I want to start by saying I love the cover, and I have seen the journey this writer went through while publishing this book. Absolutely amazing. It's fun and whimsical, but fell a bit away from me, mostly because I'm not in the biggest fantasy mood at the moment, I feel.

Lore of the Wilds is a promising start to what should be a great series, I felt immersed in the world and the magic in this book and all of its characters. The cover for this book is so beautiful and the character with antlers was my main drive to want to read this book. The cottagecore vibes were everything I needed, giving it a cosy vibe inbetween any action scenes. Also the first chunk of the book is spent cleaning and organising an old fae library which just sounds like a dream job to me.

Admittedly there are some pacing issues, mostly towards the end. It was as if all of a sudden the author realised they had to end the book soon but hadn't gotten as far as they wanted so rushed through the rest. That part of the book where she literally leaves the tavern and then immediately she is at the castle just left me thinking "Oh, thats it? She's just there?" and then she is at the castle for a few pages before leaving it and then basically teleports back to the tavern again. I was actually expecting the books finale to end at that castle because it seemed like what she had planned would be hard but left me feeling like it was pointless.

I love the love triangle though, I definitely know who I am rooting for. But the term 'core' is getting very over used...

I am very much looking forward to the next book, especially after that ending!

Thanks for approving me to read this.

I was excited to try a diverse romantasy book as I feel this sub genre is lacking diversity in all formats. Although this is not a sub genre I usually read, I do enjoy fantasy and so wanted to check this book out.

Whilst I enjoyed the initial plot of the book, things were solved too quickly and moved on at too fast of a place to give any plot or character building the space and time it needed to grow in my mind. I felt the most developed character, introduced 54% of the way through the book, was too far from the start to keep me interested.

The romance element was fun but was far too quick. I got no sense of Asher being at all interested in Lore until suddenly he was struggling to keep his hands off her. I also felt the intimate scene was bizarre and his character changed a lot. It felt like the scene was written to impress readers who like spicy books and was out of character for both people involved.

Overall, whilst I enjoyed the whimsy and a few plot elements of this book, the lack of substance was disappointing—especially as I think romance hinges on there being substance. My final critique/question is why the book is missing FL and FI from words? I thought it was a plot device and I was very interested… then when I got introduced to characters with FL and FI starting names but those letters weren’t missing I was confused. By the end of the book I didn’t see what the point in this was and it annoyed me.

To conclude: this is a fun whimsical romance set in a fantasy world. If you like Fae, the “powerful man” trope and quick romance you will like this book.

My review will be on Instagram soon.

Here's a confession: I'm not usually a fan of romantasy. And I openly admit it's because certain big names in this subgenre kind of ruined the whole thing for me because their kind of romantasy either puts me to sleep or enrages me to the point of never wanting to read a single book again. I also really do not care about the romantasy version of fae, not since I've had to endure the constant growling and borderline abusive behaviour of what the very same big names consider "good love interests".
So believe me when I say I was more than hesitant to pick up a new romantasy series including fae, but what can I say - beautiful covers with gorgeous people on it have a way of luring me in, and the description included the words "library" and "cottagecore" so here I am, hello. I was intrigued, which I rarely am anymore when it comes to romantasy. Still, I didn't expect much.

I'm happy to report that despite all reservations I enjoyed my time with Analeigh Sbrana's debut novel "Lore of the Wilds". While world building is never the focus of romantasy stories, it was well done here and some aspects reminded me a little of fantasy works like the Witcher series (e.g. races and beings from other planes tumbling into another plane where they now have to find ways to deal with this new situation). I liked it, I wanted to know more. The fae in this story are the native inhabitants of the plane the story takes place in, and they are no fans of their visitors from beyond, humans. Humans are held captive in their little village and killed if they dare venture beyond the borders of their cage.
Our protagonist, Lore, is one of those humans. I really liked her a lot, she's clever, caring and opinionated. Now, did she escape the genre curse of being basically perfect, with her only flaws being painted on quirks that make her look even cuter? No. But she had enough going on for her to make up for it. The main love interest was also kind of your usual love interest, seemingly cold and grumpy at first but in truth just a lovely boy with a heart of gold. There's another love interest, kind of, that we meet in the later parts of the novel and well, he's grumpy but also has a heart of gold. Again, 'Lore of the Wilds' doesn't reinvent the wheel, it very much relies on the same archetypes as its predecessors. The romance is rather instalovey, and especially instalusty. I personally just don't like it when a girl has a lot of dramatic things going on (in this case, the fae being her oppressors and the lives of her loved ones being constantly in danger, and so on) yet easily finds the time to notice how hot the guys around her are the minute she meets them. And of course, all the hot guys think she, of a race they rarely if at all interact with and were taught to hate, is the hottest, most desirable girl of all time. But once again, all of that's just romantasy.
The side characters were alright, and I really really appreciated that Lore had a childhood friend who is a MAN and they're just FRIENDS, no romantic tension at all. Loved this for me.

The writing is perfectly fine, though it does rely a lot on repetitions (mostly considering descriptions of how the love interests look and smell and feel) and tropes for the sake of tropes. It's engaging and comfortable to read, and some of the descriptions are really beautiful. There are some pacing issues mostly in the middle parts, where some things are drawn out way too much while other things (like Lore rescuing her friend) happen within what feels like five minutes tops. The plot itself is fun and for the most part interesting. It didn't manage to stick to the high stakes it presented at the beginning of the book, which lead to some consistency issues (for example: the fae being so powerful and scary that noone would oppose them, yet Lore manages to free her friend all on her own from the very scary powerful fae queen and her very scary powerful soldiers with the most simplistic, borderline insulting plan to ever have been conceived, making them look silly and unthreatening as a result). There's also a twist at the end that left a sour taste in my mouth - not because of the twist itself, which I actually thought was great, but because it raised some questions of consent when thinking back to a previous scene.
Also, just for the people who expect this book to deliver on the "spicy" descriptor in the blurb: It's very, very, very low on spice. There's one scene. I don't mind at all because I love me some slow burn, but the blurb is a little misleading in that way.

So, in conclusion? This is a perfectly fine and well-written start to a new romantasy series, set in an intriguing world filled with mostly complex characters. It hast a strong protagonist that I truly loved much more than any other romantasy heroine I've read in a while and an on-paper interesting love triangle. I definitely recommend this for fans of the subgenre.

I really enjoyed this first book of a series.
Instead of being pulled directly towards one love interest over the other, I found myself constantly switching who I preferred. I still can’t decide who I want Lore to end up with - Asher or Finn. And with how it ended I’m kind of sad I read an arc and will now have to wait even longer for a sequel!

I wish Goodreads let you do .5 stars because for me this was a 4.5 star read! But I’ve got to round up because the way the last 25% of this book made me feel makes up for the middle 15% where I was struggling to get through it!!
This book was marketed as a cosy cottage core read and while I do think it had aspects of it, I just don’t feel like cottage core really is a good enough word to describe how much I loved this book!! There were a few smaller plot points which I guessed but that ending… I’m begging for the next book!!
Pick this book up when it comes out!! I loved it!!

Unfortunately I’m having to DNF at 50% - I was so excited to read this book based on other reviews but it was just lacking for me.

The writing felt really juvenile and didn’t seem to fit in the world. I couldn’t tell if this was YA or adult. I liked the idea of the world and the concept of this book but the writing let me down. As well I found the pacing confusing and just found myself lacking interest to the story.

The romance for me really didn’t hit. The chemistry felt forced and I didn’t find myself enjoy any interactions. I feel as though some aspects could have done with developing further.

I really appreciate the opportunity for this ARC!

The cover for this book is absolutely stunning, and the blurb really drew me in but unfortunately the book left me wanting.

This book is marketed as enemies to lovers and a love triangle, along with being an adult romantasy. There was nothing beyond a single explicit scene to make this adult as opposed to remaining YA. I think this is almost to the book's detriment as there's really no need for it, beyond the current popularity of erotic scenes.

I struggled to understand some of the character's choices, such as the fact she is from a village that's scared of fae but she trusts them almost immediately. The final twist also felt somewhat underwhelming in the end as there are no hints towards it.

Overall the book was okay, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to pick up the sequel.

' For those who seek magic within the pages of a book.'

Thankyou NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Lore Of The Wilds is the Debut book for Analeigh Sabrana and is the first in a series. Which means it ends on a cliff hanger 😭😭

If you're a fan of stories of Fantasy romance, magic, Fae, Friendship & found family with adventure and twists then this book will probably be for you.

Told in the 3rd person we follow Lore Alemeyu from the human town of Duskmere in a land of Fae. Trapped with no escape and the scars to prove it she lives and works in a store when one day a pair of Dark Fae visit and she sells them a book.
From here she is taken and sent to work in the Castle of the Fae leaving behind her town and people. In exchange for aid for the humans she agrees to work in the Library which has been magically enchanted for thousands of years so that no fae can enter, in search for anything which could be of use to the Fae lord who wants in.
While searching and organising the library she comes across a magical book which appears blank but shows her that she has been lied to and decides to escape with the help of her guard/friend dark fae Asher Gylthae with it.
They head south and we meet the rest of the characters, twin light fae Finndryl&Isla and their father Gryph. From here the adventure continues as she learns how to read the book and make a plan on how to get back to her people.

The magic and world building in the book is really well done however I struggled with the pacing at times as some events seem to happen so quickly and yet others seemed to drag unnecessary.
The twists near the end I did not see coming and I can't wait to read the second book in this series.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover, which is absolutely stunning! After reading the blurb I was convinced I was going to absolutely love this book however, after finishing it I have a whole load of conflicting opinions.

I think most of my issues with this book could be solved if it was marketed as a YA rather than an adult fantasy. I found that some of the speech just felt really juvenile which isn’t necessarily a bad thing it just didn’t fit in what was supposed to be an adult romantasy. Due to the fact that the characters acted so young, the spice also felt way out of place. It just felt like the author included a spicy scene to force it into the adult genre because that’s what’s popular at the minute.

Also, the world-building felt really underwhelming to me. I found it quite hard to imagine the world and understand the magic system. The world and storyline felt like such a great, unique idea to me and I just wish the author had fleshed it out more.

Overall, I think this book was okay but I probably wouldn’t rush to read the next book in the series sadly.

A library with a deadly enchantment. A fae lord who wants in. A human woman willing to risk it all for a taste of power. A land ruled by ruthless fae, a human village trapped in a forested prison. Lore knows that escape is futile, her scars are a testament of her past failures, but she’ll risk it all for a taste of freedom. When her village is threatened, and it seems like all hope is lost, Lore makes a desperate deal with a fae lord.

She convinces him that she will risk her life for wealth, but really she’s after the Ione thing fae covet above all else and refuse to share with human, whom they consider intruders and inferior to themselves. Lore craves magic of her own. As she navigates the hostile world outside, she is forced on two fae males to survive. But who can she trust with her heart, and who will ultimately betray her in the end.

When undeniable chemistry ignites, she not just in danger of loosing her life, but her heart to the very creatures she can never trust. Filled with an incredibly string willed main character, handsome fae males that will leave you breathless, and an enchanted library that will have you wishing this was real. A story filled to the brim with romance, magic and enchanted stories that will have you believing in fairytales and enjoying this cosy fantasy.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘚𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢

3⭐️ Lore of the Wilds is a YA fantasy which had the potential to be amazing, but fell short with excessively tropey storylines, rushed plot and confusing, lacklustre romance. In saying that, I did enjoy the first half a lot and the second half was okay.

In a land ruled by brutal fae, a small population of humans live imprisoned in a forest in desperate conditions. One day Lore is take to the Fae castle, tasked by a Fae Lord to search a spelled library for magic books. In exchange, the Fae agree to fix the devastating damage of their human village. But Lore has an ulterior motive for risking her life to search the magic library.

I really enjoyed Lore's relationships with her chosen family and friends and how much love was fostered in this prison village. I also found Lore's willingness to seek a better future for her village admirable and enjoyed watching her make things better for herself at the same time, rather than simply being a martyr for her village.

Halfway through, I was really enjoying getting to know our main character, excited to spend time in the magical library and watching how Lore interacted with the ruthless Fae. It was a solid foundation for the story that I hoped was coming.

My Favourite Quote:
"My favourite stories are the ones I can escape into. The ones where I can leave behind this bleak existence and be somebody else, even if just for a little while.
Someone braver than me.
Someone with the power to change their circumstance.” - Lore

(Small spoilers coming)

Unfortunately, as the story moved on quickly there were many elements which left me with unanswered questions, taking me out of the story.
- Why does a human who has lived a lifetime in fear of these brutal fae feel like she can be so bold and rude when in their world, without protection? Where did her fear go?
- With this lifetime of fear, why does she trust the fae offering to protect her, instantly?
- How does an untrained, inexperienced human fight off trained Fae guards?
- Why does she keep going into the dangerous forest alone, without protection?
- How does she, a human, end up with magic and just know how to use it in complicated ways without any knowledge or training?
- How did humans come to be imprisoned in the village?

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the second half of this book was how unfinished each experience was, almost as if adding all the tropes was more important than making sure that they fit the storyline and enhanced our understanding of the characters. The 'almost' love triangle was weird, Lore's romance with Asher felt too quick and without any substance and the mini-training session which led to absolutely nothing afterwards was unnecessary. But especially, when Lore needed protection the whole time she was in Fae land how on Earth did she rescue her human friend alone?

The twist at the end had so much potential for greatness, if there had been little breadcrumbs left along the way we would have been able to follow the lead and still enjoyed the surprise. Without these hints along the way the twist just felt forced.

This could have been an amazing book had the plot points been fleshed out much more, the world building continued into the Fae lands and time and care taken with the new connections that Lore made along the way. Perhaps someone new to fantasy might not get as hung up on the missing elements as I did and therefore enjoy it much more.

Note: This is a YA fantasy with an on page sex scene.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK and the Author for this eARC. As an Early reader copy, there will still be edits which hopefully address some of these concerns.

I had to DNF this book. I couldn't get through the first few chapters. Very Middle Grade/YA leaning. The language was far too similar to the SJ Maas style for my liking. Very disappointed since this is so hyped

Okay Analeigh, that ending just ruined me because now I’ll have to wait for book 2 and I’m very impatient😩
No seriously, this book had everything I love, magical books, a library, gorgeous brooding fae and a strong female lead. It had cosy, cottage core vibes at times and then anxiety inducing scenes next, it flowed really well. I absolutely loved Lore but I did want to give her a good shake at times (iykyk). Grey, Isla and Finn were all amazing side characters and I really enjoyed watching them develop and interact. Special mention to Gryph too.
Thank you Netgalley and Harper Voyager for this arc!

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Full review posted on Goodreads.

A cozy and adventurous read, a stellar debut novel from Analeigh Sbrana. I’m giving this a 3.75/5, while I really enjoyed this book I would’ve liked the pacing to be more consistent. There were too many chapters where I was left confused and feeling like I’d skipped something, or things happened so fast that I was never nervous when they were in danger, felt very YA while not being a YA novel. But despite those minor gripes, everything else was great, especially that cliff hanger at the end. I did NOT expect that, hats off Ms. Sbrana.

Lore is a human who works for her aunt and uncle in an apothecary shop wishing to discover magic. It opens with her grief of losing her parents and wishing she could do more for her village. The Fae are a cruel and arrogant people, who by all means look down on the humans as lesser beings. Shortly after an earthquake shakes her village, she is forced to leave it behind and thus she is thrust into the world of the Fae. What begins as a simple task of cleaning and logging books in a warded library she discovers a magical grimoire that later reveals to be a spell book. She is guarded by Asher who is a light Fae and is the only person that is kind to her, they develop a friendship and have a kindling of romance before Lore decides to run away with the grimoire so she can attempt to save her people. Now with the royal Fae on the hunt for her, she runs away with Asher who becomes more than a friend and they reach a village along the way, meeting Isla, Finndryl and Griph who take her in as their own. They embark on a mission after she rescues her friend Grey from a Fae queen who tells her what has become of their town and how women and children were stolen by the very Fae that had stolen Lore to clean the library under the guise of helping her people initially. They uncover the truth and much more along their journey of magic and justice.

