Book Review: “Rose in Chains” by Julie Soto

One of the buzziest books of 2025 is Julie Soto’s romantasy debut, Rose in Chains. I never got into the Harry Potter craze, so I was a bit nervous to dive into the deep end with Dramoine fan fiction, but in Julie I trust.

Rose in Chains [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] centers on Briony, the Princess of Evermore, as her country is going through it. Her dad? Dead. Her twin brother? Dead. Briony? Captured and heading to the auction block so someone from the other side can use her to support their magic. She’s doing greaaaaat.

At the auction, her former classmate and high-ranking member of the opposition’s line spends a ridiculous amount of money to buy her (plus a little something else unknown, since technically someone else won the auction). Toven takes her back to his mansion and strips her of her magic, but he’s not following all the expectations. Briony has lots of questions about what’s going on, and the sizzling tension between her and Toven isn’t making things easy.

Rose in Chains started slow for me as I tried to grasp what was going on and the workings of the various magic systems. However, that didn’t last too long. This book is filled with action, twists, and so much freakin’ yearning and sizzling tension. This is the slowest of slow burns, which I guess is to be expected since it’s book one of a whole trilogy and we wouldn’t trust anything if they were in a happy ever after situation in book one. Sigh.

I’m eagerly awaiting book two, especially after that cliffhanger and epilogue. So many questions!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

72. JULIE SOTO: Diving into Romantasy & YA Thrillers with Rose in Chains & The Thrashers LiteraryHype Podcast

Send us a textJulie Soto is back, and this time, we're talking all about her two new books, The Thrashers and Rose in Chains. Julie made her name in the romance book space, but now, she's tackling YA thrillers and Romantasy. We're talking all about these new challenges, plus Interview With A Vampire love and so much more.FOLLOW JULIEBUY THE BOOKS Bookshop:The ThrashersRose In ChainsForget Me NotNot Another Love SongAmazon:The ThrashersRose In ChainsForget Me NotNot Another Love SongLibroFM: The ThrashersRose In ChainsForget Me NotNot Another Love SongSupport the showSupport the podcast by shopping:EtsyMy Bookshop.org listsLibroFM audiobooksTry Audible Plus Gift Audible Membership Glocusent LED Neck Reading LightTry Shameless Snacks10% Off at Once Upon a Bookclub10% off Goli VitaminsTWO FREE AUDIOBOOKS with new LibroFM Membership: Kindle Unlimited FREE FOR THREE MONTHS!Prime Television FREE TRIALJoin the fun!WebsiteInstagramTiktok…

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2 responses to “Book Review: “Rose in Chains” by Julie Soto”

  1. ooh nice! I bought this one bc I love a good enemies to lovers kind of vibe. I still need to read it so I guess I do t get why we’re relating this to HP. I mean I think I heard Soto call this her Dramione fanfic and I guess that’s the whole reason. Glad to hear you enjoyed this one tho! Can’t say I’m looking forward to a cliffhanger but maybe book 2 will be in my hands by then! Lol. Great review!

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    1. It was initially Dramonine when she wrote it, but she cleared all references to it in order to traditionally publish it.

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