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heru's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.5
vicky_kay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
5.0
evil_jj's review
3.0
3.5 stars
It was good, but somewhere in book 2, I lost my connection with the characters, and this one failed to hook me like book 1 did. It was too easy to put it down. That said, I liked the overall plot - I just wish I'd felt more invested in the outcome.
It was good, but somewhere in book 2, I lost my connection with the characters, and this one failed to hook me like book 1 did. It was too easy to put it down. That said, I liked the overall plot - I just wish I'd felt more invested in the outcome.
moonyreadsbooks's review
5.0
When I started reading the first volume of The Prince's Assassin I never thought this trilogy would enter my heart so deeply. Yet, here I am, at the end of this wonderful and devastating journey, drowned in an ocean of feelings, not at all ready to let go of these magnificent characters. Niko and Vasili unexpectedly and unconditionally took possession of my heart, leaving it in pieces. This hadn't happened to me in quite a while. Ariana Nash has all my respect, no doubt about it.
Let's try to go in order with this review.
He moved another step closer. The odors of smoke and metal and war came with him. Scents that reminded Vasili of eight years in hell, until Nikolas had entered his life and changed everything. Stubborn and rough, smelling of hot metal, horse, and wood smoke. It was the wood smoke that did it - reminded Vasili of the cabin in the woods. Of the short life Nikolas had made for him. A life with Nikolas at his side.
Vasili's point of view was all I needed. I would have liked it from the first book, but I fully understand Ariana Nash's choice to reserve his narration only for the last volume of the trilogy. King of the Dark's Vasili is a cold, cruel and calculating man, and the fact that we gradually get to know him from Niko's point of view made him even more interesting. Only in Reign of Darkness do we begin to see a hint of his true self, of his vulnerability, but it's still too early to completely erase all of his barriers and thoroughly understand him. In The Curse of the Dark Prince, however, we finally have an unfiltered Vasili, with his raw thoughts and true emotions, and we love him every page more by reading his innumerable inner conflicts and the true nature of his feelings for Nikolas.
He had not meant to fall in love with Nikolas Yazdan. Use him, yes. But never love him. He'd been so long without love, he hadn't seen it stalking him until it had struck. And now he was defenseless against it.
I appreciated Nikolas much more in this volume. He is finally free of any doubts about his love for Vasili, and has a well-defined goal in mind: to save his prince and ensure him the happiness he deserves.
Vasili Caville might be the bravest damn soul he'd ever met. He'd do any damn thing for him. And he wished he could take him away, like he'd promised. But as Vasili had always said, that was not their ending. "You were always that man."
I swear I'm not crying.
A special praise to Yasir, Adamo and Roksana, brave souls who deserve the world. (Yes, I included Adamo. Yes, Ariana Nash made me love a horse.)
Incredibly, in this last book, I empathized with Amir and felt hugely sorry for him. If things had turned out differently, if the flame hadn't whispered all of its evil words into the head of a lonely and abandoned young prince, I'm sure Amir would have been a good brother, perhaps even a good person. A little vicious, sure, but not cruel, not evil. He certainly deserved better, outside of the Caville curse. Poor boy.
He lifted his head and stared at the grain, imagining Amir standing on the other side. They'd been brothers once, not the enemies they were now. Vasili had pushed him away, but before then, before the elves, before the flame mean anything, before Mother had died, he'd read to Amir the story of the prince in his glass palace. That one had a happy ending. Theirs, he'd long suspected, did not.
So, to conclude, am I heartbroken? Yes. Am I completely in love with this trilogy? Absolutely yes.
Final rating: 5 stars round, and all that remains of my heart.
Let's try to go in order with this review.
He moved another step closer. The odors of smoke and metal and war came with him. Scents that reminded Vasili of eight years in hell, until Nikolas had entered his life and changed everything. Stubborn and rough, smelling of hot metal, horse, and wood smoke. It was the wood smoke that did it - reminded Vasili of the cabin in the woods. Of the short life Nikolas had made for him. A life with Nikolas at his side.
Vasili's point of view was all I needed. I would have liked it from the first book, but I fully understand Ariana Nash's choice to reserve his narration only for the last volume of the trilogy. King of the Dark's Vasili is a cold, cruel and calculating man, and the fact that we gradually get to know him from Niko's point of view made him even more interesting. Only in Reign of Darkness do we begin to see a hint of his true self, of his vulnerability, but it's still too early to completely erase all of his barriers and thoroughly understand him. In The Curse of the Dark Prince, however, we finally have an unfiltered Vasili, with his raw thoughts and true emotions, and we love him every page more by reading his innumerable inner conflicts and the true nature of his feelings for Nikolas.
He had not meant to fall in love with Nikolas Yazdan. Use him, yes. But never love him. He'd been so long without love, he hadn't seen it stalking him until it had struck. And now he was defenseless against it.
I appreciated Nikolas much more in this volume. He is finally free of any doubts about his love for Vasili, and has a well-defined goal in mind: to save his prince and ensure him the happiness he deserves.
