Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Kingsbane

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Kingsbane by Claire Legrand

18 reviews

laurenfro22's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

"I hope you'll remember that in the days to come-that many here love you, and would give up their silly, simple lives for you. You do not exist alone in this world. You are part of something immense and fragile and infinite. I hope you can respect that, even as mighty as you are."

The second installment of the Empirium series plops the reader right back down into the action. In Kingsbane, Legrand continues the arc of the mysterious and diametrically opposed Queens said to rise to save humanity. A thousand years apart, we see Rielle's unravelling and Eliana's burgeoning skills. Kingsbane felt a little bit like a bridge book - building the world, characters, and context with a pause on the plot to prepare for book three. This definitely impacted my rating, as I felt that there are so many unanswered questions and plot points just piling up and swirling around in this world- very effective at creating tension, but occasionally made it difficult to stay connected to the characters and larger story. There were a lot of great points where we see excellent character development; secrets finally shared, major betrayals, painful losses, and a whole host of battles both blood and lust filled. It was a solid read, and I'm hoping the set up lets Legrand really spike Lightbringer. I have high hopes for book three and am still a little nervous to start!

I enjoyed the ongoing development of the reader's understanding of the political climates, and the religious-mythos-magic systems that reflect each other in interesting ways between the two timeframes to which we're privy. It is a grand world that Legrand is building and she is skillful in her prose, especially describing the Empirium and the characters' interactions with the world just a layer below 'our' own. I'll be interested to see how some of those hanging threads are tied up in Lightbringer.

A number of reviews commented on the sex scenes in Kingsbane eclipsing those of Furyborn. There were certainly many more, and while I can see the point raised (they're just thrown in there), my take is that Rielle is in a complicated situation and using the tools she had available to her to maintain her status and keep the other parties around her distracted. The only scene that came off unfortunate was roughly two-thirds in and felt very much out of line with Audric's characterization. But I suppose there is truly no escape from the patriarchy and toxic masculinity. Folks with a history of SA should tread carefully or avoid altogether. What I did appreciate though, was that sex is not treated as some 'fade-to-black' taboo. The characters feel and love and lust and act human; the queerness in some of the relationships and side characters was lovely to run into as well.

As I've pondered the book, the thought I keep returning to is the question of villainy. The premise of the book turns on the idea of two Queens rising - one that will be the death of humanity, the other the salvation. We spend a lot of time in Rielle's head in her tug-of-war between the 'freedom' Corien hangs over her head and the stability that appears to exist in Audric, Ludvine. I'm waiting to see the other shoe drop, as I'm not completely convinced that she'll end up as the 'evil' side of the coin. What makes her the villain? The inborn aspects that tilt villainy in her favor, or weight of the expectations fate and its constant reminders place on her head? Between Rielle and Eliana, I know I'm going to be surprised. Legrand does a great job crafting characters that are complex, and often it's often painful to see them tripping down a path that you want to reach in and drag them out of.

Overall, I was far more impressed with the plot of book 1, but appreciated Kingsbane for what it is. The prose and flow are equally enjoyable, so I still flew through the book in a couple of days. I'll have to see how I feel about the series after I finish book 3.

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k_menard1129's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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junebugreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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leeang's review

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I adored the first book in this series, Furyborn! I was so excited to read the next installment. And while I enjoyed it, it has quite a case of second book syndrome. This book took me exponentially more time to get through. It felt long. Don't get me wrong, I'm still invested in the world and the characters, but I will need to take a break before diving into Lightbringer.

I still am invested in the characters, and the writing remains beautiful. Rielle's decent into madness is so well done and took me on a journey. The way that Rielle and Eliana mirror each other in the writing is exquisitely done.

And the last 50 or so pages felt like the action packed first book, with at least one twist I did not expect!

But all of it felt simultaneously like too much and too little.

I found the sex scenes gratuitous and awkward. The Audric one in the hall ... yikes. And the LGBTQ+ representation to be SO NICE TO SEE, but also felt ... lack luster.

It just felt like I was on the upward ramp of the rollercoaster where all you can do is look around at the scenery because nothing else is really happening yet. You feel the good part coming, but all this really served was to make me increasingly nervous.

I look forward to see how this story concludes. That will honestly depend on if I recommend this series or not to others.

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ka_ke's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m not sure how this series was classified as Y/A, it’s definitely more suited for Adult Fantasy readers.

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valpyre's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

[audiobook]

[some spoilers ahead]

i don't even know what to say, because this book was 22 hours long, and the first two thirds-ish, were a slog.

although i understand that the happenings in this book were to show how rielle was mistaken as the prophesized sun queen and might actually be the blood queen instead, i found most of her chapters so hard to listen to. she is so arrogant and hot headed and always seems to get in her own way, and still, for the entire book, her friends are so fucking loyal and defend her till the very end, even though she doesn't treat them all that well. the plot line of travelling around to collect the castings was fairly interesting, and i definitely appreciated that it allowed us to learn more about the world and the different cultures in it. however, most of the political intrigue/going-ons were vaguely written about, yet i was supposed to believe that rielle was some mastermind of the court. instead, she was all tempted by corian, who i find incredibly dull. there is little establishment past insta-lust for their relationship, and i honestly just got increasingly frustrated with rielle as the lies piled up.

eliana's story was, in comparison, way more interesting, as she fought to save her friend (who confessed her love and then vanished off the face of the earth? i dont know how to feel about queer rep in this series :/), and worked at developing and using her magic. also the development of her and simon's relationship was a little sudden, but i did enjoy the feelings. the plot twist at the very end of eliana's chapter did actually get me, and its probably the one thing that's making me want to finish off the series, even though the next audiobook is 24 hours long, woof.

i'm really not sure the length of these books is necessary, frankly, considering how much this dragged. i definitely think there are good parts of the plot, but it took way too long to get there, imo.

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claudiamacpherson's review

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Rielle has finally been crowned Sun Queen, but now she faces the task of repairing the falling Gate. To do so, she must collect the castings of the saints, scattered around the world and protected by the Obex guard. A thousand years in the future, Eliana is grappling with her new power and what it means: that she is the Sun Queen and daughter of the Kingsbane.

As I had expected, my preference for Rielle's storyline in Furyborn was almost immediately reversed in Kingsbane. From reading others' reviews, I knew a lot of people were annoyed by Rielle...but I didn't realize how quickly I would come to agree with them. She was impulsive, violent, rude, and arrogant, and just generally an obnoxious character to follow. It was so frustrating to watch her push away all of the kindness and assistance those around her tried to give her. Eliana, on the other hand, did a 180 in the other direction and suddenly became a much more understandable character (at least for me). Though I thought the shift was a bit too abrupt to be realistic, I liked seeing her start to open up to people and allow herself to care for people besides Remy. I also enjoyed the occasional POVs of other characters interspersed throughout the book, especially Jessamyn's.

It really helped show how the tiniest changes effected by time travel could cause important differences in the distant future.

Like with the warnings about the characters, I had also heard that there was a major betrayal at the end of this book. I still was not prepared for Simon to be working for the angels. I had assumed that the betrayal would come from Rielle's storyline, either her betrayal (which was inevitable) or either Ludivine or Audric's betrayal of her, causing her to join Corien. But nope, even after all Simon's emotional scenes of love with Eliana, he still turned out to be a bad guy?? I'm hoping that we'll get some justification for his actions (or at least an explanation) in the third book, because it really does feel out of character.

Happy ending meter (no spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending):

Definitely not happy. Surprising (if you're me, but maybe you'll see the ending coming...I sure didn't). Thank god I have the next book ready to go!

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stormywolf's review

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was not the best time to read this through. Then again, I don't know if there's ever a good time to read a book like this, but definitely not when you're already feeling depressed. It's not uncommon for the 2nd book in a trilogy to be more depressing than the first, what with needing to set up for the more triumphant finale, but this one, I think, takes it to a new extreme. I mean, I don't even think Catching Fire (The Hunger Games) was this disheartening.

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, I think Kingsbane was well written, though maybe a little slow in places, and a great character study in how love, and grief and fear can shape people. Both story and characters are detailed and complex, and every chapter knows just how to end to where you want to get back to their story as quick as possible. Of course, you end up feeling that way for both storylines, so you're stuck reading the book as written. If you were intrigued by the first book, you'll definitely want to continue their stories, but I might recommend waiting until the next book is out so you're not left in so much despair for so long...

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