Tether

Book: Tether by Smoke, Cadence

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 3/5

𝓝𝓞 𝓢𝓟𝓞𝓘𝓛𝓔𝓡𝓢
⚜️𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗- Tether

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 The Dark Romance team / Luna literary 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

⚜️ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤-
(out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
📚 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

🌡️ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲🌶🌶 🫑/ 5 -𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠

Which books have I also given this same rating? (𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛)

5⭐️ Fourth wing / Bound by inked flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of silver and Curses
4.5⭐️ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4⭐️ Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3⭐️We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex

⚜️𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠:
Genre- Gothic Romance / Dark Academia

📖 334 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 mostly solo 𝗣𝗢𝗩 until the final chapters

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲- July 15 2026

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 or 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 driven? 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉ℯ𝓇

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼-

𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on 𝗞𝗨? ✅𝒴ℯ𝓈

𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲- 𝓊𝓅 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹ℴ𝓌𝓃

𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? ❌𝒮𝒶𝒹𝓁𝓎, 𝓃ℴ, 𝓃ℴ𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓆𝓊ℯ ℯ𝓃ℴ𝓊𝑔𝒽, 𝒻ℴ𝓇 𝓂ℯ 𝓉ℴ 𝓇ℯ𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝒶𝓎 6 𝓂ℴ𝓃𝓉𝒽𝓈 𝓉𝒾𝓂ℯ.

𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? (Disability, plus size, mental health etc...)❌

𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝒾 ℯ𝓃𝒿ℴ𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈?⚖️ erm…? I loved some bits but skimmed others…

𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈?✅

𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽ℴ𝓇?✅

𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖎 𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖔? Those who enjoy a moral to their story, lessons learned the hard way and beauty rising through loneliness and loss.

⚜️𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤:
😍IᑎՏTᗩ ᒪOᐯᗴ ᒪᑌᔕT
🙏𝐻𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡
🔺 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒
👀𝘝𝘰𝘺𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮

⚜️𝕋ℝ𝕆ℙ𝔼𝕊
😈𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕤 & 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕒𝕝𝕤
✏️Dark Academia
🏰Gothic
🧸𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦
🐶 Underdog
⌚𝔸-𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖

📝Cliff Notes Review-
Welcome to Hollowcrest, where fates are tethered by secrets, and love knows no bounds. This book drew me in right from the start, I loved the mystery idea and the secret unknown family but it fell flat. I never manage to predict twists-ever- yet I saw this one right at the start of the book sadly. It was ok, but it could have been great with 1 more round of editing to correct all the timeline gaps and continuity errors.

“Lay back, little crow, and let me fill you with a love so bewitching, you’ll never forget who your heart belongs to.”

🌍 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘:
I went into this completely blind and that first page literally grabbed my attention! The writing style was a little difficult to follow for me, the world building was barely there and I have no clue what time period this was meant to be set in. The gothic vibes are well threaded into this one, with A very creepy manor, mysterious letters, an on ground cemetery, an academy passed down through generations and then the secret society tops off the bucket list. We don’t get much in the way of academic lessons or structure sadly, but time is spent there.

What I must applaud was how the feelings of grief were explored. The quotes that I highlighted around the beauty of life and love were plentiful, I’d actually say this is the best book I’ve read around the subject because of the themes of loss, loneliness and hopelessness that are navigated through the characters being out the opposing thoughts of joy, memories with guilt, and love.

The pacing started steady but did drop out around the middle and I found myself skimming a lot of the ‘bumpf/padding’.

I actually got really irritated a few times that I almost DNF it, I was really intrigued in the mystery of the main plot and mixed with the characters I remained intrigued. I enjoyed the mix of mystery and secrets that were sprinkled throughout the story, I do wish we had a little more history but after getting to the end I can see now that it will come in book 2. I’m glad I didn’t and I stuck with it.

