r.j. valldeperas – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: R.J. Valldeperas
Publisher: Bramble
Release Date: September 15th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Traitor’s Daughter, the Demons’ Slayer… the City’s Only Hope.

For Solana, survival has always meant staying sharp—and staying alone. With a blood-forged dagger as her only inheritance, she’s made herself Supay’s fiercest demon slayer, hunting muki—monsters born from human death—through the kingdom’s streets.

But the work comes with a curse of its every body she leaves behind swells the muki’s ranks. The city that raised her has been her cage for so long she’s stopped believing freedom is real.

Then a twist of fate drags her into the palace and crowns her Royal Demon Slayer, a title wrapped in silk and sharpened like a blade. The magic is dazzling. The secrets are darker. And whatever is poisoning Supay didn’t start in the alleys. It started behind gilded doors.

Worst of all is Reyes, the king’s right-hand man, a captain of the Masters, and her personal torturer turned mentor who’s dangerously hard to resist. Wanting him is a mistake. Trusting him could be fatal.
Because if Solana walks away, the kingdom falls. And if she stays, she may have to become the monster Supay needs.

Thank you Bramble for the gifted ARC & Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

NOT QUITE.

This is the second book from RJ Valldeperas that I’ve read this year and once again, I’m left kind of feeling…okay? about it, but not overwhelmingly positive.

The action is good, I liked the overall plot. The core themes are great. There’s magic and demon slaying and the complexity of the afterlife.

But the romance left me wanting and this being marketed as romantasy left me wanting a lot more. It was like the relationship was moved forward without seeing it on page so they were much further down the line than I was expecting. And I got confused by trying to figure out if this was a standalone? (Because book two has been announced but maybe it’s a series of standalones??).

By the end of this review I’ve decided I’ll look into book two because maybe that’ll be a hit for me? I’ll report back.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: low-moderate
Romance: 2ish open door
Violence: high
Content warnings: loss of life, loss of loved ones

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: R.J. Valldeperas
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: June 2nd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A debut YA fantasy must-read for fans of The Winner’s Curse, What the River Knows, and This Woven Kingdom.

When a maiden is selected to marry the emperor, her journey to the palace will see her fighting both a spark of magical power and her growing feelings for her broody escort in this romantic fantasy duology opener, inspired by a true story from the Inca empire.

In the Amaru Empire, it’s considered an honor to be chosen for the annual harvest. But when guards stole Nina’s brother away, it devastated her family. So, when the guards returned for Nina’s sweet sister, she threw herself into their clutches instead. And Nina has spent every moment since then in the acllahuasi, a gilded cage where women are trained to become servants or wives.

When Kasik, an obedient lieutenant in Amaru’s army, is sent to the acllahuasi to retrieve the emperor’s new wife, it’s only the promise of his own command—and a chance to escape his controlling father—that forces him to accept.

Kasik has no reason to trust Nina, nor she to trust him. But, as they begin their journey, their chemistry is hard to ignore. Also hard to ignore? The tugging sensation of magic in Nina’s chest, awakening more questions than she can possibly answer as she travels with a handsome stranger to her unknown fate.

Thank you HarperCollins for the gifted book and LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

SAVED BY THE SECOND HALF.

🎧 The audiobook was good. I liked the narrator. This was dual POV though so I would have loved it had been dual narrators too. Luckily it was fairly easy to tell the POV’s apart.

This book started off iffy for me when I clocked into the insta-attraction/love. I’m someone who pretty much only ever wants a slow burn and I was confused by the supposed chemistry between Kasik and Nina when they are by all accounts, enemies. Luckily this connection started to disperse as conflict arose and different scenarios actually brought some needed stressors. I’m more endeared now to the story after the second half and I think it’s much better set up for the sequel.

I did enjoy the main characters and the different perspectives they come from. There’s a good battle of wills and understanding that all the information before them is not actually all of the answers. I liked the complicated political dynamics and trying to find the right answer for all involved. The feminine rage doesn’t overwhelm the story and added an edge that I was here for.

Overall audience notes: