Thanks go to NetGalley and Wave Walker Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel, Book 1 of the new “Tales of Wonder and Woe” fantasy-romance series by author Renee Dugan.

“Let me tell you a story.” What reader, since childhood, has not been captivated by “the power unimaginable in a few small words”? A book that begins and ends with these few small words and makes them the source of power, love and human connection throughout its pages, for me, is the best kind of book there can be.

The cast of characters is long and each plays an important role in the “master story” that is composed of each of their entwined life stories, all playing out in different locations of the magical realm of Mithra-Sha. Except for the two lead characters, Audra Jashowin and Jaik Grissom, and maybe the God-figure, it can be difficult to keep all these straight. The author has wisely included a list of characters and locations, as well as a map of the domain, co-ruled by Sha Tobyrus Lothar and his wife, Shadre Callen, who live in their palace and refuge (the Shasta) with young-adult offspring, their son Sharan Arias and his co-heir sister, Shadress Mahalia.

It’s also essential to understand the caste system at work, especially since there are rank distinctions among and between those who are below the ruling family but above mere citizens. The story focuses on the Storycrafters, a highly skilled social group to whom is ascribed the power of story-making, a power that keeps Mithra-Sha prosperous and peaceful, affecting even the change of seasons and the type, nature and amount of food and employment available to all. Storycrafters study at Fablehaven Academy. Eventually they earn the right practise, and are given cloaks whose colour reveals their level of mastery, from palest pastels to deep red. But only the nation’s Storymaster can don the red cloak, and only after passing gruelling examination and being awarded the title by the Sha and Shadre. The Storymaster’s role is effectively that of Chief Adviser. Keeping watch over all is the Storymaker, an enigmatic figure whom no one has ever seen (yet) but all believe in.

Then there are the warriors, elite soldiers and the Sha’s personal army, intended to serve and defend all but especially to lend support to the Storycrafters and their Master in particular. It is the union of “sword and story” that keeps Mithra-Sha running smoothly.

When the story opens, all Storycrafters’ cloaks have bled their colours to become an ashen grey. The people are unemployed and hungry, the seasons are out of sync, the crops are failing, the Sha’s bounty can do only very little, and some of the leaders among the warriors are themselves fanning discord. Many don’t remember who the Storymaster was or where she went. Audra and Jaik forget their own identities and each other. The Sha’s most-relied upon warrior, Galan Fiordana, has become a master manipulator, vengeful killer, and the arch-nemesis of just about everyone, including the Sha. But especially Audra and Jaik, who must flee the bounty that the Shadre has placed on their heads for no reason they know, and which Galan will stop at nothing to get.

Why has all this happened? Something has torn the very fabric of Storycraft. Storycrafters consequently lost the skill to tell a good story and more importantly to close the tale properly. This is why all cloaks are grey and the land is in chaos. Until their power is restored, the darkness will not lift. And Audra and Jaik must feel their way back to their own story, individually and together, to do this.

I loved this story, and its stories within the story, which prove the author’s own mastery. At more than 540 pages, however, there is room for some judicious cutting to remove a lot of repetition and make the story easier to follow. The core characters are interesting, but losing some of them, and their locations, truthfully wouldn’t hinder the plot. Jaik and Audra are amiable protagonists with such a complicated backstory and mission that focussing more on them would be good. Even as they go about solving the mystery of the lost endings together, Audra weaves many stories, progressing them slightly over a number of retellings. There are just too many very similar stories, with too many very similar outcomes. For And all their genuine sweetness and cuteness, I also tired of the repeated references to Jaik’s low-slung pants and angular hips, and his supposedly dumb farmhand routine when it’s clear he’s anything but. Likewise the seemingly every other page references to Audra’s propensity for eye-rolling (at Jaik) and her never ending stomach issues. She’s forever gagging, vomiting, swallowing bile, feeling nauseous, covered in “sick”, covering others in sick (especially Jaik), and doubled-over with gastric distress. She’s very public about it all, especially the vomiting. I felt a bit sick myself just reading it.

Despite these few criticisms, I did, as I said, absolutely love this book and its main characters. The epilogue ends with a pointed “Let me tell you a story.” I can hardly wait for the next tale of wonder and woe.

Thank you so much for this ARC! I absolutely loved reading this book. The writing kept me hooked on the story. The characters are all well written and complex. Reading about Audra and Jaik made them one of my favorite romances. I would definitely recommend this to another reader!

A Story Spun In Scarlet catches your interest with its beautiful cover, then keeps your interest with this one of a kind story.

The unique plot is something I have never come across before, which is so refreshing and mesmerizing from start to finish.

The slow burn romance, the unique plot and ohhh, the banter between the characters has made this a new favorite for me and hopefully the next reader as well.

I can find no fault with this book! The story was intriguing and kept me second guessing everything throughout the entire read. The prose was beautiful, bordering on poetic, without distracting from the tale as it unfolded. The characters were delightfully loveable and so perfectly *them* that the ending couldn't be anything other than what it was. And that ending. I cried. But I wouldn't change a thing.

As for the story itself, how unique was that! Stories in Mithra Sha contain powerful magic, which is unleashed at their conclusion. This magic helps all who live on the continent... Until the day stories lose their endings. Audra and Jaik seem to be at the center of everything going on and we follow them as they work their ways towards the truth, together proving that love truly does withstand all.

A Story Spun in Scarlet by R. Dugan

As always thank you to NetGalley, the author R. Dugan and everyone else who led to allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. I promise that my review is 100% my own opinion and not affected by external protection.

Now, this is a long book, and people need to know that before going into it. It spans a long time, and while there's a lot of fluff in the story, it builds onto the book's adventure. It is a story tellers book, a story within a story, and it was epic. Some parts of the story felt repetitive, some things felt like it was pointless, or it added no value to the story. But I find this quite common with these epic-style fantasy stories.

While these are a part of the story, I absolutely loved that there was a character and location guide. Which gave you pronunciations and descriptions to help you understand and differentiate. I will always have a special place in my heart for books with a map at the beginning.

“Let me tell you a story…”

Audra Jashowin, her lack of purpose driving her since she was disgraced by her family. A story crafter on the run. Fleeing the rejection and her home, she is flung into a new adventure. Bringing in Jaik Grissom, who has the ability to bring her stories to life. The book unravels love, loss, and adventure.

This book is perfect for someone who loves a more long-winded style book, with in-depth world-building and a complex magic system and doesn’t forget a little bit of a slow burn romance. It is a book that you have to stick with for it to ultimately pay off. The second half is a lot better than the start. But with the majority of epic stories, the first part will always be heavy on the world-building and details.

Thank to NetGalley for an ARC of A Story Spun in Scarlet! This review is entirely of my own opinion.

Firstly, this book is 659 pages and I was only able to finish to 30% which is about 200 pages.

I really enjoyed the unique concept and plot, and with Renee’s gorgeous prose and world-building I was kept entranced.

What made me DNF this book though is that I felt the characterization was lacking after 200 pages. I couldn’t really connect to Audra or Jaik, and this was enough for me to not be interested to continue their story. I can see how further into the book, the characters and their relationships would develop, but unfortunately if I’m not hooked by 200 pages, I feel it’s not in my best interest to continue.

I still love Renee as an author and her writing style is one of my favorites! The Starchaser Saga and The Curse of the Blessed series are some of the best books I’ve read!

What the heck did I just read and why is it now my favorite book ever?

Before this, Deathless was my favorite book. But I would never, ever, ever re-read it because it put me in such a reading slump and made me feel like my heart was ripped out and chewed with the strength of that story. This book somehow made me feel the same way again, and so it must sit in the freezer with Deathless, haunting me but never to be read again.

Seriously, this book was THAT good. I wept. I laughed. I felt hope. I felt despair. It was a very, very good story. Not just a book, like “oh I couldn’t put this down” or “oh I ship this couple” or whatever, like it was just genuinely a good story. If it didn’t hurt so damn much, I’d probably read it again too, but alas, the PAIN.

I highly recommend it to everyone. But I do NOT thank NetGalley for bringing this eARC into my life because now I’ll never be able to read anything else. Alas.

This was a nice book to start the New Year on.
yes, it's long but I loved the stories within a story; could some things have been cut? Yes. But its a quest book, and this is what I expect from quest books.. it takes place over several months, which is something I appreciated because it gave time for the relationship between the two MCs to grow organically.

Audra is a likeable enough MC and Jaik is a good companion. The concept is unique and even if the execution isn't perfect and the ending is a bit hazy, the story itself is good and I wanted to keep going and I actually lost track of time finishing it up.

Thank you NetGalley and Wave Walker Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

DNF 9%

I know! This looks like I gave this no chance, but I swear I tried 🥺
This is a pretty long book, so this is still about about 60 pages, buy it was ALL description. There was so little dialogue, and every page was just never-ending paragraphs of description, and that type of writing is just never for me.

It seemed like it could be an interesting story, and unfortunately I never made it to the MMC, but I felt like I was moving through molasses trying to read this and I just wasn't enjoying myself 😔

Firstly, huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC for this novel.

I wanted to like this book so much. The premise of stories as magic, and a world where those stories have lost their endings, was one that filled me with so much excitement. And the story itself seems to be a wonderful one, with plenty beautiful moments spied as I flicked through to the end. However, despite every effort to finish it, I just physically could not.

The prose was unfocused and meandering, and it swallowed up the plot and the characters and the world. Superfluous descriptions, too-long sentences and entire paragraphs that could be reduced to mere sentences, and repeated sentiments made it personally very difficult to read. I did flick further through the book before deciding to DNF to see if it got any better, and while the opening chapters do seem to bear the brunt of it, perhaps due to their expository nature, it continues to be a theme throughout. I usually love descriptive/poetic prose but with this book it crosses the line into purple.

As a constructive point, I can't help but wonder if the author's style would be more impactful in third-person, as part of the issue I think lay in the fact that much of the main character's voice is overwhelmed by flowery descriptions, leaving little room for her personality to shine through.

Two stars for the premise. The story showed a lot of promise, the writing just needed to be a lot cleaner.

HOLY FREAKING CRAP. Genuinely sobbing at that ending, what a wonderfully written book! Honestly, I'm not going to lie, first half was a bit of a drag plot wise and the italics were annoying. I am so glad I stuck it through! The last half of this novel with all of the plot twists, the storytelling, all of it; five stars across the board. (If you could just shoot me an email or a message or sky write something though and just say "SHE REMEMBERED" I would absolutely appreciate that.) But what a beautiful ending. I love how everything tied together. If Throne of Glass, the Witcher, and LOTR had a book baby, this would be it.

Down to brass tacks: the Audra of the first half of the book acted vastly more immaturely than the second half of the book, it nearly gave me whiplash. It almost felt like she was 15 in the first half and 25 in the second half. Also, the pet name was super cute, but after the 50th time of reading "tiger" it it was losing its shine. But honestly the fact that they fell in love not once, not twice, but three times (if she remembers at the end)? Oh my swooning epic romantic heart, that made me bawl. Overall, wonderful wonderful wonderful. Dugan created an epic fantasy and I can't wait for its release so I can get a hardback copy.

Whoa! Just whoa! This book is addicting with a mystery spun in adventures and beautiful stories. It takes fantasy to a whole new dimension with Storycrafters and Misspoken stories, the complex characters, and the beautiful settings of the towns, cities, and countryside. The resilience of the human spirit is so beautifully told in this story - Hope springs eternal.

The romance between Audra and Jaik is not spicy but I fell in love with them falling in love. Their banter is fabulous and I yearned for their romance for the first meeting.

I loved that Jaik used a grounding exercise/method that I use when I have an anxiety attack. You don't see those types of good coping mechanisms very often in books and this mechanism is my favorite (because it helps me soo much).

The book left me guessing right up until the end!

*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC*

I enjoyed this book. It had great character development, fantastic world building and a really interesting magic system. I did feel several times while reading that it was wrapping up to end, only to find that it kept going. I think it would have been better served as a 2 book series, but there is something to be said for not having a cliffhanger ending. It book wraps up nicely, and I appreciated the ending.

Thanks Netgalley for an e-ARC! I liked this, but it wasn’t anything special for me personally. I will say, I have a hard time when the names are spelled too uniquely or obscurely. It distracts me from what’s going on because I just go “bskfhsg” in my head. But that’s just a random pet peeve I have!

A Story Spun in Scarlet earns four stars from me for its magic system, world building and generally beautiful writing. The books pacing in certain moments is left to be desired however I am eagerly anticipating the next instalment in the series!

Thank you Wave Walker Press and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

What I liked:
- I was drawn in from the beginning.
- The banter was great between characters.
- I liked the humor added to the story.
- The world building was interesting.


What I did not like:
- The book length. I did not feel it needed to be so long. A lot of repetition. Could be cut down.
- The character development didn't make sense for me. Some loopholes in the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.3 rounded down to 4/5

"A Story Spun in Scarlet" by R. Dugan, weaves a captivating narrative set in the enchanting land of Mithra-Sha. Audra Jashowin, a storyteller seeking purpose, takes readers on a thrilling journey filled with magic, adventure, and a slow-burning romance that lingers long after the final page.

The mesmerizing cover draws readers into a world where tales have lost their endings, and Audra, haunted by rejection, embarks on a quest for belonging. The introduction of Jaik Grissom, a simple farmhand with a unique talent, adds depth to the storyline as they venture into the heart of storytelling itself.

Dugan's writing is beautiful, immersing readers from page one. The world-building is exceptional, painting a vivid picture of Mithra-Sha and its intricate magic system. However, the complexity of the initial world-building can make the beginning feel dense, demanding a bit more patience from the reader.

The relationship between Audra and Jaik is a highlight, offering a wonderful slow burn that keeps the audience invested. However, some readers may desire a bit more spice at times. Additionally, the occasional feeling that Audra and Jaik are younger than intended can slightly disconnect the audience from the depth of their experiences.

The religious undertones throughout the book might be divisive for some readers. While they add a layer of complexity to the narrative, those who prefer a more secular storyline may find it distracting.

The use of a past tense 1st person POV contributes to a sense of reflection but may distance readers from the immediacy of the events. Nevertheless, the rich and complex characters, coupled with a mystery lurking beneath broken tales, keep the plot engaging.

As the duo uncovers a terrible truth that reshapes the course of history, Dugan masterfully keeps the suspense alive. The tragedy written between the pages is a poignant element that leaves a lasting impact, rewriting the ending of the tale in a way that will linger in readers' minds.

In conclusion, "A Story Spun in Scarlet" is a delightful blend of adventure, romance, and magic. While it may have some minor drawbacks, the enchanting narrative, coupled with Dugan's beautiful prose and intricate world-building, ensures that readers will be left yearning for more tales from Mithra-Sha.

I recently had the opportunity to read the ARC of "A Story Spun in Scarlet," and it was a captivating journey through the enchanting land of Mithra-Sha. Audra Jashowin, a storyteller seeking purpose, takes center stage, bringing with her a magical narrative that intertwines with the very essence of storytelling itself.

One of the book's standout features is its unique magic system, beautifully woven into the fabric of the tale. Audra's storytelling abilities, coupled with Jaik Grissom, create a compelling synergy that breathes life into the stories within Mithra-Sha.

The chemistry between Audra and Jaik is palpable and feels real which made me like their characters even more. The banter and humor throughout the book made it a truly fun read.

However, my journey through the book hit a slight snag in the 25%-35% mark, where I encountered a lot if info dumping. While it took some effort to navigate through this portion, although the twists and turns of the story were so captivating that they more than compensated for the initial challenge.

In the end, I gave "A Story Spun in Scarlet" a well-deserved 4/5 stars. Its exploration of stories within a story, a rich magic system, and the genuine connection between the characters make it a fantastic read for any fan of imaginative and enchanting tales.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Read for:
- World-building
- Fresh magic system
- Convincing cast of characters

Overall, I really liked this book. I struggled personally with the pacing toward the middle-end, but I stuck it out because I was invested in the story.

A Story Spun in Scarlet earns four stars for its enchanting narrative and inventive magic system. Renee's clever concept of storytellers shaping tales adds a unique layer. While Audra's internal monologs and pacing moments are minor drawbacks, the overall experience is immersive, creative, and leaves a lasting impression. Eagerly anticipating the next instalment in the series.