Vasili Caville might be the bravest damn soul he'd ever met. He'd do any damn thing for him. And he wished he could take him away, like he'd promised. But as Vasili had always said, that was not their ending. "You were always that man."
I swear I'm not crying.
A special praise to Yasir, Adamo and Roksana, brave souls who deserve the world. (Yes, I included Adamo. Yes, Ariana Nash made me love a horse.)
Incredibly, in this last book, I empathized with Amir and felt hugely sorry for him. If things had turned out differently, if the flame hadn't whispered all of its evil words into the head of a lonely and abandoned young prince, I'm sure Amir would have been a good brother, perhaps even a good person. A little vicious, sure, but not cruel, not evil. He certainly deserved better, outside of the Caville curse. Poor boy.
He lifted his head and stared at the grain, imagining Amir standing on the other side. They'd been brothers once, not the enemies they were now. Vasili had pushed him away, but before then, before the elves, before the flame mean anything, before Mother had died, he'd read to Amir the story of the prince in his glass palace. That one had a happy ending. Theirs, he'd long suspected, did not.
So, to conclude, am I heartbroken? Yes. Am I completely in love with this trilogy? Absolutely yes.
Final rating: 5 stars round, and all that remains of my heart.
pleasureinatrocities's review
3.0
3.5 Sometimes the suffering and betrayal and deceit felt never-ending but I really enjoyed Vasili as a character because he was a true Machiavellian asshole. I also like that his trauma was always present and Niko was so understanding of it. I do wish that more of the things he did to Niko were addressed ()instead of Niko just being "Of course that asshole went there".
Spoiler
like being traded to Amir in exchange for an army and then being raped and fed his blood to become a dark sorcererSpoiler
I also kind of love that the series didn't go where I expected it to at all. The first book and the second and third were worlds apart. I thought the second book would be about taking down Amir and winning the palace and then the final book would be about saving Vasili from madness and overcoming the flame and finding a way to get rid of it. Instead the palace completely went up in smoke in the second book and the city fell to elves. Then they went to a completely different city, Vasili was actually playing a long game because Nikos was essentially Seran royalty and then Seran fell to the elves and everything went to shit before being saved and Vasili is happy to not be prince anymore. I like that the author wasn't afraid to just destroy the entire country lolsecty's review against another edition
4.0
A solid ending to a good series. Once again proving to me that not all trilogies get worse as they go on.
This time the book was not only told from Niko’s perspective but we also get the POV from Vasili and Yasir. It was an interesting way to tell the book, though I sometimes got confused about which POV I was reading, because oftentimes the characters are all together. Many chapters were also very short, some only a minute or two to read, which was a bit jarring, but it was nice at night to know that I could keep ‘squeezing in one more chapter’!
Characters were one way again true to form, with a consistency which was comforting and reliable. And the relationships were well done. No rape in this book but the sex scenes are graphic as ever, which is grand if you’re into that type of thing. The sex definitely adds to the plot though; it’s not meaningless smut for the sake of smut, which is refreshing.
I have to say that throughout the series I didn’t really understand the magical system that was at play. The first book I don’t think you’re supposed to understand it but as the series progresses I was still not really following what was going on with the dark flame. And I certainly didn’t understand it during the climax when the dark flame was destroyed. But that’s probably on me… I find myself skimming sections in a rush to get through the climax of a book for some reason and no amount of going back to reread helps me. C’est la vie.
There was also a lot of back and forth again: Vasili being captured, a chase to get him back, Vasili being threatened, blah blah blah. The plot is rather minimal as a result and I couldn’t really tell you what happens in this book alone.
The plot definitely spans all three books though to make a nice story of adventure, romance and some mystery. Overall a solid read, would recommend to any adult reader who enjoys a bit of M/M fantasy.
This time the book was not only told from Niko’s perspective but we also get the POV from Vasili and Yasir. It was an interesting way to tell the book, though I sometimes got confused about which POV I was reading, because oftentimes the characters are all together. Many chapters were also very short, some only a minute or two to read, which was a bit jarring, but it was nice at night to know that I could keep ‘squeezing in one more chapter’!
Characters were one way again true to form, with a consistency which was comforting and reliable. And the relationships were well done. No rape in this book but the sex scenes are graphic as ever, which is grand if you’re into that type of thing. The sex definitely adds to the plot though; it’s not meaningless smut for the sake of smut, which is refreshing.
I have to say that throughout the series I didn’t really understand the magical system that was at play. The first book I don’t think you’re supposed to understand it but as the series progresses I was still not really following what was going on with the dark flame. And I certainly didn’t understand it during the climax when the dark flame was destroyed. But that’s probably on me… I find myself skimming sections in a rush to get through the climax of a book for some reason and no amount of going back to reread helps me. C’est la vie.
There was also a lot of back and forth again: Vasili being captured, a chase to get him back, Vasili being threatened, blah blah blah. The plot is rather minimal as a result and I couldn’t really tell you what happens in this book alone.
The plot definitely spans all three books though to make a nice story of adventure, romance and some mystery. Overall a solid read, would recommend to any adult reader who enjoys a bit of M/M fantasy.
bluem21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
bookstarbri's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.25