Ledge is Stacey McEwan's debut novel, and it’s a spicy enemies-to-lovers romance set in a frigid inhospitable environment literally lived on the edge. Of a chasm. Dawson lives on the Ledge, where her community scrape out a meagre existence, and members of said community are chosen at random each season and taken away by the Glacians. Humanoid creatures that fly to the Ledge to sink their talons into their victims and carry them away to an unknown fate. They are never seen again. Dawsyn is the last member of her family. She is a hard, cold creature very much shaped by her environment and experiences. It would be easy to pity her as she contemplates her loneliness, but there is a strength of will immediately clear in her that garners far too much respect. I fell for her straight away. When Dawsyn is taken by a Glacian, a whole new world is opened up to her beyond the Ledge, and she discovers that there are indeed worse fates out there than slipping into the Chasm. She makes good her escape through an unlikely alliance with the half-Glacian half-human Ryon. As we get to know Dawsyn more, we discover that beneath her frozen exterior, she is molten. I loved this juxtaposition of her character. She is constantly underestimated, and I really appreciated the ways in which McEwan showed us her protagonist living up to her inherent confidence. She has a fiery temper, she acts rashly, but she has such incredible self-awareness that I found myself in awe of. It was refreshing to read a woman who had such a healthy understanding and acceptance of her own sexuality. Ok, maybe healthy isn’t the best word, as she finds herself lusting after the very person whose species have been preying upon hers for generations. But she didn’t shy away from her feelings, or question them, or berate herself in any kind of annoying meaningless way in the face of the inevitable plotline (it’s cold, and they’re sheltering in a tiny cave. They have to cuddle together. Like penguins. Science, ok?). Instead, she recognises what it is about Ryon she finds attractive, but holds herself back – not because of any notion that having sexual urges is a bad thing, but because of the very sensible reason that a relationship between them both would not make sense. But of course, their story is a great deal more complicated than that. As is the story of Ledge in general. There are plenty of secrets waiting to be uncovered in this world. I want to talk more about what Dawsyn discovers once she’s off the Ledge, but I always try to keep my reviews as spoiler-free as I can. Suffice to say, there’s so much more to this story than the romance. There’s a great deal of action and fighting, if that floats your boat as much as it does mine. There’s a strong undercurrent of rebelling against dictators and dishonest rulers. There’s a wonderful found-family set up which came at just the right time and meant we could watch Dawsyn unfurl in the warmth she’d been lacking for so long. And the snark! There is a great deal of sass and snark, and I loved how McEwan used it as the bridge Dawsyn and Ryon ultimately build their connection upon. As cold as the world within this book is, it’s a story full of heat. The fiery passion Dawsyn has to right the wrongs done to her; the deep warming glow of her new friendships; the sizzle and increasing burn of Dawsyn and Ryon’s love for each other. All in all, this was an exciting adventure against the backdrop of clever world-building and all my favourite tropes. I’m so glad this is the first of a trilogy, as I can’t wait to return to this world, not least because I need to know what happens next!!

After being randomly selected as a human sacrifice, instead of death, Dawsyn finds herself on a quest to save her people from their icy prison... In a place known as The Ledge, a civilization is trapped by a vast chasm and sheer mountain face. There is no way for anyone to escape the frozen wasteland without befalling a deathly drop. They know nothing of the outside world except that it is where The Glacians reside mystical winged creatures who bring them meagre rations to survive, in exchange for a periodic human sacrifice. Dawsyn, axe wielder and only remaining member of her family, has so far avoided the annual culling, but her luck has run out. She is chosen and ripped from her icy home, the only world she knows. No one knows what will happen to her on the other side, least of all Dawsyn. Murdered? Enslaved? Worse? TThankfully, the fates align and Dawsyn manages to escape their clutches with the help of a half-Glacian called Ryon. But trust does not come easily, and she keeps a trained axe to his throat while they journey together down the slopes. But who’s to say that the life below will be any better than the one she has run from? Read in one sitting really enjoyable read totally recommend Thank You NetGalley and Angry Robot I just reviewed Ledge by Stacey McEwan. #Ledge #NetGalley

Ledge is a spicy, slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers fantasy, that’s set in a dystopian world that is primarily focused on escaping the Ledge of a massive chasm. With most sci-fi/fantasy books I read, I did find that it took me a little while to get into this book, but once I understood the world building I was in!! This book is fast paced and has short chapters (which I love), and it’s full of revelations and secrets that keep you turning through the pages! Ledge has all of my favourite tropes and was so exciting to read, and with how this book ends, I can not wait for book two! ~ I was very kindly sent a copy from the publishers in exchange for an honest review ~

Creative worldbuilding is what draws me to Fantasy and Sci-Fi novels more than any other factor, and let me tell you: this one’s an absolute gem. The start of Ledge takes place in an inaccessible village that is clinging to a mountainside, with unscalable cliffs to one side, and a gaping chasm to the other. The setting and atmosphere is wild and raw, with the villagers being forced to survive in a claustrophobic, never-ending winter. To make matters worse, non-human entities called the Glacians visit the Ledge each season to pick out ‘sacrifices’, who are whisked away and never heard from again. Given this setting, it’s no surprise that our lead character Dawsyn has a decent dollop of angst in her personality – whilst this personality trait is a regular bugbear of mine in fantasy, I feel it was entirely justified in this unforgiving setting. I found our lead character a little generic at times, but I enjoyed watching her motivations develop over the course of the book. I feel similarly about the romance elements of this novel; romance has never been my cup of tea in SFF, but this aspect would definitely appeal to fans of Stephanie Garber and Sarah J. Maas. I’ll choose my words carefully to avoid spoiling the ending. I was really hoping from the very start that a book called Ledge would have a good cliff-hangar ending. I’m pleased to say, it does! I found the ending to be pretty bold where safer endings could have been available, and I’d be very interested in reading a sequel.

With this being Stacey's debut novel, Ledge has so much promise to be an amazing series! In Ledge, we follow Dawsyn, our heroine, who is stuck in a village on the ledge of a mountain where once a month winged creatures come to offer rations in exchange for a human "sacrifices" that are never seen again. And this time our heroine is picked, and from that moment on, we follow an action-filled, slow-burn story full of revenge plots, political schemes, and, of course, an enemy-to-lover romance. For me, the beginning was a little slow and hard to get into; I struggled to get my head around the worldbuilding, but once the pace picked up, I really did get stuck into the book. I was able to connect well with the characters and understand the world a lot more. I really do wish that the pace at the start was faster, or at least hocked me into the story a bit better than what it did, as I felt that with the fast-paced ending, it felt very rushed, and that pace could have been easily spread throughout the whole book. With all that said, I did really enjoy Ledge; this dystopian fantasy romance really did capture my heart, and I cannot wait for book two! I have so many questions that I need answers now!