Lavender And Steel

Shards Of Time Chronicles #1

by J.P. Feather

In a world where magic is feared and tightly controlled, twenty-seven-year-old Maela Malorry’s life shatters when she takes the fall for her brother’s crime committed with magic.

After encountering death in Obsidian Prison, nightmares claw at her mind, so vivid and merciless they blur the line between dream and reality, leaving her to wonder if something far darker has followed her back from the brink.

Her chains are broken, yet her fate is sealed at War Nova Academy, where magic spirits rule life and death. Maela must survive brutal trials that crush body and will, face cadets thirsting for vengeance, and endure a final exam where survival itself becomes a cruel gamble.

As the secrets of war claw into the light, loyalties shatter, truth becomes a weapon, and lies a shield.

Maela slips. Her grip on reality blurs as her nightmares begin to bleed into the waking world.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy

469 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 15, 2026

Reviews

[Romantasy Bookbird]

ARC received.

I love this premise of this novel and the idea intrigued me. Unfortunately for my it just didn’t work or flow the way I would have liked. The plot pacing was all wrong and jumpy and things that should have a lot more discussion and context was a couple sentences and felt extremely lost at points. Character development and relationship development was minimal and friendships formed in a single page with no in depth building or description. Dialogue and description in events were very minimal. I got to 42% but I just couldn’t get into it. If gave fourth wing vibes but fell short on what I expected.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really truly want to love this book. At times, there were glimpses of how this could be a really good fantastic story. However, a lot of times, as I was reading this, I felt confused and needed to go back and reread a page or two. There are several issues.
First world building and pacing are a huge problem. So many things felt rushed to the point where it seemed like details were being left out or incomplete. There were so many abrupt transitions. It was like watching a movie when it's stuck on fast forward.
Also, relationship development was a problem. For example, Maela and Luan's relationship developed so fast. I wanted more depth and build-up. It was the same for Delilah and Maela. She instantly trusted Delilah despite the fact that she meets her in prison. Yet, towards the end, Maela's lack of feeling towards her is bizarre.
Overall, for me, it was a miss.

[Nikolett Ungor]

Disclosure: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for an honest review. As someone who loves supporting indie authors, I always aim to share thoughtful, fair feedback. While I have personal reading preferences like a love for fantasy, horses, or specific tropes, I never let that impact my rating unless it is relevant to the book’s intent or audience. I review with the genre and readership in mind.

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bloodiness/darkness: 🩸🩸
Spice: 🌶️

Welcome to Nova war academy everyone!

Fate sometimes has a curious turn that can push you into a horrible prison and a war academy. I love the turns we took and I badly enjoyed the friendship between the main character and the inmate Delilah. Starting with the feverish, mysterious dreams I started to really enjoy the story and seek the truth, the answers to my questions. It wasn't easy. As we all know the winners of war write the history and even in the academy so many half truths and lies kept the truth hidden.

I think romantasy readers who enjoy hidden truths and war academies will likely enjoy the book.

My only reason for lowering my rating to 4⭐ was a personal issue with the small details, the pace of the book. However, these don't diminish the story or the enjoyment the book can give, so please go and dive in!

[Storied Conversation · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first J. P. Feather book, and I have complicated feelings about it because there were definitely things I wanted more from, but I also want to read the next book.

The premise hooked me. Maela ends up going from prison to Nova War Academy, where mysterious dreams, hidden history, half-truths, and plenty of unanswered questions start piling up.

I really enjoyed her friendship with Delilah and liked Maela and Luan together, but I wanted more time for all of those relationships to develop. Maela and Luan especially moved from barely knowing each other to attraction much faster than I expected. I have theories about WHY they’re drawn together, though, so I’m curious to see where that goes.

The pacing could also be a little jumpy, and some of the twists needed more room to develop. There were moments when I was trying to catch up with the plot rather than getting completely lost in it.

But the mysteries kept me reading, I genuinely wanted answers, and then the ending made me cry when I absolutely was not planning on doing that.

Four stars for what is here and a lot of curiosity about what comes next.

Thank you to the author for providing me a copy of the book for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lavender and Steel by J. P. Feather

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is intriguing and the broad strokes of the story show promise. Unfortunately this story feels sorely undeveloped, almost as if it's only a rough draft. It feels stuck somewhere past the point of filling in general plot, but not yet fully formed into a flowing, well composed narrative.

This book suffers from a lack of solid world building. There are whole elements of this story's lore that are either never explained, are explained poorly, or are purposefully left unrevealed to the characters and reader alike in an effort to be mysterious. All of that simply leads to extreme confusion. The beginning of the story makes you think magic is feared and outlawed, but then it's later established enprisoned criminals with magic can be sent to a magical military academy where you have to suddenly prove your magical mojo or die trying? The FMC is worried about anyone finding out her dad has magic, but he's the highest ranked general at this magic academy and openly uses his magic? It's confusing.

Following the premise of "show, don't tell" would greatly improve this story. What worldbuilding we do get almost always comes in the form of info dumps in the academy classroom. A general/professor would ask things like, "Who can tell me about these four super important kingdoms that the reader has no idea about?" Students would then answer in part, be told they didn't quite have it right, and then the teacher would suddenly pivot the discussion to something else.

*Potential Spoilers* - there was very little interaction with or clarity about who their enemy even is in this war. The characters themselves wondered if anything they were taught was even true, but fully accepted they would never know either way. "There's just so many secrets around here lol!" *yikes*

There was even a classroom question about why they were even fighting the war, and the professors basically said, "you don't need to know, because you'll only need to find out if you survive training and become higher ranked." Which leads to my next point. Everyone was suuuuper casual about recruits constantly dying/being murdered during training. Punishments for breaking minor rules led to executions. How can you fight a war when you're killing soldiers in boot camp left and right? Known threats to the academy were left alone "for reasons" and weren't addressed, yet a cadet threatening a known traitor resulted in their superior officer being emotionally tortured as the cadet's punishment? The rules and status quo of the military academy were wildly inconsistent and confusing.

Transitions between scenes were often jarring, sudden, and left you feeling like you were missing important information. While some mystery in a novel can be good, too much missing information makes the plot too disjointed and unbelievable. There were multiple sections and paragraphs that were also literally repeated. One large section of a dream sequence repeated so many times in a row, that I thought the character was stuck in a dream/wake up timeloop as part of a developing power. That was actually such an intriguing turn of events that I was bummed when I realized it was actually just an editing error.

Confusing and missing plot points aside, one of the worst, most difficult to overlook problems I have with this book is the lack of consistency with characters' emotions and actions. Not only were decisions made later in the book that were out of character from what was already established, but sometimes two completely contradictory emotions would both be expressed with breakneck speed within the same paragraph. It was often jarring and confusing. The best example of this that I found was when one character is recounting a past military defeat during which many fellow, beloved soldiers were lost. In the middle of the account, she says something along the lines of, "We joke about it all the time, and it helps a little, but nothing really makes us forget..." Um, what?? There were so many oscillating emotional beats like this, that it was hard to fully take the story seriously. I won't even attempt to explain how this negatively effects the romance between the MCs. Just trust me when I say there are some sweet emotional beats, and yet there are also some stretches of groveling that, while well written, seem wholly unnecessary to the actual plot.

It probably sounds like I'm only interested in tearing this story apart. Truthfully, I think this story could be fleshed out with a stronger handle on the "rules" of this world at war and a clearer sense of the character's emotions and motivations. Then this story would show real promise. As it is written here, it comes off as choppy, jumbled up, and unclear in its own identity.

** I received an ARC of this book. These thoughts and opinions are my own and are freely given. **

[Gabija · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the author, so here we are… :D

For the first 50 pages, I kept telling myself that the similarities to Fourth Wing were probably just coincidences. I really didn’t want to call this book a Fourth Wing copy. But the further I got, the worse it became, and by around page 100 I was just sitting there thinking… okay, this is actually REALLY bad. 😭

At first, I thought I was just noticing similarities because I had Fourth Wing on my mind. Then I started highlighting things in my Kindle—not because they reminded me of Fourth Wing, but because some scenes were practically the exact same situation with the bare minimum changed. I genuinely don’t know how this got published when the similarities were this painfully obvious.

The world-building felt unfinished, and the writing made the story even harder to follow. Thoughts and actions constantly jumped from one thing to another, sometimes in the middle of a paragraph, with no real transition. There were multiple times when I had to reread a sentence or an entire paragraph just to figure out what was happening.

I also struggled with the characters and their relationships. Their development felt incredibly rushed, and some relationships simply didn’t feel believable. I genuinely don’t understand how characters can meet a couple of times and suddenly be saying they love each other. By the end, I guess we were supposed to understand that Luan had known Maela before, but even that doesn’t really explain why seeing him a couple of times would suddenly have her thinking, “I love you.” 😭

And one thing that REALLY bothered me: Maela’s best friend dies, she returns to the academy, and then… she basically never thinks about her again. Nothing. Not even a random thought. This wasn’t some random person—this was supposedly her BEST FRIEND. 😭

By around page 200, the obvious copying became MUCH less noticeable, which is honestly why I’m giving this 2 stars. The more original parts were definitely more enjoyable, but by that point I had already spent so much of the book thinking, “I have literally read this before.” I genuinely wanted to DNF it rather than finish it.

I really think this story needed much more development and, most importantly, much more of the author’s own ideas instead of borrowing so heavily from other books.

I wish the author the best of luck with the next books in the series, and hopefully we’ll see much more of the author’s own ideas and voice in the future. :)

[Captain Hook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC for my honest review.

I liked the idea behind the book and what made its way onto the pages was disheartening. The magic system was interesting though there was limited explanation throughout the book even with them going through an academy teaching them how to wield their magic. Some things were explained but left questions unanswered with the general explanation away that the overarching authority in the book doesn’t want the cadets to know. I liked the romance but that was very confusing and difficult to follow when the rules of the academy were explained that superiors cannot fraternize/have romantic relationships with subordinates and then the main characters aren’t hiding it being very obvious and even telling other superiors that they are together with no repercussions or even conversations about it aside from “stay away from my daughter” type conversations. That took me out of the story quite often.

The writing style was very difficult for me to follow. The beginning especially there was no explanation just things happening which can work but it was lacking details throughout. Whether it needed description of the setting itself, the situation they were in and why, or knowing who was saying what. Specifically a few points where there was a group conversation and multiple characters conversing and no indication of who was saying what. Then at other points being choppy transitions. One moment talking about something and then the next sentence it’s two weeks later. I almost DNF but wanted to give it the best shot as an ARC and finish the book.

Overall the idea is great it definitely needs some additional story editing to be a great read!

[Julie-ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC for an honest review.

“The wind brushed through Maynard’s light brown hair. His expression shifted from surprise to a faint smile. His smile”

I finished this book because I loved the premise of it. There were key parts of the book that kept me intrigued and wanting to know more. I also cried a little at the end of the book which was not something I was expecting.

However, the jumping between the plot made it hard to understand what was happening. And while I loved the twists and turns, I do think they needed to be fleshed out more (including some more editing) which I think would’ve made the story even more compelling.

I also think the way the relationships developed between characters was too quick. I would’ve loved more of a slow burn between Maela and Luan, they went from randomly not knowing each other, to flirting when he picks her up from the prison, to wanting each other? Made no sense, but I still like the parts with them together and I have theories on why they’re drawn to each other.

I liked the friendships that was building but again wished they were fleshed out more and we seen more of a connection between them all.

Something that I didn’t understand was the hate the brother had for the father despite what happens in the first few chapters but then wasn’t discussed more. Also the fact that despite who the father is, Maela seemed helpless and not really able to hold her own in a fight; I would’ve like it if she knew the basics at least.

Overall 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 1.5 🌶️
Plot: 2.5 🤯🤯😶‍🌫️
Cry factor: 😢

“I’m sorry… Let’s build a tent. The world is getting big and noisy, Maela.” He smiled faintly, raising one trembling finger. “Pinky promise that you…”

[Pripri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este libro me ha resultado un poco confuso. Me costado comprender el mundo que nos ha presentado.

Tenemos a Maela, protagonista con 27 años de edad que es acusada falsamente de asesinar a alguien con magia. Un crimen que cometió su hermano. Y es que la magia esta prohibida, usarla te lleva directamente a la cárcel y si sobrevives eres enviado a una academia donde aprendes a controlarla y donde te conviertes en soldado.

La sinopsis nos indica que la protagonista sufrió mucho en prisión, antes de ser enviada a la academia. Sin embargo, siento que esos acontecimientos, ese sufrimiento, no están plasmados en los capítulos. Siento el libro incompleto.

La relación de la pareja principal también. No se en qué momento ella empezó a sentir atracción por él. El momento en el que empezaron a ser amistoso. No lo noté. De un pronto a otro querían ser amigos.

Hay ciertas cosas que como que les falta una transición. Las relaciones, como ella acepto rápidamente entrar a la academia, las lecciones. Si, estar en la academia es mejor que estar en prisión y es por eso que todos luchan por encontrar su magia y graduarse, pero no tuvo ningún pensamiento de ánimo al entrar.

Y eso es otra cosa. Se suponía que si vas a la academia es porque tienes magia, pero tratan a los nuevos como si no tuvieran magia y si no manifiestan tener magia vuelven a prisión.

Entiendo lo de la magia y lo de las bestias mágicas que te eligen para que uses su magia. Entiendo que algunos tienen poderes extra aun sin ser Fae. Me gusto eso de hecho. Lo de los poderes extra. Pero si falta mucho, el worldbuilding está como a medias. Se entiende que es el primer libro, pero el primer libro debe ser bien introductorio. Y no siento que sea muy introductorio.

Un libro incompleto con acontecimientos apresurados y sin transiciones.

[Gaëlle · Rating 2 out of 5]

A promising opening that quickly lost me

DNF at 48%.

The first three chapters genuinely caught my attention. The introduction of the characters, the murder, and the surrounding mystery created a promising beginning, and I was curious to see where the story would lead.

Unfortunately, once Maeva arrived at the prison, the novel began to lose me. The pacing suddenly felt rushed, while the narration became increasingly fragmented and difficult to follow. Several relationships developed far too quickly to feel believable. In particular, Maeva’s almost immediate friendship with a fellow prisoner — and the absolute trust between them — did not feel earned.

Some characters’ reactions also changed so abruptly that I struggled to understand their motivations. The victim’s wife, for example, appears determined to torture Maeva, yet within only a couple of pages, the threat seems to disappear without a convincing transition or explanation.

As a result, the relationships felt superficial, and I could not become emotionally invested in the characters. There may be an intriguing story beneath these issues, but I eventually felt as though I was working to understand the narrative rather than being drawn into it. By 48%, I realised that I had stopped trying to make sense of what was happening, so I decided not to continue.

The opening showed real potential, but unfortunately, the execution did not work for me.

[Samantha Otter]

ARC Review: Lavender & Steel by J.P. Feather

I really, really wanted to like this one, but unfortunately, I ended up DNFing at 27%.

From the beginning, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was reading a very rough first draft of Fourth Wing. There were SO MANY similarities that stood out to me, and I was only about a quarter of the way in. At that point, I was more entertained by comparing the two more than the actual story.

The writing made this a difficult read for me. It felt choppy and juvenile at times, and I was constantly confused about what was happening. Multiple times I thought I must have missed an important detail or entire section.

The world-building was minimal, descriptions were sparse, and I struggled to connect with the characters because there was hardly any development. The relationships felt rushed and, at times, forced. The plot moved incredibly quick while still leaving a lot of questions and what felt like significant plot holes.

Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough here for me to keep going.

[Taylah ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arc review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
This book consumed me from page 1 where we are thrust into a world where magic is a death sentence and our FMC Maela is sent to obsidian prison for a crime she didn’t commit
there’s cursed dark magic wielders around every corner, you have to be careful with who you trust and that isn’t easy when our deliciously mysterious FMC who is the commander of darkness doesn’t tell you the entire truth,
The world building is immaculate from nova war academy to spirit bonds to elemental magic you barely scratch the surface and when the twists start happening there’s nothing you can do.
Nothing prepared me for that ending😳I desperately need book 2!!!

[alpha katt]

I am not going to give this book a rating as I feel it is unfair.
I received this ARC from the author and this review is my own opinion.

I made it 10% in and I think I was being generous to go that long.
I really don’t like giving bad reviews on ARCs. Unfortunately, I don’t think this book has been through enough editing. There is no depth. Weird time jumps. Everything is happening at lightening pace with no substance and no world building. Simple things like the “tasteless soup” tastes terrible? The man who I am guessing is the MMC, when seen for the second time, his memorable hair with the white streak that wasn’t even mentioned the first time we see him. The speech patterns are very robotic. I think the first 10% should have been building our characters instead of throwing us into the middle of some event with masks? Like what’s with the masks? Why does her brother hate her dad? Who are they in this world and their position in it? I was literally so confused I thought I must have missed something and accidentally started in the middle.

I am so sorry but this is just not a well thought out plot or character driven book and I truly feel bad for saying that.

The cover is gorgeous and I am sure this book will find the correct audience, unfortunately, that is not me.

[Kathryn]

ARC review…

Argh! I’m so hesitant to give a star rating, and I feel absolutely horrible because I DNF’d at 10% - I would never usually not finish a book, especially an ARC, but I just couldn’t keep reading this one. I wanted to continue to see where it would go, and even with my doubts, I had hopes I could get past the writing or that it might improve but I just couldn’t keep going. It’s like 2 different people have written this, at one point the writing style is very promising, the next it’s like a child is writing it 🤷🏼‍♀️ there is inconsistency with details, and so much information missing, sentences jump where we are left trying to fill in the blanks. I was left going ‘huh?!’ And ‘what?!’ So many times. It honestly just feels like a really good reread needs to be done and self editing by the author, and if the gaps where filled in and fluffed out a bit I think it could be amazing, but just too annoying to read at the moment.

[Tonya]

*Disclaimer- I received this as an ARC from the Author*
I really wanted to love Lavender and Steel. There were moments that hinted at a compelling story and an interesting world, but ultimately the reading experience didn't work for me.

My biggest struggle was with the pacing and world-building. Many scenes felt rushed, and important details often seemed glossed over or underdeveloped. The frequent abrupt transitions left me feeling disoriented, and I found myself rereading sections to make sure I hadn't missed something.

I also had a difficult time connecting with the character relationships because they developed so quickly. Maela's relationships with both Luan and Delilah lacked the buildup and emotional depth I was looking for. In particular, the trust that formed between Maela and Delilah felt immediate and unearned given the circumstances of their meeting, which made later character dynamics feel inconsistent.

Unfortunately, the combination of confusing pacing, underdeveloped world-building, and relationship arcs that felt rushed made it difficult for me to stay invested in the story. While I can see elements that other readers may enjoy, this one simply wasn't the right fit for me.

DNF at 35%

[୨୧○• Erin •○୨୧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from Author

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars

What to expect
✨ Fae
✨ Military Academy
✨ Forbidden romance
✨ Kingdoms
✨ Devil
✨ Magic spirits
✨ Ancient artefacts
✨ Royal magic
✨ Elemental magic

I enjoyed this book.
We follow our FMC Maela, she takes the fall for a crime her brother commits and gets sent to Obsidian Prison.
When she finally leaves the prison she is taken to War Nova Academy where she goes through multiple brutal trials to make it to the final exam.
But while she is there her grip on reality blurs and her nightmares begin to bled into the waking world.

This book is full of secrets and reveals and keeps you guessing the whole time.

Our MMC is General Luan and he is very mysterious character but when you learn about him and his past you can’t help but love him 🔥

Love the tension in this book 🤌🏽

I love the magic spirts were a great addition to think book and I love they are not the normal animals you would find in most books. You will have to read the book to uncover what they are!

The pacing was a little off in this book but it didn’t ruin the book for me.

The plot was interesting and different to other books in this genre. Very action packed. Full of twists and turns.

Will definitely continue this series.

Thank you to the author for sending me an arc of your book.

[Ashley Martinez (ilovebooksandstuffblog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lavender and Steel

A thrilling fast-paced debt romantasy! There was so much found on this one. It was full of action and magic!

I loved the concept! There was so much to unpack with this one and I can’t wait for the next one to see where things go.

There was magic, fae, demons, magical spirits, hellhounds, manticores, forbidden romance, deadly military academy, general/cadet, found family, possessive MMC, shadow daddy, secrets, suspense, drama, and so so much more!

[Karline05 Un brin de lecture · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.unbrindelecture.com/2026/0...
Un premier tome totalement fascinant ! J'ai tout aimé l'univers, l'intrigue, les personnages et leurs pouvoirs... Maela est une héroïne touchante qui se bat pour survivre et protéger son peuple. Elle nous entraîne dans une aventure où le danger, les trahisons et les mensonges assombrissent son avenir mais où elle représente la lueur d'espoir. Vivez la suite !

A truly captivating first volume! I loved everything about it—the world-building, the plot, the characters, and their powers... Maela is a touching heroine who fights to survive and protect her people. She takes us on an adventure where danger, betrayal, and lies cast a shadow over her future, yet she remains a beacon of hope. Can't wait for the next installment

[Daniella Marchand · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I really don't know what to tell or what my feelings are about the book. There are surely some gaps, what really happened to her mother & king melir of the Fae ? How come her brother has totally changed in the blink of an eye from good to evil ? What is the real story about the main characters, cause apparently there is a history there. What's the real arrangement between her father & Luan ?

Hopefully those questions will be answered in the next book

[Jelena Radisavljević · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received my ARC copy, and since I read a lot of fantasies, it was very captivating story and a little different type of magic. I liked it very much. Maybe it needs a little background story about magic world in general.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for fans of acotar and fourth wing. I love unique magic systems and a shadow morally gray character. I actually feel like the mail characters were emotionally well written and unique and enjoyed them very much. The women in general felt a little too naive and innocent for the story especially the FMC. I did see some great growth but at moments felt she was taking five steps backwards. I loved the story because it feels like you are just in the edge of figuring it all out. I’m glad book two is out in a few months because I need some answers! Finally a huge thank you to the author for issuing an arc and allowing me to read this.

[Regina Cartagena · Rating 4 out of 5]

🪻⚔️ Lavender and Steel
ARC Review
Opening / Overall Experience

Lavender and Steel is an academy fantasy mystery with romance woven into the story. At its core, we follow Maela, who believes she is simply an artist from a military family. No magic, no danger, just a very prominent father and an annoying little brother... ordinary things. Just a young human woman whose life is already complicated enough before being in the wrong place at the wrong moment unleashes utter chaos.

When the truth about her past, her family, and the people around her begins to surface, and secrets start revealing themselves one by one, Maela quickly realizes she is anything but ordinary. And a good chunk of the life she has known up until now might actually be a lie.

What initially caught my attention was actually the beautiful artwork used to announce the ARC, paired with the promise of elemental magic. That was enough to make me curious, and once I started reading, the story gave me plenty of reasons to stay.

One thing I found challenging, and something I’ve always struggled with in books, is the use of flashbacks and dreamscapes when they aren’t eased into the chapter. And, for better or worse, there was quite a lot of that in the first half of the book. I often found myself making little margin annotations just to keep track of certain details and make sure I wasn’t missing something important.

The same applies to some of the scene transitions. They can feel quite abrupt at times, but I also think that this works in an interesting way, allowing readers to really step into Maela’s point of view. Those sudden shifts sometimes mirror the way she is experiencing everything around her, especially when she is trying to make sense of memories, visions, and pieces of information that don’t quite fit together yet. This particular storytelling style might work differently for different readers, so it’s definitely something to keep in mind going in. Personally, I would have appreciated a little more easing into some of these transitions, but I also think that the abruptness occasionally adds to Maela’s sense of disorientation rather than taking away from it.

By the end, Lavender and Steel had ticked all the boxes it promised me and then some. I came for the elemental magic and the beautiful premise, and stayed for the mystery, the academy, the characters, the secrets, and, apparently, one very attractive mystery man with legs and abs. 😂

P.S. I have already ordered my book trophy and am eagerly awaiting book two. At this point, I think that says everything you need to know. 😂🪻⚔️
But if it doesn’t, come along with me and let’s break down this delicious read, piece by piece.

Scorecard
Overall⭐⭐⭐⭐
World-building⭐⭐⭐
Romance⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice🌶️🌶️
Ending⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


🌍 World-building
🧩 Lore
The lore is where I found some of the most interesting ideas in the book. There is clearly a much larger mythology and history behind the academy setting, and I liked the way different pieces are introduced through conversations, classes, memories, and seemingly small details.

The concepts surrounding Cursed, Fae, Magic Spirits, and the different forms of magic gave the world a lot of potential. I particularly enjoyed the moments where something that initially seemed like a simple piece of lore or background information later turned out to have more relevance. Those were some of my favorite discoveries because they made me look back at earlier details differently.

I also liked that Maela’s origins are not simply handed to us all at once. Her connection to magic and the larger magical world is gradually uncovered, which made her personal mystery feel connected to the mythology of the world rather than existing separately from it.

That being said, not all of these elements felt equally developed. Some concepts are introduced with enough detail to make you curious, but not always enough to fully understand their place within the larger world. There were several moments where I found myself wanting more context, more history, or simply more time to explore an idea that had caught my attention. In that sense, the lore often feels like it is showing us pieces of a much larger puzzle. I enjoyed putting those pieces together, but I also felt that some of them were still waiting for the story to give us a clearer picture of what the finished puzzle actually looks like.

🏰 Setting
When it comes to the setting, however, I found myself wanting more. We spend most of the story within the academy and its immediate surroundings, which makes the world outside of it feel quite distant. I would have loved to see more of what exists beyond the academy, especially because the story gives us the impression that there is a much larger world out there.

The physical setting also felt somewhat vague at times. We get the general idea of where the characters are and the kind of environment they inhabit, but there isn't always enough specific detail to make those places fully come alive in my mind. Interestingly, some of the most vivid glimpses of the world beyond Maela's immediate surroundings come through her dreams and visions. Those moments often felt more atmospheric and visually distinct than the world around her.

I think this is an area where the next installment has a lot of room to expand. There is clearly a bigger world waiting outside the academy, and after everything we learn in this book, I genuinely want to see it.

🔥 Spice & Romance
The romance in Lavender and Steel worked for me because it never felt like the initial point of the story. The mysteries surrounding Maela are juicy enough to keep the story moving on their own, and the romance develops alongside them rather than taking over the plot. I appreciated that Maela and Luan’s relationship had time to build before the story fully leaned into the romantic side of things.

From Maela’s initial point of view, their relationship starts as a mentor-mentee dynamic, which I really liked. It gives them a natural reason to spend time together and allows their connection to develop without the romance immediately taking center stage.
I have to give the book credit for how it plants little hints about the tropes throughout the story. I won’t specify which ones exactly, or I’ll give the game away far too fast, but the clues are there, scattered throughout the story if you know how to spot them. There are a couple that are pretty hard to miss, though, like the very obvious “touch her and die” energy and the mentor-mentee dynamic. Everything else? I’ll keep that to myself. 👀

What I particularly enjoyed was the chemistry between them. Their banter gives the relationship a playful edge, while the tension underneath it keeps things interesting. There are plenty of moments where Maela is clearly aware that Luan is attractive, but those thoughts never take over her perspective. She can notice the very large, very muscular man standing in front of her and then promptly get back to wondering what the hell he is hiding. 😂
And Luan certainly knows how to play into that tension. Their exchanges have some genuinely fun moments, especially when the teasing starts carrying a little more weight underneath it. The attraction feels like something that grows alongside their relationship rather than something the story expects us to accept immediately...Of course, not everything is quite what it seems... and I’m not saying anything more about that. For now. 👀

THE YEARNIG... My God!.
Luan spends a good portion of the story carrying this almost painfully restrained tension around Maela, and once you understand that there is so much more behind his behavior, a lot of those earlier moments hit differently. There is a sense that he is constantly holding something back, and watching that restraint slowly crack was chef’s kiss. 👀

As for the spice, I’d describe it as more cinnamon spice than chili pepper. 🌶️🌶️ There is definitely payoff for all the tension and yearning, but it never becomes the main event. The romantic and emotional connection between Maela and Luan carries much more weight throughout the story, and I think that balance worked really well here.

The romance gave me exactly what I wanted from this kind of story: chemistry, tension, yearning, a few deliciously possessive moments, and enough mystery surrounding their connection to keep me invested. And yes, Luan absolutely earned his place on my bookshelf. 😂🪻⚔️

🖤 Antagonists
One thing I really appreciated about the antagonistic side of Lavender and Steel is that the conflict doesn’t feel completely black and white. There are personal threats, magical dangers, and a larger system operating in the background, and as Maela learns more about the world, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand where one ends and the other begins.

I also liked that the story doesn’t reveal everything about its threats at once. There are enough pieces throughout the book to make you question what is really happening, who can be trusted, and how much Maela actually knows about the world around her.

And I’m going to leave it there, because saying much more would be a massive spoiler for the ending. 😂

Let’s just say that by the time you reach the final stretch, the story has a few cards left to play... and some of them are absolutely not the cards I expected to see...And maybe the devil really is in the details

🎬 Ending
The ending absolutely delivered. After spending so much of the book collecting little pieces of information and wondering how they were going to fit together, I really enjoyed seeing the story shift into a much faster gear. While the first half feels much more like building the ground beneath the story, introducing the academy, the magic, the characters, the mysteries, and all those little pieces that slowly start forming the bigger picture.

Then the second half basically says: here, have some gunpowder. 💥

. From that point on, the story becomes much more fast-paced and action-packed, and the sheer amount of things happening just keeps escalating. There were several moments where I genuinely wasn't sure whether I wanted to cry, throw my Kindle across the room, or keep reading to find out what the hell was happening.

(Naturally, continuing to read was the correct choice.)

That ending, though... It is not neat, nor gentle. Neither does it let you off with a cupcake and a neat little bow. Instead, it leaves you standing there with several new doors wide open and absolutely no idea which one you’re supposed to walk through. The final POV was probably my favorite part of the ending because it gives us information we simply could not have understood from Maela’s perspective alone. It also recontextualizes several earlier moments in a way that made me immediately want to go back and look at them again.

