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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
Enemies to lovers every time make me weak at the knees. Sometimes, about that fine line between hate and love, that has me racing to read a book quicker than you say, enemies! As soon as I saw The Enemy's Daughter being marketed, I was stalking NetGalley like a predator looking for my eARC prey to request.
The Enemy's Daughter is a captivating, page-turning retelling of the Tristan and Isolde tale with a light touch of fantasy elements and an amazing dystopian twist. Melissa Poett's storytelling is immersive and addictive, with a fast-paced plot full of twists and turns that have you questioning the intentions and motivations of each side. Her world-building is richly staged around an intriguing political tension, with rivalries and conflict raging between two very different factions in a post-apocalyptic civilisation that embraces opposite ideologies towards technology and civil rights.
Melissa Poett has sculpted something beautiful in her memorable characters, Isadora and Tristan. Their complex relationship was intense, messy, and a delightful rollercoaster between love and hate, which had me giggling and kicking my feet as I read. I loved how their weaknesses brought out their strength of character – Isodora's strength in her kindness and mercy in the morally grey choices in her vocation as a healer and Tristan's struggle to step up to be a dutiful leader who puts the interests of his people first as he battles his heart's yearning for a forbidden love.
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Harper Fire, and Melissa Poett for approving my request for a Netgalley eARc for The Enemy's Daughter. Published on the 14th of August 2025 in the UK.
The Enemy's Daughter is a captivating, page-turning retelling of the Tristan and Isolde tale with a light touch of fantasy elements and an amazing dystopian twist. Melissa Poett's storytelling is immersive and addictive, with a fast-paced plot full of twists and turns that have you questioning the intentions and motivations of each side. Her world-building is richly staged around an intriguing political tension, with rivalries and conflict raging between two very different factions in a post-apocalyptic civilisation that embraces opposite ideologies towards technology and civil rights.
Melissa Poett has sculpted something beautiful in her memorable characters, Isadora and Tristan. Their complex relationship was intense, messy, and a delightful rollercoaster between love and hate, which had me giggling and kicking my feet as I read. I loved how their weaknesses brought out their strength of character – Isodora's strength in her kindness and mercy in the morally grey choices in her vocation as a healer and Tristan's struggle to step up to be a dutiful leader who puts the interests of his people first as he battles his heart's yearning for a forbidden love.
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Harper Fire, and Melissa Poett for approving my request for a Netgalley eARc for The Enemy's Daughter. Published on the 14th of August 2025 in the UK.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Thank you, Net Galley and Quill Tree Books for an ARC of this amazing book!
I was in love with this world from the first page. Nowadays, there are not many dystopian authors who are still writing dystopian. Melissa Poett? She is a legend. This book was such a banger that I had to take several breaks, not out of boredom but because I was in shock and had to stare at the fake cameras there for a minute.
Let me say that Isolde and Tristen are unmatched.
It's been 37 years since the republic was destroyed. Two settlements fight over the unaffected land and resources. The five clans, and the Kingsland. The five clans—though smaller, attacked the brutal Kingsland leader and killed him, resulting in an oncoming war.
Isadora (Our MC) an eighteen-year-old healer risks her life to help injured soldiers. But when she stops an attack from Tristan, a Kingsland assassin his soldiers shoot her with a poisoned arrow. Isadora lies dying Tristan offers to save her life by using a rare magic.
Isadora is then unknowingly bound to the mysterious Tristan.
Let's start with our MC who is amazing! She was a strong MC for sure! And unlike most dystopian YA novels she wasn't annoying!!!!!! I hate an annoying MC who I can’t get behind, but Isadora was amazing! I understood where she was coming from in her decisions and thought processes. Let's not forget the amazing MMC (drumroll please) . . . TRISTAN!!!!! Their dynamic was so unique and adorable had me blushing and kicking my feet multiple times!
The writing was very immersive I felt like I was Isadora! The plot twists were perfectly executed, and I can’t believe I had the honor of reading this as an ARC!!!!
This is my honest review, I am not biased toward this book for any reason I just genuinely loved it! I 100% recommend it to all!
I was in love with this world from the first page. Nowadays, there are not many dystopian authors who are still writing dystopian. Melissa Poett? She is a legend. This book was such a banger that I had to take several breaks, not out of boredom but because I was in shock and had to stare at the fake cameras there for a minute.
Let me say that Isolde and Tristen are unmatched.
It's been 37 years since the republic was destroyed. Two settlements fight over the unaffected land and resources. The five clans, and the Kingsland. The five clans—though smaller, attacked the brutal Kingsland leader and killed him, resulting in an oncoming war.
Isadora (Our MC) an eighteen-year-old healer risks her life to help injured soldiers. But when she stops an attack from Tristan, a Kingsland assassin his soldiers shoot her with a poisoned arrow. Isadora lies dying Tristan offers to save her life by using a rare magic.
Isadora is then unknowingly bound to the mysterious Tristan.
Let's start with our MC who is amazing! She was a strong MC for sure! And unlike most dystopian YA novels she wasn't annoying!!!!!! I hate an annoying MC who I can’t get behind, but Isadora was amazing! I understood where she was coming from in her decisions and thought processes. Let's not forget the amazing MMC (drumroll please) . . . TRISTAN!!!!! Their dynamic was so unique and adorable had me blushing and kicking my feet multiple times!
The writing was very immersive I felt like I was Isadora! The plot twists were perfectly executed, and I can’t believe I had the honor of reading this as an ARC!!!!
This is my honest review, I am not biased toward this book for any reason I just genuinely loved it! I 100% recommend it to all!
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
medium-paced
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Fire for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
I loved the dystopian vibes of this book with it being set 30 years after the destruction of the republic.
It really was so interesting to see Kingsland and the clans with how different they are in every way.
Tristan and Isolde whilst not in my opinion being true enemies to lovers had amazing tension and their romance had me kicking my feet, I couldn’t put this book down because of them. I did just wish it was a bit more slower.
I really liked how there was some fantasy events involved and how it’s used really did have me kicking my feet more.
Tristan is a golden retriever, I loved him so much. He’s so patient with helping Isolde learn about his home as well as their history between both their homes. Both him and Isolde prefer to heal rather than hurt, I loved seeing Isolde heal and learn more about healing to help her people.
2025 reads: 145/300
i received a finished copy from the publisher as part of their influencer program. this did not affect my rating.
thirty-seven years after the republic was destroyed, two settlements, the five clans and the kingsland, fight for control. the five clans are outnumbered, which is why it takes everybody by surprise when kingsland’s brutal leader is killed. in the war that follows, isadora, the daughter of the clans’ leader, sets out to use her skills as a healer. after stopping a kingsland assassin named tristan, she’s poisoned and captured by his soldiers. to make matters more complicated, the only way to survive the poison is to become bound to tristan. isadora wants to make the most of the situation to help her people, but as she gets closer to tristan and learns more about the history between the clans and kingsland, her end goal becomes harder to keep her mind on…
this seemed like a YA romantasy full of tension, which is primarily what draw me to it. i also liked the promise of a dystopian element, especially since most dystopians i’ve read are far disconnected from the start of “the new norm,” whereas this book took place only thirty-seven years after. while i did end up somewhat liking these elements of the book, as well as the magic system, overall i thought this book was just okay. while i enjoyed some aspects of the romance between isadora and tristan, the start of their relationship was a bit too insta-love/lust for my liking. i also found the plot to be a bit basic, though i did like how it made room to discuss misogyny and the patriarchy, and i thought this book ended well.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced