Tag: kingdom

Adult · Fantasy · Magic · Romance

A Promise of Fire #1 Kingmaker Chronicles

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A Promise of Fire

Amanda Bouchet

27015399.jpg

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Year Released: 2016

Date Read: Reread September 26, 2018

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adult, Magic, Slight Mythology

Rating: 3.5/ C

“Happiness is a strange, frightening, fragile feeling when you’re not used to it.”
― Amanda Bouchet

While hiding in a traveling Circus, Catalia(Cat) is discovered by a warlord with a lack of magic named Griffin. Griffin isn’t just any warlord, he is the Beta Sinta, the brother to the new ruler of Sintan. Cat isn’t just any magic user either, she is the Kingmaker, just the person Griffin needs to help build his family’s new kingdom. Cat has just spent eight years hiding and wasn’t ready to be found. She plans on fighting Griffin the whole way, but finds it harder the longer she hangs out with him and his friends. Cat is the Kingmaker for a reason, and she might have just found her reason.

This is the second time I’ve read this book this year, this book, not the series. I can’t ever bring myself to get past the first few chapters of the second book, and I couldn’t figure out why, until I tried reading it again. I do have a major issue with a part of the book, and the first part of the second book, but I LOVE the first book. The first time I read it I stayed up all night, got up and did a few things I needed to do that morning, and then laid down, planning on going to sleep, but couldn’t because I couldn’t stop thinking about the book. I was up till nine in the morning reading it because I had to finish it. This book is my favorite type of book, and I always find them hard to find. It’s a book where a girl befriends a group of guys, usually not friendly at first, and they’re traveling or going on an adventure. Another book that follows this is The Healer series by Maria V Snyder. I adore books with good bonds and friendship and watching them build. I really loved the first book, but I didn’t like it towards the end, and I can’t ever get past the first few chapters, and here’s why.

 

Cons

  • Now I like Griffin, and I love his friends. Carver is a little pervy, but I like him. For the most part, Griffin is a likable character. He had me laughing and chuckling, and at moments he had me physically saying “AWWW”  out loud. I had one problem with Griffin, and it’s a problem that grows with the book. Griffin has a tendency to behave like a caveman.(I mean there are times he literally throws Cat on his horse, but that’s because he literally has to) Griffin has two caveman issues. One being he is a major control freak. He tries to control Cat a lot. That’s literally the plot of the book, but it works in that context. He is a warlord. He is doing what he has to in order to better his kingdom. For the plot, it works. It’s like Kratos from the God of War games. He is also a brute with a goal. He is going to do what he has to in order to get that done. It works for a plot.  For romance, it’s terrible, what was worse was the way Cat fought it, but always ended up giving into it when he said he was doing it for her. For those who don’t know, that is a major way people manipulate people in relationships.They will turn the situation around to make it feel like it’s the other person’s fault so they can continue doing what they are doing, or they will say they did it because they love them, or something along those lines. Now I don’t Griffin is manipulating Cat, he is just like that. He actually thinks he’s helping her. Griffin isn’t overbearingly controlling for most of the book, it’s the end and the entire beginning of the second book that it gets to be too much. The second reason I call him a caveman is that, in the second book(and this is why I haven’t continued it), in the first chapter Griffin gets mad at Cat, and pushes her hard against the wall, pinning her there, hurting her, yelling at her until she is crying and telling him to let her go. Now when she tells him that he’s hurting her, he does loosen his grip, and eventually let go, and then leaves the room so he doesn’t hurt her, but I still don’t think that was ok and maybe I could of continued reading it, except that Cat forgives him and acts like it never happened right away, and acts like it was her fault. She acts like him pinning her against the wall was her fault. To me, that’s not ok. I will never read a book where the a man or women puts their hands on their loved one, and their loved one accepts it as their fault(Unless it’s a psychological book where that’s the point of the book). I don’t think that was the author’s intentions, or at least I hope it wasn’t, but it is saw reading it, and it clouded over all of the book, ruining what I liked about the book, which was mostly everything else.
  • This is an adult book, and in a lot of adult books, there’s sex. Sex is not the con in this book, that would be an unfair con. It’s an adult book, adults have sex. I don’t have an issue with sex being in a book, it’s apart of life, it happens in real life, why wouldn’t it happen in books. There comes a point though, when it becomes to much sex. That would be this book. Now in the beginning, there was a lot of sex jokes, and little “haha” moments towards it, but in the end it like they were rabbits in heat and were going at it non-stop, and into the second book it was like every other event was sex.(keep in mind, I’ve only read a few chapters of the second book.)  If this book was an Erotica( I wouldn’t have read it), then this wouldn’t be an issue, but this isn’t labeled as an Erotica, or at least it wasn’t a label I saw. There is so much sex talk and actual sex in this book that you start to forget the actual plot. There’s a part where Cat is literally stabbed and she still wants to have sex with Griffin. She was just stabbed! Yes, she was healed a bit, but she couldn’t even laugh because it hurt, she couldn’t even sit up. It wasn’t needed. Also, I don’t care about the Bechdel test when it comes to what i’m reading, but this seems like the type of book that test was made for. Cat’s conversations always lead back to Griffin, and a lot of it was about if they had sex or not already. The only time she wasn’t talking about Griffin, was when she was talking to Griffin. I love romance in books, so that’s not as big as an issue, but if I noticed it was a lot, I know a lot of people who don’t care for that, will get tired of it.

 

Pro

  • Despite Griffin being a caveman, he had a lot of really sweet moments. I went back to look at my notes and a lot of them where just, “Awwww”. When he wasn’t being a caveman, he was perfect. He was gentle most of the time, wanted her out of harm’s way, would call her beautiful or pretty, kept her safe when she accidentally stole someone’s magic and got messed up off of it, and he always tried to let her know that she was part of his group, and he was there to help her. Watching Cat go from hating Griffin to loving him was my favorite part of the book. The are always bickering but it’s cute bickering. For most of the book, they’re a cute couple to read and you can tell they really care for each other, especially Griffin. His love and protectiveness of Cat is very clear and endearing.
  • The plot was really good. Cat being called the Kingmaker was a little on the point, but it matches so who really cares. Cat’s secret past is also really good. If you like Aelin’s life from Throne of Glass you’d like reading Cat’s past.They both have that darkness and tortured soul vibes.Then there’s also Cat’s magic. The way she can throw weapons back at you and turn invisible, breathing fire, absorbing magic, knowing if a person is lying or telling the truth. It becomes apparent very fast why Cat is the Kingmaker.  Then there is the second half with Cat trying to teach Griffin’s family how to be proper royals, but they’re so sweet it’s hard. Its story is done well. It caught my attention and held it. I could of done with less sex and more plot towards the end, but them fighting small armies, a dragon, escaping near death and so on, was done very well. I’m not a very big action reader, but I enjoyed reading the dragon fighting part. It was very engaging, plus it’s a dragon. Everyone loves dragons.
  • The Greek Gods. I love Greek mythology. I have loved it since I was a kid, and reading Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan has only made me love it so much more. Any story with Greek Gods has me drawn to it. They also picked two of my favorite gods to be the main talked about gods, Hades and Poseidon. (I love the scene with Cat in the water after the dragon fight.) I do wish they would of talked more about Greek gods somewhat, they might later in the series, I don’t know.Maybe some lore or at least something for the people who don’t know much about Greek mythology. In a lot of different Mythologies the gods don’t have the same relationships they do with people as the Greek gods do. The book does a good job of showing what Greek God’s relationships with human usually are, which are they either have a romantic one(or just a lustful one), or they use as them as their own champions. For Greek Mythology this was a common theme and I liked that she put it in the book. As I said, I do wish Greek Mythology was more present since this is like the author just did a light coat of it, but the fact that she used them the way she did was good enough.

 

