basic heroine characteristics you'd find in majority of currently published romantasy books. If it works, there's no reason to fix it! Except, it didn't work for me. She didn't make me following this journey interesting enough.

The other characters are fine, the plot is okay, the writing is good, the world has so much potential—I really like the idea of a magic system fueled by pain or pleasure, but so much more could have been done with it! I was excited to read this book, but I don't see how I'll continue at this point when I keep putting it down so often.

Three stars for the content I've read so far!

Silvercloak by L.K. Steven is such a good story. 5 stars fro me. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.

Thank you so much for approving me to read this arc! I loved it. And that epilogue has been desperate to get my hands on the next book!

I thought that the magic system of this story was really interesting, and the balance between pain and pleasure and how that affects the magic was really exciting to read.

The two main characters are of course the stand outs, in many ways two sides of the same coin but destined to hate each other as they exist on opposite sides of the law, until Saff finds herself embroiled with the enemy and slowly pealing back the layers of a man she could only ever hate, right?

This book is full of mystery, murder, espionage, friendship, loyalty, internal existential questioning about life, all the good stuff!

3.5 STARS

Lately, my luck with books is not at its best. It’s not at its worst, either, but I have read some books that are solid books and that I will recommend if they interest you, but that didn’t really click with me. So, on one hand, they were interesting reading, because they worked pretty well, but if we are speaking about the pure personal enjoyment… well, they fell short. And Silvercloak is one of those.
So I will start with what didn’t work so well for me, because it is the shortest part, and then I will get in all the good things!

Up to the midway point, I was really taken by this book, but then my interest started to dwindle. I guess that the problem was the direction the plot took. It works, it made sense, and it can also make for an interesting twist, but… It’s not really my kind of story, so things became less interesting. And I think that this was my main problem. Also, I am a character-driven kind of reader, and I liked Saffron and Levan (and we also have a wolf as a pet!!) but even with them, my investment started to lower while the story progressed. And with that, my enjoyment of the book.
It’s still a book that I recommend, and it’s a book I still enjoyed, but we didn’t really click, and I think I won’t continue the series. Also, there were some things that buggered me, mostly the fact that magic does not affect Saffron, so she has to lie her way around and pretend that magic affects her like everyone else. This is helped by the fact that magic has to be spoken, so she knows what will happen to her and can feign her way around, but… this is not a perfect system. At the beginning of the book, we have a test, and she has a penalty for it: one of her legs will be injured, and to make that stick, one of the professors will cast a spell to immobilize it. The only problem? Will it be the left leg or the right leg? I mean, how can you tell? And this was the biggest example of it, but there are a ton of cases in which you can apply the same logic (not really in the book, but if she lived her whole life like that, it should have come up at one point or another), and this really keeps buggering me to no end. I usually can close an eye, but… this time it was strongly set in my mind.

And now let’s talk about the good! The magic system is good. I loved it and I was fascinated by it, because here the magic is fueled by pleasure and pain. It is interesting, and it is really well developed in the story. And the world is a fascinating place. Because of the peculiar nature of the magic here, the world is made to cater to that. And this made for a place I would love to visit!
There aren’t many fantasy worlds I’d really love to visit, because usually they are dangerous places and I am not really fit for survival, but this one… this one sounds like a beautiful place to visit. Sure, it is dangerous too, but still… I’d love to visit!

And the plot was really intriguing, too. It goes darker than what I originally thought, but I liked it. Especially because this is really a detective story set in a fantasy setting. And our MC is not only a detective, but she goes undercover, so things become darker pretty quickly, too. And I really appreciated this part.
The mix of these two genres is really well done and well-balanced too.
I think this is one of the strongest features of the book, and I was really surprised to see that Saffron has some detective instincts, and she keeps them strong throughout the whole book. And this may sound taken for granted, but it really is not. Usually, the balance is not so perfect, and the fantasy component overcomes the detective part. But not this time.

And last but not least, the characters. Saffron is an interesting MC, and I enjoyed following her around. She is strong, and she is a woman on a mission, that’s for sure. Levan is somehow less original, as far as MMCs go, but he managed to surprise me. I thought I had him figured out and… I was wrong. And here too, I think the author did a good job! But the star of the show is the wolf! And yes, it’s because I am pretty basic, and if we have an animal companion of sorts, I am happy. It’s as easy as that!
But aside from the MCs, I wasn’t really impressed by the other characters. There is one that made me mildly curious, but the other were kind of disappointing, if I have to be honest.

So as you can see, there are a lot of interesting things in this book (and I was really fascinated by the world and the magic), and the plot adds another layer of originality to it all. And sure, we didn’t click, and I am not so interested in it to keep reading the series, but if you are curious about this one, I still recommend it, because maybe it will work better for you, and the book is a solid one for sure!

I was really looking forward to this book but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me.

The story was predictable and very like other books in this genre.

The characters lacked depth and their relationship felt superficial.

I did however enjoy the magic system and spells within the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with this arc

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

I was really enjoying it but the pacing was so slow that it made me uninterested. It was really wordy and felt like it slowed the whole book down whereas if it was faster paced it would’ve brought more exciting energy to the book!

At 40% I decided to dnf

Thank you to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan/Del Rey UK for the digital ARC, it hasn’t affected my honest review.

TW: death, violence, body horror, torture, grief, murder, sexual content, suicide, addiction

Twenty years ago, Saffron witnessed her parents be murdered by the Bloodmoons, a brutal gang of magicians who run the streets. This destroyed her childhood, and ever since then she’s been hellbent on revenge- and willing to do anything to get it. In a world where magic is fuelled by pleasure or pain, Saffron lied her way into the elite Silvercloak academy, where the most gifted detectives are trained, to find a way to bring the Bloodmoons responsible to justice. On the eve of her graduation, Saff’s lies are exposed and she’s given only one option: infiltrate the Bloodmoons and destroy them from the inside out, aiding the Silvercloaks in secret. Forced into a world where pleasure and pain are the largest currencies, and the Bloodmoons own everything, Saff is forced to commit terrible crimes in order to prove her loyalty and keep her cover. Things are made worse by the fact that a prophecy predicts she will kiss- and then kill- the kingpin’s tortured son, Levan. As her feelings grow, and as her web of lies gets more and more complicated, Saffron is only moments away from pulling everything down around her- but it might mean losing her life.

If you think you know what you’re going to read when you start ‘Silvercloak’, you’re completely wrong. This is an epic swan dive into the darkest heart of a city and its characters, following an obsessive detective as she tries to get revenge on the people who killed her family by any means necessary. Saffron is utterly brilliant, she’s complex and morally grey and utterly committed to what she stands for- even if it hurts her. The conflict between her desire to help people as a Silvercloak (“the good”) and the way she falls into the life of a Bloodmoon (“the bad”) was perfectly written, you see the way she goes from being sure she can’t stand for something to actively aiding criminals. Throughout the book, the reader goes with Saffron from being a little girl, watching as her parents are killed, to being an adult with an entire undercover operation resting on her shoulders. Levan, the kingpin’s son, is a great foil to Saffron- he’s tortured by the things he has to do in order to survive and at first Saff thinks there’s no humanity left in him. I loved his bond with his wolf, Rasso, and how gradually he and Saff came to understand each other. Their scenes sing from the moment they meet with the knowledge that soon Saff will both kiss and kill him. I enjoyed how their relationship deepened into something more, even with the constant threat of Saff’s true intentions being discovered. The magic system- where a person’s power can come from either pleasure (often something as simple as eating chocolate or having sex) or pain (typically physical injury)- is one of the most unique I’ve ever read. I loved how casually queer this entire world is as well, Saff’s relationship with her kind of ex Nissa is one of my favourite dynamics in this book and I hope we see Nissa again in the future (somehow). This is a bloody, violent and often brutal world with some of the most imaginative death scenes I’ve ever read and characters you can’t help but root (and despair) for. I absolutely can’t wait for what might come next in this world, it’s completely unpredictable.

This was a highly anticipated book for me. It was a very bingeable read and I found myself finishing the book sooner than I expected. It was fast paced, violent, and gory, with moments of tenderness. The violence was a departure from the author's previous YA books as they were more descriptive in this. I thought the magical system was interesting as experiencing pain and pleasure can increase/refill a person's power.

I did feel it was very similar to Silver Elite and some parts of the book were a bit formulaic. The FMC's decision making were at times questionable.

Read this if you're into:

- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Grey Characters
- Spy/Mission Plot
- Unique Magical System
- Shared love over a book