This one hooked me immediately! I loved everything about it from the cover to the premise to the incredible world-building. What if Rome never fell? Absolutely brilliant. Plus, I adored Devyn's character! The blending of various mythologies made it an interesting imagining. I found it to be a fresh and exciting take!

I sadly decided to mark this book as a DNF (did not finish) at the 230 page mark. While I do think this book is a relatively engaging and easy read, something about the world building didn't stick with me. Occasionally there would be point where historical accounts would be introduced that seemed a bit info-dumpy, and I struggled to retain the information or see how it was entirely relevant. I understood the general basis of the conflict between societies/races of people, but when people started going into they lineage and such it just lost me. I couldn't seem to mould together the various influences, and it became clear to me that it would take a lot of convincing via the world building for me to see how things I already recognise separately (such as the Tudor dynasty, Roman Empire, and Celtic folklore) to be seen as one. Between this and the book not holding my interest throughout the month of January, I decided to set it aside, which is a shame.

From the moment I saw the cover of this book, I knew I was going to be hooked... and I was right.. I am! Seriously, I need to know what happens next, and I'm desperate for more of Cassandra, Devyn, and Marcus! Londinium is a city that I've always been intrigued with from Arthurian mythology, and O'Connor brought the city to life in this novel with her sensational descriptions. I felt like I was walking the streets myself, and it was exhilarating.

Add in the plots of the council, and the mysterious sickness linked to magic, Secrets of the Starcrossed is the perfect blend of dystopian alternative history, and fast-paced fantasy that grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go! And did I mention the love triangle? No? Well, there is one, and I have all the feels about who to root for, and who to shove away, but honestly, at this point, the author could drive Cassandra either way and I'd be okay with it because both male characters are ones that have surprised this reader! Bring on book 2!

Secrets of the Starcrossed is the first book in Clara O’Connor’s The Once and Future Queen trilogy. It’s set in a world where the Roman Empire never fell and where two starcrossed lovers try to escape the empire.

The worldbuilding is very unique which also made it quite complicated. It took me a while before I got into it. Think Roman Empire meets advanced technology.

The story was very compelling but at times it also felt like too many threads were running rampant. I did enjoy the various twists and turns. But I wish we could’ve learned more about the different kinds of magic and explore that further.

The characters were okay but didn’t compel me into rooting for them or connect to them that much. I hope the author will explore their background more in the next book.

All in all I enjoyed this read but there were also a few things that I didn’t enjoy or wished that it was explored more. That’s why I found it difficult to rate this book. My rating is 3.5 stars and I will continue this series because I’m curious about what’ll happen next.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a digital ARC for review via NetGalley. Secrets of the Starcrossed is the first book in a new series which combines the Roman Empire, technology and Celtic mythology. Cassandra is the daughter of a prominent family and a student in the city of Londinium. She is betrothed to Marcus, who comes from the most important family. However, she gets tangled up with Devyn, a mysterious classmate who has his own secrets relating to Briton magic. A mysterious illness brings talk of magic to Londinium and Cassandra gets tangled up in schemes far bigger than herself.

Unfortunately, the only thing I actually liked about this book was the world-building concept. This is a fantasy book of an alternate universe where Rome never fell, and Londinium was a Roman city. There's also an element of Arthurian legend which sounded so cool! I just don't think the execution quite lived up to the description, because I didn't feel that the different mythologies and histories really fit together and I just wanted more detail. Still, I was intrigued to see how it would play out.

I think the biggest problem I had with this book is that I didn't like any of the characters. I didn't like the main character, Cassandra - I just found her annoying, especially her dialogue. Now I read a lot of YA, and I rarely have problems, but Cassandra just irritated me a lot. She seemed to say things that were very stupid and ignorant all throughout the book, so I didn't see much character development. I also felt that the characterisations of Marcus and Devyn were a bit jumbled. I didn't like either of them as love interests, which definitely hindered my enjoyment because the romance was a big focus.

One scene in particular really made me uncomfortable. I don't have a specific page number, but around 71% in to the book there is a scene where Cass is drugged by her mother with an aphrodisiac type tea meant to encourage contact between couples. Cass knows what it is when she drinks it, and knows its effects, but even though she and the love interest both acknowledge she is drugged, they continue with what they were doing and that just felt off to me. I didn't get along with their relationship at all.