So yes, that cliffhanger absolutely earned its five stars from me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

And considering book two is already sitting on my calendar for November 1st, I think the author has successfully accomplished the ancient and highly effective art of making an ARC reader impatient for the next installment. 😂🪻⚔️

⭐ Famous last words
By the time I finished Lavender and Steel, I knew I had enjoyed this book far more than I expected. It gave me the combination I was looking for : academy fantasy, elemental magic, mystery, romance, secrets, action, and just enough unanswered questions to keep my brain working overtime.

The first half takes its time laying the groundwork, while the second half absolutely hits the accelerator. By the time I reached the ending, I was completely invested in Maela’s story and very much not emotionally prepared for where the book decided to leave me. 😂

I also really appreciated that the romance never had to carry the entire story. There is a much bigger mystery unfolding around Maela, and the relationship with Luan becomes part of that larger story rather than replacing it.

This is definitely one of those books where I finished it and immediately knew I wanted a physical copy on my shelf. In fact, book two had already earned its place before I even finished book one. 😂🪻⚔️

So yes... book trophy secured. 🏆

J.P. Feather, thank you for giving me a story that kept me questioning, theorizing, laughing, panicking, and occasionally wondering whether throwing my Kindle would be an appropriate response. 😂

I was completely swept away into Nova War Academy, where I got to meet Maela, Luan, and the rest of the Misfits. Thank you for also giving us a glimpse into the vast world beyond the academy through Maela’s dreams and visions. Those moments made the world feel much bigger than what we could see, and they left me incredibly curious about what else is waiting beyond the pages.

I’m already looking forward to November 1st and seeing where Maela’s story takes us next.
And yes, book two has already earned its place on my bookshelf. 🪻⚔️📚

⭐ Final Scorecard
Category ---- Rating
Overall⭐⭐⭐⭐
World-building⭐⭐⭐
Romance⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice🌶️🌶️
Ending⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Elkwyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
↳ Lavender And Steel

Rating: 1.5 ⭐️
→Reading experience: 1/5
→World building: 1/5
→Characters: 1/5
→Story: 1.5/5
→Spice level: 1/5
→Smut quality: 0/5 :(

Note: this review contains heavy spoilers. Please read at your own risk.

TLDR; If you enjoy fast paced stories with more action than world building, I would suggest you give this a shot. Unfortunately, for me it was really lacking. Maybe I’m just too picky. All I know is that I am definitely not the intended audience for this book.

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Have you ever (wasted your time) finished reading a book purely out of shock at its superficial narrative? no? ok - then I guess it's just a me thing.

Let me preface this by saying that Lavender And Steel definitely had some potential, but it was squandered by its lackluster execution. I almost DNF’d at around 82%, and only pushed through because some of the narrative ideas felt interesting. Apparently some of those ideas were heavily inspired by Fourth Wing, but I have (thankfully) never read it so I can't really comment on this book's derivative nature. What I will say is that this book's pacing absolutely tanked the reading experience. The narration felt rushed and shallow, and the transitions between thought and scenes were so minimal that I found myself re-reading entire pages just to understand what was happening. The pace was so terrible it actually dragged down all other aspects of the story that I was already struggling with.

Let me break it down further.


↠ Worldbuilding
Action packed stories with fleshed out worlds are great. Lavender & Steel is very much... not that. The nonstop pacing makes the setting feel so vague and undeveloped that it never invoked a real sense of the world for me. I couldn’t get a feel of the world's overarching ambiance, its time period, or even its geographical inspirations. What’s more disappointing is that important locations like the prison and the academy should have been described with rich detail and iconic views, but ended up being so bland and forgettable... My imagination ended up doing all the heavy lifting.

Names were also all over the place. There's clear European roots (Colette, Ramirez, Keagan) mixed in with fantasy/Tolkienesque inspiration (Fae name Melir) and then there's... “ shuriken ”. This is my BIGGEST GRIPE with this book. Shuriken is a Japanese weapon, and the name is Japanese - point blank. There are zero other Japanese references in this story though, and clearly “shuriken” was only used as a replacement of the daggers that ∼hilariously bad∼ "stabby" FMCs wield and throw around in other books. There was legitimately NO reason for the author to even use the name shuriken for the weapon the FMC uses! For continuity sake in terms of inspirational origins, the author should have used something like the Hurlbat, or even throwing knives. All shuriken did was break what little flow and momentum the story had.

And then there's the Fae... which were, of course, introduced out of nowhere. Demons (or demonic humans? considering they're not really from hell) suffered the same weird introduction, and are clearly only there because the story needs a REAL villain - since, y'know, the secretly not so villainous and misunderstood "enemy" (Fae) party is not enough to make the whole plot more bizarrely convoluted.

The soft magic system is also quite confusing despite it being boiled down to "you can wield ONE of these elements". There don't seem to be any rules about how magic actually works when found in humans. Just feel it, expel it, and boom, done. Magic happened. What's even weirder is that, initially, magic isn't even framed as a good thing. Wielding magic is painted as a one way ticket to prisonville - but since most of the... world? continent? nation? is at war, magic is also the one thing conveniently required for the military to turn you into a soldier and force you to fight for the human cause. So the war is fought with prisoners... who just... don't use magic to break free or literally do anything else except follow orders. Nothing about how the magic system interacted with the academy life felt logically consistent.

Extra gripes: In chapter 18 it's mentioned that the whole world is in perma-winter mode. But… Arcata city doesn’t seem to be in perpetual winter? Are Cities shielded by the wards just like the academy? Then that must mean there are soldiers / mages stationed in each city to keep the barriers, right? BUT I thought mages were only stationed within the academy OR wards, and could only participate in the missions assigned to them... So are some of them holding cushy jobs keeping the barriers in the city? How is Winter affecting production, trade, the ecology, professions... how is there still a field of lavender still pretty and colorful in the last chapter of the book? And how did technology even develop? Was it all magic based? And if it's magic based, then surely tech would have developed differently due to different necessities, right? RIGHT?? I expect none of these questions will ever be answered.


↠ Characters
I felt absolutely nothing for the characters in Lavender And Steel. There was no depth, barely any character development (save for maybe Luan - I write, hesitantly), and I found the dynamic between everyone weirdly out of place and unsettling. Some character’s actions were inconsistent and only seemed used to move the plot forward, as well. It’s a real bummer because I at least expected the story to be more character driven considering its lack of world building.

The author also tagged this book with the “found family” trope, but it was not done well… The relationships between the characters (both romantic & platonic) felt really forced. Some friendships were even established within one page yet somehow sold as a deep bond that would just as easily be forgotten. e.g. Maela and Delilah suddenly being friends on the first day of the FMC being in the prison…

Onto specifics:

✦ Maela:
- Her constant roller coaster of feelings for Luan (MMC) are downright frustrating, and I don't understand her motivation as a person, nor her importance to the story other than fulfilling the classic but still unexplained at this stage “chosen one” trope.
- I don’t understand why there’s a mutual attraction between the FMC and the MMC as their chemistry was non-existent and she’s pretty generic.
- The fact that she used to be a painter is barely built upon. It was only really used to have Maela reveal that the places from her dreams are actually real. I forgot that she even painted. There's no yearning about her supposed passion or anything.

✦ Luan
- Basic “shadow daddy”.
- His streak of silver hair and his constant use of shadows to “hide” Maela whenever she’s snooping, are what I mostly remember about him. Mind you, I have no idea how dark the author imagines the environment is for his shadow to actually hide a person while there’s others around. Somehow no one questions why the shadowy threads / clouds of magic are, I dunno, all so conveniently converged in one area.
- Apparently he has a hidden past with Maela and had a hand in erasing her memories of him. So I guess that explains the instant attraction and reason for liking her. Convenient.

