Thank you NetGalley and Audio ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Narration: single narrator
The narrator, Ash Kingsley, did a good job. The way she narrated to ensure there was at least a discernible difference between human and fae characters was appreciated. I do feel that if this is supposed to be a dark fantasy, the narration didn’t align fully. Also, with fantasy books, there are usually a lot of characters, so it gets difficult to tell the difference between characters when there is only a single narrator.

So this one was not for me, at all. I was really looking forward to this book with its description and indication that it’s for fans of Sarah J Maas and Raven Kennedy - (hi it's ME)! But wow this was disappointing for me. I don’t mean to be so negative, but I also want to be honest here.

First off, the plot, world, and characters are extremely underdeveloped. It was odd with being way too simple, yet I was constantly thinking to myself “what?” or “why?” or “huh?”. I felt just thrown into a world, barely scratching the surface and struggled to find any reason to care about the characters and their relationships. This story also did not seem very dark to me. I mean there was one part with the snake that could be a bit dark, but other than that I’m not sure this is an accurate description for this story. Or maybe this was just the lack of detail to not give it the dark feeling?

I really don’t know if this work should be considered original - it’s completely a mashup between ACOTAR, The Plate Prisoner series (I think there were a couple of lines that sound directly from that series), and Quicksilver. Mixing these stories sounds good in theory, yet this did not deliver. Don’t even get me started on the romance either - I was SO incredibly confused. One minute she loves Ruskin and the next she’s like nope I need to leave this place… then some bizarre things happen… then we repeat… And the cliffhanger at the end - I just laughed and felt relief that I was finally done with this one.

I honestly should have DNF’ed this book, but I felt like I already invested so much time I had to finish. At least you can increase the speed of audiobooks. I disliked all the characters and I was not invested in anything happening in the story. I have no desire to continue with the series.

This book is a great introduction to fantasy. I loved how this book starts and how it captured by attention from the word go. The writing style is easy to follow and love how it builds on itself easily without to much fluff between. The character building is also well done in this book and you can paint the perfect picture in your mind of what the characters features are. This book kept me reading until that last page and that ending! Ugh I want to know more! I can't wait to see how the story continues. If you want to enter the world of fantasy than this book is for you.

The Court That Bleeds Gold by Zara Storm. 🪙

I was gifted a free Audiobook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantasy, enemies to lovers book filled with curses, beasts and fae. It gives Rumplestilskin vibes. And also a slight not to Beauty and the Beast too. Without spoiling anything, there is a certain character who would most definitely be best friends with Gaston.

The fae within may not be able to openly lie but they have found many other ways to ommit the truth and deceive. One of our main characters Rushkin is very talented at this.

I love our female main character Leonora. She is fierce, brave and resilient; completely unafraid of speaking her mind and doing what she believes is right even if it costs her greatly herself.

I enjoyed the voice actors tones and the way they portray the characters but I did find them a little slow so I was listening at 1.5 speed. However, that could just be my opinion since us Northern Irish lot are known for speaking far too fast😂

Overall, I had fun listening to this book and will definitely reading the next book in the series somepoint in the near future.

4/5🌟
3/5🌶️

The Court That Bleeds Gold has a rich premise and an intriguing world. While the setting had promise, the story felt disjointed and lacked a clear flow, making it hard to stay invested. The lead characters go from suddenly hating each other into a lustful relationship which didn't fit. It also felt like a Beauty and the Beast rip off. The saucy scenes just weren't for me. Beautiful writing, but the narrative didn’t quite hold together.

4⭐️
(NetGalley audiobook)

Thank you to NetGalley and all involved for this ARC copy I received!

I'm so happy I looked into the audiobook side of NetGalley and found this amazing book!
The cover and description is what made me start the book, and the beautiful narration and captivating story made me fly through this.

This was a refreshing Romantasy, with lots of surprises and a truly captivating ending to the first book! I had to pause what I was doing, to listen to the last minutes, just staring into nothing while covering my mouth haha.
Besides the story itself, I loved the characters and their dynamics. They had connections, backgrounds and despite what other reviews said, I don't feel like they lacked character traits or such at all.

I can't wait to listen to more of Eleanor and Ruskin's story in the next two books!

