✨Im Literary Anxious✨

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲🕒: 4 minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Holly Monroe ✍🏻 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 316 📖

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲: 🌶️🌶️
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁: Duet (Book #1)
𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲: Cliffhanger
𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: Multi POV (Mainly MFCs)

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦

🔥Shifters
🔥Bully MMC
🔥Why Choose
🔥Hidden Identity
🔥Political Intrigue
🔥Gods 
🔥Oppressive Government

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗘

🌶️🌶️Chapter 23

🌶️🌶️Chapter 44

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪

I don’t know what you authors think you’re doing lately with these cliffhangers.

Think of the children.

And by the children, I mean the readers.

And by the readers… I mean me and my paper-thin mental health.

Seriously though…

This. Was. So. Good.

I never win anything when it comes to raffles or giveaways, so imagine my excitement when I won a copy of Daughter of Garnet while visiting Holly’s booth at Villains & Vixens.

So far I’ve only read her Lunarcrest City series, Knot What You Expected, and now Daughter of Garnet, though her Trapped on the Tightrope duet is sitting dangerously high on my TBR. (Get it? Tightrope? High? … I’ll see myself out.)

One thing I’ve noticed about Holly’s books is that her omegaverses lean darker than most. They don’t shy away from heavier topics, the angst actually angsts, and there’s a grit to her stories that I absolutely love.

Don’t get me wrong—I adore a cozy omegaverse.

But sometimes I want emotional damage (because, you know, I’m clearly a masochist).

The Worldbuilding

If you’ve read Holly’s Lunarcrest City series, you’ll probably see some familiar threads between the Institute in this book and The Design Clinic in that series—the institution responsible for genetically engineering and training “perfect” omegas.

Daughter of Garnet takes that idea, throws in shifters and a handful of gods. What could possibly go wrong?

Here, every designation is also blessed by one of four gods during a Ceremony, granting them a beast form and determining where they’ll spend the next four years training at the Institute.

Training…

And by training we mean “government-sponsored indoctrination.”

The Kestia Realm honestly reads like the love child of a stratified technocracy and soft authoritarianism.

Translation?

The government is sketchy as hell.

Poor Zoe had one very reasonable life plan:

• Designate as a Beta.
• Survive four years at the Institute.
• Find a decent job.
• Live quietly.

The gods looked down at that plan and collectively went:

“LOL. No.”

Instead, she’s secretly given the one designation she never wanted—from the one god guaranteed to paint a giant target on her back.

Oh.

And she has to save the world.

No biggie.

The Characters

I really enjoyed Zoe as our heroine. More than anything, I think this first book lays the foundation for what will be a huge growth arc in book two.

Viv immediately became one of my favorites. Every good heroine deserves a ride-or-die best friend, and Viv absolutely fits the bill.

I’m fairly certain she’d burn an entire kingdom to the ground if it meant getting Zoe back.

Now…

Let’s talk about Cliff.

😍

Um, Alpha who? Give me this Beta every single day of the week.

From the very beginning he becomes Zoe’s safe place to land. He’s steady, kind, supportive, and basically one giant cinnamon roll. I adored every scene they shared. Holly, please give us more.

Warren, on the other hand…

I understand the role he plays in the story, but his personality shift felt almost Jekyll-and-Hyde-ish. These two have been friends their entire lives, so the transition felt a little abrupt to me.

Dominic… sigh. What is it about men named Dominic?

His POV chapter at the end gives us valuable insight into everything he was thinking throughout the story.

Unfortunately… He was still a giant wiener.

If you already know exactly who your father is as a person, and you’re beginning to suspect what Zoe might be—and what she might become to you—

WHY.

IN THE DYSTOPIAN HELL.

Would you say anything to that man?

I’m expecting Olympic-level groveling in book two.

Ray has some apologizing to do as well.

He starts off as a complete turd nugget, slowly begins treating Zoe better once he realizes what she is to him, and then somehow acts surprised when things don’t magically work themselves out.

His grovel doesn’t need to be on Dominic’s level… but it’s definitely required.

And finally…

Cameron.

Our slightly unhinged stalker.

We didn’t get nearly enough Cameron, and I’m hoping book two fixes that because I need more of him. After everything that’s been done to him, I fully support him making a snack out of whichever villain deserves it most.

Romance & Spice

This first installment is very much a setup novel.

It’s almost entirely focused on establishing the world, introducing the future pack, and laying the groundwork for the relationships to come.

If you’re picking this up expecting a romance-heavy first book, just know that’s not what this is.

The spice is minimal—two scenes total, with only one fully intimate scene—and even then it’s relatively tame.

Personally?

I think it worked.

Because while Zoe technically meets everyone who will eventually make up her pack, the only relationship that feels fully developed by the end of this book is the one she builds with Cliff.

Which tells me…

Book two is probably going to hurt.

And then immediately heal me with a whole lot of steam.

Final Thoughts

One of the best things about reading ARCs is getting to experience a story before everyone else.

One of the worst things?

Waiting twice as long for the sequel.

Daughter of Garnet does exactly what I want a first book in a duet to do.

It builds an interesting world, introduces a cast I can’t wait to spend more time with, gives me just enough romance to keep me invested, and then ends by completely wrecking my emotional stability.

Five stars.

Now, Holly…

Please stop ending books like this.

Sincerely,

My blood pressure.

Daughter of Garnet will be available tomorrow, but right now you can pre-order it on Amazon for $1.99!