I really adored Lore, she’s brave, self sacrificing and smart! You can really feel her passion for her people and her thirst for knowledge knows no bounds. The romance in this book is so frustrating because while she seems to focus her attention on Asher the first half of the book, he doesn’t seem to quite click into place for me as a romantic lead. He’s a nice guy but so so dull, which is intentional (I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone). Because we meet Finndryl and my oh my, I was feral for this man since the second he was introduced. I’m definitely partial to their relationship blooming into something more, their chemistry is just palpable and they have a genuine connection. Isla is more than likely my favorite character-from her style to her bright personality, she’s someone I definitely want to be friends with. I loved the curl care/locs mentioned in a medieval setting, that was cool to read in a fantasy novel as most are written by white authors and feature mainly only white characters, it’s refreshing to read diversity in this genre for once!

This was marketed as a cottage-core/love triangle and it surely delivered! I’ll be keeping an eye out for the second installment as I’m sure this will only continue to build into something spectacular.

4/5⭐️
Thank you to the author and publishing team for allowing me to read and review this arc! I fell in love with these characters and the book! The beginning was a bit slow in my opinion but quickly picked up once i hit 60% of the way through, I couldn’t put it down. The love interests were perfect and I loved the character development throughout the book. Not to mention the amazing twist at the end. The nickname “mouse” was the biggest clue and had me wondering the whole time, why give her a semi-insulting nickname if this guy is so wonderful; so, by the end it all came together and I love getting those pieces of foreshadowing! This was definitely a 4/5 star read for me! Thank you! My Goodreads review and tiktok review will already be up by the time you read this.

This is a really strong debut, especially in the beginning. I really connected with Lore and her plight and enjoyed the way her character shifted and changed as she discovered the library and started to uncover the secrets within it.

However, I did find that the plot started to meander around the 40-50% mark and lose the threads that made it so strong. Lore still is a compelling character but the characterisation of other characters as well as the actions of them started to not match up.

However, it did come back together at the end and I have to say I did not see the plot twist at the end coming! I will definitely pick up the next book.

Thank you Netgalley for the Arc

Lore of the Wilds unfortunately fell flat for me. There was so much potential in this book for it to be something really great but there were too many issues with the pacing, the romance and repetitiveness. I couldn't fall in love with or even hate any of the characters because there needed to be more depth, more emotion and more time spent with them but everything felt rushed. Personally I believe this book needed to be longer so there was room for more detail, slower pacing with the plot and the romance, more build up to plot twists and for an overall improval of the book.

Wow! What a book! I loved Lore and can’t wait to read more of her story.

Lore of the wilds is a fantasy book in which humans mysteriously appeared in the middle of fae lands. And have since been oppressed by them. I thoughts that this book was great and well written, the world was cool and new and the characters were well written. The only negative I found have is that the middle bit - with less action - was a bit too drawn out. But all in all I loved this book and hadn’t expected the plot twist. Give me book 2 now!!!! I would recommend this to people who like faes, magical libraries, or older ya fantasy (the characters are ya but the spice is although not predominant more na).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book, all thoughts are my own.

Lore of the Wilds drew me in with the thought of exploring an enchanted library. I really enjoyed the moments in the library and the description of these scenes were beautiful.

Lore’s character was really well written. She is passionate, caring and someone I loved reading about. I think the relationships between her and the other characters were realistic as was the dialogue.

The book moved really fast and typically I like that. Sometimes it is hard to stay engaged when there is a lot of build up in the first half but this book kept me hooked throughout with the fast pacing.

I am unsure whether this book was targeted to YA or more adult audiences. The narrative language felt YA however the spice feels like it is for more adult readers.