I'm the type of person that doesn't DNF books often (although I completely understand why people do) mainly because there is usually some part of the book I am invested in, whether it's a character or a plot point. This was a very fast read, but I did take a big break after I hit 50% because I just wanted to read other things. I'd been hoping throughout that there would be more development in the magic and world-building, because that was what really interested me about the book, but there was so much focus on the romance and I just couldn't get into it. And despite the ending, I'm not at all invested in what might happen, so I was just really disappointed, and I might have DNFed if it wasn't a review copy and a fairly quick read.

Overall, I just think I was expecting something very different from the synopsis, as it didn't go in the direction I expected. I'm sure some people may enjoy this - if you like the characters and the romance, you probably will - but this was not for me at all. Sometimes I can still enjoy a book even if I don't particularly care about the characters, but that's usually only if the world-building is really well explored, which I unfortunately didn't find in this book.

1.5/5 stars

5/5 stars

Genre: New Adult Fantasy

Description: Secrets of the Starcrossed is the first novel in the epic The Once and Future Queen fantasy series by Clara O'Connor.

An absolute must-read for fans of The Hunger Games…

In a world where the Roman Empire never fell, two starcrossed lovers fight to ignite the spark of rebellion…

Londinium, the last stronghold of the Romans left in Britannia, remains in a delicate state of peace with the pagan kingdoms that surround it. Within its mighty walls defiance means death and capital punishment is decreed by public vote.

As the only daughter of a powerful merchant, Cassandra is betrothed to Marcus, the most eligible bachelor in the city and the last scion of the Old Blood.

But then she meets Devyn, the boy with the strange midnight eyes searching for a girl with magic in her blood. A mythical guardian from an ancient Celtic kingdom with a debt to pay to a Northern lord…

A boy who will make her believe in soulmates.

When a mysterious virus rips through the slums leeching the life from citizens with Celtic power lying dormant in their veins, the imperial council hide behind locked doors, scheming. But the question remains: is magic the cure or the curse?

Panem meets the Grishaverse in this explosive new YA trilogy perfect for readers of Marie Lu, Bella Forrest, and Cassandra Clare.

Pros:

- Great character development!
- The story is captivating and keeps you engaged.
- The world is very thought through and fascinating.
- The author has a way with details.
- This book definitely left me wanting more of this story and universe.

Cons:

- The cover was a little confusing to me at first. I wasn't sure if the title was Secrets of the Starcrossed or The Once and Future Queen. The artwork is beautiful though.
- It is written in first person which was a little off-putting for me at first but it was easily gotten over.

Would I recommend it?

Yes.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, HarperCollinsUK and One More Chapter for the chance to read and review this brilliant book!

Set in a world where the Roman Empire never fell, it's the story of two starcrossed lovers and their fights for rebellion. In Londinium, that is the last stronghold of the Romans in Britannia, there's a delicate state of peace with the surrounding pagan kingdoms. Cassandra is the only daughter of a powerful merchant and she's bethrothed to Marcus, the most eligible bachelor. But when she meets Devyn, a boy looking for a girl with magic in her veins, everything changes for both of them. When a virus starts attacking those who gave Celtic powers in their veins, people try to understand if the magic is a curse or a cure.

Secrets of the Starcrossed is the first novel of The Once and Future Queen fantasy series by Clara O' Connor and the story starts wonderfully, drawing the readers right away.
The worldbuilding is rich and evocative, from the idea of a Roman Empire that never fell, with brilliant characters, magic and a story full of twists and secrets and surprises! Cassandra and Devyn are amazing characters, I love the whole characterization and the writing style is lush and it captures the reader's attention since the first page. I was drawn to this title since they said it's a must read for fans of The Hunger Games and it's absolutely true.
I was fascinated by the whole story, the worldbuilding is really interesting and I loved reading this book and I can't wait to read the next!

This was a great Sci-Fi story. It was based around something which used to be with something that wasn't, a great concept. Excellent characters, brilliant story line and lots of actions with ups and downs. The final book should be something special. I can't wait!

Secrets of the Starcrossed is easy to predict and filled with multiple tropes found in just about every young adult fantasy novel without the finesse to make them engaging. The pacing makes an already average novel more difficult to read and, as a result, this is not a particularly engaging title.

YA fantasy novel aimed at the female readership (I think). It's interesting enough.