Besides Griffin acting like a caveman at times, and the overbearing sex scenes, I loved the first book. It’s a good action romance. As i’m writing the review though, it had become apparent that this book seems like it’s for a certain type of person. I remember hanging with my grandma while she was watching a western. The guy was a brute, like Griffin. He picked up the girl, put her on his horse, and basically claimed her. My grandmother thought that was hot, and clearly so would a lot of other women since most westerns and older TV shows have that in it. This book, if not intentionally, is for those people. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, I’m just not into it, and I know a lot of people who also aren’t into it. I love me a good powerful male character. A lot of my favorite characters are the powerful male character. Earlier I mentioned God of War, I love Kratos and he is the definition of a ruthless brute, but he isn’t in a romance setting, and we don’t really see him in one. He is a brute at war, where he should be. Griffin is a brute at all times, and that’s not something that I was enjoying reading, but I do know a lot of people who would. It’s like the bad boy type in books, In a book I love them, In reality I wouldn’t.  I know a lot of women who would will love this. If you liked Christian Gray from Fifty Shades, then you would probably like this. I wasn’t a fan of Christian Gray either(I only watched the movies, i’m not into full on Erotica’s.). Clearly this type is something a lot of women do like in a fiction setting. We use books to explore things we wouldn’t ever do or get the chance to do, and if this something you like then I would say read this book. I really do like Griffin(Better than I did Christian Gray), I just personally hate people trying to control me, so reading it wasn’t the most pleasant for me. It’s not a relationship I would want, so it’s not one I would enjoy reading. I do think Amanda Bouchet knows how to write character’s bonding, and magic and that was enough for me to want to try it again. I know she has a new series coming out, and I do plan on reading it. I didn’t like control side of Griffin but I thought Amanda Bouchet writing was good enough that i’m willing to try another series from her.

Fantasy · Paranormal · Science Fiction · Uncategorized

The Queen’s Wing

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The Queen’s Wing

Jessica Thorne

41443903

 

Publisher: Bookouture

Release Date: November 21, 2018

Date Read: September 11, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Sci-fi

Rating: B/ 4 Stars

“She killed her with a pair of embroidery scissors!”

Like’s that the sin here. I used embroidery scissors.

-Jessica Thorne, The Queen’s Wing

***I got this ARC from Netgalley and the books publisher in exchange with the hope of a review. The feelings for this book are mine and mine alone.***

There is almost nothing Bel loves more than flying, but when the royal family, her distant family, is wiped out, Bel’s dad takes the throne. One of his first demands on the throne is for an alliance to be formed by marrying Bel off to a man she has never met or seen planets away. To help her family, Bel has to give up everything, flying, her family, the guy she loves, to marry Conleith, a widowed man who rules a world opposite of hers. Bel must try to find her balance at this new place where people think she is a savage, while also trying to survive assassination attempts from the people who killed her cousins, the mysteries that surround Conleith’s world, and find out if she is really going to marry Conleith because she wants to or because she is being told to.

The Queen’s Wing is a fantasy book that mixes with the sci-fi genre. Bel comes from a world where everyone, including women, are ready for a fight if needed, and ride in the air. Conleith’s world is more peaceful and elegant. They aren’t really fighters, which is what brings Conleith and Bel together. I tend to not really enjoy sci-fi. There’s only really one Sci-fi book that I like, which is Red Rising by Pierce Brown.(It is one of my favorite books serious that I recommend to everyone.) I am happy to add The Queen’s Wing to that list. As soon as I started reading and saw them talking about other planets, and some other sci-fi elements, I felt like I was going to not like it, but the fantasy part made the book better. Although the book does take place within different planets it is a fantasy at heart. There’s space ships, but only for a few chapters and then it’s life at the kingdom. I also really enjoyed Bel. In the beginning, to me, Bel sounded childish. She has this way of thinking in the beginning that is dream like. Her thoughts are like day dreams and her wishing and thinking of what she wants to happen. But after her father takes the throne that is gone and Bel becomes selfless and serious, but still remaining herself. She comes into her new life of being the royal princess quickly and starts to take charge. Bel felt like a real person, not just a character. This book really reminds me of The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, expect without all the betrayal. It has those elements from the Red Queen series that I enjoyed and i think if you like  the Red Queen series this is a good new series that is going to be coming out to look at.

 

Pros

  • I really enjoyed Conleith, and he isn’t the typical character I like. I like characters like Rowan from the Throne of Glass series, Warner from Shatter Me, Cardan from The Cruel Prince. I like the more darker characters or warrior types. I guess it follows that cliche of liking bad boys but mine is in book form only. Con is nothing like those characters, the other male interest is, but I didn’t like him nearly as much as Con. From the moment Con appeared I knew I would be cheering for him. He is sweet, treats Bel like a equal, so adorably shy. He is more sweet and gentle, but he does get angry and that side of him still has a gentle side even though he is yelling at people. He is also incredibly smart, and just watching him try to make Bel happy about their situation is heartwarming. Con was probably my favorite character, even more than Bel maybe.
  • There’s two LGBTQ characters who don’t seem to just be in it to help sell the book. They are not overstated or talked about so much to the point where it becomes apparent that they are there for nothing more than to be LGBTQ. It’s more like the two characters happen to LGBTQ. It doesn’t define them as their whole character.
  • Although Bel does get an almost instant attraction to Con, they’re relationship is slow growing. They fight and argue, have awkward moments around each other, and then have their bonding moments. Even with Shae, which is someone she knew her own life, it’s also a growing relationship of them figuring out what and how they feel about each other. I’m usually not a fan of love triangles, but this also isn’t a normal love triangle. To understand why you’ll have to read.

