Most might know Stacey McEwan from her TikToks and trying to turn her husband into a fictional boyfriend. She went viral with her wit, sarcasm, and general relatability. Luckily, she’s also an amazing writer which is clear from her first book of her breakout series, Ledge.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Ledge by Stacey McEwan

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…
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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 and vicious winged creatures who bring meagre rations in exchange for a periodic human sacrifice.

Dawsyn, ax 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?

Fortunately, a half-Glacian called Ryon offers to help them both escape, but how can she trust one of the very creatures that plagued her life? Dawsyn is a survivor, and she is not afraid to cut anyone down to live.

My Review

I followed Stacey McEwan when she first posted a TikTok of her catching her kiddos playing a game they called “slug race.” In essence, her kids were laying face down next to each other by the pool and not moving. Stacey’s reaction was “This is what I get for marrying a muggle” and, despite NOT being a Harry Potter fan, I was hooked on her videos.

With that said, just because someone is hilariously awesome on their social media channels doesn’t mean they’ll be a good writer. I always am wary of TikTokers who go viral or have huge followings and then write a book. Just because you might already have a large audience, doesn’t mean the book will be good and/or sell. Fortunately for Stacey, she’s both great at marketing herself on her social media channels but writes an incredible book to boot.

The world of The Glacian Trilogy series is set in a snowy, icy landscape set atop a ledge (hence, the name of the book). After Dawsyn is chosen as one of the sacrifices to the Glacians who live over the Chasm, she doesn’t go down without a fight.

“Stay the frost, mind the chasm.”

Here’s the deal – this book isn’t thematically mind-blowing. Part of why I give books five stars is because I simply loved reading them. Ledge is exactly that. For a fantasy book, I found reading this to be quite easy and without weird names and getting lost in pronunciations. But I will say that Stacey’s worldbuilding is one of the more unique worlds I’ve read in quite some time. It was a breath of fresh air – a really cold breath of fresh air.

The steam

I had read that Ledge was a slow-burn romance and although there is a TON of tension, I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as slow-burn. Personally, I would’ve liked a bit more angst. However, once McEwan decided the steam was going to happen, she delivered! The steamy scenes were beautifully written and without those cringy words we knowingly all hate. You know the ones I’m talking about… the ones where we roll our eyes and throw up in our mouth a little every time we see them written. Spilled his seed? Velvet steel? Yeah, all those words were, thankfully, not in this book.

“Perhaps souls like theirs can only wander so far before they collide.”

BUT I would like to point out that this book is mostly plot with a side of steam. If you’re looking for a smutty book, I’d suggest heading to Katee Robert or something along those lines. Personally, I am more of a plot than smut gal so that’s why I loved this book so much.

Found family

McEwan wrote a great cast of side characters. My favorite character is probably Esra – a burly human who puts on quite a show even without a stage. And his fashion is as good as Anna Wintour. Esra provides just the right amount of comic relief without feeling forced or disrespectful to the LGBTQ+ community. They are truly a joy of a character and can’t wait to find out what else we’ll see from them.

Cliffhanger

If you hate cliffhangers, you’ll hate this book. You are left with a HUGE (and I mean huge) cliffhanger so make sure to have her second book “Chasm” on the ready.

I’m giving this read a 5 out 5. For more reviews, check them out here or subscribe to my Substack.