Loved the ending, the story was fast-paced, and the FMC was NOT whiny which are all wins in my eyes! I also loved the worldbuilding- this author does an amazing job of balancing the worldbuilding with the story and keeping the plot moving smoothly. Love that so much. The stakes are high in this one and there is magic! IMO, this is a classic high fantasy read that felt quick!

first 50% of the book felt like a prologue. this part was a bit boring and i didn’t fully understand what to expect from the story.

then the competition began, and it was impossible to put book down, I read the second half of the book in one evening.

sometimes the main character's actions seemed illogical, and the deaths of some characters were forgotten in a couple of lines. but this book feels like a perfect throwback to the amazing days of the hunger games and divergent.

there were so many events at the end of the book. cannot wait to read the second book, because i need to find out who the real villain is.

thanks to NetGaley for this digital arc. this is my honest review.

Thank you to the author for reaching out to me about their book, I had a great time reading this and I’m rating it 4.0 stars.

The story has some religious elements surrounding gods and how this splits them into different factions. Our POV is from our FMC who is a follower of Gaia, her tale is dark and heart wrenching to be honest.

The story had secrets, betrayals, found friendship and sacrifice. You never know who to trust and whose identity is authentic. I will say the punishment for traitors is a top 3 worst punishment I’ve ever read, it feeds directly into my phobias.

I will happily continue this series to see what happens next.

Good story, interesting twists!

Braya has been raised as one of Gaia’s Chosen at the Sect. At the age of twenty one, the Chosen essentially get forever comatosed in order for the powers that be to harvest sylla to power the city/country?? Anyway, Braya decides to flee and then somehow gets roped into competing in the Rite of Radnick under an alias with a bunch of upper city toffs.

The writing took a while to get used to - the grammar wasn’t what it should be. Actually I didn’t get used to it at all. The sentences were starting anew where normally there would just be a comma. Drove me nuts.

Overall the story was pretty good, there’s sad bits -deaths, abuse etc, happy bits -reunions, evading deaths, romance bits and one spicy scene which could have been a lot shorter and worded differently. The twists at the end were interesting and really threw a spanner in the works. I’m intrigued to know what happens in the next book.

Some of the relationships could have done with more writing time to flesh them out a bit. - I found it bizarre that Braya was left ‘broken-hearted’ by Sayleth when she’d barely had a conversation with him. She also fell in love with every man’s eyes as soon as she met them -tricked me into thinking there was a few potential love interests when there wasn’t. Also had her first time ever (including first kiss) with a man she scarcely knew in the middle of a forest. Wild.

This book has tropes of trials, underdogs, hidden identities, class system, reluctant alliance, forced proximity.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for a review.

3.5 ⭐️

Thoroughly enjoyed The Rite of Radnick, but the pacing was a bit all over the place. Definitely interested to see how the series plays out though!

3.5 ⭐️

This was a good read! Full of adventure and quests, I was interested what paths the characters were going to take.

Everyone in this is stressed tf out. For good reason. Even though I could understand the characters stress, I personally didn’t really *feel* it.

The characters are really enjoyable and I liked the rag tag team we ended up following. I liked Braya, but some of her decisions didn’t make sense given her circumstances, and that sometimes took me out of the story.

The ending left many paths open for Braya and the other characters, and I am interested to see which direction the series goes.

The Rite of Radnick is set within a repressive regime full of underdogs. We get to follow the FMC as she fights for freedom and change.
The book has a few different parts to it, initially we get to know our FMC and some of her past experiences. After a significant event she is thrown into a new life and takes to this like a duck to water. She has learnt to repress her emotions and this truly serves her to a point until she starts to become undone and gets to know herself and grow.
The world-building was slightly information dumpy at times but vivid and rich. We go through the rite of Radnick, this is deadly and has some amazing creatures. Humans can be just as deadly though, if not more so due to unknown intentions. I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout. The magical element was an also interesting addition to the world-building, which I wanted more of.
I would have liked more of a slow-burn approach with the romance and as romantic as the spicy scene was I would have either preferred the promise of spice to come or a clearer build-up. There were some scenes with tension, which I liked but needed more of for this to have had more of an impact.
The pace at times waxed and waned, but overall it was an enjoyable and quick read so the slower parts did not take away from the action.
For an indie debut fantasy I think this shows a lot of promise and imagination. Overall a fun read with themes of classism, faith, love and oppression.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it did feel like it needed another round of edits. A lot of the major plot points were explained away with handwaving and didn’t quite make sense. There was also several sections of info dumping that could’ve been incorporated into the novel in a better way. That being said, I am hoping to read the sequel!

Ot was an amazing read! I truly was engaged and enjoyed ery chapter of this. Good worñd
Building and characters

The Rite of Radnick

Wow. What an unexpected but amazing read! This fantasy has so many twists that I was clutching my kindle needing to know what happened next. Loved the world building and the characters!

This amazing story has:
- [ ] Forced proximity
- [ ] Twists and surprising villains
- [ ] Corrupt society
- [ ] Trials
- [ ] Underdog who becomes the hero

Synopsis
Braya is one of the “Choosen”, meaning she will be put to sleep because she has the ability to harness the power that keeps their world alight. The problem is Braya does not want to be the Choosen, she wants to flee and see all the world has to offer. When the opportunity to leave presents itself, will she take it?

I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding, the intrigue, and the characters in this.

The magic system is pretty decent, although the references to Gaia and Nyx were a little off putting when everything else seemed to be fairly unique to the worldbuilding. It would have been easy enough to name them something else.

The FMC is pretty resilient, and whilst she has her flaws and loses her way a bit, she's able to figure out who she is and what she stands for. She's definitely not perfect and makes mistakes, but I like her all the more for it.

The two MMCs are interesting. Seyleth is a complex character and doesn't turn out the way I thought. I really like Heyden though. He seems genuine. You can tell a lot about a person by their friends and seeing who the two MMCs have chosen as friends and allies shows their true characters, I think.

I am really looking forward to reading the next one.

4.5 stars

Let me start off by saying that the first 50-75 pages of this book were a bit of a chore for me to get through but I persevered and I'm glad I did. I can see the author's reasoning for the book to begin the way it did but I wasn't quite sure how this opening would get us to the Rite. Luckily all is explained and it works in the end. This book definitely reminded me of The Hunger Games in parts as well as some other books with games/challenges in them such as the Nyaxia series. I was totally wrong as to who I thought the love interest was going to be so that was an interesting take and I cannot wait to see how this pans out. This book is on the shorter side, so I was able to read it quickly and thank goodness because I needed to find out what happened in the end.

This story will continue in the next book “The Act of Ascension” releasing on 1 July 2025 and I will definitely be checking it out.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my kind of book. Recommend for anyone who loves dystopian adventures! It’s dark with moments of humor. The romance and tension is *chef’s kiss*.