The Vibe

Mysterious, twisty, slow-burn romantasy with a broody MMC, a snarky FMC, high stakes, dangerous secrets, and a world that kept surprising me. Harbinger had me giggling, crying, laughing, frustrated, and genuinely shocked — basically all the emotions. 😂

What It’s About

Arden Icaros has never cared much for court life. As the youngest and poorest of five noble bloodlines, she’d much rather return to her family’s farm after inheriting her earth magic. Unfortunately, the ceremony meant to give her that birthright goes very, very wrong.

Suddenly branded an omen of war, Arden finds herself hunted by assassins and surrounded by nobles who want her dead. Her best chance at survival comes in the form of Bishop, the kingdom’s feared and ruthless enforcer. He should kill her. Instead, he offers her sanctuary — and the closer Arden gets to him, the more questions she has about his secrets, his loyalties, and why he seems to need her.

My Harbinger Review

When I initially saw that Rebecca Yarros — the dragon queen herself, aka the author of Fourth Wing — had given Harbinger a positive review, I knew I needed to read it.

I started this book slightly confused, not entirely sure what was going on or what to make of everything, but in a positive way. The book description is vague in that really intriguing, mysterious way where you know there’s clearly something bigger happening, but you don’t quite know what it is yet. And I really enjoyed discovering the story alongside Arden rather than having everything explained to me immediately.

The story starts right at the ceremony that is supposed to grant Arden the power that is her birthright — and, well, it goes completely to hell. 😂 From there, everything changes for her.

I absolutely loved Arden as a main character. She’s funny, likable, snarky, and exactly the kind of female character I love reading about. She has personality, and her reactions to everything happening around her made her incredibly easy to root for.

And then there’s Bishop. I love a broody, mysterious male main character, and Bishop delivers.

He is broody, mysterious, unpredictable, and incredibly difficult to gauge. You never quite know what he’s thinking or what he’s going to do next, which made his scenes with Arden even more interesting. And without getting into spoilers, I think I was already a little bit in love with this man by the second time Arden came across him. 😂

What I especially loved was being able to feel the moment when Bishop started falling for Arden, even though he was still incredibly difficult to read.

But don’t get me wrong: there is no insta-love here. Nope. It’s slowwwww burn. It’s yearning. It’s tension. It’s a little bit of push and pull. It has basically everything I want from a slow-burn romantasy romance.

The world-building was another huge highlight for me. It felt genuinely unique, and unlike anything I’ve read before, which completely took me by surprise. I loved discovering more about the world as the story unfolded rather than having everything handed to me at once.

And the twists and turns? They were TWISTING and TURNING. I kept thinking I had things figured out, only to realize that I was completely wrong. There are so many different players in the game, the stakes are high, and there are deaths, heartbreak, assassins, secrets, and political intrigue all woven throughout the story. It really works.

I also loved the friendships and found family that begins to form around Arden. Those relationships become just as much a part of the emotional core of the story, and they somehow manage to be both incredibly fulfilling and completely capable of wrecking you at the same time. Let’s just say I needed my tissues. 😭

One thing I will say is that the pacing slowed down a little for me somewhere around the 60–80% mark. There was still enough happening to keep me reading, and I never reached the point of being bored, but if I had to choose one criticism, that would be it.

I also think it’s important to go into Harbinger understanding that this is very much a foundational first book. There is a lot of world-building, political setup, and groundwork being laid for the larger series, so naturally there are still questions left unanswered.

In particular, I found everything surrounding Arden’s magic to be a little underexplained. At the same time, I actually understand why the author chose not to explain everything immediately. This is the first book in a new series, and leaving some things unanswered creates plenty of room for the world and magic system to develop in future books.

And then there’s the ending. This book essentially sets up an entire series and then leaves you with a cliffhanger that opens the door for basically anything to happen next.

Did I see it coming? Absolutely not. Which is exactly what I want from a twisty romantasy.

By the end, Harbinger had me giggling, crying, laughing, frustrated, shocked… basically every possible emotion was covered. The combination of the unique world-building, intriguing politics, high stakes, secrets, unexpected twists, found family, and painfully slow-burn romance completely pulled me in.

Who Will Love This?

I’d recommend Harbinger to readers who love slow-burn romantasy, broody and mysterious MMCs, snarky FMCs, yearning, tension, political intrigue, dangerous secrets, high stakes, found family, and twists you genuinely won’t see coming.

If you enjoy fantasy romance where the world-building and larger political story are just as important as the romance — and you’re happy to start a new series where some mysteries are intentionally left open for future books — this is definitely worth picking up.

Disclosure: Thank you to Red Tower Books, Geneva Lee, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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