My main issue was that she gets a letter out of the blue offering her a house and an academy yet she doesn’t question it at all? Not even a little? Doesn’t double check it’s real and not a scam or set up. Then when she gets there she has no clue how this new home of hers runs and yet she makes her way around, using the bath, finding random clothes left out, dining in the hall- it’s not even mentioned that she would need to know how to run the house, pay the staff, or how they should learn about her needs or food choices or whatever. I was reading this section waiting for someone to show her what is expected of her, where she can find coin/money should she want anything, or to show her how to summon help like drivers.

Next up is the large amount of continuity errors, where was your beta team and editor? It was always Saturday, even after partying on Saturday night she would wake up the following morning declaring how glorious this Saturday morning is. Items she was holding suddenly disappear, clothing choices don’t follow through like it’s not even been thought of that she’s in her underthings/nightwear and wandering around the house and chatting to the staff all day.

Then there is the many gaps in the story, she is told to attend one semester at the academy and THEN everything will be hers- this is never brought up again, not once. so what would be hers? Did she do a full semester? What was the point in that other than to just create a reason for her to attend? There were places she couldn’t enter in this new house- HER house… that the butler said was off limits so of course that must be so…? Why? How long for? Did she have to earn it? Did the butler know something More that the author forgot to explain? And then the one that stuck with me was that the mother ran away, the grandfather didn’t reach out (not spoilers) because he wanted to keep her safe, but then his condition to getting ‘it all’ was to spend a semester at the academy…? Why not just leave the money to her then and forget the rest? I didn’t get it at all.

Plus, im curious- what was with the timeline? We would be talking about one thing then it jumps to something completely separate in a different place. Or it was set in a school class and the next paragraph she was at home? Erm, while I’m asking questions Did everyone else at that academy have parents to go home to? I only ask because she suddenly acquired a uniform and school supplies from thin air, her driven magically knew when she needed a lift somewhere without any prior arrangements, the staff all ran the house without her and she magically.y knew everything all the way down to how to get to the academy on her first day…?

It just seemed like things were mentioned just as a bridge to get the characters from A-B and then were forgotten about entirely.

🧝‍♂️ ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤:
So REN really annoyed me, she had been messed around all her life, grown up in bad foster homes and yet still she was trusting and unbelievably naive?! There were so many points in this book where any regular person would have asked a question or two, perhaps given a little thought before an action and yet she did none of that.

She was supposed to be resilient and independent, I don’t know much else about her as we got very little personal character development but to turn into a needy little thing under the thumb of a man didn’t really seem to fit the character arc that had been laid down. She annoyed me so much because I liked her, I liked her strength and how she overcame her troubles and moved forward with her life, I just wanted more of that authenticity that was first wrote about.

Then there was the best friend, she was a brilliant character. But she seemed to know more than we thought due to all the hints she dropped but then she disappeared for a big chunk of the story.

The love triangle was fun, Sullivan is the kind and helpful boy at school, I like how his character changed and developed as the story went on. I feel some things were left open- I hope they will be revisited in book two rather than them being overlooked, things like certain scenarios being set up and more information around the order members. But my hero of the story is lox, what a male! I loved his sarcasm and banter, his wit and the simple way he saw her and got her. I wish when an apology came - it was more specific rather than a blanket to cover all. I feel the hurt that was installed should have been acknowledged and recognised particularly because those involved lean more towards this type of behaviour than skimming by with the bare minimum explanation.

⏳ 𝕎𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕚 𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕?
Ok so, I would re-read prior to book 2 but not for fun. And yes, I would recommend it to the right audience.

🪧𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
This was beautiful in the way it explored the themes of grief, love and loss. The secrets and mysteries were there throughout and the love triangle was fun to watch. With a little more editing this would have been a damn good read!

𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠;

𝕋𝕚𝕜𝕋𝕠𝕜
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IᑎՏTᗩ
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𝕄𝕪 ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕤:
⭐️ DNF

⭐️⭐️
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

⭐️⭐️.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read full review on ARC Library