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Oath of Blood and Bone: The Veilbound Series
When the ancient Veil awakens, Daphne Ashcroft is summoned to stand trial for a legacy she never asked for—a bloodline destined to ignite war among rival Houses. Trapped in a brutal arena of political intrigue and ruthless power, she must master an inherited, wild magic or risk her soul—and the fate of countless realms—falling into darkness.
The trials strip her bare before monarchs, envoys, and enemies who would see her broken. At her side stands the immortal Keeper, bound to shadow and oath. His devotion is absolute, but even he cannot protect her from the weight of her awakening.
Daphne must decide whether to be a pawn—or to rise and claim her destiny.
The trials strip her bare before monarchs, envoys, and enemies who would see her broken. At her side stands the immortal Keeper, bound to shadow and oath. His devotion is absolute, but even he cannot protect her from the weight of her awakening.
Daphne must decide whether to be a pawn—or to rise and claim her destiny.
588 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 3, 2025
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8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 6, 2025
Thank you to the author for the ARC I received!
Oath of Blood and Bone revolves around Daphne Ashcroft, a teenager about to graduate who wants nothing more than to not follow her wealthy family’s career trajectory. While delivering packages the day before graduation, she finds herself on a strange estate whose house she can’t reach and a man who appears before her. Enter destiny - the house is a threshold to another realm, and it called her. She proceeds to graduate, then choose to enter this other realm, where she meets a cast of characters defending the Gate - the only thing stopping a massively powerful veil that would destroy their realm and the mortal realm if released. Naturally, Daphne bonds with said powerful veil and then every other person in the realm wants a piece of her. Politics and expectations enter the mix, trials pop up, and chaos ensues.
This book has a lot of potential, but it felt disjointed. It is unnecessarily long for the first entry, and it really tried to pack a lot of story and world building that didn’t quite work as intended. It is the first book in a long time that took great effort for me to read - 3 weeks actually. There are so many borrowed elements of other fantasy stories that feel unrefined or molded well enough to suit this story. And starting off in the mortal realm with modern technology but choosing a medieval inspired realm seems wild. Literally at one point, the FMC hops back into the mortal world and checks her phone immediately. How exactly has it been holding its charge and signal in a world without cell towers and electricity?
The characters have no substance. The only one of any interest doesn’t appear until the last 100 pages. Daphne is confusing. She’s both totally inexperienced yet powerful, naïve but intelligent. She doesn’t really have any growth through the book - just a teenager acting like an adult one moment, then regressing to typical teenager the next. It takes over 300 pages for any remotely interesting facet of Daphne to be revealed (can’t mention without spoilers). Hadrian is woefully dull, which is disappointing when compared to the rest of his crew. Desmond, Nyeri, and Eoran are interesting, and there’s backstory for each that I would have liked to explore.
Hadrian and Daphne as a couple felt empty. There wasn’t a spark or flame - just a man deprived of physical intimacy for hundreds of years immediately falling for an 18 year old mortal girl (her age isn’t stated, but I’m deciding she isn’t 17). They just make out a lot because they’re hauled up in a centuries old supernatural facility (Manor? Fortress? Castle? Unclear.).
The “trials” are boring and have no stakes. It’s basically a fantasy courtroom with tests. And none of it matters anyway because you know what’s going to happen due to literally everyone point blank telling Daphne since the moment she bonds with veil. Very predictable- though Sylas appears around this point, who is the only character that intrigued me. But he’s apparently hot and from the forest kingdom, so I could biased toward a hottie into plants and nature.
If you like very tame YA fantasy, give it a go. Personally, I don’t think I need to continue the series.
Oath of Blood and Bone revolves around Daphne Ashcroft, a teenager about to graduate who wants nothing more than to not follow her wealthy family’s career trajectory. While delivering packages the day before graduation, she finds herself on a strange estate whose house she can’t reach and a man who appears before her. Enter destiny - the house is a threshold to another realm, and it called her. She proceeds to graduate, then choose to enter this other realm, where she meets a cast of characters defending the Gate - the only thing stopping a massively powerful veil that would destroy their realm and the mortal realm if released. Naturally, Daphne bonds with said powerful veil and then every other person in the realm wants a piece of her. Politics and expectations enter the mix, trials pop up, and chaos ensues.
This book has a lot of potential, but it felt disjointed. It is unnecessarily long for the first entry, and it really tried to pack a lot of story and world building that didn’t quite work as intended. It is the first book in a long time that took great effort for me to read - 3 weeks actually. There are so many borrowed elements of other fantasy stories that feel unrefined or molded well enough to suit this story. And starting off in the mortal realm with modern technology but choosing a medieval inspired realm seems wild. Literally at one point, the FMC hops back into the mortal world and checks her phone immediately. How exactly has it been holding its charge and signal in a world without cell towers and electricity?
The characters have no substance. The only one of any interest doesn’t appear until the last 100 pages. Daphne is confusing. She’s both totally inexperienced yet powerful, naïve but intelligent. She doesn’t really have any growth through the book - just a teenager acting like an adult one moment, then regressing to typical teenager the next. It takes over 300 pages for any remotely interesting facet of Daphne to be revealed (can’t mention without spoilers). Hadrian is woefully dull, which is disappointing when compared to the rest of his crew. Desmond, Nyeri, and Eoran are interesting, and there’s backstory for each that I would have liked to explore.
Hadrian and Daphne as a couple felt empty. There wasn’t a spark or flame - just a man deprived of physical intimacy for hundreds of years immediately falling for an 18 year old mortal girl (her age isn’t stated, but I’m deciding she isn’t 17). They just make out a lot because they’re hauled up in a centuries old supernatural facility (Manor? Fortress? Castle? Unclear.).
The “trials” are boring and have no stakes. It’s basically a fantasy courtroom with tests. And none of it matters anyway because you know what’s going to happen due to literally everyone point blank telling Daphne since the moment she bonds with veil. Very predictable- though Sylas appears around this point, who is the only character that intrigued me. But he’s apparently hot and from the forest kingdom, so I could biased toward a hottie into plants and nature.
If you like very tame YA fantasy, give it a go. Personally, I don’t think I need to continue the series.
October 13, 2025
This is definitely a more Gothic style romantasy, this won't be a quick read. The first half is setting the stage for the faster-paced second half. You'll want to take your time on this one, and I feel like the author's writing style helped to keep me from rushing. Her descriptions contain a lot of interruptions: "Something hot and sharp surged in my chest--fear, love, defiance, all tangled together." It's kind of a stream of consciousness style that just worked for me.
Daphne is our FMC, a relatively normal girl fresh out of high school and trying to find her place as more than the outcast in her snooty family. She's relatable and has so much character growth throughout the book, she had me cheering her on haha.
Hadrian is our broody MMC, ancient and moody and torn between duty and his desire for Daphne. He's keeping secrets though.
Desmond is just a super fun side character, he's delightfully sarcastic and irreverent. I'm hoping to see more of him in Book 2!
And the Veil...is a whole other personality. The depth of world building in here is fantastic and I've never read anything else quite like it. By the end I was disappointed that the second book isn't out yet!
Daphne is our FMC, a relatively normal girl fresh out of high school and trying to find her place as more than the outcast in her snooty family. She's relatable and has so much character growth throughout the book, she had me cheering her on haha.
Hadrian is our broody MMC, ancient and moody and torn between duty and his desire for Daphne. He's keeping secrets though.
Desmond is just a super fun side character, he's delightfully sarcastic and irreverent. I'm hoping to see more of him in Book 2!
And the Veil...is a whole other personality. The depth of world building in here is fantastic and I've never read anything else quite like it. By the end I was disappointed that the second book isn't out yet!
October 21, 2025
ARC review!!! Omg guys this book was like phenomenal, it’s not at all spicy like I usually read but that was a nice little break to not have that for a bit. There is behind d the doors scenes where you know things happened but not all written down on the pages. But it was alittle slow to get into at first but after the first few chapters was hooked. Like seriously hooked. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book, I’m hoping I don’t have to wait years for it, but with the way it ended with the Epilogue of what to expect sorta in the next book is like “kicking feet and being giddy” the main female character was cool I really liked her and i basically fell hard for the main male character lol but there’s a second guy character that I totally loved also. If you need a small little break from all the spicy smut like I did definitely read this book it’s totally worth it.
October 16, 2025
I had a lot of confusion through this book but it could have been because I was reading it at 3am on my night shifts at work or because it’s a new kind of read for me. There is a bunch of world building which I actually appreciated. The second half of the book, maybe even the last 1/4, was a roller coaster. But a good one. So much happens that I appreciate. At the end it gives me ACOTAR vibes, specifically Tamlin vibes in the first book.
I’m glad Daphne is actually competent and not whiny and bratty like most FMC. Desmond is definitely my favorite character. He is hilarious. Hadrian is giving me mixed vibes. I want to like him but I feel like there is something he’s hiding even after reading the whole book.
I’m excited to see where the world goes in the future books.
I’m glad Daphne is actually competent and not whiny and bratty like most FMC. Desmond is definitely my favorite character. He is hilarious. Hadrian is giving me mixed vibes. I want to like him but I feel like there is something he’s hiding even after reading the whole book.
I’m excited to see where the world goes in the future books.
October 10, 2025
Daphne is a great fmc. So happy to have one that isn’t a whiny brat or already a total badazz in the beginning.
Desmond may just be my favorite character in this book. Some of the side characters just didn’t have that depth to them/kind of dry but Desmond saved the day with some banter and humor.
The storyline of this book is pretty great and I love the idea of it. Still has a lot of unanswered questions/what just happened moments but more may be answered as the series progresses.
Excited to read the next book to see where things lead with some of the characters, finding more answers and exploring more of this world
Desmond may just be my favorite character in this book. Some of the side characters just didn’t have that depth to them/kind of dry but Desmond saved the day with some banter and humor.
The storyline of this book is pretty great and I love the idea of it. Still has a lot of unanswered questions/what just happened moments but more may be answered as the series progresses.
Excited to read the next book to see where things lead with some of the characters, finding more answers and exploring more of this world
October 16, 2025
It took me a little bit to get into the book but once I did, I was hooked. The characters are well-developed and the storyline had some twists I didn't see coming. I can't wait for the next book in the series to see what happens.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews