This would have been a four stars, but the one scene made it drop, because honestly that portion was just a bit rough to read, it was a hurry up read this section and let's go. If that would be cleaned up a bit better (like potentially more realistic, or sexier or something?) then it would be back to four starts.

Did not expect a love triangle. Didn't expect it to be also a lot of revenge and magic (yes I expected some but not to this level). Was I invested? Yes. Did I enjoy the characters? Yes. Will I read the next one? Yes.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my DRC in exchange for my honest review.

3/5

The Cerise follows our fiery, stubborn main character Khiara. Since birth, red hair has made her a target, but after a tragic night when she gains powers, she can finally become the hunter. On the last part of her mission for revenge, something goes terribly wrong and now Khiara must decide how far she’s willing to go to save her friend.

Look. The bones are there. The world is there. The plot is there. This book just needs work on its execution.

I liked the bits about the lore and how the author didn’t spell everything out too much and is letting readers draw their own conclusions.

There’s some really good characters in here too. The love triangle did not make sense to me however.

Also. That cliffhanger? I know I read the ebook so it’s hard to tell where I am in the book. But that came out of noooowhere.

All that said, I AM interested in seeing where this story goes. I have high hopes for the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW: rape

This will be a detailed and frustrating review, in which I will explain the reasons for my vote. I want to warn you right away that it will contain spoilers, so if you just want to read the reasons, I suggest you skip straight to the end. I want to point out that I am not a professional reviewer, but simply a reader who wants to share her opinion on the story. That said, I’ll leave you to my thoughts.

The sheer number of questions and doubts that this book has left me with in just 240 pages is beyond normal. When I read the synopsis of the book, I expected to find what it actually promised, too bad that from the first pages, I came across problems with both the plot and the characters.

The main problem of this story lies in its plot: the driving force behind the story is extremely weak and the way the author handled it left me puzzled. The protagonist, a Cerise—a sort of witch whose powers are tied to the four elements—seems to be at odds with the court, so much so that the king had decreed a law saying that those who have red hair are monsters. In addition, the protagonist's family was killed by soldiers, setting the stage for a narrative where the protagonist exists in a hostile world. What I do not understand is why the author wanted to emphasize the protagonist's hair color (red) as a symbol that marks her as Cerise if in the course of the story is completely overlooked. In the first pages of the book, the protagonist takes care to hide the color of her hair, although it seems that no one really cares about this feature. It remains unclear why the king issued a specific law on red hair if this aspect is not then exploited significantly in the plot. It seems more like an added element to create scenes rather than to give weight to the story. It would make sense if when she uses her powers her hair turns red or she uses a potion to hide its color. In short, there are plenty of alternatives that could have been explored further. Another aspect that is underdeveloped is the presence of the arches with torches that turn blue when crossed by a Creature of Legend. There is no clear explanation as to their origin or the powers they possess. The protagonist mentions that crossing that arch can have effects on her because she is a Creature of Legend, but does not know which. If it’s risky, why can’t she find another passage? Or why don’t she look for information? This little in-depth or inconsistent information is repeated throughout the book, making it difficult for the reader to immerse themselves in the story fully. In summary, the narrative is riddled with details that are either insufficiently developed or take unexpected turns, resulting in a lack of coherence and credibility in the plot This leads to a lack of consistency and credibility in the plot, which could benefit from a more thorough review. As a reader, I would have preferred to enjoy reading, but it becomes challenging when faced with situations where the information provided does not align or take inconsistent directions previously presented.

The fantasy element of the book is one of the weaknesses, as it has not been adequately developed. Apart from the main character who uses her powers, you will encounter only two or three Creatures of Legend throughout the story. I expected that the meeting with a Cerise at the service of the king would lead to a deeper dialogue, given the circumstances, but instead, everything is reduced to two lines. I don’t expect every page to overflow with magic, but I would at least like to feel immersed in a coherent fantasy world.
One assumption I made was that the protagonist was aware of her powers and how to use them. However, I later discovered that she lacks even basic knowledge beyond their origin. This seems implausible, considering that during the protagonist’s life experiences. It’s difficult to believe that she never tested her abilities or searched for information about them. This detail undermines the coherence of the character and the fantasy world that the author tries to create.

Although the characters usually manage to compensate for a weak plot, unfortunately, this is not the case in this book. I will focus on the three main characters: Khiara, the protagonist, and her love interests, Riot and Bash.
-Khiara is presented as a woman determined to avenge her family and herself, while also avoiding the dangers associated with her Cerise condition. However, despite the promising elements, the protagonist is disappointing: she thoughts too much and seems to lack tactical intelligence. I think it is an exaggeration that the protagonist killed people, considering that throughout the story she used weapons only once and on all occasions, she was helped. It is true that her magical ability may have helped her, but in reality, she has proved capable only of perceiving the people around her. Despite the difficulties she has to face her powers manifest themselves when she is exhausted in front of a Hunter. In the palace without the king saying… nothing. Perhaps in the future, there will be explanations, but the fact that they have been avoided here is serious.
An important aspect of her characterization is her past rape, which is treated marginally and superficially in the narrative. Despite the men treating her as an object, including her best friend, the protagonist doesn’t react. Even during her sex scene with Riot, she says nothing to him or even shows signs of rape trauma. This contrasts with his initial panic attacks and raises questions about the emotional and behavioral coherence of her character. It may seem that maybe in the course of the story, the protagonist has faced this trauma and instead nothing happened.
Furthermore, the death of Sage, a secondary character, is treated in a synthetic and not very emotional manner, despite the close connection with the protagonist. I mean, the protagonist helps Sage escape from an abusive husband who promised her freedom and she dies of poisoning? Without you using your powers to try and save her? This contributes to a fragmented and uninvolving narrative and has left me disappointed by the lack of emotional and narrative insight.
-Riot and Bash are the two love interests that honestly didn’t involve me. Although Bash was introduced earlier it is Riot that gets the most space in this volume. Due to the brevity of the story, the relationships of the characters with the protagonist are immediate: Bash meets Khiara already in the first chapter and helps her without asking for anything in return. Although he is the prince the fact that he establishes a relationship with a Cerise should lead to conflicts or thoughts from other people that do not manifest in the story.
-Riot, Prince Bash’s guard, initially expresses his displeasure with the protagonist but then becomes her advisor on how to dress. However, the lack of depth in the relationships between the characters did not allow me to distinguish which of the two could have been chosen by Khiara, I was surprised when she refused Bash at the end, but this did not change my disinterest in both characters.

In conclusion, I would like to point out that the inclusion of modern terminologies deviates from the fantasy environment created. I’m sorry to give such a negative rating to a story, but after all the explanations I left (even if they are not all) I decided to be as sincere as possible. I hope that my words have not offended anyone, because my only goal is to explain why certain aspects of the plot have not convinced me. I sincerely hope that the story will improve in the future since the potential for an engaging narrative is present.

In summary, the plot has weak motivations that need revisiting; the fantasy aspect is lacking and would need greater development; the characterization of the protagonist leaves something to be desired and the love triangle does not have the desired effect.

The synopsis sounded great but the execution was lacking. It was very slow, confusing at times and just didn't make sense. Some parts were good but it was not enough to get me excited about this book. This was just not what I was expecting and felt let down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

The idea of the story seemed absolutely incredible! Unfortunately the writing was hard to get into and follow. I felt like the pacing was pretty slow at times!

3 stars.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the overall concept and plot. I was a fan of The Selection and when I saw that it was in a similar regard but with a magical twist I had high hopes. However, this story jumped around a lot to the point I had trouble keeping track of what was happening at times. I felt things were never clearly explained or revealed too quickly. There seemed to be a lot of wording around a fast paced story that drew it out for 33 chapters.

SPOILERS: I also had a difficult time with how the romance was played out. First we are given Bash whom Khiara seems attracted to. Then out of nowhere Riot is introduced as another love interest. It seems Khiara cannot make up her mind, other than that she has no romantic interest in her friend Ezra. The romantic aspect was clunky and rushed with no sense of direction as to where any of it was heading.

However, I am curious to see how the rest of this story may play out because in true fantasy fashion we ended on a cliff hanger.

Overall, the book was okay and the concept was well thought out but I found myself wanting more and being let down.

The Cerise is the first book in a NA romantasy series, following Khiara, a Cerise (a being with magic and easily identifiable by their red hair), who has lived a life in hiding until she decides to find and kill the people involved in her family’s murder. This plan is derailed after her best friend makes a mistake and finds himself locked in the dungeon. Wanting to rescue him, Khiara enters the Culling, a competition taking place at the castle with the goal of helping the prince find a bride.

I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and the plot of the book. I was very engaged while reading, constantly excited to know what’s going to happen next. I loved the high stakes of the book, where she could be discovered as a Cerise at any minute.

My only issue is that there were certain parts where I was confused and could’ve needed some clarification. For example, her hair color is supposed to be an automatic death sentence, but when she reveals her hair, no one really cares (they kinda just take her word that she’s not a Cerise).

Overall, I was thoroughly entertained by this book, and I’m hoping the next book will offer more clarifications in regards to my questions. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

The Cerise, is a book about witches that are being hunted. It follows Khiara whom is a Cerise (witch). Khiara is trying to avenge someone whom attacked her, while in the process she ends up meeting two males. They will both play a crucial part during her journey and we are thrown in to a love triangle. I enjoy a good love triangle so it kept making me want more. The plot felt a bit short at times and I would find myself confused. It's as if I was skipping paragraphs and had to retrace only to find out I didn't miss anything. The beginning was also a bit on the slower pace but once I got half way I wanted to know more about what was going to happen.

Thank you NetGalley and Booksgosocial for this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley, Publishers BooksGoSocial, and the author Bailey Black for providing this ARC. Which, I will be giving my honest and sincere review.

Kiera wants to get revenge, she wants to kill the one who caused pain and suffering in her village. She has the experience and she killed before, but things don't go as she had planned. Now she needs to save a friend from the king. We see Kiara's inner thoughts, and struggles, during her path, she finds help during her journey, the friends she makes are either people she helps or end up helping her. 
A Cerise is a person born with magic but for the world all magic is illegal, causing everyone related to a Cerise, and even them to be killed. How do they know? They have red hair.


This was an amazing fantasy journey, with a first personal description POV. I can see how an enemy to lovers is built slowly, and the fact that he falls first is adorable. The book ends with a major cliffhanger, but that only means that we need to sit and wait painfully for the book to be released (Cries internally.)
Kiara is a strong female character.
I love the writing but the beginning felt a bit slow and repetitive. But I still felt very drawn to keep reading the book.

The CLIFFHANGER!! I am unwell 😭

Plot- Khiara is on a mission to avenge her family as well as save her friend. Her friend (Ezra) is currently stuck in the Crown’s dungeons fighting for his life. Unfortunately she can’t just storm the castle, so she enters herself in the Culling (a competition to win the princess heart) in order to gain access. Her main goal is to get in and get out before someone realizes she’s a Cerise and has her killed.

My Thoughts-This book took me on a wild ride! I had a little trouble getting into it at first, but I usually do with a fantasy and especially with world building in the first book. After all the characters and storyline was nailed down, it took off! I was obsessed, and could not put it down. I’m pretty sure Therapy Crown is up to no good, and is harming their own people. They are shady AF! I loved Khiara and Riot. Bash is a little blind, but he’s not bad so far. The build up at the end was fantastic, and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for book 2!!

Thank you Netgalley and Bailey for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

TW: SA is mentioned a few times throughout the book

Tropes
-Rescue mission
-He falls first
-A witch in a world where magic is illegal
-Enemies to lovers (slightly)
-Two love interests (not a love triangle or why choose)

This book surprised me with its fast pace and unique magic. Though it started slow, it got better with an intriguing love triangle and tackling dark themes, though they might be tough for some. The ending left me excited for the next part, but the story had some flaws with confusing characters and unfinished plots. Still, the unexpected romance, political drama, and character tension made it interesting. Overall, it was a quick and fun read, but it could improve with better characters and world-building.

The story was a bit slow at first then it got interesting. I honestly need to know what happens next like give me the 2nd book already!!

I really hate nothing more than having to leave a negative review, but there are a few things I find important to mention.

The book begins with an intriguing idea, but it doesn't fully deliver.

Khiara, the main character, is described as a skilled assassin, but her actions in the story don't match this description. This makes her character feel incomplete and not very believable, which is indicative of broader issues with the story.

The romantic aspects of the plot feel forced and unconvincing. Personally, I didn't find either of the love interests very likable.

Additionally, the handling of sensitive topics like sexual assault is not the best and oftentimes contradictive. Khiara's trauma is not addressed well, and some scenes don't align with her experiences, which reduces the emotional impact of the story.

Despite these problems, the initial concept and world-building in the story show promise. They suggest a potentially captivating narrative if fully developed.

However, the pacing is a significant issue. The plot moves too quickly, leaving important questions unanswered and parts of the story unexplored. This creates a disjointed overall narrative.

Another aspect I found off-putting, which is definitely a personal preference, is the use of modern language in a medieval setting. This breaks the immersion in the story—for instance, using words like "mindfuck."

In conclusion, "Cerise" had the potential to be a great book, but it falls short. The issues I've mentioned detract from what could have been an engaging and immersive reading experience within the world and concepts introduced.

An intriguing fantasy with twits and turns around every corner, and I absolutely could not put it down. My theories are endless and I need book two immediately! I was completely swept away and consumed with this story, the FMC, and the interesting dynamics of her relationships with other characters. The story is well written, unique, and kept me interested. Character development and world building is perfect. I get vibes of From Blood and Ash, as well as These Hollow Vows, and I was not ready for this book to end. This is a spicy fantasy that I will give a big five stars.

I was so excited to read this book and was happy I got the arc but it turns out it wasn't what I was hoping. It was very slow, confusing at times and just didn't make sense. Some parts were good but it didn't make it better. Thank you for this arc!

This story had potential. However, I had a hard time following at first and then once it started to get going, I didn't really love it. The characters didn't feel believable to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't enjoy the way the friendship was portrayed in the beginning. It would sometimes become confusing. There were a lot of questions I was left with. The death of the girl she brought with her was not spoken about much. The names Bash and Riot were very childish to me. I wanted more about the main character's past but felt like it was never fully talked about. I did enjoy how childish the main characters were together it was refreshing sometimes. I'm very confused about how the main character feels about Bash since she is sleeping with Riot. It felt like a Wattpad story for the most part. I really wanted her hair to be talked about more in the book and how it played a part in this competition. The sex scene was something I really wish was written so different. It was not a good sex scene. I will read the next book because I want some questions answered.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I like the concept a lot, however I felt like there just wasn't enough world building. That and at random times it felt like a fanfiction, just choppy with scenes or oddly written.

Thanks to netgalley for this e-arc for an honest review.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book - a strong heroine, a revenge plot, magic and the promise of romance with a mysterious figure. However, I didn't like the way the relationship with the best friend was portrayed. This is a personal pet peeve and combined with the feeling that the main character was younger than I anticipated unfortunately made me DNF.

OOOp, it was a series! So cliffhanger alert.

Thanks netgalley for the the ARC!

I'd love to address, that even thought I knew this was new adult book, I was surprised with the open door scene but also, it felt inadequate, like I expected more. haha contradict much. But honestly, it would have been better. I feel there is something lacking. Maybe because the world building was almost half the book and there is no resolution on any problems. I was also scratching my head cause I forgot if riot knew she was a Cerise witch or that he was a Hunter that is why he knew, it felt sudden for me on what I was reading that suddenly he knew her powers?? What the was I hallucinating reading this that she was keeping everything, afraid to be killed by the crown, but suddenly Riot knew? And it felt so weird and not addressed that she feels a lot of people's heart but suddenly no explanation as to why she can't with Bash. it also felt like cheating to me. </3