 

Cons

  • They kept mentioning an empress and it seemed like there was a dislike for her, but they never go into it. I don’t know if that’s something that the later books will go into, but for this one it doesn’t.
  • The beginning can be somewhat confusing, or it was for me at least. The author just kind of goes into the story without explaining anything, but as the story goes on she does start to explain more. It’s one of those book where the more you read the more you can understand it.
  • There is one more part that I personally find a con but I’m not sure if I can say it because the book hasn’t been released yet. Once it’s released I may come back and write it in, in place of this. I will say it’s a con for me but I know it’s not for a lot of people, and that this con didn’t change how I felt about this book at all.

 

I think this is a really good upcoming series for sci-fi and fantasy readers. It had really good characters with a good plot. I had actually planned on splitting this book up into different days to read it but I ended up reading it in one night. I couldn’t put it down. I have no self control, especially with books. I plan on reading the second book whenever it comes out.

 

Fantasy · Magic · Romance

Fire Study (Study #3)

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Fire Study

Maria V Snyder

1966969

Publisher: Mira Books

Year Released: 2008

Date Read:  Septemeber 10, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Magic, Romance

Grade: B/ 4 Stars

 

“There’s always another storm. It’s the way the world works. Snowstorms, rainstorms, windstorms, sandstorms, and firestorms. Some are fierce and others are small. You have to deal with each one separately, but you need to keep an eye on whats brewing for tomorrow.”

― Maria V. Snyder

 

A war between the magicians and Ixia is about to take place. Yelena is finishing her apprenticeship, but still is having trouble proving to the Magicians Council that she is not against them or trying to  betray them. Matters are only made worse when a plot is made against Yelena that makes everyone out to get her. Yelena must get all of her friends together to try to stop the war that is brewing and save Sitia from its own destruction. There’s only one more problem. One of their friends is betraying them, and Yelena doesn’t know who.

Fire Study is the best of both the first and second book of the Study series. You get all the characters from the first book and all the characters from the second book working together, either helping or trying to get rid of Yelena and Ixia. An even better part is that it’s a book that is pretty much full of Yelena and Valek. It’s also full of more of Yelena’s sneaky plan’s and Valek’s plan B’s which is just him cutting throats.

 

Pros

  • Even though there is more of Valek in this book, it’s still not romance heavy. Maria V Snyder always has a way of putting her romance in the background and letting the characters figuring themselves out and growing take the lead. She also always make the male interest majorly supporting the main character. They are there to help them with what they need, and to help them grow. But she does it in a way that doesn’t make the male interests just a support character with nothing else to them. In the Healer series, Kerrick is also there to help Avry but he also has his own goals that he sets out to do. Avry helps him and he helps Avry. It’s the same with Valek and Yelena. I really enjoy reading Maria V Snyder’s relationships, not only with the couples, but the friends. The friend’s bonds aren’t as strongly written as Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys series, but it’s still very present.
  • Yelena’s growth. Her growth throughout the three books seems subtle but as she has figured out her new powers she has grown with them. She went from being someone who avoided the conflict and was just trying to survive in the first book, to saving both the place she grew up  in and the place she was meant to be. She’s gotten more confident in herself and mentions Reyad less showing that she is learning to move on from the pains in her past. 
  • There’s more action scenes this time. Even if there’s not actual fighting all the tie there’s scenes that get intense and make you want to keep turning the page.

 

Cons

 

  • Cahil is still an annoying brat through most of it. He got more ok towards the end though. I was hoping Valek would just kill him through it. 
  • The book can be seen as boring possibly because it is almost the same as the second book. More sneaking around, council doesn’t like Yelena, people trying to make Yelena pick a side, a lot of people want to kill her. It’s the same as the second book with just different events. I still enjoyed it but I can see how someone could think it was repetitive.

“It’s the problem with mistakes, they tend to linger.”

― Maria V. Snyder

This is the second series written by Maria V Snyder that I have loved and i’m glad that it’s not over. I only finished the first half of the Study series and will soon start the second part of Yelena’s story with the Soul Finders series. I can’t wait to see what new issues Yelena will have in the Soul Finders series and have more of her and Valek. This book was a good conclusion to the first half of the series and marks a good place to take a break on from. Everything is solved with no foreshadowing so you can read this book and be content to stop. You wouldn’t even have to read the second half if you just wanted to leave Yelena’s story there. This is a good series to read if you like magic, adventure, political disagreements, assassins, diversity, kingdoms, and if you liked Maria V Snyder’s Healer series. 

 

Fantasy · Magic · Romance

Magic Study

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Magic Study (Study #2)

Maria V Snyder

1265703

 

Publisher: Mira

Year Released: 2007

Date Read: September 8, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Romance

Grade: B/ 4 Stars

“I’ll have you know that the most delicate flowers often produce the strongest scent when crushed.”

― Maria V. Snyder

**This review contains talk of things that could trigger some people. If you do not wish to read things that contain talk of rape or rape victims then please either do not read this review or just be aware of it.**

 

Magic Study is the sequel to Maria V Snyder’s Poison Study. Yelena no longer is having to test foods for poison but that doesn’t stop her life from being in danger. Yelena has left Ixia, the place where magic is banned, and now is in her home land where she will meet her family she was taken from and learn more about herself as she learns magic. Learning about her new magic is the easiest part of Yelena’s new life as she tries to solve who is kidnapping and killing girls, and stopping multiple people from trying to kill her, not to mention being named a spy by a man who claims he is the rightful heir to the throne in Ixia. More and more problems pile on to Yelena as she starts to uncover more about her would be life.

Going into this book I was scared that I wouldn’t love it as much as the first book, or just hate it general. I was glad those thoughts did not become true. I loved this book almost as much as I loved the first one. I thought I was going to miss Yelena’s constant interactions with Valek throughout the whole book but Yelena’s story kept busy. There was never an off period where nothing was happening. Yelena was always having something going on. Drama with her family(mainly her brother, Lief), constant ridicule from the same two people, being chased by a man whose pride was taken by Yelena, and trying to stop a man from harming more girls. It was a packed story but it wasn’t too packed where it seemed like to much. It was just the right amount where you never got bored reading it.

 

Pro

  • I don’t know how she hasn’t, but Maria V Snyder needs to be praised for how she writes how Yelena handles being raped and how she comforts other girls who go through it. I loved in the first book when she spoke briefly about it but I especially loved how she spoke about it in this one. Her conversation with Tula about how none of it was her fault, and then told her that it was going to be a battle to get through it but everyone would be there to help her.
  • Valek’s love and loyalty to Yelena. Valek make it apparent that whatever Yelena wants from him all she has to do is ask him for it. Valek will give her anything or do anything for her. He is constantly popping into her head when she is in need of it and asking her what he can do for her, and no matter how weird or impossible her request is, all he says is he will do it with him calling her love tied onto the end of it Valek was only in this book for a little less than half(if even that) and he still had me swooning over him.

Cons

  • The only real con I can think of is that this book does have a lot of drama going on, though that wasn’t a con for me, it might be for others. There was a lot more action and fighting scenes then the first book.
  • Cahal is annoying, but that’s his character. He is very obnoxious and is always angry for no reason. He is very bratty and reading about a very bratty man isn’t the most enjoyable. The more he shows up the more the dislike for him grows. He gets worse as the book goes on, though i’m sure that was the point of his character. 

“And what did you give him in return?”…

“My heart.”

― Maria V. Snyder

Magic Study was just as good as Poison Study. The characters have grown and changed from the first one and the story is progressing in a good way. The action is coming along more and so is Yelena as a character. There is a lot of times when some off the middle books in a series get boring but this one kept my attention well. It was a very good addition to the series.

“Living is a risk…Every decision, every interaction, every step, every time you get out of bed in the morning, you take a risk. To survive is to know you’re taking that risk and to not get out of bed clutching illusions of safety.”

― Maria V. Snyder

Fantasy · Magic · Romance

Poison Study

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Poison Study

Maria v. Snyder

60510

Publisher: Mira

Year Released: 2007

Date I Read It: August 28, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Magic

Grade: B/ 4 Stars

“To Yelena, our newest food taster. May you last longer than your predecessor.”

― Maria V. Snyder

Yelena is given the choice of death or a small chance at life after she is arrested for murder. The  Commander is in need of a new food taste tester, and Yelena would like to live. To prevent Yelena from running away she is given the poison, Butterfly Dust, which she needs to take a daily antidote of to stay alive. The only one who can give her the antidote is the Chief of Security, Valek, who also makes her learn how to taste and smell poisons, and sometimes even ingest them to learn the immediate symptoms. Yelena thought her only problem would be risking her life by taking the chance of being poisoned, but as the father of the man she murdered tries to have her assassinated and spies betray the castle, Yelena will find out the job that already seemed impossible to survive just got even more impossible.

If you enjoy fantasy books that take place inside of a castle type setting with spies, assassination attempts, forbidden magic, and a handsome killer with a growing soft spot you would probably enjoy this book. After reading Maria V Snyder’s Healer series I decided that I would try out her other series, Poison Study. Maria V Snyder’s book reminds me of all the adult type books I read without all the adult content(Although some is there just not descriptive). She doesn’t focus on the romance, but on the main character dealing with her problem. The romance is present, but her main characters always tend to focus on their objectives more than their love interest which is refreshing since a lot of young adult books do tend to focus on the love interest.(Which I don’t mind, I love, but it is nice to step away from it for awhile) She also has a way of making the main character coming off as strong without overly doing it or making them invincible. In this book Yelena is not really a fighter, she’s just does what she needs to survive. Yeah, she killed a man(with reason) but Yelena only fights back when she has to do it to live. What makes Yelena strong is that she bounces back and she’s smart. She is strong without being physically strong. Yelena is vulnerable and she isn’t some crazed killer, she is just a normal person who got stuck in a bad situation and is trying her best to survive.

“Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.”

― Maria V. Snyder

Pros

  • A lot of books start with the romance as soon as they can. While Maria starts off with chemistry between the characters and you can see where she is going to go with it, the characters themselves aren’t pining after each other throughout the whole book. It’s a slow builds with each of their interactions, like a normal relationship would between to people who weren’t looking for one.
  • Valek. He is just a really good character. He comes off as a little cold at first but it is shown very quickly that he isn’t. He is actually really nice and sweet. He just comes off cold because if he doesn’t know you or feels that he can’t trust you he feels that you are a danger to the Commander. The only times he actually gets angry at Yelena is when something happens to or with the Commander, otherwise he helps her out.
  • How Yelena handles her past. Why Yelena killed that man, the true reason, is what made me see Yelena stronger then I already did. Through the book you can tell something happened to Yelena, and based on how she talked about them, you could assume it had to do with a torture like situation. I had figured that they had hurt her but not in the way that they did. I think that Yelena handles herself very well and in a way most people wouldn’t after that. I loved everything about how Yelena handled it from the moment it happened to her. Also while it is a part of her character it doesn’t define her, she doesn’t let it.
  • A surprise LGBT character that isn’t in there just to have one.

 

Con

  • It’s really hard for me to find a flaw in this. I’m searching for it deep in my head,  but one of the only ones I can really think of was when the romance did happen it happened fast. They talked about it for a few seconds and then a lot happened really fast. It did seem like a little awkward pacing.
  • If you are an action fan this does not have a lot of it. It is only the first book so in the others there might be more. But the action in this never lasted long, it was very quick and done.

“Everyone makes choices in life. Some bad, some good. It’s called living, and if you want to bow out, then go right ahead. But don’t do it halfway. Don’t linger in whiner’s limbo.”

― Maria V. Snyder

This is my favorite type of book so for me personally it is hard to see fault with it. I like adventure type stories with assassins, castles, spies, and cold characters going soft. So for me this was a book I was very happy to find because this is the type of story I’m always looking for. It actually makes me scared to start the second book because I don’t want it to be so different from the first. If you liked Morgan Rhodes’ Falling Kingdoms series, or Maria V Snyder’s other series that she made, then I would try this one.

“What have I earned from you, Valek? Loyalty? Respect? Trust?”

“You have my attention. But give me what I want, and you can have everything.”

― Maria V. Snyder