I really liked the magic system in this book. People's magic is refuelled by both pleasure and pain. The world is really thought out, the days of the week and the months are all named after things in this world Laura has created and I really enjoy that. It's little details like that, that make a fantasy world come to life for me.

I liked Saffron as a main character. She has a lot of trauma and she isn't perfect but she was great to read about. I can't say she's my favourite character ever, but I find her more memorable than some other characters for sure. The kingpin's son was interesting to read about, it took me awhile to make sense of him. In the end I liked him a lot!

The book had a trope I usually dislike, but it was done really well this time so I actually liked it for once. Throughout the whole book we got hints of where the story was going, so it wasn't really a surprise. But I still did like the ending a lot. Even better, that last sentence!!! I'm really excited for the sequel, hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

This book wasn't the most memorable fantasy I ever read, and the romance was a bit predictable and 'easy' but overall I really enjoyed the story. It had some good characters, an interesting magic system and fantasy world, some cool plot twists and an ending that has me craving more. I guess I should read my other Laura Steven book soon ;)

I was honestly so excited for Steven’s adult debut - I love her writing, how emotional it is, and I hoped that moving into adult storytelling would push it the little extra bit I was craving.
Unfortunately, I didn’t love this as much as I had hoped.

The plot set up was promising and intriguing - a mage with hidden (and forbidden) powers goes undercover to take down the big bad magical mafia? Sounds fun! Count me in!
She falls helplessly in love with the mafia heir? Double yes!

But somehow, this mostly fell short for me.
I know building a magical world is always going to pull on tried and tested formulas, but this seemed to lean too much on The-Book-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. And we could’ve had magical schools and wands and a Big Evil without it all sounding a tad too familiar…
Side characters in particular seemed quite one dimensional, and I’d love to see a bit more development on that side as well.

Bypassing that, the book was entertaining, very fast paced, I was never bored and kept wanting to pick it back up. I love Steven’s writing, even if at times it got a bit repetitive when trying to emphasise some plot points or emotional turmoil, and I think there might have been quite a lot of clues for things to come sprinkled throughout this first book (looking in particular to understand why some people do magic so differently…).

The ending made me want to continue reading… I won’t spoil anything here, but I expect a lot of angst, double crossings, and horrible betrayals to come up in the sequel, and I am actually quite excited to read it!

— Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own and reflect my honest reactions. —

Thank you to NetGalley and del Ray for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I stared into space for hours after this one.

This book made me truly excited about reading again, it completely revived me.

An epic fantasy with a GORGEOUS tension filled romance subplot, both of which that had my heart aching, racing and breaking.

The magic system which is arguably quite intricate is used so perfectly and so easy to follow at the same time. One aspect of some people’s “powers/skill” (redacted for spoilers) is used ingeniously. Where some authors would use this specific type of power / the idea of it as a scape goat and lower the stakes VERY easily but all that Laura has done is enhance this already beautiful & intricately woven story.

To add onto the powers, the concept of pleasure increasing the amount of magic in someone’s system but pain increases the potency, was just PERFECT. The way this was used & executed was just absolutely everything & so unique!

I was utterly swept up in this story, it sunk its claws into me within the first couple of chapters and I could not have stopped reading if I tried.

The plot itself was executed so well and had me wishing I could read faster because I NEEDED to know everything, so many moving parts which were woven beautifully. So many tragic and tenderhearted moments, so many complexities & dualities to these characters, so many times I just wish I could hold & comfort them from their trauma filled lives.

A narration on how everything is everything black and white? good and evil. It’s subjective. It’s comparable. It’s dependent on so many factors and it’s unfair to try and cut out neat, perfect sections of ideology and morals in such an imperfect and messy world.

“There is only evil and greater evil.”

I need book two YESTERDAY.

Fantasy, public authority dealing with a Mafia organisation with a nasty Boss. Ok that’s the absolute vaguest overview. One of these books that the first few pages didn’t entirely grab me, but at the point the main female character finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place I started to get really interested, and the pace just kept going up. The magic system is different and interesting. The characters are complex and conflicted. Plenty of fights and adult, conflicted, romance. Thank you to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

This is only the second book I’ve read of the authors, and I want to preface my review with the comment that I think I just don’t fully vibe with her writing. I did enjoy the premise of the story, I enjoyed reading a wizard style book which makes a change to the usual magic systems I’ve read recently, but I wasn’t absorbed into the book and I found it a bit of a slog to read at times.

