Thank you Netgalley and Victory Editing for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinions! My review has been posted to Goodreads as of today, 06/01/2025. I also plan to post to Amazon on publication, 06/24/2025.

Unfortunately this one didn't land for me. I found the beginning of the book fast paced and enjoyed the first 4 or 5 chapters a lot. After that the book became very trope heavy and bogged down the plot considerably to the point that it was becoming a slog.

The book suffers from an insta-love that fell flat for me and didn't ring true. I also found myself becoming frustrated when serious, time sensitive plot events were taking place, but there was still time for the main characters to drop everything and gaze longingly at each other. I found that a large percentage of the story was just sentence after sentence of the FMC or MMC describing the alluring appearance of the other one.

I could see how this could appeal to fans of a series like Powerless, but I am not the audience for that particular style of writing. Well wishes to this author and her books in the future!

This book surprised me in the best way. The mix of magic, myth, and mystery was so well done, I didn’t want to stop reading. I loved how the story slowly opened up. The world-building was honestly beautiful. I could picture every place so clearly, it felt real. Also, the way humans and fae interact was different, but in a good way. Hazel really stood out for me, at first I wasn’t sure what to think of her, but then she grew on me big time.
Everything just fit well. It had that slow burn too, but it worked. Now I’m just waiting for the next one because I need more. Thank you so much to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early. I’m sharing my thoughts voluntarily and with genuine appreciation

5⭐️ read!

One thing about me I love me a good fantasy story with a twist and this one right here had a lot of twists! In a good way

This gives vibes of acotar and tog but with a twist. I love the fact that you get a little bit of everything with this it’s a mix of two worlds the human world and the fae.

What’s not to love about this there’s magic realms!

It’s very fast-paced with enemies to lovers packed with emotions and some big feelings and of course romance it can be a bit slow in some parts but it picks right back up and boy once it does you don’t want it to stop I can’t wait for book two!

Sav is interesting it was fun to watch her character grow and find her way. It’s like she slowly finds her voice and strength and uses it in a way that she sees fit.

Jack grows onto you as well once you get to know the characters you get so deep with this story to the point you don’t want it to end. Overall the story is great and it pulls you in when you least expect it.

I would recommend this to anyone who reads fantasy and loves acotar and tog vibes.

Thank you, NetGalley and the author Cassandra Aston for providing me with this ARC

2.5 ⭐️

I think this book has amazing potential to be great. I loved the concept of the fae world and human world colliding but I was confused on how that actually happened. It was fast paced at the start letting you know that the majority or humans were not happy with the fae being a part of their world but again I was confused as to why there was so much hatred.

When the two main characters were in the fae realm there is clearly a lot of backstory for the FMC but it felt rushed and glossed over and you don’t even get some answers as to why things happened. There was yearning with the main characters but it felt a little rushed maybe? I wonder if their instant love/affection is because they are fated mates? Also I was confused on why so many fae wanted to marry the FMC when she is described as a fae with no extraordinary power or position.

All in all not much happens in the book. I felt like there was a lot of filler backstory stuff with no real progress and left you with a lot of confusion.

Whispers Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston – A Promising Start with Intriguing Lore
There’s undeniable potential in Whispers Among Thorns, especially when it comes to the rich Fae lore that’s woven throughout the story. While it wasn’t the perfect fit for me, I can appreciate the intriguing elements that could capture the right reader.
The world-building had moments of brilliance, but I found myself struggling to fully grasp the connection between Faerie and Earth, as well as the mechanics of the portals. Some historical details and side character roles feel a bit scattered, making it hard to immerse myself in the setting. That said, I can see how the depth of the lore could appeal to fantasy lovers eager to dive into a complex world.
The romance leans heavily towards Instalove, with Jack’s feelings escalating very quickly. His devotion lacked the build-up I personally craved in romantic arcs, but those who enjoy fast-paced love stories might find it compelling. Meanwhile, Sav’s family and court dynamics hold fascinating potential, though I wished the story had explored them more deeply rather than skimming the surface. I also found myself frustrated with how she treated Kaspar and Hazel, feeling they deserved more from her.
While this book had its challenges for me, the unique lore and intriguing story elements make it worth checking out for fans of fae fantasy. There’s promise here, and I’m curious to see where the duology goes next!

To be completely honest, this book did not grab my attention the way that other books in the genre do. Maybe if the action picked up sooner I would have enjoyed it, but a book this slow is not for me.

I enjoyed this book! It follows Sav, a centuries old fae who has been banned to New York City from the Fae realms, along with other fae. In New York, Fae are the underdogs and are discriminated against and attacked by the humans. Despite having magical abilities, they are unable to properly defend themselves. After a traumatic attack, Sav takes on the cause of her fellow Fae and sets out to save them. Assisting her is the son of the leader of the humans attacking the Fae, Jack, who is not all he seems to be.

This book has one of my favorite tropes, he falls first! She's the centuries old fae and he's the young human, which was also a fun twist on typical romantasy.

I hope in the next book we get more world building and back story, but what we got in the first book was really compelling and I was hooked right away! Looking forward to the second book in the duology.

This was kind of a clusterf***. There was a lot happening, all at once. That being said, it was refreshing to read something that wasn't the typical fae story. Set in modern day NYC, Sav is on a mission to save the fae race and has to team up with Jack, who is the bane of her existence. He's the son of an infamous anti-fae activist. While it was kind of a mess, I really did enjoy the story and will look forward to reading the next book.

I didn’t know what was going on for MOST of the book. There was so much going on. It was fast but also not. There was insta-lust but also a slow burn. So many characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory for the eARC of Whispers Among Thorns. NOW let’s talk about it..:.

In short - Sav is a fae living in New York City post the collision of Faerie and Earth. The Anti Fae Faction burns down her apartment building and captures them. There she meets Jack who ends up in Faerie with Sav when she is able to escape the AFF. They set off to determine the best way to assist the fae on Earth

What I Liked:
- Sassy FMC that appeared stronger than MMC in the beginning. Jack was such a pansy at the beginning.
- The fae x new york city collab was interesting.

What Wasn’t for me:
- Insta-lust, they were trying to find a way to defy kingdoms by 40%. Which is wild considering they met at like 12%.
- Underdeveloped magic and world: I have no idea what was going on for most of this book. The world building was clunky to the point where I couldn’t connect the dots.
- Why were there so many characters with their own POV? At first, I thought oh cool the villain has his own pov, but then it just felt like too much.
- Everyone was horny. And in the cringiest way.

Overall - If you realllyyy liked the pace of Veiled Kingdom and that vibe… you might like this. I’m sad to say that I didn’t love this like I wanted to. I feel like there were a lot of missing opportunities to make this story smoother and less clunky and confusing.

Whispers Among Thorns is unlike other romantasies I’ve read. With its darker themes, faster pace, and imaginative world building, this book covers a ton of ground.

I find it difficult to stay engaged in a book or series if there’s too much going on. Whispered Among Thorns walks that line, which made the plot feel a bit rushed and/or chaotic at times. That being said, the way the cliffhanger sets up the next book(s) in this series offers a ton of potential.

Thank you to the author, Cassandra Aston, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an advanced copy of Whispers Among Thorns!

I really enjoy a “unique” fantasy. It’s unusual to find something that doesn’t follow all the same rules as the rest. This one does follow some of the traditional lore, but not so much that it’s boring and predictable.

The plot is fairly straightforward, Sav is trying to navigate Earth and help rescue fae imprisoned by Dane, the leader of the AFF. In this book, fae are looked upon as lesser than humans, and most low fae are banned from Faerie and are forced to stay in their designated living quarters. They suffer lots of prejudice and ridicule and violence from humans. Sav’s goal is to get these people back to faerie, but it’s basically her against the world. When a riot destroys the fae’s living quarters, she finds an unlikely helper in Jack, Dane’s son. She schemes and tries to figure a way to use Jack against Dane, while trying to tell herself she isn’t falling for a human. Jack and Sav are forced to flee to Faerie and things go south with a quickness, but we discover that Jack isn’t what he seems.

The characters are well written, although Jack has to have the messiest hair as many times as he runs his hand through it. I really enjoy watching Sav slowly figure out that she can’t deny how she feels about Jack, pretty sure we have some fated mates in this.

The writing is easy to read and descriptive enough to offer up some visualizations without being overpoweringly flowery.

I really enjoyed this and am super glad I don’t have to wait long for the second in the duology. 😁

Thank you to NetGalley, Cassandra Aston and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC of Whispers Among Thorns.

This was an interesting read and I feel the plot had a lot of promise, whilst being very ambitious and incredibly fast paced. I’d have liked to see more character development, back stories and perhaps some more insight into what was happening in Faerie and why the fae and humans were forced together in the first place.

What I did particularly like about the plot were the parallels to real world politics. The Anti-fae movement hate the fae, do not want them in their cities, taking their jobs, and living amongst them. They are already living in segregated, fae-assigned accommodation, but for the anti-fae movement this is too much. They see them as completely less than, no better than beasts, and want them completely cleansed from society. This honestly feels very reminiscent of the rise of fascism within our own current political climates and the way in which some political parties talk about minority groups etc. It then becomes apparent that the anti-fae group is actually working with the human-fae alliance group, and further shows the corruption within political parties and people within power. Then in the fae realms, we get the politics between courts, the forged alliances through marriage, bonds and favours etc which adds another level of political intrigue to the story.

At the crux of the story, Sav is a banished high fae from Spring Court living in New York City, glamoured to look human and her powers bound. When her home is burned down by an anti-fae movement and fae are captured and killed, Sav decides she needs to try and free as many as possible and destroy this movement. When she is summoned back to Faerie, she takes the son of the anti-fae movement with her, Jack, to hopefully use him to blackmail his father and exchange him for the imprisoned fae. But as their journey across Faerie unfolds, so do their feelings for one another. It becomes apparent however that all is not well in Faerie. Parts of the lands are disappearing with no explanation, their mighty ruler Mab has been missing for years, and Sav herself is in the middle of a politically-forced arranged marriage.

The first part of the book, set in NYC, for me felt too fast paced and I found it difficult to follow the plot. Once the main characters were in Faerie, although the pace was still very fast, I think the plot made more sense and it was easier to follow. The world building was also really vivid in Faerie and I really enjoyed all the descriptive language and scene setting. We get to know our characters more here as well, and I feel it alludes to some really interesting back stories for both the MCs, which I wish was explored a bit more perhaps in exchange for such an action packed plot.

There are some really good side characters and I enjoyed the multiple POV, I’m just not sure if every character that was given a chapter needed it, and it perhaps didn’t help with pacing to keep swapping to some of the side character.

The ending was very action packed and overall left me wanting to know what happens next. There are still a lot of questions left to be answered, and I obviously didn’t expect everything to be answered in book 1 but I think we could have found out more about Jack and his apparent powers, or more about what’s happening in the fae realms, while still leaving some things unanswered and leaving readers wanting more.

📖 ARC Review: Whispers Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston

Thank you to Natgalley and Cassandra Aston for the opportunity to read this ARC.

"Whispers Among Thorns" follows Sav, a fae who’s been banished to the human realm with her magic bound, along with many others of her kind. When anti-fae humans attack and imprison her people, Sav is forced to team up with Jack—the son of the movement’s ruthless leader, Dane Clyde. As they work together, Sav must fight back her growing feelings for Jack, knowing that falling in love with a human could mean death.

There were parts I truly enjoyed, especially the overall plot and the side characters.

While the story was a bit predictable, it pulled me in quickly.

The side characters were definitely a highlight for me—especially Kaspar. He’s so loyal to Sav, and I couldn’t help but love him for it. The antagonists are also really well-written.

I really enjoyed reading this book and flew through it.

This was my first book by Cassandra Aston, and I’m definitely curious to see where book two will take us. I’ll be keeping an eye on her future work!

-Whispers Among Thorns- will be out on the 24 June 2025

The author lists Content and Trigger Warning at the beginning of the book 📖


4/5 ⭐

ARC review
I cant tell if I like this book or not. Set in modern NYC chaos hits very quickly and the story goes quite fast introducing lots of new characters. The tension between the MMC and FMC is barely there and everytjing just seems fustrating.
BUT when you hit 75% things do get more interesting, slot into place and stuff starts happening that keeps the reader more engaged.
Maybe this is the second book is better situation.

In a world where Faerie is disappearing and the Fae have to learn to live with Humans- everything is NOT OK.

Sav is the FMC, total badass, and is trying to save Fae that were captured by human and anti-fae-faction leader, Dane Clyde. It doesn't help that she needs his son, Jack's, cooperation in order to enter Faerie and ask for their aid in saving the lower fae being imprisoned. The two must work together in order to save not only those in the human world but in Faerie as well.

This book had me hooked from the beginning! I also enjoyed the characters, most notably Kasper!!! One of my critiques is that if you know anything about Fae from any other lore- it's easier to read this and pretend you know nothing as some things are changed for the sake of the narrative of this series. An extension of that would be to not look too deeply into how "human" Sav seems throughout the story. If you can get past that- this book is a real winner! I love the start and I am looking forward to the rest of the series coming out and reading how this story unravels!

I was not prepared to be as engrossed in the world building of this book as I was! The political dynamics explored in a world where fae and humans are mixed, particularly the radicalisation of disillusioned humans, was really interesting to explore and mirrored some very relevant topics in society in a really thought provoking way. Changing perspectives and allowing readers to see into the minds of some of the more radical characters was quite insightful.

The cast of characters are so lovable and I found myself rooting for them even when their goals and motives opposed each other. The plot was quite twisty and turny, but generally a really good time and definitely took its time getting to where it needed to go without rushing. I can't wait to read more!

I was really hopeful for this book. And it was good.. just lacked some continuity and flow that would’ve made it better. As the story developed, it felt like key points were plopped in without the right debriefing to indicate the importance to the plot which made the pacing feel a bit off. It felt like areas they should’ve been explored more were glazed past - especially Sav and Jacks experience in the fae realm. I found Jack to be very one dimensional without a strong personality or character development. He seemed to contradict himself between chapters and made it hard to really feel a connection to him and his relationship with Sav. Overall it was okay but didn’t engage me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What seems like a standard romantasy on the surface is actually much more in Whispers Among Thorns.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book and the darker themes it didn't shy away from. The FMC is a well-written nuanced, strong character who has struggled with trust, duty and obligation all her life.

The plot overall was quite ambitious - there is a lot going on! But the pacing was maintained so well throughout the whole book that it wasn't overwhelming. The worldbuilding and slow unravelling of the past pulls you into the story and keeps you invested. Yes it ends on a cliffhanger but there are several other unanswered questions teased throughout the book that will make you want to return for the second book.

A refreshing, fast-paced read that balances character development wonderfully. This would have been closer to a 5 star rating for me if there was just a -bit- more depth to all of the character interactions and relationships, and more details for the plot (some parts felt a bit rushed).

She was a fae outcast from her court
He was the son of an anti-fae cult leader
🎶Can I make it anymore obvious?

I had a lot of fun reading the majority of this book. The story’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness: there’s a LOT going on all of the time. Like, I recommend taking notes as you go.

I wanted more time to get to know the characters together and let some plot points breathe a bit more before moving on. Book 1 could have been books 1-3 and I would have been all about it.

I loved this world and all of the characters we meet. I’m hoping with all the world building and setup out of the way, Book 2 allows us to spend more time getting to know everyone. Especially more time with our leads getting to know each other with their walls down.

In this compelling first installment of the Deadly Fae Duology, Sav must decide if she's going to put herself at risk to help save the rest of the fae that have found themselves on Earth. As she searches for a way to help her people escape the Anti-Fae Faction, Sav is forced to return to her homeland and confront those who have broken her heart and abandoned her. Jack, the son of the Anti-Fae Faction leader, finds himself in a perilous situation between his father and the beautiful female who may turn his world upside down.

Cassandra Aston has woven a lovely story with this book. With a Faerie setting reminiscent of books like ACOTAR, the element of crossing into Earth as we know it is a fun touch. The brewing slow-burn tension between Sav and Jack is leading us towards (I hope!) a delicious fated mates situation. There's enough foreshadowing that I think I might know what's going to happen / what happened in the past, but I can't wait for the next book to see if I'm right!

Jack and Sav are both really complex characters with deep histories that e can unbox, but so are the secondary characters. Outside of the main plots of the mystery of the Faerie lands and the rescue of the fae, the political intrigue adds additional layers to the story. While this is slated to be a duology, the author has developed this world beautifully and deeply enough that it could easily grow into a series.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I love the characters. If I had the second book in hand I'd read it IMMEDIATELY because I NEED to know what happens to Sav and Jack.

All that said, I'll say what I say every time I read a first person multi-POV book. I'd really enjoy this book more if it was written in the third person. In a book with world-building a political systems this complex, a third-person narration would really assist with the ease of reading.