I had a very open mind going into this as the blurb was very basic and I was unsure of how the plot would play out.
Overall it was a good book, there were parts I particularly enjoyed and parts where I felt annoyed at the MFC and MMC. I understand that main characters are meant to have flaws but just how stupid the MMC was I wanted to bang my head against a wall.
The writing was really nicely done, and I was able to visualise the world quite vividly.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would it was a nice quick easy read that didn't include to much brain power

Earth Mover
ARC
Release date: June 28 2025
Genre: Fantasy, romance

🔮 magic
🔮 friends to lovers
🔮 he falls first
🔮 royalty
🏳️‍🌈 lgbtq

3.75 ⭐️
Spice 🌶️

Setting: Two Kingdoms - Present Respar | Past Julra

First of all thank you to Net Galley for my first ARC!

I was pleasantly surprised with this book! At first I wasn’t sure, just because it did remind me of another major FMC, but Haron had some development that set them apart from other main characters.

Set in Respar, a young kingdom just a bit over 100 years old. Where magic comes in a few types but woman aren’t held in the same high esteem as men, when it comes to magical abilities. But the kingdoms best necromancer is a not a man, it’s Haron Val Toric. They must finds out why a noble lady has been murdered, her own father trying to act as if she’s just visiting the kingdoms City of Scholars to learn instead. Now to find the killer and figure why some a gruesome murder happened in the first place.

Haron is a total badass, they know they’re powerful and won’t let men control them. Prince Irin was an interesting MMC, he grovels and isn’t afraid to beg for what he wants, especially Haron. Both main characters have some very cool magical abilities, also major secrets they’re keeping!

I did enjoy Murphey’s world building, both past and present, in different kingdoms. Leaving little Easter eggs in each chapter, from a Scholar’s history book. Once the plot thickened I couldn’t stop reading. The ending left me wanting more and I can honestly say I’m looking forward to the next book in the Elemental Shift series!

Thank you to NetGalley and author J.C. Murphey for this eARC

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s fast paced with an rich world and an amazing and intricate magic system.
Our main character is determined, witty and capable and very much has their own code and morals. There is a great deal of action and awesome fight scenes.
The history of the world is so interesting and I can’t wait to learn more in future books and see where the story and our characters go.

Earth Mover is such an original story with mystery and fascinating magic. This is a dual POV book. Haron, the FMC, is a powerful necromancer in a patriarchal society that doesn’t believe women should pursue most fields of magic. She can be reckless, but she is also very focused. She is attempting to solve the mystery of a brutal, ritualistic looking death of a noble woman. She was easy to like, but I do wish there was more insight into her long-term plans. Irin, the MMC, is a prince and soon-to-be crowned king. He wants to hire Haron. He also has the rare ability to tell when people are lying to him in addition to other magical powers.

The book primarily focuses on the murder mystery and the drama that is revealed from solving this crime. There is quite a bit of action and the plot progresses quickly. There is a potential budding romance between Haron and Irin. However, in this book, the romance is one sided. Irin is quickly drawn to Haron and starts falling in love, but Haron seems to see Irin more as an ally. I can’t say for sure, as she never really divulges about her personal feelings towards him in her chapters. There is some spice rather early in the book, but Haron’s lack of interest in a relationship puts a damper on the romantic vibes. Even with a romance as more of a sub-plot, I would still suggest this book if you are looking for the following (and who knows where book 2 will lead this duo?):
- He falls first
- He is shorter
- LGBTQ+ Rep
- Spice from his POV

My favorite element to this book is definitely the magic. Haron’s necromancy skills are *epic*. I haven’t read a book with a necromancer to compare, but she is a formidable ally or foe to have. Furthermore, the elemental magic goes beyond the typical abilities. For example, a hydromancer can control blood flow to prolong a life. I am curious to see what other magic wielders could do as this book doesn’t have characters from each study of magic.

Thank you Net Galley for letting me be an ARC reader!

This review is from my goodreads account, link provided.

first i would like to say thank you to the publisher and net galley for providing me the eARC of Earth Mover!

throughout the review i will refer to the MMC as such, however the love interest and, arguably main character will be referred to as the MC as they swap pronouns often throughout the book and ultimately prefer they/them.

my star rating for this book is 2.75 with a spice rating of 1.5
While I loved the premise for this book and the desire to write a fantasy that discussed important themes like gender and gender equality, I ultimately spent a lot of my reading time pretty confused.

there are a number of continuity issues which i will give examples of in a spoiler section at the bottom of the review, but this caused me to have to go back and re-read paragraphs or even sometimes pages of text trying to verify what was actually happening. I struggled a lot with the pacing in the first half of the story in particular, and having to go back to re-read things made it very difficult for me to finish this book as a reader with ADHD.

I'm not sure if it was only me, or perhaps my copy was formatted strangely, but also as a result of my ADHD, the chapter starters were extremely difficult to read, to the point that i gave up trying for about 60% of the book until i read another reviewer saying they were important. the formatting in my copy had these journals entries visually appear as if they were poetry, formatted to be centered in italicised font, however, lines would cut off in the middle of sentences for seemingly no reason other than visual aesthetic, making the prose difficult to process for me.

I requested this book because fantasy romance is one of my favorite genres and I think i perhaps vastly overestimated the amount of romance. i would say this is an epic fantasy with very deep world building and a subplot of the MMC being obsessed with the MC. There is one single spice scene, however it was very unexpected and came right after an emotional scene of the two characters having a heart to heart. we go right from what should have been emotional character development between these two people straight into a time skip where he's throwing her on the bed, making the scene feel forced while i didn't particularly feel any emotional attachment to the characters or their relationship.

throughout the story, the MC doesn't particularly show much attraction to the MMC while he seemingly obsesses over the MC at every turn in a way that felt a little creepy and unhinged. the only time i kind of liked him as a love interest was at the very end when he apologizes for acting like a fool.


ultimately, the idea for this story was so good, parts of this book, were were engaging and I'm interested to finally see their relationship develop, however there were parts of the story that felt very under developed.

the world building was very thorough and if you like a lot of history and lore, you will likely enjoy this— unfortunately it felt as if the plot took a backseat as a result of this.

minor spoilers for the plot that is introduced in the first 25-30% following:

when the two main characters finally meet together, they form an arrangement. the MMC - the prince, wants Haron, the MC, to be on retainer as a necromancer for the crown. he wants this because he has killed his father and doesn't want people suspecting him[it's explained more about how this helps him in the book]. the MC agrees, so long as prince Irin [MMC] agrees to bring them to any social gathering that might help them find the killer of a young girl they've been searching for.
this seems like it's setting up the plot for the book, however, Irin's problem never actually comes up, no one accuses him of killing his father, no one else in his council dies, nothing happens with this. As for Haron's request, they attend one social gathering and then, to my knowledge, none ever again, and so the contract and the entire premise it sets up is kind of forgotten, leading us to try and figure out what the actual plot is going to be for almost half the book.

the biggest challenge this created for me was that it made me want to DNF and also, once we found the actual plot, it was quite good! I personally think the big reveal about the MC should have been saved for far closer to the end while only hinting at it, and that we, as the reader, should have been lead to believe that Prince Irin's suspicions were the actual truth. revealing it first and then having him suspect something different kind of took the wind out of the sails of the plot twist for me :(

[END OF PLOT SPOILERS FOR NOW]

now, all that being said, the reason i was so disappointed was because I loved the MC's ACTUAL story. I was so invested in their history and desire to help those they cared about [im being vague so as not to spoil] i loved all of that so much but we really only got that towards the last 20-30% of the story. I wish the romance had just been more flirty and pining and yearning and honestly that the spice scene hadn't even been there [i love spice, it just didn't feel right where it was.] i needed to feel like he actually yearned for Haron and instead he came off weirdly obsessed.

Below are my specific instances of things that made it difficult for me to read.

[MAJOR SPOILERS START]

- I don't personally remember Irin's beast master ability being explained in a way that would lead me to understand that he was a shifter and so when he's suddenly shifting during the spice scene i was VERY confused [this could be on me, i couldn't find the passage where he's talking about it when i went back to look so take this with a grain of salt]

- there is a major typo where one of the characters' names is written as Beowulf and that is not his name.

- continuity issue examples where i had to re-read trying to figure out what's happening:
- on page 241 in my document, Beolf knocks on Irin's door. Irin tells him to hold on or wait. Beolf says okay, but then in the next paragraph he's walking over to pour himself a drink, inside the room.
- on page 272 a book is described as simple leather book on a pedestal, but then MC is suddenly dripping blood onto the ruby that is on the pedestal [the book is not described as having a ruby on it and so when she's suddenly doing this it makes it seem like the book transformed)

there are more, im not going to add all of them.

- this one is maybe personal, but something about Haron's sexuality felt almost performative and i think it's because of the spice scene with the prince. Haron is introduced as a little bit of a sexual deviant in the tavern, but we only see them acting this way with a handful of women- they never appear to have any attraction whatsoever to men and then about halfway through the story that part of their personality seems to dissipate entirely— i think this added to my feelings about the spice scene tbh.

[END MAJOR SPOILERS]

as final thoughts i think this is a story that needs to be told.
i loved reading about a strong feminine to non-binary character fighting the patriarchy in a magical world. I loved how much Haron cared about women and seeking justice for those who could not protect themselves. This was a rich fantasy world with a deep, historical lore, but it maybe should have been split into two books or not included the subplot of their contract? i feel that could have been it's own book and given a lot of time to space out some of the world building that made the first half very heavy- and also more space for a slow burn that felt like real feelings rather than obsession.

please take my review as just one opinion amongst many- if you read it, i hope you love it ❤️

thank you again for the opportunity to read Earth Mover. Despite my challenges and personal feelings, i can tell a lot of love was put into this story and im honored to have received the arc.

This was an interesting book! Earth Mover blends forbidden magic, political games, and one seriously powerful necromancer who doesn’t care about sticking to society’s rules. Haron Val Toric is exactly the kind of main character I enjoy: sharp-tongued, and dangerous. Definitely not your typical “chosen one” type, and I appreciated that.

The worldbuilding was one of my favorite parts. There’s a real sense of history here, especially with the old gods and the elemental magic system. I liked the little interludes from scholar texts, it added flavor and hinted at a bigger picture without info-dumping.
Some backstory threads were brought up and then kind of left dangling. I kept waiting for certain plot points to fully develop, and they didn’t quite land.

The murder mystery was engaging at first, though it lost a bit of steam in the middle. I guessed the twist pretty early, but it didn’t ruin the fun. Haron and Prince Irin have decent chemistry.

Overall: If you like necromancy, court intrigue, and strong heroines who hide dangerous secrets under sharp words, this is worth checking out

Thank you for net galley and the author for the sec of this book.

I enjoyed a lot about this book the magic and necromancy especially. I also loved that in a kingdom where men are held in higher regard that it’s a woman who’s the best necromancer. The FMC is a total badass. Her growth definitely sets her apart from other books. FMC and MMC magical abilities are really interesting and I liked how he wasn’t above it to “beg” for what he wants (Haron). I enjoyed the world building but as the book went on I realised I wanted more details of past events. I think this would have helped a lot with the plot

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me, I couldn’t get past this first chapter as it simply didn’t make any sense to me, I’m not sure if this is the actual writing or the format this has arrived to my kindle in. Lots of numbers in between words, some words not full words, lots of gaps in the middle of sentences. Sentences not starting with capital letters but capital letters in the middle of words.

Unique World-Building: The juxtaposition of past and present in Respar creates a layered setting that feels both familiar and novel.
Refreshing Take on Magic: The portrayal of magical guilds and necromancy offers a fresh perspective within the fantasy genre.
Engaging Tropes: Elements like lost royalty, wolf shifters, and friends-to-lovers dynamics add depth and appeal. 
Some plot points, particularly those related to the kingdom’s history, could have been more thoroughly developed to enhance the narrative’s cohesion. Character Development: While Haron’s defiance of patriarchal norms is compelling, her motivations could have been explored more deeply to provide greater emotional resonance. 
Earth Mover offers a satisfying read for fans of dark fantasy and romantic elements. Its strengths lie in its imaginative world and the protagonist’s challenging of societal expectations. While there are areas that could benefit from further development, the novel’s unique approach to magic and gender roles makes it a noteworthy addition to the genre

Thanks to Victory and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was an entertaining read! The world building and the necromancy were so interesting and not something I have read a lot of in other stories. The twist, while semi predictable, was still fun to see unfold. I enjoyed the characters and how they grew throughout the story and the ending of the book left me wanting me more! I wish there were some details on certain events, but it really did not negatively my time reading the book. If you like a good dark romantasy I think this is a book you should check out!

I really liked this. The world is uniquely unveiled past and present together. It was somewhat predictable. I loved the angst from the FMC and the MMC’d responses to it. I do feel I could have used some more explaining of the plot at the beginning, more details as to why the FMC suspected what she did. Overall an entertaining read.

thank you so much to NetGalley for the eARC of this book!!!

3.5 ⭐️

I was unsure when I started this book how I felt, I struggled with getting into the story, the sexual aspects caught me off guard!!
However, once I got into it I really really enjoyed the plot. Haron was such a strong female lead who took no sh*t from anyone which I really enjoyed!! The plot speaks to the sexism and injustices within the magic system which I felt was really well done and resonated.
The relationship between Haron and Irin wasn’t my favourite but that man GROVELLED which I was totally here for.
Morette is an absolute badass and I can’t wait to see where their story goes.

This was super fun fantasy read. It gained pace throughout!!

I appreciate the opportunity but unfortunately will not be finishing it. I was intrigued by the premise but don't think it was the story for me.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an eARC!

- Dark Romantasy
- Friends-to-Lovers
- Opposites Attract


Overall, <i>Earth Mover</i> was a solid read, easily devourable in a handful of reading sessions. I will admit that I was a bit surprised within the first chapter with references to sex and a fair bit of cursing (as I typically am not interested) but was glad I persevered as the underlining story was worth it.

The major twist towards the last 30% wasn't difficult to predict, knowing the general tropes of the genre. What was refreshing was the world-building of the past-vs-present kingdoms and the magic guilds. The main character is a literal firecracker, railing against the injustice of patriarchy in very unsubtle ways.

Some plot points that shaped the current state of things seemed a bit left behind in that more attention could have fleshed these points out to build up everything that is currently happening within the story.

<b>What I Liked:</b>
- World-building of the past vs present state
- Refreshing take on magical guilds
- Necromancy!

<b>What I Wish Were Better:</b>
- Lacking details of pre-story events mentioned then discarded for the major plot lines
- MC Haron going hardcore in her thoughts on bucking against patriarchal ideas (a revelation toward the last 20% of the book gives explanation)

(Same review posted on 05/04/2025 on GoodReads)

3.5/5 stars

Earth Mover by J.C. Murphey was a solid and enjoyable read! It had a nice blend of romantic dark fantasy with just enough intrigue to keep me turning the pages. The tropes were definitely a highlight—lost royalty, a wolf shifter, friends to lovers, opposites attract, and even a “happy for now” ending, which made the journey feel complete but left room for more. If you enjoy Dark Romantasy, I say give this book a go!