For the positives I thought the plot was good, I enjoyed the enemies to lovers element of the romance but at the same time it felt like romance was thrown in a lot when it wasn’t needed. I liked the back story to both Saff and Levan’s characters and I would like to continue with the series to see where they go from the ending of the book. For the main negative I found some of the writing a little repetitive in places.

Overall I gave this book a 3.5⭐️ rating which I rounded up. I still thought this was a good book but I think perhaps due to the writing style I wasn’t drawn in to read it and it did take me a month to get through. I would happily put it down after a chapter and not come back to it for hours, so for me a higher rating goes in hand with my desire to read it every opportunity. I do however still want to carry on with the series.

Thank you Netgalley and to the publishers for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Wow. At first we get the nostalgia of our childhood wizarding world. Ontop of this we get a blend of blood, lust and a morally grey fmc Saffron.
We get a wizarding world built on diminishing wells of magic, restored by either pleasure or pain.
We get magical drug use and it's consequences.
We get magic fights! Lots of magical fights!
Anguish and yearning, yet double crossing and very much enemies to lovers to enemies again!
Such an amazing book.

Pleasure creates magic. Pain makes it stronger.

Saffron Killoran lives in pain. Her parents were murdered in front of her, her life marred by the vicious, cruel actions of the Bloodmoons, a heinous criminal group. Days from graduation, soon to be a detective, a Silvercloak, things go terribly wrong, and Saffron is left with an impossible choice: leave the Silvercloaks in disgrace, or leave the Silvercloaks in disgrace to become a deep cover operative. Neither path will be easy, both will leave her friendless, and isolated. Only one will give her the opportunity to bring the Bloodmoons down.

Undercover in the Bloodmoons, every moment could be her last. With pressure, and prophecy, hanging over her head, Saff must commit evil to prevent evil. But in the heart of this cruel, greedy, horrifying organisation is something she didn't expect. Levan, son of the Kingpin, a mage with extraordinary power, and perhaps... a heart?

Silvercloak is an unusual kind of Romantasy-thriller, with a unique magic system, and strong sense of place. Steven has a bit of an info-dump problem, which she never quite gets over, but which improves as the narrative progresses. This tell > show style is habitual, and results in asides, or flashbacks to earlier, not entirely relevant, passages even in the midst of high tension situations. In places this successfully built suspense, in other places it knocked the scene back, reducing the potential emotional impact. Saffron is an interesting lead, although her actions and thoughts don't always chime - as is a frequent issue in romantasy, our lead tells us repeatedly that she is a sensible, intelligent planner, whose ability to consider things from all angles, and manipulate situations, will aid her... only to routinely act without thinking. This is so prevalent, that Saff actually acknowledges her new found habit of not thinking things through, yet she does not learn!! Her romantic foil, Levan, up until the last few chapters, seems to be a complex, but ultimately likable, figure. Without revealing the twists, some of this seems to be undone. His characterisation arguably gets more, and less, complex in that moment.

Steven is a mechanically good writer, although her clumsy use of motif, which lands a little closer to repetition, became irritating after a while. The detail of Lost Dragonborn, particularly, seems to do a lot of heavy lifting in the relationship building. Equally, the repeated mentions of Flight of the Raven are odd and seem to put far too much import on a board game: the equivalent, I think, would be like a character in an urban fantasy crediting their problem solving skills to Settlers of Catan, or their financial sense to Monopoly.

Having said that, the core story here is interesting. This is not a short book, and I made it through to the end, but I didn't experience that rush of excitement to pick it up again. The plot was weaving, and moved forward at a good pace, events lead to events, decisions impacted actions, you felt the characters were interacting with their environment. The central romance felt plausible, the friendships reasonable, the cruelty motivated. Saff, although sometimes annoying, was brave and principled. The religious undertone felt a little unplaceable in this novel, but will clearly come to bear in the sequels. The last few chapters were especially strong, and though they left me with the sense that this was almost a prequel to the action, I am excited to see where Steven will take the Silvercloack saga.

3.5 stars.

'Silvercloak' was an absolutely addictive read - think Harry Potter meets organised crime in one of the most sensual magical worlds I’ve ever encountered! The only word I can think to sum up the whole experience is decadent. The world is rich, and the magical parameters provide so much depth, tension, and dimension. Using pleasure vs pain as a fundamental building block is a very compelling concept, and it has been expertly woven into the novel.

And the characters!!! Some of the best characterisation!! Every single character in this book was real; they had contradictions and were funny and endearing, but also horrifying and unlikeable. The romance had me biting my knuckles, and if you enjoy enemies-to-lovers where the knife’s edge between love and hate is razor thin, you will adore this.

L.K. Steven has created a treasure trove of a novel - the plot was propulsive and detailed, the relationships were heart-wrenching, and the world was a unique magical delight.
I highly, highly recommend! I think that fantasy lovers will adore this; I cannot wait for the next book!!

3 stars

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey and L. K. Steven for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The story follows Saffron, a Silvercloak, who is sent undercover into a group known as the Bloodmoons to help bring about their demise, and Saffron has her own grudge against the Bloodmoons.

I found the premise of this story incredibly intriguing, and I did enjoy the premise and the story, generally. I liked the vibes and the mix of fantasy and crime.

The magic system was very unique, and not something I’d seen before - pleasure restores it, pain amplifies it - in all of their forms.

I really liked the FMC, Saffron - and I enjoyed her humour. The main characters of the story have a complexity to them - Saffron and Levan (MMC) both do good and bad things, and at times the lines get blurred between good and bad - and Saffron, especially, has some moral conflicts over this, which I feel deepens her character a little.

However, a lot of the story and relationships felt a little disjointed, and some parts felt very confusing - I was often thinking to myself, “huh, how did we get here?”, which made it, for me, not flow very well. The story also felt slow to start, although it did ramp up. I also found that a lot of the major plot points were predictable.

Additionally, a lot of the themes, some of the story and how magic was used felt very reminiscent of Harry Potter at times, which did take me out of the story, and was a distraction for me.

Overally, I’m intrigued by how this story will continue, but I’m unsure if I’ll continue it.

3.75⭐️

Okay, I’m just going to rip the plaster off and say it, this book reminded me of Harry Potter too much. It felt a bit like a traditionally published fanfic that’s just a little too close to the original to feel completely fresh. That said, I was still curious to see where it would go.

The pacing took its time to pick up, and honestly, not much happened until I was about 60% through. I’m all for a slow burn, but this felt more like a slow crawl. The romance between Saff and Levan had some sweet and swoon-worthy moments, but overall, it felt a bit rushed and forced. I just couldn’t fully connect with their chemistry.

That said, the magic system was a real highlight. The idea that pain fuels magic and pleasure restores it? That’s not your typical HP spellcasting lore, and it brought a fresh twist I appreciated. I just wish more of the story had matched that level of creativity.

AND THE EPILOGUE?! Honestly, that might be the main reason I’m excited to pick up book two! 🤭🤭

I’ve never read any of the other books by Laura Steven but was really intrigued by the premise that this fantasy book was set in a world where magic is replenished through pain or pleasure. It really reminded me of Fall Of Ruin And Wrath by Jennifer L Armentrout, and because I loved that book so much, I thought that this would be something similar and hopefully just as well put together, but it did fall short of being a 5 star read for me.

I think the main thing that took me out of the story a bit, and made the experience as a whole a little harder to read, was just how much was being crammed into the plot, and just how many different aspects there was to each character. Instead of there just being one thing that set the FMC Saffron apart from anyone else in the book, it seemed like there were 5+ different things and it gave a very ‘pick me’ ‘I’m different to everyone else’ kinda vibe, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but it is something that you see more in YA books and not adult ones (and maybe that’s the reason I found Saffron to be a bit annoying? Because it seemed like a YA book if you took the spice and romance out?)

Along the same vein of the author trying to include as much as possible in the plot, there were so many things that just felt messy and confusing and a little chaotic. It seemed like the author just didn’t spend enough time on all of the little details, and like I said, was just trying to include so much drama into the story so that there wasn’t a boring or slow moment.
I know this is something that a lot of people will appreciate, but for me I just spent half of my time reading this one confused about what was actually happening.

Again, if the romance and spice was taken out of this one I feel like it could have been marketed at more of a YA level. There is usually such a clear divide between YA and Adult books, but here it felt super blended together. The romance between the two characters Saffron and Levan just felt kinda weird and forced for the sake of their being romance in this, and for the sake of including a morally grey, evil, problematic mmc (like most adult fantasy books have these days)

Overall, this one did rub me the wrong way, but I can also see that there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL here, and I really do think that there are a lot of readers who will fall in love with this story and the characters. It was unique in its own way, but there were just elements here that i couldn’t stand, and the execution was a little lacking for me personally.

✨3 stars✨

This is the fourth book that I have read by Laura Steven and I have rated the three previous at least four stars. Those books had been YA whereas this, I believe, was Steven’s first adult book. Needless to say I was really excited by not only the prospect of a new book from this author, but also the fact that this world and premise sounded really promising. A world where magic is replenished by either pain or pleasure. However, the execution of the book just let it down for me.

In the book we follow Saffron, a Silvercloak, who is sent on an undercover mission to infiltrate the ranks of Bloodmoons in order to gain information which would help to bring about their demise. Yet it wouldn’t be a fantasy without their being a personal reason for Saffron to go undercover; both Saffron’s parents were murdered by Bloodmoons when she was 6. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be a fantasy without a tortured MMC in order to form the enemies to love/forbidden love.

For the first 50% of the book, I was really enjoying this book. After that point though, this book just seemed to drag slightly and as I’ve alluded to everything was all a tad predictable in terms of the plot as everything just seemed to fall in Saffron’s lap and her bad decisions never seemed to affect her.

Finally, I just found myself disconnected from the characters and not feeling the chemistry between Saffron and Levan.

Overall, I don’t think this was a bad book at all, and I’ll probably read the next book in the series. I just think my extremely high expectations hindered my reading experience to some degree.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

DNF around the 45% mark

For being almost halfway through I just felt like not a lot had really happened. There was a little lack in descriptions of things, with the author using unfamiliar words in the world building repetitively but never properly explaining what it was.

I liked the vibes/aesthetic, love the premise, found it difficult to engage with. This is one I would maybe go back to and try again with the audiobook but for now with the ebook version it’s a DNF.

Silvercloak follows Saffron as she’s sent undercover to join The Bloodmoons, a violent organised crime group responsible for the death of her parents.

I really liked the protagonist here. She had a lot of personality and a great sense of humour. Her motivations and choices were convincing and I enjoyed her relationships with her friends, especially Nissa. I also really enjoyed the romance. I adored Levan as a love interest, he’s a very interesting morally grey character and honestly how could I not love a man that casually murders people but also loves books and has an organised tea collection? I really felt the tension between Levan and Saffron and appreciated the way their connection built slowly and naturally throughout the story.

Unfortunately the worldbuilding in this one really didn’t work for me. The magic system felt like Harry Potter with the names and details changed, there was just too much similarity to the point it distracted me from the plot. There was also some infodumping about the different regions and religions in this world that made it difficult for me to retain the information. Although I liked that the characters bonded over a favourite book series, I found that the references to the books became repetitive.

The ending was brilliant though and made me re-evaluate my feelings on the book as a whole. While it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, it went in a really interesting direction that has me so intrigued as to what will happen in the second book and what’s to come between Saffron and Levan. While I had mixed feelings about Silvercloak I feel like I’m invested enough to give the next book in the series a chance.

Firstly, thank you to the publisher for giving me an early copy to review.

Silvercloak is a high fantasy/romance read with a strong FMC who's mission is to ultimately bring down the Bloodmoon gang who killed her parents when she was a child. The book follows Saffron's journey, and we meet Levan the MMC in this story. Firstly I want to say that this took me around two and a half weeks to read, partly because I have found it a bit hard to pick up, not that it isn't a great story, but just because at times I did get a bit bored. However I will say that the plot and world building is fleshed out incredibly well and you can see a lot of thought has gone into the plot, the characters and the magical system.

This leads me onto one of my favourite aspects of Silvercloak: the elaborate magical system that is based purely on refilling your magical well with either pain or pleasure. It's a really unique magical system that I haven't read anywhere else and it's not overcomplicated to understand which is always a plus.

The characters within this book I feel were really well represented, there was a great balance between good vs evil, and there wasn't this force to really like the bad guys() because of a budding romance. I also felt that there was great queer representation that was not necessarily addressed as being 'not normal' which sometimes can feel like the case when authors address sexual orientation.

Overall, I did like this book, i did just struggle to get into it a bit but it is a great read for those who enjoy morally grey characters, slow burn romance, a unique magical system and an immersive fantasy world.

Silvercloak is addictive! I did not want to put it down! Firstly the magic system is unique and fuelled by pain and pleasure. With wand style magic and cloaks I felt a classical fantasy vibe throughout. The world-building is epic, with streets full of characters vivid in my mind, but I could have done with even more in terms of history and culture. I feel this will develop through the series though and cannot wait to learn more.
In terms of the plot, this was really fun and nail-biting, sometimes slightly predictable but I still was on edge.
If I’m enjoying a book, which I very much did, then actually after finishing I find myself lost for words. I can say that I loved the time spent the with Bloodmoons, all too often when I read a book we spend too much time on the ‘good’ side and don’t get to see the ‘bad’. The Bloodmoons are elusive, savage and powerful. The undercover mission is interesting and full of peril.
Overall Silvercloak is a well written fantasy adventure, it includes an amazing animal companion, magic, time travel and the seeking of vengeance! The romance subplot was a nice addition but this book has so much more going for it and I predict this will be hugely successful.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I'm wavering between a 3.5-star and 4-star rating on this one.

I had a good time with this book but I feel like I wanted a bit more from it. The world building was interesting and I enjoyed the magic system, but I don't think the characters were as rich and fleshed out as others from this author.

For an adult book, the main characters felt quite young. If you removed the spice, I do think this could easily be a YA book and actually, I think the pacing would have improved a bit if it was aimed at a YA audience. There was definitely a bit of a lull partway through.

For someone who is meant to be clever and resourceful enough to get through Silvercloak training while upholding a lie, Saffron made a lot of stupid moves. It felt like she was just crossing her fingers and hoping for the best rather than utilising the life experience she would obviously have.

I just wanted that bit more to leave me fully gripped and desperate to turn the page. I do think it has set up the next book really well though and that things are probably going to get a lot darker and far more tense so I'm excited for that.

I feel like the series is only going to get stronger so I will keep reading.

I am sorry to say that I found it hard to get into this book. I liked the sound of it, but found it wasn't a good read for me, .I hope other readers enjoy it more.

I was thrilled to get the eARC for this one. It sounded fascinating from the blurb. The world building and magic system in Silvervloack absolutely doesn’t disappoint. I was thoroughly invested throughout the beginning. However I’m afraid the story just fell flat for me after such a promising start. Everything felt a little ‘easy’ and convenient. I didn’t really find a bond with the characters or their romance so I wasn’t rooting for them and truthfully found my attention waning towards the end so I wasn’t rooting having to reread passages and re-focus often.

The writing is great and the world building is captivating. It just didn’t vibe for me this time but I can see it being a real hit for others. I’m rating it a 3.5 but rounding up to 4 because I feel it’s definitely a ‘me’ problem here.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and LK Steven for gifting me this eARC. My review is wholly my own opinion.

Saffron is a Silvercloak, a trained magical elite police, that is able to infiltrate a criminal organisation because of her immunity to magic. But as she’s pushed to break rule after rule, she finds things are not quite as black and white as they seem. This was such a delicious premise, and the added premise of magic being fuelled by pleasure and pain just muddied those waters even more. Objectively, it was a great book. It had solid characters, good world building (if a little confusing at times) and a very strong plot. And that ending was intense in the best way possible. And yet, I didn’t really connect with the book, which is a shame because I’ve been absolutely blown away by the author’s other books. I thought it was overwritten at times, especially Saffron’s internal monologue. She kept repeating herself over and over. The book is big, and a lot of words could have been cut just by getting rid of this repetition. I think another part of the problem was that the book was very plot driven rather than character driven, so as much as I loved the characters, I never really felt any fear/desire for them specifically. Again, this is absolutely a me issue, and I think someone who loves big world building and a massive plot-driven story will absolutely love this one.