✦ Delilah
- The ONE other character with a backstory, and the only one with goals.
- And she dies just to make Maela access her powers.
- Instantly forgotten a few days after her death, and was not mentioned again.
- She deserved better.

✦ Colette & Deon
- Randomly mentioned and then instantly become friends with Maela and Delilah.
- Deon’s sole purpose is to protect Maela whenever Luan can’t / isn’t around.
- Colette is there just for plot convenience (like her being the only one amongst them to read old Fae and translate a diary left behind by a Fae King / Maela’s mom).

✦ Maynard
- His stance is confusing at the end. I still don’t understand why he decided to join the demons, since so little was mentioned about him.
- I felt notice when he died.

✦ Major General
- You’re telling me that this man has telepathy and can hear everyone’s thoughts and yet he refused to snoop on any of his children? Absolute lies, considering everything that’s supposedly at stake.

✦ Kaegan & Mrs. Ramirez
- Literally there to hate and try to kill Maela. Always fail in every occasion and eventually both are forgotten.

Extra gripes: There’s quite a few professors mentioned in this book and some are demons (?) with clear ulterior motives but they all blended together in the background to me. Even the one that was sent back to prison and had more of an important role. I can’t even remember his name at this point.


↠ Narrative & Execution

Writing is hard, kids. I don’t know what’s worse: info dumping, or not providing enough details for things to flow cohesively. Somehow, this story suffers BOTH problems. Info dumps about the minimal history and lore are given by professors during class, while other plot points are mentioned and forgotten - which make it seem like they were only written for the FMC to have “cool” comments, and felt entirely out of left field.

Examples:
The FMC is using medication because otherwise “she will die” - but doesn’t really try to get to the bottom of why she’s still alive after her organs supposedly shut down. Plot point, forgotten. We’re never given more insight into the reason WHY Maela believed she would die if she stops taking the meds, besides being told so. Were there ever any “symptoms” that she could have believed or was this just another convenient plot hole? How were the meds even acquired, and why has no one in her life questioned these things? Later on we actually discover it involves Luan and keeping her magic contained… but we learn it through letters of Luan confessing his involvement - at the end of the book. I had honestly forgotten by then that the pills even existed, lmao. I guess her father was in on it. 🤷

Another is the scene where Maela is training and puts on a blindfold to “see better” by focusing only on the sounds around her. She’s done this in an enclosed space, with a static target and little distractions… yet we’re expected to believe she can do the exact same thing when speeding through the forest atop her manticore and while she’s being actively chased? Please, make it make sense.

Maela also has a tendency to count steps and randomly play with pebbles that I have NO idea where she finds, and we are given no insight into why any of that happens. Guess they’re just mandatory quirks to make her appear more interesting.

If anyone's wondering why I gave the smut quality 0/5, it's because the scene was so vague it wasn't even enjoyable. I don't even think there was a euphemism for Luan's parts.... That, and because I got confused halfway and had to re-read it twice. I don't have to say this, but the only reason people should have to re-read spicy scenes is because of personal enjoyment...

Anyway... I have to admit that I am pretty hard to please when it comes to writing style, and that definitely had an impact on my experience. The prose is digestible but bland, which made it easy to read through but hard to find engaging, and there's a lot of telling with very little showing. None of the dialogue and interactions seemed natural either. I got the impression that maybe this book was translated into English from another language, and sometimes got the feeling that I was reading a first draft of summarized bullet points. The book is also in dire need of heavy editing. There were duplicated paragraphs, no spaces between some words, some missing prepositions, misspelled names, etc.

Overall, I must admit I’m quite sad that my rating is so low. I was excited to read the work of an indie author, as I believe that anyone who puts themselves and their writing out there has a lot to be proud of. Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. Still, with a lot of polishing and extra pages, I genuinely believe this story could become something quite solid. Some ideas are novel, they just need deeper exploration and a better‑developed world to stand on.

Best of luck to the author in her future work!

[Alyssa Sequinot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you so much to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read Lavender and Steel as an ARC.

I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately, it just didn’t quite hit for me. I found myself wanting more from the world-building, as I never felt fully grounded in the setting or the world the characters were moving through.

The pacing was also incredibly fast, sometimes to the point where I felt lost from one page to the next. There were several moments where I had to go back and reread sections because I wasn’t entirely sure how we had gotten from one moment to another. Because of that, I struggled to fully immerse myself in the story or become as invested in the characters as I wanted to be.

There were definitely elements with potential, and I can see this working for readers who enjoy very fast-paced stories with little downtime. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t the right fit for me.

Thank you again for the ARC.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC and really dislike giving it such a low rating, but I can't talk myself out of it. I literally got about 50% through and in frustration just wanted to shout at the author to pick a lane in regards to the focus of the story.

This book had such a hard time picking a trope or a personality that I was getting whiplash when trying to follow along. Now, let's be realistic, all books, games, artwork has a type (trope) and we love various tropes, but this book took tropes and designated in which part of the plot it was going to be. Tropes are not costume changes that should be swapped out depending on the plot device.

I will leave my more detailed dissection of the book for after the Pros and Cons so if any reader wants to give the book a try can just stop after the bullet-points.

PRO:
- The idea of the initial world set up seemed interesting
- The FMC seemed like the opposite of most current leads since she is introduced as a good girl draws/paints

CONS-
- The synopsis of the book does not match with the intro, and refers more to the academy setting
- The book has too many inconsistent plot devices
- All character interactions and plot are rushed; character connections feel very forced
- There is a strange dom/sub interplay between the FMC and MMC, but it's trying really hard not be because the author wants the FMC to be a bad@ss and not a sub?

Would I recommend? No.

STOP!!! Details from here---

Intro: The intro to the book presents the reader with a post-apoc/post-war style of setting that presents you with the FMC who lives in a world where people without magic have segregated from people without magic; those with magic have been exterminated essentially, but there is still a pocket of "cursed" that are kept to an outer section of the city.. why? No idea, the authors' world-building was very vague, but I was hoping the reader will learn the reasons through the FMC's eyes as is often the case when stories unfold. All of a sudden, an event occurs that moves the FMC to a new trope and plot change that nullifies the previous story set-up of magicked and un-magicked people. TBH, the author had established something interesting in the magic and dropped kernels of hints of how magic presents itself, however, there is nothing definite or finite set as to why there is this divide and tension between people with magic and those that don't have it. At no point did the author hint either that those with magic aren't even human because there is not telling physical characteristic or indicator that lets the reader know to anticipate this bombshell. It's fine if all of these things will eventually come in with the world-building, but the author never comes back to this type of setting so this whole bit is meaningless as of the end of the book.

Plot Change 1: Now enter a survival-of-the-fittest prison sentence that lasts a couple of chapters (or in book time, a week) in which she makes a BFF who she ends up detonating over. Yes, she detonates and dies. Why does she detonate? Oh because she's super close to this random girl who she meets when she wakes up in her cell and this girl is her cellmate. They somehow develop such a deep and intrinsic bond that the FMC will sacrifice herself by feeling way too much. You, the reader, will not see this friendship grow, you're just told it grows. Oh, you might also be asking at this point "what do you mean feels too much?" The author has decided if you get emotional, your magic activates. Keep in mind, this was never introduced before, you're just now being told that magic comes out of infected people when they feel too much. How does the dying tie in? No idea, but the FMC dies a lot and comes back during this prison sentence of a week-ish. The cause of death or why she dies is not consistent and when she comes back, it's not consistent either and it isn't resurrection, since she has also returned to life via resuscitation. Upon her latest resuscitation, we enter the next trope and plot change..