A solid mix of intrigue, danger and romance. My only wishes was to see the developing attraction between the MC's to be longer and more nuanced.. it's far from insta-love but it could bear with a little more intrigue and fleshing out and the same could be said to reaching the climactic battle. Yet, it is still a well recommended read. 👌

Ever since the death of her mother, Eleanor has been determined to learn alchemy so that she can support her grieving father and the village they live in. Word gets out to the king that she is close to turning common metals into gold, so he decides to make Eleanor his bride so he can keep the secrets of alchemy all to himself. Desperate to get out of the marriage, Eleanor calls upon Ruskin, a Fae known for making deals with humans. In exchange for her freedom, Eleanor promises to use her metallurgy skills to help Ruskin. Ruskin sweeps her away to his home in the Seelie Court where crops are growing bitter and inedible and rabid animals are attacking Fae. As Eleanor tries to understand what is causing problems in the Seelie Court, she grows closer to Ruskin in the hopes that she can break her deal with him.

This was an entertaining and fast-paced romantasy. I enjoyed the mystery elements to the story and they really helped to move the plot along. In the beginning, the world felt a bit small to me. I think the human kingdom wasn't super fleshed out, but when Eleanor was in the Seelie Court it seemed like there was more depth to it. The conflict between Eleanor and Ruskin got a bit repetitive as it was a lot of Ruskin giving vague answers to Eleanor, Eleanor getting upset, and Ruskin giving more vague answers. The dialogue was also a bit odd where at times the Fae would speak with more formal English, but then throw in some modern terminology that sort of threw off the flow. I listened to the audiobook version of this, and while the narrator was fine I don't know if the tone totally matched the book. Kingsley was very breathy, which I think makes sense for Eleanor, but with the fast pace of the story the breathiness didn't always match what was happening in the book. I think people who enjoy romantasy should check this one out, especially those who like retellings of fairy tales.

The plot is a combo of Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the beast. The FMC is a STEM girl, who manages to create gold with her alchemy, she is then tricked into a deal with the MMC who needs her to use her alchemy skills to help him.
I found this book so difficult to get through.
The characters lacked personality and most of the writing had me cringing. It's a single POV, the entire book is just a string of the FMC's thoughts, only she's so boring so I found it really hard to stay engaged.

The romance escalates quickly and so is uncomfortable. There's a captor/captive dynamic, but instead of exploring that power imbalance with nuance, the book leans into a fast and shallow attraction. It read more like a case of forced proximity than a believable emotional connection. At times, it felt like a teenage fantasy that didn't quite consider how unhealthy the relationship dynamics actually were..

I really wanted to like this book the concept had potential but unfortunately, the characters, romance, and writing style just didn't work for me.

There are so many familiar fairytale themes woven into this entertaining audiobook, book one in this series. Together merged with the story line they make a unique, definitely adult, frenemies, fantasy fairytale story. To save herself, Eleanor Thorn finds herself forced into making a deal, which is more tricky than she imagined. But she’s going to try…., to escape that is. But is escape what she really wants? There is a reveal and cliff hanger which means I know I want to listen to book two. Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

The Court that Bleeds Gold (The Gold Weaver #1) by Zara Storm and narrated by Ash Kingsley is a great read for fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses or House of Blight. The Gold Weaver series appears to be a complete trilogy so I will probably follow Eleanor and Ruskin through the rest of the journey. A bit more originality would have gotten five stars. Beauty and the Beast inspo is being overdone.

Enemies to Lovers
Medium burn
Fae royalty
2/5 spice
Mysterious curse
Secrets and hidden identities

Ash Kingsley is now on my list of favorite narrators.

I LOVED this book! Immediately got Belle and Gaston vibes in the beginning that then turned into rumpelstiltskin! Both are my favorite stories. Halima gives me Brianne of Tarth vibes so that’s exactly what she looks like to me when I read her parts. I enjoyed the world building and I’m so impressed with Zara’s writing. I can’t believe this is her debut series! The story line was very well done, I loved the characters, the twist at the end was not something i saw coming, all around amazing book. The ONLY compliant which isn’t really a big deal is the “expect steam” in the description. I expected some detailed explicit scenes but it gave more of a light mist than steam. I easily see this as being a favorite series of mine.

This sounded like such a fun read, but life got a bit busy and I could not get to it in time. I want to give it 3 stars just because it does sound like my cup of tea, and it's only fair. I'll purchase it soon to give it a go.

This is the first book in The Gold Weaver series. Eleanor makes a deal with a Fae prince Ruskin in order to get out of wedding a human king with bad intentions that she was inadvertently trapped into a betrothal with when she was forced to reveal she could make gold through alchemy.

The plot was good, characters interesting, and the world building decent. The romance between our main characters went from suspicions to full trust, which gives the enemy to lovers vibe. We also get introduced to some pretty interesting side characters that help the plot along and give it a plot twist. It ends on a sudden cliffhanger, which makes me want to pick up book two to continue this story.

I really enjoyed the narration! I loved the different voices and animation the narrator used to portray each character! I felt like you were able to get an even better sense of the characters' demeanor and moods, which I loved! This made the story even more engrossing! I especially loved the voices of the side characters; I felt they depicted their personalities so well!

This was a fascinating story with surprising twists and unique magic! I loved the play on Beauty and the Beast and Rumplestiltskin with the spellbinding curse and dark fairytale qualities of the plot and characters. The inclusion of alchemy made the story so unique!
There were so many unexpected twists and turns! The way it ended has me craving to see what happens next in the series!

Thank you so much, NetGalley for the ALC! All thoughts are my own.

I was provided an audiobook to review. The narrator speaks clearly, but for me the audio narration fell flat. She has a very feminine voice, so her doing the male parts just didn’t work for me, especially as it’s advertised as a dark fantasy.

The overall book does have a unique storyline, but it just lacked elements to really hook and invest me in the story. There is a lack of depth between the main characters Ruskin and Ella, so I didn’t find myself invested and will not be continuing the series.

I struggled to rate this book. For me it’s a 3.5. I very much enjoyed the beginning of this book. For a romantasy it is easy to follow and understand. I enjoyed the science aspect Eleanor’s talents. I wish we learned and saw more about her alchemy skills. The ending was irritating for me. We have this strong and smart FMC who can manipulated gold, but how she breaks the curse is by admitting she’s in love with Ruskin. In the next book I hope we see her using her knowledge and power more.

Our human girl, Eleanor lives in a realm that is ruled by fae. Humans are easily manipulated by fae due to their magic and deals that they make with the vulnerable humans. Eleanor believes herself smarter than her fellow humans since she visits the fae realm to make deals to sell her jewelry. So her and her father can make a living since the death of her mother.

Following in mother’s footsteps, Eleanor has a knack for Alchemy and discovers way to make gold. Soon after, she is sold out to the human king by a boy from her village. In desperation, Eleanor does the one thing she swore she never do- make a deal with the evil fae.

This story is about Eleanor figuring out a way to save the fae realm all the while the fae are doing everything in their power to make her life a living hell.

It’s a new take on faeries that kept me intrigued. The narrator did a wonderful job too, portraying each character. I easily forgot it wasn’t a man speaking the MMC’s parts. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys fae and fantasy.

This was my very first ARC and my very first romantasy audiobook — and The Court That Bleeds Gold was an enjoyable read! This story is set in a Fae world with some thrilling action-packed scenes, blended with a good mix of tension, magic, and romance. The garden court setting and Beauty-and-the-Beast vibes were enchanting.

I liked Eleanor’s strength and her alchemist skills, and the overall magical system added its lot of charm. The side characters Destan and Halima were endearing too! Prince Ruskin is a promising and intriguing protective main male character — secretive, powerful, and marked by a dual nature that adds some beast like tension to his every move. I would have loved to get a bit more insight into his inner world, but I believe much will unfold in the next book given the story’s twists.

The narrator Ash Kingsley was absolutely brilliant — each character had a unique voice and specific accents without it ever feeling exaggerated.

What I would have loved to see more of: Prince Ruskin’s character felt a bit underexplored emotionally, and I would have loved more build-up in his relationship with Eleanor. More details and development on the human world and political dynamics would have added depth.

As for the spice level, there are a few intimate and descriptive scenes, but they remain tastefully written and don’t overpower the main plot. I found the balance between romance and story progression to be well handled — perfect for readers who enjoy a bit of tension and heat without it taking center stage.

Overall, this is a fun and promising start to a new romantasy series. I’ll definitely be continuing!

I am thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a free copy of this audiobook. This review represents my honest opinion.

I got this audiobook with only 2 days before the archive date. I was determined to finish it before that happened because I was so intrigued by the premise and manage it I did.

The more I think on this the more I have to give this a solid 3. I enjoyed the experience and want to read the next one. I do not feel like I would consider this Dark Fantasy/Romantasy. There was mild torture and death but nothing over the top. I found it pretty predictable although I did wake up from a dream last night that made me think there was another option for what the ending alludes to. So yeah. Fun, enjoyable read but not necessarily one I will fixate on. It was very ACOTAR light in the diet variety.

This book had a very interesting premise, and the writing was well executed, but the plot fell a little flat to me.
The story started off strong, but felt like it waned before the 'big' reveal happened. All in all, it was an entertaining listen.