Release Date: October 20, 2026

Revni is a warrior. She honors her gods and her people with a weapon in hand. Eavus is a conscript-slave. He scrapes by on empire orders hoping to one day secure his freedom. When their nations clash unexpectedly and everything goes wrong, Revni finds herself a hostage to a desperate Eavus, who must hasten to return to his regiment before being labeled a deserter. As they travel deeper south through a land filled with suffering and war, they must reckon with the realization that they will need each other to reach their goals – but how can they trust one another when one’s success could mean the other’s death?

I am so excited and honored to recommend to you Shield Sworn by Cait Monroe! I had the privilege of being an ARC reader for this phenomenal story and I could not be more in love with it. This being my first ARC, I was a little worried that I might not like it and I would have to contemplate sacrificing my journalistic integrity (just kidding) . Luckily, that concern hastily departed my mind as soon as I read the first page.

This book was so. so. fire. So fire. Most of my reviews feel a little more formal because I wait a few days to write them, but I finished last night and I’m too excited to wait. I love Eavus. I love Revni. I love the world they live in, the political situation, the historical feel even in such a lush fictional world… I just got so invested so fast. I couldn’t believe this was Monroe’s debut work. As a book-editor-in-training myself, I was so impressed by the stylistic and plot choices made here. Everything about the book is gorgeous. I am honestly sad to be an early ARC reader because there’s no one else to talk about it with yet!

This is exactly the kind of book I needed to make me believe in the human power of creation again. All this AI stuff has been really getting me down, but Shield Sworn reminded me of how beautiful and transformative the action of human writing can be. I’ve been listening to a lot of Celtic and Scottish music recently (the dormant Irish dancer in me yearns for my performance days) and for some reason the Celtic folk vibe has been uniquely able to pull me out of my AI-fear funk. This book brough that same vibe – along with a heartening no-AI disclaimer in the front matter that I’d never seen before and highly appreciated.

So without further ado, here’s everything I can’t wait to say about this gem of a book! Apologies in advance for how long this is, but I remember too much because I only just finished the book so I’m putting it all out there…

I was immediately struck by the writing style. It was beautiful and rich, pulling me right into the scene with all the physical detail and gorgeous world building. At the same time, it was subtle – it established concepts with description before even fully explaining them. Monroe did an amazing job of keeping some of those historical elements and ideas from the Roman, Norse, and Celtic influences she cited while also adding her own originality to every political group or religion. It gives the reader a feeling of familiarity but also a sense of wonder at this new world.

The world of Shield Sworn is dark – the land is actively being torn apart from three sides, each so desperate for what they want that they are willing to commit atrocities for it. It’s full of violence and grim truth about the way the world works when people live by a “me-or-you” philosophy.

Children didn’t seem to exist anymore, only those who had suffered, and those who soon would.

Eavus, Shield Sworn

Despite this darkness, Monroe paints a picture of hope and love growing up through the mud, just as Revni and Eavus’ relationship grows despite the tension and mistrust between them. Even when their situation seems to spin out of control, the two are able to find a solution by working together, not apart. This was something I loved about the plot: Eavus and Revni have their own completely separate goals and motivations. They aren’t just the perfect complement to one another. They have to work hard to earn each other’s trust and learn how to work together, because their goals are quite literally opposed throughout the whole book. I’ll talk about this more in the character section, but this made it feel like a true “enemies-to-lovers” – for once they had every reason to actually be enemies.

I will say there was a lot of internal monologuing from both of the characters. I really love a character-focused book and understanding what makes the MCs tick – plus it was balanced out by all the action – but be aware it’s interiority-heavy if you’re not as into that.

Overall the plot had a very consistent rise in intensity. I started out enjoying the book, taking my time, and making a lot of highlights… then I got about 70% in and finished the rest in the span of an hour. That’s exactly how I like my books. If I’m capable of putting the book down during the final scenes, we have a problem. Everything at the end was so chaotic but so perfect and exciting that my heart was literally pounding out of my chest. I was so invested in the two main characters and what would happen next that before I knew it, it was past midnight and the book was over!

