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rowan111's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
meggkey08's review against another edition
3.0
Very slow burn m/m male romance. Spoiler.... one of the love interests spends the book in love with another character so the slow burn spans over the series.
This gives off vibes of The Captive Prince Series.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
- Slavery
-Violence (Whipping)
-Attempted Sexual Assult
-Torture
This gives off vibes of The Captive Prince Series.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
- Slavery
-Violence (Whipping)
-Attempted Sexual Assult
-Torture
rayarriz's review
2.0
The first part was a mess. I couldn't figure out why Niko was talking so crazy to Vasili. Like, this guy is a prince. I don't think you would break a prince's wrist, or say whatever you wanted to him. But the good part about this story was that I just had to see where it was going to end, at least for this first book, and so I kept reading.
Turns out there were some amazing plot twists. One of them I guessed early on, but the other two were really great and made me definitely like the book more.
On a final note. Some of the writing got a little heavy. There was a lot of over explaining character emotions both in dialogue and scenes. I think that could have been much lighter with more reliance on subtext. And some of the characters behave in an over the top dramatic way (ahem, Amir, you were disgusting) but then again I guess I can get behind it.
Great plot twists, mostly decently everything else.
Turns out there were some amazing plot twists. One of them I guessed early on, but the other two were really great and made me definitely like the book more.
On a final note. Some of the writing got a little heavy. There was a lot of over explaining character emotions both in dialogue and scenes. I think that could have been much lighter with more reliance on subtext. And some of the characters behave in an over the top dramatic way (ahem, Amir, you were disgusting) but then again I guess I can get behind it.
Great plot twists, mostly decently everything else.
lifeinthebooklane's review against another edition
4.0
In the red corner we have Niko, in the blue corner we have Vasili and in the rainbow corner we have Julian.
I have to admit to being as gullible as Niko, believing in the lies, fooled by the smoke and mirrors and devastated by the betrayals. This is such a twisty story, that sometimes it was difficult to know which way was up. Whilst this isn't truly a love triangle, it is one heck of a complicated situation. It also goes to show that there is a very fine line between love and hate. Niko's scenes with... well you'll have to read and find out.. they were in parts tender and sweet, but also scorching hot and passionate. So unexpected from such a reserved and aloof man.
The story is written entirely from Niko's point of view, and whilst I would have liked at least one other point of view, it was necessary to retain some mystery and an element of the unknown. Strangely enough, I felt as though I knew Julian and Vasili better than I did Niko, even though I'd only seen them through his eyes. It also turned out that both of them managed to surprise me more than once! I'm not sure why I struggled to connect with and understand Niko for a chunk of the book, though I suspect it was partly because he was so adrift and didn't really know himself anymore.
There's a part of me thinks Niko should just stay at his smithy, but that man is a soldier through and through. Loyal to his country, if not the crown, and determined to honour his fallen comrades. Just thinking through that last scene at the castle and it made me realise that Vasili has a long way to go before I like him. We can see throughout that he is a slippery fish, but he was prepared to I have a feeling there is a lot more to learn about our erstwhile heroes, not to mention a lot more deceit, manipulation and heartache. Role on Reign of Darkness.
I have to admit to being as gullible as Niko, believing in the lies, fooled by the smoke and mirrors and devastated by the betrayals. This is such a twisty story, that sometimes it was difficult to know which way was up. Whilst this isn't truly a love triangle, it is one heck of a complicated situation. It also goes to show that there is a very fine line between love and hate. Niko's scenes with... well you'll have to read and find out.. they were in parts tender and sweet, but also scorching hot and passionate. So unexpected from such a reserved and aloof man.
The story is written entirely from Niko's point of view, and whilst I would have liked at least one other point of view, it was necessary to retain some mystery and an element of the unknown. Strangely enough, I felt as though I knew Julian and Vasili better than I did Niko, even though I'd only seen them through his eyes. It also turned out that both of them managed to surprise me more than once! I'm not sure why I struggled to connect with and understand Niko for a chunk of the book, though I suspect it was partly because he was so adrift and didn't really know himself anymore.
There's a part of me thinks Niko should just stay at his smithy, but that man is a soldier through and through. Loyal to his country, if not the crown, and determined to honour his fallen comrades. Just thinking through that last scene at the castle and it made me realise that Vasili has a long way to go before I like him. We can see throughout that he is a slippery fish, but he was prepared to
Spoiler
sacrifice Niko to Amir, he couldn't know that Julian would give him an opportunity to escape his captivity, or that he would even survive it. So however much of a tortured hero he is, he has a long way to go to gain both my, and Niko's, trust or care.paz_books's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not too sure how to word what I want to say about this book. The world building is absolutely immaculate; I love how high fantasy and intense it is. I am really intrigued about our main guy Niko as his past is so interesting- and even more so fascinating is the way he thinks. Its cool to me as I feel like he thinks so utterly different than myself, he perceives everything differently and thus reacts differently- and even though it is a little odd, it also makes perfect sense why he thinks/says/does some things.
As spoiler free as I can say this... I had already read a spoiler, but the betrayal in this still absolutely hurt- from the spoiler I read, I assumed a certain someone just died, but no... it was worse. There are, without a doubt, some gruesome and horrible scenes in this book so please read the full trigger warnings if you're interested. I have seen a lot of comparison to Captive Prince, and it is a very logical comparison, so if you liked that series then 100% check this one out.
In all, I adored seeing how unique these main characters were, I adored the plot, the secrets, the politics, the world, the writing and honestly everything about this. it was so well structured and emotionally driven. I'm starting the second one straight away.
As spoiler free as I can say this... I had already read a spoiler, but the betrayal in this still absolutely hurt- from the spoiler I read, I assumed a certain someone just died, but no... it was worse. There are, without a doubt, some gruesome and horrible scenes in this book so please read the full trigger warnings if you're interested. I have seen a lot of comparison to Captive Prince, and it is a very logical comparison, so if you liked that series then 100% check this one out.
In all, I adored seeing how unique these main characters were, I adored the plot, the secrets, the politics, the world, the writing and honestly everything about this. it was so well structured and emotionally driven. I'm starting the second one straight away.
petrainkeri's review
1.5
It pains me to see some people compare this to Captive Prince. These two should not be mentioned together.
The story was kinda ok, but the writing was bad and things just happened too fast. I didn't care for the characters or feel the feelings they were supposed to have for each other because we didn't have time to get into the feelings.
The story was kinda ok, but the writing was bad and things just happened too fast. I didn't care for the characters or feel the feelings they were supposed to have for each other because we didn't have time to get into the feelings.
kylek's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-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
4.0
The scheming and fkd up-ness was top notch.
amriccio's review
adventurous
challenging
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
hellishlyawkward's review against another edition
Downloaded this almost five months ago and haven’t picked it back up after my initial few stabs at it. Feel like I should give it more of a chance because it’s won awards and so many people rate it highly - it must be good, right? But I just can’t seem to get into it. If I was to give this another shot it would have to be on audio.
fofiasss's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.25