This fantasy novel centers around Cassandra, a privileged citizen in Roman-governed Londinium in the not-too-distant future. She discovers all sorts of things about her origins and abilities throughout the book as she meets strange and unusual characters. It's a novel about revelations and magic and the issues relating of a Roman rule of the city. There's quite a few original touches but also a bit too much repetition for my liking. The plot moves along quite quickly and the characters are well-developed. It's the first part of a trilogy and it's a worthwhile and enjoyable easy read. I was given a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book as it had such a strong and unique concept that sounded like a perfect 5 star read. The idea of the world is that the roman empire never fell and still ruled a stronghold in Britain but on the outside of the city there were vast pagan kingdoms - This had me hooked. However, the execution of the story did not all come together. The world itself, while a very interesting idea, felt a bit muddled in different historical timelines and cultural references which would drag me out of the story completely. The age of the characters is another thing that threw me off, in this our main characters are supposed to be in their twenties but they still acted like they were teenagers - it felt as though they were aged up only to appease a wider range of audience and appeal to those who find YA story with 14-year-old heroes a bit jarring. Overall, the concept was a very cool idea but executed poorly. I found the story was very slow and had many jumbled ideas that didn’t quite pan out.

Thank you to NetGallery and to the publisher for a copy of this awesome book!

This book is perfect for anyone looking for an alternative history. O'Connor creatively crafts a world in which the Roman Empire never fell; what a cool concept!

I thought O'Connor did a wonderful job with the world-building. Everyone must adhere to a high code of morality. I like the idea that sometimes the "morals" are not necessarily what one should follow. Also, I found the map and the "Exploring the World" section to be super helpful when trying to remember details about the world.

I think that O'Connor described her created world beautifully, but I did not enjoy the long descriptions of Cassandra's thoughts. I thought they were a little too detailed. As a reader, I would have preferred a more show rather than tell approach. Overall, this book exceeded my expectations, and I enjoyed the read. I will definitely be looking out for the next books in the series!

Cassandra is the perfect daughter who does what she's told and never strays from the path set before her. But that's all throw out of wack when a mysterious boy from her class, someone who's been there all along but she's just now noticing, tells her she might not be who she thinks he is. It's possible that she's a magic wielding, long lost princess who definitely doesn't belong inside the wall.

I had a hard time getting through the first 150 pages or so of this book. I'm just not that big on sci-fi but once the author started weaving in bits of magic and dropped the "long lost princess" troupe, I was sold. I absolutely loved the slow burn relationship between Cass and Dhevyn. I love when characters who are starting to like each other are still kind of mean to each other, if that makes sense. It's just much better than insta-love.

The way the society was set up was also very interesting. They way citizens are matched with their soulmates from a very young age and all of the traditions that follow with it like handfasting, bridal tea, the bracelets. It's a plot I've read before but with unique elements. I honestly don't know how I'd feel if at like 9 someone told me I they had already picked out who I was going to marry.

Cassandra's character development was also one of my favorite things in the book. She went from a spoiled,m self-centered girl to someone who actually cared about those around her. She had finally started to see that this perfect life she was leading did not apply to everyone. Dhevyn exposed her to all the cracks and grim in their society that she had just blissfully ignored all her life. I can't wait to see who she becomes in the second book!

I would just like to thank Claire and Harper Collins One More Chapter for sending me a copy of this book.

The once and future queen is a dystopian adventure of Arthurian fantasy and forbidden romance, and I was super excited to read it. I was very intrigued by the idea of forbidden star crossed lovers lovers and an alternative history - taking place in an alternative future.

but it took me a moment to really get into but once i I struggled to put the book down, and was constantly wondering what was going to happen next - there was mystery and twists in this book, which makes you just want to read it more.

I found the world building was done very well, the author has created a world for you to be sucked into, everything was described beautifully and created a vivid picture of the story.

the three main characters where very fun to get to know, Cass was a little naive but she has alot of room to grow. Marcus was my favorite and he has the most depth out of the three. Devyn is also great but there is more to be discovered with him. there maybe a potential LT in the midst but we shall see.

all in all a great book and i recommened.

A book you can truly snuggle into the sofa with. A little slow to start but that's world-building for you, impossible not to be!

This is a great read and a great story. I am so excited for what comes next in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley, Clara, and One More Chapter for an advance copy of this book.

Cassandra has everything she wants, she's pretty, popular, rich, and promised to the most handsome eligible bachelor in Londinium. One day in class she has an unforgettable interaction with Devyn, a guy she can barely remember having contact with, and it changes the course of her life forever. Has she just met her destiny or her doom?

The story dragged a little, and got confusing at times, but I thought it was an interesting mashup of dystopian, fantasy, historical fiction, and magical realism. We've got a little Ancient Rome, we've got a little Tudor/Plantagenet, we've got a little Celtic magic, and we've got an original story that combines the two.

As far as tropes go, this book is chock full of some of the tropes that a lot of people are not fans of (myself included): instalove and love triangle being the core two. Even though I'm not a huge fan of these, I did enjoy the twists that Clara took with them. Cassandra isn't exactly a likable MC, but she's not awful and rooting for her was easy. And that ending was, woooaaahhh.

This is definitely a good series opener that makes me want to continue on.

Unfortunately I just could not get into this story. There was so much internal monologue, I found myself skipping passages just to get to some sort of action.
Cassandra doesn't seem to know why she's doing any of the things she's doing. She keeps saying she's known Devyn forever, but also can't remember how she knows him or anything about him.
I can't figure out when this story is taking place, the past? the future? An alternated timeline? Who knows. Not me.

I really wanted to like this story, but I just couldn't get through the walls of text.

My rating is between 4-4.5 stars. I can't decide!

This book is exactly the sort of dystopian alternate world fantasy that I like to read, so when it showed up on Netgalley, I was stoked! For the most part, it really delivered.

I loved how the heroine changed (because wow, she really needed to) and adored Devyn. Marcus was fine, but so clearly not the hero that it made it hard to truly care about him.

I will say that at times, the book was slow. Although I like the alternate history aspect, I did skim/skip a few pages here and there cause it was just too much all at once. And perhaps the story got dragged out slightly longer than necessary (that being said, I self-admittedly prefer fast-paced reads). Overall though, it was very good.

I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.

I found this a little slow to start, or rather my interest was slow to start, but once I got into it I really enjoyed it. So much so that I can’t wait for the next books, once past the initial part I found I couldn’t put this down, it really is addictive fantasy and a great new twist, can’t wait to read the next and see where this is headed for our fantastic cast of characters

My thanks to One More Chapter for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Secrets of the Starcrossed’ by Clara O’Connor in exchange for an honest review.

This is Book One of O’Conner’s The Once and Future Queen YA fantasy trilogy. It had a premise that immediately grabbed my attention: an alternative history in which the Roman Empire never fell. While the date of events isn’t specified, at one point twentieth century fossil-fuelled cars are referenced as outdated. So Roman yet also futuristic in terms of technology. Sign me up!

Londinium is the last stronghold of the Romans left in Britannia. It remains in a delicate state of peace with the ancient kingdoms that surround it. The novel’s protagonist and narrator is Cassandra, the only daughter of a powerful Londinium merchant. Since the age of twelve she has been betrothed to Marcus, the most eligible bachelor in the city. She is now twenty-two and about to graduate. Following this she’s expects to marry Marcus and abide by the Code that all loyal citizens follow.

However, she then meets Devyn, “the boy with the strange midnight eyes searching for a girl with magic in her blood. A boy who will make her believe in soulmates…” well this proves a game changer.

Even though overall I enjoyed this fantasy with its fascinating core premise including the blending in of Arthurian lore, I did have a few quibbles. Like the Sky historical fantasy series, Britannia, at times the plot was a bit bonkers, which wasn’t a huge issue. Yet having Cassandra constantly referring to Devyn and Marcus as ‘boys’ and Devyn in turn calling her ‘little girl’ when they are all in their twenties had me rolling my eyes. Cassandra’s rollercoaster angst over her feelings may well be catering to a YA/Teen readership but didn’t particularly strike a chord with me.

I was also a bit disappointed that religion had been jettisoned in Cassandra’s world even though there’s magic outside Londinium. It could be that the usage of ‘boys’ is down to Cassandra’s immaturity and that the dismissal of religion as outdated is her perspective. We shall see as the series continues.

I appreciated Clara O’Connor including a Q&A on her world building and notes on Roman London following the main text.

Overall, I enjoyed this very much even with my quibbles and I am looking forward to reading more. The second and third books in the trilogy are scheduled for publication in March and June 2021, so not a long wait for the continuation.