Lucky for me, the second book is already in the works. Unlucky for me, it’s not out until next year.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but I did just want to say how the ending made me feel because it was really important to my opinion on this book.

I have never felt as happy about an ending to an unfinished series as I have about this book. Somehow, I was both content and left wanting more. Usually, authors write crazy cliffhangers if they want you to get excited about their next book, but this ending felt balanced and satisfying in a unique way. I’m super ready for book two but not in a way that overshadows my enjoyment of book one.

Especially because book one has given me enough to think about thematically already! Which leads me to the…

Shield Sworn was full of well articulated themes and strong concepts. If you know me, you know I love a book that makes me think, and this one was it. Too many books nowadays settle for throwing in an unrelated obligatory political statement of some sort and call that a “theme”, but Monroe really knew what she was doing in weaving her ideas through every element of the book. Here are just a couple of the themes I caught that I want to talk about:

First off, a really clear one was the idea of divine intervention and divine provision. I didn’t want to use this comparison because Monroe was clear that the religions in the book might be based in reality in some way but are fictional inventions, but it seemed to me that the religious systems here were related to the Roman gods, Norse/Celtic gods, and Christianity. Aleteria, the Isfolj, and the Faenish had their pagan religious systems, but we also see the religion of Maetis, a monk of the “new religion from the East.”

Revni especially is very religious, always citing the gods as the source of luck or provision during her journeys with Eavus, and aims to honor them by her work as a sworn warrior. She values worship and prayer and trusts that the gods have a plan for her no matter what.

The gods had plopped her here, and him, and it had to mean something, that they had put them together. Listen.

Revni, Shield Sworn

Eavus, on the other hand, is a little more skeptical of the religion he was raised around. The Aleteriens seem to “believe” when it’s convenient, but Eavus had also lost so much as an individual that he finds it hard to see why the gods would let all that suffering happen.

Love was the hope you held onto, when any reasonable logic said you shouldn’t.

Eavus, Shield Sworn

As for the religion of the monk, I just loved some of the ways it was described, it reminded me (slightly, I don’t want to commit heresy lol) of my own Christian faith. Maetis says his god is love, and all are free who come to him.

Define your honor by better things. Be loyal towards rightness. Loyal towards the truth.

Maetis, Shield Sworn

Overall, the exploration of religion as a topic was very well done and complex. It was represented as both an element of culture that can be destroyed in the aftereffects of imperialism and as a real, defining cause for a person’s actions.

On that note, another theme was imperialism and the horrors of war. Aleteria in this situation seems to represent Rome coming in and trashing everything for the glory of their empire. The book offers a nuanced indictment of this while still keeping the narrative focused and driven. Eavus especially struggles with the idea that the empire is not perfect and he doesn’t have to be “grateful” to a group that stole everything from him. Both characters learn the truths of war and glory and killing and do not like what they see.

There’s a little bit of coming-of-age here. Eavus’ and Revni both get their worlds rocked overnight and are forced to grow up fast – not necessarily from young to old, but from their simple views of right and wrong to more complex ones. They practice becoming who they are, not who they are told to be.

I loved the theme of “home” in Shield Sworn. What is home – or who – and how does one get there? Revni and Eavus find themselves cut off from their old lives and have to rediscover what it even looks like to find their way home in the midst of grief and loss.

She had her whole life stretched before her, and it suddenly seemed empty and long and alone, and she didn’t know what home even meant when everyone you knew had left or died or abandoned you.

Revni, Shield Sworn

This is a universal feeling that I especially relate to as a college student building my own place in the world and trying to understand who I am when everything is constantly changing around me.

The last theme I really appreciated was that of language – language as culture, language as connection. I only speak English, but I value language as a concept so much. To me, it’s a gift from God to communicate the soul to other image bearers. As the classical thinkers thought, language in itself is the act of translation – translating that which is in your heart to something others can understand. This book has that appreciation. Revni and Eavus speak different first languages, but they’re able to find a common language they understand and grow in their knowledge of each other’s words. This is one of the most beautiful parts of their relationship to me.

This wasn’t her language. It wasn’t his. But it was theirs.

Revni, Shield Sworn

Even when they speak to others though, there’s always an element of confusion at first when everyone tries to figure out what to speak. To me, this represented the confusion and separation that a selfish worldview creates. Like at the Tower of Babel, when everyone is climbing toward their own goals at the expense of anyone in their way, they lose the ability to relate to others on a human level through language. Similarly, the major groups on the island are all left separated both culturally and by language due to their hate for one another.

For a moment, Eavus was shocked that Revni understood Aleterian, but then he realized she hadn’t. Grief was its own language.

Eavus, Shield Sworn

Revni is awesome. A little naive at first, a little unaware of the world outside her family, but she grows so much and displays such strength and talent. She is a soti, a warrior, and behaves as such. She is powerful and strong, but also knows when she needs help and isn’t too proud to receive it. She is fiercely loyal and committed to her gods and people. I loved her sense of humor and the way her banter developed with Eavus.

“The gods has decreed that those men should die and she should live, and only the gods knew when it would be their time. But to be the god’s instrument… it felt like being blessed.”

Revni, Shield Sworn

Eavus similarly has a lot of strength and power, but he mostly uses it to survive by following orders as a soldier slave. Deep down, however, he is gentle and kind. This trait comes out only when he is vulnerable, though Revni seems to catch it quickly… (teehee). I loved the way both characters developed over the course of the book. There was so much interiority in the writing, so the reader gets to know Revni and Eavus well and understands their deepest fears and desires. Both characters are flawed in not-so-small ways and seem so realistic.

The family that owned him had trained him to be strong, to fight, but the army taught him how to turn off his mind.

Eavus, Shield Sworn

This was hands down one of the best slow burn romances I’ve ever read – chiefly because of how little romance there was. I am a sucker for a good romance as much as the next gal, but too often what people mean by “slow burn” is that the characters are instantly attracted to each other but some exterior force is keeping them apart so they still spend the whole book yearning anyway. What I want – and what this book delivers – is two characters who become attracted to one another only after very slowly growing their relationship from the ground up. I want actual enemies to lovers. I want real tension and mistrust keeping them apart.

Monroe does this so well. Revni and Eavus are forced together by pure chance (or the intervention of the gods…) but they don’t immediately start waxing poetic about each other’s “deep cerulean eyes” or something. They didn’t describe each other as attractive or even fun to be around right off the bat. Instead, the two were truly focused on the task at hand. And they STAYED that way until they had overcome huge obstacles and were forced to trust one another and grow as friends to make it through. That’s what truly brought the payoff for me and made the book so much more satisfying to read. Because the romance was an ACTUAL subplot, the real plot was so much more captivating.

EVEN STILL. I think they’re a cute couple. And I want more, thank you very much.

He doesn’t need her to be kind. He doesn’t need her to be strong. He simply needs her. And she needs him, not for safety or protection, but because she is a creature born of wildness and revenge, and he is gentle.

Revni, Shield Sworn

Also I really like the concept of “bees’ mind”. Revni says this when Eavus and her have the same idea about something – kinda like “great minds think alike” but it feels more intimate. I thought it was cute.

Five stars for this fantastic historical fantasy. From the captivating characters and their truly high-stakes situation to the well-researched and well-developed world they belong to, Shield Sworn is full of everything you could ask for. If you love travel adventures, moody forest landscapes, and a complex slow burn romance, you’ll love this first installment to a series that’s sure to be incredible.

Thank you to Auklet Press for providing me with a free eARC. This voluntary review is my unbiased opinion.