2.46k reviews for:

Rose in Chains

Julie Soto

4.23 AVERAGE

dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

For a former fanfiction, this isn't too bad.

There were a few things I had trouble understanding in the beginning and those were:
- The worldbuilding including the locations, mention of a school but not really its purpose or intent for all parties involved, and the two... opposing countries.
- The magic system (Heart vs Mind magic and the rules for both? Handcasting? Etc)

It comes off in such a way that it assumes the reader should already be familiar with how all that works which is why it gets so confusing. Early on I had a difficult time trying to piece together the rush of events and picturing exactly how they went down. It was easier to picture later on but everything still remained fuzzy.

I did appreciate the main cast of characters and the turmoil Briony (lol) has to face throughout the novel. The flashbacks did help piece together some of the missing history between characters, though other flashbacks I am really unsure what their purpose was for.

There are also a LOT of characters mentioned in here and most are just mentioned very fleetingly. Maybe a tad bit too many to keep track of if they ever became important later on. Like oh, time to mention and meet Penelope. Oope now she is dead. Poor Penelope. So sad and tragic. Okay, next victim.

There was a bit in the middle (maybe around 60%) where it felt sluggish simply due to the fact nothing was really happening for a while. That's the only time it occurred.

I absolutely loved the way feelings are described through actions from Toven. That is the best way to display intense, repressed romantic tension between characters and I was living for it. Dual POVs is not always necessary if you apply the show vs tell strategy. Chef's kiss, well done. My dude was and has been in love with this girl for what feels like forever.

I did have one major issue with this story outside of the obvious dark nature of it, and that was part where
Toven physically abused Briony in front of Mallow.
. I understand why he did it, but it just hasn't sat right with me. I know, I know, all the horrible things that occurred in this book and this is where I draw the line specifically because
he is the MMC


Overall, even with my nitpicks, not bad. Probably the best fanfiction to published work I have read thus far. 

CHECK THE TRIGGER WARNINGS.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This makes me want to binge some Dramione fanfiction… I loved it, though, the names of the characters not as much. Toven? It just didn’t have a nice ring to it. I’ll let it slide, though, because 🔥

I cannot wait to see where this story and world go from here! 
dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

one of my hardest passes yet. just bafflingly bad.
thecozyarchivist's profile picture

thecozyarchivist's review

1.5
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I felt no real connection between the FMC and MMC. I was bored and honestly wouldn’t have minded if both characters were killed off and the book suddenly ended. I switched to a different book and had no desire to return to this one, so I decided not to finish. 
adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark sad tense
medium-paced