Plot Change 2: The academy setting in which the MMC is a general, the FMC is a cadet, they have this weird dom/sub kind of dialogue interplay that is just not natural. This bit of the book has had other reviewers liken this to a rip-off of Fourth Wing or other academy style books especially with the power disparity between the love interest and the FMC, but to be fair to this author this trope is everywhere at the moment because it's a popular setting for a lot of media. You, the reader, are meant to believe this relationship is inevitable because of fated mates reasons as well as their spirits having a connection (this specific connection between spirits reminds me of the wolf connections from The Wolves of Ruin series by Sable Sorenson, but not a unique thing, it's happened before in other books). Keep in mind, the MMC does show up as a "mysterious man" whom she meets in the intro part of the book as a masked man, he also reappears as a person of interest and importance during the prison sentence, then he takes her to the academy, and naturally during this slight travel where the book transitions to this plot change, the characters have this weird dialoguing that is the authors attempt of creating a connection between the two of them.
The rest of the book lives in this setting, however, please throw out everything that the author has already established about the magic system, the cause of magic, and the dislike that exists between magicked and non-magicked people. She now establishes that those who have magic are Fae, the FMC has now been drafted into this academy where the magicked individuals are special and necessary to fight off five other nations who have magic and so, she's special. She's even more special when she has a spirit latch on to her that if its' identity is found out, the FMC will be in danger, but keep in mind, the author has already established the FMC is in danger because of reasons (not really established). Now, at this point, I wanted to DNF (about 60% through), but as an ARC reviewer, I do believe you should finish what you start and give an honest review. I actually had gemini AI help me figure out which of the books I have read before had this specific creation of a bong, or bonding with a magical entity and character in an academy setting (this bit is not like Forth Wings' threshing plot point) , and although it has been done before, this particular characteristic of the book reminds me a lot of Penelope Bloom's Unbound series (I read book 1, not sure if any other books have come out for this series, but I didn't care for it so have not followed it, but this particular trait of the book made it unique).

The book is a nothing exciting, the tension is not realistic or at some points makes no sense to the characters that are meant to be projecting this sense of danger. In a small reveal, she is also in danger, of sorts, from the guy she cares about. In all honesty, there is something that could have been a good book in this word-salad, but the execution was done poorly. It felt like two or three books that wanted to be written, but rather than give them their own space in separate books, the author mashed it all into one. It just was not a good read. If the author decides to rewrite this, she should just pick a personality and really dive in because there IS something there, she just needs to find it.

[Babe in Bookland · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

There is something about a fast paced fantasy filled with magic, danger, and a cast of characters who might become your new favorites that makes me want to love a book immediately. Give me magic, questionable decisions, a little romance, and characters thrown into situations they absolutely did not ask for, and I’m usually ready to settle in.

That was how I felt going into Lavender & Steel. The premise caught my attention, and while I did enjoy parts of the story, I ultimately finished it feeling a little in-between. I could see the potential here, but I also found myself wishing the book had slowed down in certain places and given the characters, relationships, and world a little more room to breathe.

First, let’s talk about Deon, because he was easily one of my favorite parts of the book. He brought so much humor and lovable comic relief energy to the story. He reminded me a little of the kind of character who can walk into a serious situation and somehow make you laugh when you probably shouldn’t be laughing. Every fantasy needs someone like that, and Deon was definitely a bright spot for me.

I also enjoyed the overall pace. The story moves quickly, and there was always something happening to keep things moving. However, I think that speed sometimes worked against the story. Friendships formed very quickly, and I found myself wishing we had more time to see the characters actually build trust and develop those relationships. I wanted a little more of the getting to know you stage instead of feeling like everyone had suddenly become a close knit group, which I guess in a war academy stress may cause tight formed relationships quickly, but was hoping for more buildup.

The world building was another area where I wanted more. I finished the book feeling like I understood the general idea of the world, but not necessarily the world itself. I could only really recall a small amount of specific world building, including maybe one city name, and I found myself left with more questions than answers. I don’t need every detail explained immediately, but I do want enough foundation to feel grounded in the setting and understand what makes this world unique.

The spirit guides were probably the biggest example of this for me. They become an important part of the story after they are introduced, but I felt like I was missing some of the groundwork. I had questions about how the spirit guides connected to the characters’ existing magic, whether they provided additional abilities, and why they hadn’t really been discussed or acknowledged earlier. The bracelets that protect magic also left me wondering how everything fit together, if the guides can either provide or cut off the magic?

Basically, my brain was sitting in the corner with a little notebook going, “Okay, but can someone please explain the rules?” 😂

Maela was a bit of a mixed experience for me. I could see the potential in her character, and I liked the idea of someone who is presented as thinking differently from the people around her. However, I often found her decisions frustrating because they seemed to be driven by emotion, even though she was portrayed as someone who wasn’t particularly emotional or who approached things differently.

I also struggled to see much character growth throughout the story. It’s possible that she did change in certain ways and that I simply adjusted to her personality as I read, but I found myself wishing for more noticeable development. I wanted to feel like the experiences she went through were really shaping her.

The romance between Maela and Luan was another area where I liked the potential more than the execution. I liked the idea of them together, but the development felt uneven and rushed in places. Maela’s immediate dislike of Luan was difficult for me to fully understand when they hadn’t really had the opportunity to interact yet. I understand that there were circumstances and rules surrounding their relationship, especially with Luan being a general and Maela being a cadet, but I wanted more time to understand the emotional progression between them.

There were moments between them that worked for me, while others felt a little forced. The intimacy scene in particular felt strange to me because Maela physically threw herself at Luan as a distraction for he taking a punishment that was supposed to be hers after she acted irrationally against another General. I think the relationship could have benefited from more gradual development and moments that allowed their connection to feel more natural and believable.

I also have to briefly mention the Fourth Wing comparisons. I went into this wanting to experience Lavender & Steel as its own story, especially because I genuinely love Fourth Wing. However, I found enough similarities in certain character dynamics, abilities, and story elements that I sometimes struggled to stop comparing the two. I won’t get into specifics or spoilers, but the parallels became distracting for me and made it harder for the story to establish its own distinct identity.

That said, I do want to mention that I read this as an ARC, and I noticed a few editing issues that may hopefully be addressed before publication. There were some spelling mistakes, along with a couple of instances where an entire paragraph or part of a page was repeated. These issues weren’t the main reason for my rating, but they did interrupt my reading experience.

Overall, I think Lavender & Steel has potential. I enjoyed the fast pace, the humor, and several of the characters, especially Deon. I also found myself curious enough about the world and the unanswered questions that I would like to continue the series and see where the story goes.

At the same time, I wanted more development in the world building, friendships, romance, and character growth. I think the story would have benefited from slowing down in a few places instead of moving so quickly from one major event to the next.

⭐ My rating: 3.5 stars

I would recommend this to readers who enjoy a quick moving fantasy and don’t mind going into the first book knowing that they may not receive all the answers right away. There is plenty of potential here, and I’m interested in seeing how the story develops as the series continues.

A fast-paced fantasy with magic, humor, and potential, but one that left me with a few too many questions and a strong desire to sit the characters down for a very long conversation.

