Early Review: Silvercloak (Silvercloak Saga #1)

Silvercloak, Book 1 in the Silvercloak Saga by LK Steven

Published By: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 29, 2025
Date Read: July 13, 2025
Genre: Adult – Fantasy
Source: eARC from Netgalley and Del Rey
Format: E-Book
Pages: 496

Add to Goodreads | Add to Storygraph

In this addictive new fantasy series set in a world where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain, an obsessive detective infiltrates a brutal gang of dark mages—knowing that one wrong move will get her killed. . . .

Two decades ago, the Bloodmoons ruthlessly murdered Saffron Killoran’s parents, destroying her idyllic childhood. Hell-bent on revenge, she lies her way into Silvercloak Academy—the training ground for her city’s elite order of detectives—with a single goal: to bring the Bloodmoons to justice.

But when Saff’s deception is exposed, rather than being cast out, she’s given a rare opportunity: to go undercover and tear the Bloodmoons down from the inside.

Descending into a world where pleasure and pain are the most powerful currencies, Saff must commit some truly heinous deeds to keep her cover—and her life. Not only are there rival gangs and sinister smuggling rings to contend with, but there’s also her growing feelings for the kingpin’s tortured son, with his vicious pet fallowwolf, his dark past, and the curious prophecy foretelling his death at Saffron’s hand.

With each day testing her loyalties further, Saff finds her web of lies becoming harder to spin. And when one false step could destroy everything and everyone she’s ever loved . . . the detective who’s dedicated her life to vengeance just might die for it.

“Because in a world built on pain and pleasure, there were always going to be those who pushed the very outer limits of it – who exploited the fact that magic could not exist without those twin pillars.”

From the moment I first heard about Silvercloak, I knew I would love this book. A new wizard-type book, but for adults where they are already magically trained and going on to their adult magical jobs? …. Yes please! Sign me up! Honestly I don’t know what kind of crack LK Steven wove into this book, but right from the very first chapter, I was hooked and knew this would be the easiest 5-star rating I’ve given this year. Spoiler Alert: It was!

Silvercloak follows the story of Saff, a mage whose parents were tragically murdered when she was a young child. She saw the savage Bloodmoons, the underground criminal network of evil mages, killing them. Ever since that day Saff has been determined to train and join the elite Silvercloaks, this world’s magical enforcement to help protect and save people. When her long time deception is discovered, Saff is given the chance to go undercover and join the Bloodmoons… as a double agent.

Honestly, right from the very first chapter of this book, I was absolutely hooked! I absolutely flew through this book, I honestly couldn’t put it down at all. I’m in love with this world, where pleasure and pain fuels magic. We’ve all read books about mages/wizards before, but I felt like the pleasure/pain aspect put a really new twist onto it. It was dark and gritty in the very best way. We are hit with the hard hitting topics such as parental death right from the start, but it fuels Saff’s entire journey and I absolutely loved that.

I’ve seen Silvercloak dubbed the new Romantasy series but I personally disagree with this. While there is some romance in this, the main focus of the book is definitely the plot of bringing down the Bloodmoon’s and Saff finding out the ins and outs of this group. There is a hint of some enemies to lovers romance in there, which is delightful for any fan of this trope, but it’s definitely not the main focus of this book. Which for me, was a definite plus. While I do like a romantasy book, romantic fantasy is my preference, as I prefer the plot to be the main focus and that’s definitely what was happening here. Honestly when the romance first started kicking off, I personally wasn’t bothered by it and didn’t really feel it, as I was so invested in the storyline. By the end, I was definitely rooting for the two main characters though, so it’s a bit of a slow burn for me.

Silvercloak was honestly such an excellent fantasy book. It had everything that you could have wanted. Intrigue in terms of the criminal underbelly of the city, Saff’s history and her coming to grips that not all of the Bloodmoon’s are necessarily 100% evil. There’s a hint of romance and lots and lots of action packed magical fighting scenes. (I originally typed wand-fighting scenes but that sounds rude and I don’t want to give you the wrong idea of what this book is!). I loved every single moment of it, and that ending has absolutely killed me off! While I guessed most of the twists early on, that cliffhanger ending left me reeling. I absolutely cannot wait for book 2. Someone tell me how to bribe Laura into being an early beta reader for her. I need it!

Silvercloak is the magical book we have all been waiting for. It was everything I possibly could have wanted and more. If there is only one fantasy romance release you are going to buy this year, make sure it is this one and it was an absolute magical masterpiece. LK Steven has once again cemented herself on my favourite authors of all time list. There is nothing this woman can’t write! Pick this one up as soon as possible… I promise you won’t be disappointed.

“And you might not feel like you can show the world your pain, Levan, but you can show me. I won’t use it against you.”