Vesselless Review: A Promising Fantasy That Tests Your Patience

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There are thrones built on blood 🩸.

And then there are thrones built on theft.

Nizzara is the heiress to a crown that was never truly hers. One, her father stole from the last King of Zarr🤴 . She can see spirits more clearly than most casters, channeling a dangerous, addictive form of spirit magic that comes at a cost. When she enters the King’s Duel, a deadly tournament overseen by the three neighboring kings, she has one goal: win without killing, without losing herself to the power within, and without remaining bound by a bethrothal law she never consented to.

The prize is a single wish.

Her plan… well, is simple. The consequences are not so much.

Enter Dagen. Half-ghost, half-legend, and entirely charming. Once king. Now, hunter of wretched souls in a merciless realm. When offered a chance at freedom in exchange for Nizzara’s soul, he accepts…with one impossible condition. She must give her soul to him freely by the end of the King’s Duel. If she doesn’t, his soul is forfeit.

On paper, Vesselless has the makings of a story rich with promise: stolen crowns, spirit magic, deadly bargains, and a tournament where power is both weapon and temptation. And in many ways, that promise is real. But with any good story, execution matters. And this story struggles to decide exactly what it wants to be.

Title: Vesselless (The Merciless Realms, 1)

Author: Cortney L. Winn

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Format: eARC

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy

Release Date: October 7, 2025

Pages: 448

Star Rating: 3 stars

Spice Rating: 1 chili pepper

✨

TL;DR

👻 Spirit magic + stolen crowns
⚔️ Deadly tournament stakes
🐢 Very slow burn (growth comes late)
🖤 Dagen carries the emotional weight
📖 Worth finishing… eventually

The World & Magic: Fascinating, But Fractured…

The magic system is where Vesselless shines brightest, and also where it stumbles.

There are three kinds of vessels:

Silver vessels, worn by the infantry.
Golden vessels, worn by kings, queens, and nobility
The White Vessel, the first-made vessel, is now worn by Nizzara’s father

Spirits bond to human souls through rings that act as conduits, protecting the bond while allowing access to the spirit’s power. Some spirits can even possess souls (this part feels familiar). It’s complex, although not really unique. Nevertheless, it’s interesting.

But it’s also underexplained.

What I wanted to know:

Who are the spirits, really? We see a glimpse of the spirit bound to Nizzara, but how are spirits chosen?
Who creates the vessels?
Why do some spirits possess while others require vessels?

I kept wishing the book would linger longer on the mechanics of the magic. The difference between casters, spirit-bound souls, and those who can read past or future with a single touch. The ideas are compelling, rich with possibility, but they’re sketched in broad strokes, leaving me wanting firmer edges, clearer rules, and a deeper sense of consequence.

The lack of clarity is compounded by the inclusion of gemstone-powered guns and vehicles called glo-kars. While you can technically put them in the magical bucket, these feel too urban and clash with the otherwise traditional fantasy setting of swords, daggers, and duel rings. The result wasn’t confusion, but disconnection.

Subtly pulling you out of the story at moments when immersion should have been the strongest.

Let’s not miss the fact that a lot is happening at once: multiple realms, kingdoms, and magical rules layered on top of each other. No, it isn’t a bad thing, but at times, the density becomes convoluted and overwhelming. To the author’s credit, the narrative often manages to pull you back in…but not without effort.

tap…tap..tap…

I’m going to slide in here right quick.

To make it clear, I am not saying that a story should be simple or “basic”. Complexity can be beautiful, and what a story needs when it is intentional. But there is a difference between layered and convoluted. One shows confident execution. The other lacks it, revealing where the story hasn’t quite found its footing.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled review.

vesselless taken by the diary of a reader

Plot & Pacing: A Story Reluctant to Move

The King’s Duel should be the engine of this story. Instead, it often feels like it’s idling.

Nizzara enters the tournament with a clear objective, yet spends much of the novel refusing to engage with her own power. Her resistance is framed as moral restraint—a fear of becoming just like her father—but it increasingly reads as avoidance. Stalling the storyline. Even when there are glaring red flags surrounding him, she actively chooses not to see them, hiding behind the idea that she simply doesn’t want more power.

By the 60% mark, her constant refusal to grow becomes exhausting. At that point, it’s hard not to wonder what the story is waiting for.

There are also noticeable inconsistencies that add to the unease—references to the duel weeks away, followed by claims that it’s only days away, a few short paragraphs later. These moments break the illusion just enough to be felt. You end up feeling like you’re missing something crucial.

If Vesselless is intended to be the first book in a duology (at this point, I’m not sure if it is), it currently reads like an extended setup. Growth is delayed until the home stretch, giving the impression that Book One exists largely to position pieces so that Book Two can finally move them. And if this is a duology, this could mean that Book Two will feel rushed. If it is a longer series, this positioning could work out (time will tell).

Character & Romance: Charm Carrying the Weight

Nizzara, as a protagonist, is often frustrating (damn near insufferable). Her lack of growth and persistent denial keep her emotionally stagnant for far too long, making it difficult to invest in her journey fully.

Dagen, however, is an entirely different story.

Half-ghost, killer smile, and fully aware of it, Dagen brings wit, charm, and tension that the book desperately needs. His presence adds levity and emotional pull, often compensating for Nizzara’s inertia. While the romance itself is serviceable, it lacks the depth and sustained tension needed to be truly memorable. There are moments of banter that genuinely shine, but it’s fleeting. I wanted more friction, more buildup, more ache.

Many of the secondary characters also feel underdeveloped, particularly Nizzara’s betrothed, who never quite comes into focus. Her father, too, would have benefited from deeper exploration. There is so much when it comes to Mazzar (I’m not sure if it would be considered a spoiler, so I won’t mention it) that could have been explored, or even set up, in this installment. Understanding how their relationship became so fraught would have added significant emotional weight to later revelations.

Especially when considering that the legacy of power and betrayal is at the heart of the story.

Final Thoughts: Potential Realized…But Maybe Too Late

Vesselless is unmistakably a debut novel. That’s not an insult, just an observation.

There are moments where the storytelling feels intentional and beautifully constructed, and others where it feels rushed or uncertain. The premise is strong. The magic system is imaginative. The foundation for a compelling series is definitely there.

But the execution falters.

The pacing drags…like DRAGS. The character growth comes too late, and the complexity of the world sometimes works against itself. Still, around the 70% mark, something shifts. The story finds its rhythm. The stakes sharpen. And by the final pages, it finally feels like the author has found what she was reaching for all along.

Eventually, Vesselless becomes worth the read.

Eventually.

I did finish it. I did enjoy parts of it. And despite my reservations, I found myself looking up book two (Mericless). I’ll continue the series, but it won’t be a priority read.

Vesselless has real potential. It just didn’t quite trust itself soon enough to fully claim it.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of Vesselless to read and review. Don’t forget to pick up a copy at your local indie bookstore!

If you’ve read it, I want to know: Did the magic system pull you in…or push you away?