[Celine · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC Received:

3.5⭐️
I liked it, but there were kinda big things that dragged it down. The start was fine then I mean like the first 5-10%, we got some context, but things was already starting to be confusing. the next 60 ish % wasn't necessarily bad, it's just as expected Maela went to prison for a week cause she was falsely accused of murder. things already started happening there cause we saw day 1 and day 2, but suddenly a whole week had flown by and then with no context what so ever there is a comeptition of sorts where you can get a chance at joining Nova War Academy, and when she finds out that Delilah was fighting another she lost it, and blacked out and suddenly she was in the car with who is later introduced as our MMC Luan. From there I kinda lost the picture of the academy, like in the beginning I thought the academy was some tents for some reason, but the book kept insisting it was indoors, so I kinds designed my own thing with what we were given and I understood. then the jumping timeline continues, and it not that I despise when there is a gap, but like there were scenes where like she already had food in her hands, sat down at the table with her friends, exchanged maybe 4 sentences each and then that scene was over and I just didn't see the point in doing that. another thing is that when they had lectures which is normal at an academy I really didnt understand what was going being taught so I kinda just picked up what made sense and ignored the rest. and we cant forget where she has dreams but they could be the past or the present, and she dont know which is correct. while this is happening there is drama with surviving the academy with one of her squamates trying to kill her for something her father did, and trying to uncover what was actually going on cause apparently a other of things were. the 30% after that was pretty good where the timeline wasn't so jumpy and things started to make more sense when she worked it out, and got closer to Luan. When I read that I really felt like him liking her came so randomly like out of the blue cause one scene he was trying to push her out and the next he confessed to her that he likes her, at the bonus scene it becomes clear why and thats cause she was his mate. and in the 30% he opens up to her which I really liked. The last 10% was honestly the thing that raised this from a 2.75 to a 3.5 cause so much happened like she discovered what one of the professors was up to and tried to stop him, but he was already successful in his escape and the red eyed person in her dreams is the devil. we found out that the demons or fae I dont really know need her for something. we know her brother got turned into a demon and later killed by Maela we dont know if cianus will be ok cause he was badly his and he is her magic spirit. and the cliffhanger ended with Maela calling on the Devil and him standing next to her. overall I cant wait for the next book and I hope the timeline is better on the next one.

[Unbroken Brat · Rating 5 out of 5]

B+ I recommend this for lovers of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and Rose in Chains by Julie soto. They have similar vibes and all three are set in magical academies. If I was to pick one word to describe this writing, it would be beautiful. I was immediately struck by the evocative style. The detail and elegance with which she writes really reminds you that writing is an art. I'm not just blowing smoke and I do have a couple issues with the book but there were a great many moments where I sunk into the words and enjoyed them like the graceful curves of a sculpture or the vivid shades of a painting. This writer definitely has a way with words. The magic system is unique and quite entertaining. I enjoyed the surprise of it. While there wasn't a lot of spice, this being a slow burn, the spice she did add in was definitely enjoyable.

While my impression of this book is broadly very positive there were a few things that I did feel detracted from the experience. Maela's stubbornness and rage at certain points seem like a bit much to me. Though that could be because I'm so used to reading dark romances and the mmcs in those books do some truly unhinged stuff and still end up forgiven very quickly. Also, I wanted a little more emotional impact. I'm not sure exactly what it is but I feel like the big sad moments just didn't hit as hard as they should have. I didn't end up as emotionally invested in the characters as I would have expected. Maybe it's the intense plot mechanics overshadowing Maela's personal experiences? Perhaps it's the constant attack she's under, the book is just packed with adrenaline going from one catastrophe to the next. It's not a bad thing, I just feel like maybe it needed a few more quiet moments with Maela. Finally, there was so much going on, it's not inherently a bad thing, it's just that it's not a super easy book to follow. I got lost at a few points. Which isn't aided by the fact that I read it over the course so quite a few days (my young kids aren't particularly accommodating of my fondness for binge reading). But if you have similar circumstances you might find yourself needing to go back and reread a little bit just to make sure you're following what's going on. All in all, I highly recommend it if you're looking for an action packed book with a slow burn romance. However, if you are just looking for an easy read with a fun romance maybe this book isn't for you. Also there's no hea at the end which drives me a little nuts but this is also only the first book in a series so what was I expecting really? I should know better than to pick up a book in an unfinished series, I wish to consume the entire story and I want to do it now 😆

[Stina Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book completely consumed me! From page one, we’re thrown into a world where magic means death, and Maela is sent to Obsidian Prison for a crime she didn’t commit. The danger feels immediate, and the mystery surrounding her imprisonment gave me so many questions that I had to keep reading. Maela’s fear, determination, and refusal to give up made her easy to root for, especially as she tried to survive a brutal system designed to break her.
The world-building was incredible, Nova War Academy, spirit bonds, elemental magic, fae, demons, hellhounds, manticores… there was SO much going on! Every new reveal made the world feel larger, stranger, and more dangerous, and I loved learning how the different magical beings, powers, and bonds fit together. Nova War Academy had the perfect mix of competition, danger, and uncertainty, so even the quieter moments felt like something could go wrong at any second. Add forbidden romance, secrets, found family, a possessive MMC, and plenty of suspense, and I was hooked. The relationships brought some much-needed warmth to the darker parts of the story, while the unanswered questions kept the tension high.
I definitely got some Fourth Wing vibes, but with manticores instead of dragons. There’s the dangerous academy setting, the intense training, the powerful bonds, and the constant feeling that no one is completely safe. Even so, Lavender and Steel brings its own darker atmosphere and magical mythology to the mix. The story had its flaws, especially with pacing, transitions, and some confusing moments. A few scenes moved so quickly that I wanted more time to understand what had happened or let an emotional moment land. Still, the central mystery, the romance, and Maela’s growth kept pulling me back in, and I was invested enough to keep turning the pages.
And THAT ENDING?! Absolutely not. The final twists changed so much and left me staring at the page, trying to process everything that had just happened. I have even more questions now about the secrets surrounding Maela, the true nature of her power, and who she can actually trust. I need book two immediately. I’m so curious to see where Maela’s journey goes next, how the consequences of that ending will reshape her relationships, and whether the bonds she has formed will survive what’s coming. I’m also definitely hoping for more Luan POV because I need to know what he’s thinking, what he’s hiding, and how deeply he is involved in everything. This was a dramatic, addictive start to the series, and despite a few rough edges, it left me eager for more.

[Landon · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC reader here
This book is hard to give a solid rating to, as it has many different aspects to consider. I debated what the best rating to give it was.
Honestly, it gives Fourth Wings vibes, except instead of dragons, there are manicores.
Storyline and characters: The concept is wonderful. Entertaining enough. Characters are constructed with a flow about them.
Construction flow: This is where points are lost. The flow is very jagged here. Some parts are repeated. Things don't make sense, and it is a little rough to follow. Was it so terrible that I couldn't finish it? No. I finished it because I was engaged, enjoyed the storyline, and wanted to see how this ended. Though editing this to make it flow would help this story so much. Sometimes characters would randomly appear, assuming this was a mistake in editing and another character was actually the one who was meant to be involved. The ending of some chapters and how it was transitioned into the next chapter with the "and then..." also held some point loss here, too.

At times, it felt like I was just back in Fourth Wing, with different characters and a slightly different setting.
Towards the end, it felt more like its own concept at least. Though some things felt so similar that I could see them coming. This might just be how my mind gauges things, though. I could go into a whole comparison of characters here-- but I feel like that takes from this review.

Though, back to the review.

The book was enjoyable, but it had a lot of flaws. I enjoyed it despite these flaws. Sometimes I did feel vastly lost, but I continued to read because I was invested and truly did want to see the end of the book. The cliffhanger does its job and makes you want to get the next book and read it. So yes, I do look forward to continuing to the next book to see where Maela's journey continues. I honestly was expecting the reveal to be something other than what happened in the cliffhanger. I half was expecting the Devil to actually be Luan. Who knows, he might still somehow be. I did enjoy the bonus chapter from Luan's POV. I do actually hope to see more of his POV honestly, in the next book.