The Varkas Brothers and Their Princess review

First-impressions review: based on the free opening chapters (1–3) and the official synopsis. We will update the score once we have read further.

The Varkas Brothers and Their Princess opens with an unusual narrator for this genre. Rosette tells us, in the first lines, that she has never understood joy or sadness. The only emotions she knows are hate, rage, fear and lust. It is a bold start, and the first three chapters mostly live up to it, with some serious caveats.

A mother, a ring and a mansion

Rosette’s father has been buried for barely a month when her mother, Vera, shows off an engagement ring. Rosette is not grieving, because both parents beat her, but she is furious that Vera cannot even pretend to mourn. She skips the wedding, sleeps at a friend’s place and keeps working her part-time job, saving for college. When she finally goes to the new address, it is a mansion “like a damn castle”, with a butler named Gabriel waiting to take her bags.

The mother-daughter scenes are the strongest writing here. Rosette lists Vera’s old punishments, including locking her in a dark cabinet without food or water, and lets Vera’s slap land just to prove it no longer hurts. In chapter two, Vera tells her that her father “cut off my wings” and that Rosette “took my light”. Rosette answers that she never had any light to take, and tells her mother she wants her to suffer. It is raw and ugly, and it gives the heroine a real wound.

The Varkas men

Then the household arrives. Silas Varkas, the new stepfather, is six foot four, wears gloves, finds Rosette’s bluntness amusing and, for a second, his eyes flash gold. “I’m sure my boys will love you,” he says, which is the novel’s first warning. Axel, the youngest son, calls her “baby sis”, pins her to a wall, becomes obsessed with her scent, and his eyes glow faintly. When she calls him a dog, he replies, “Close, but I’m way worse.” Kross, in a three-piece suit, shows her to a room that is hers “for now” and tells her to always keep her door locked. That last line is the best moment of the opening.

What could be better

The Axel scene in chapter three is sexual, and he does not stop when Rosette tells him to let go. She has to push him away. The book frames it as irresistible attraction, which some readers will find hard to accept. The chapter previews on the novel page suggest the content becomes explicit very quickly. The text also needs cleaning up. Stray fragments such as “12:58 Mon, Sep 8” and “20 vouchers” appear in the middle of paragraphs, and Rosette introduces herself as “Rosette Voss” but Kross calls her “Miss Jansen”. Nobody has rated the novel on CrushRead yet, so there is no reader score to show. It is ongoing at 110 chapters.

Who should read it

If you want a dark, adults-only paranormal romance with a heroine who is cold rather than sweet, and a house full of brothers who are clearly more than human, the opening has atmosphere and bite. If consent matters to you in romance, be warned before you start.