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ravensandlace's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Title: The Orchid Throne
Author: Jeffe Kennedy
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Format: ebook from Netgalley
Series: Forgotten Empires (#1)
Star Rating: 4 stars
tw: terrorism, parental death, sexual assault, blood, violence, forced labor
A special thank you goes to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.
This book was another book that has been on my Netgalley shelf for far too long. It’s from my favorite publisher, St Martins Press, and I’m pretty sure they have sent me eARCs for the whole series. So needless to say, I shouldn't have neglected this book for so long. I had every intention of reading this book when I got it but I think I had a Kindle that was dying on me and I was switching to a different shift at work that wouldn’t allow me to read nearly as much as I wanted to. Oh well. The point is, I read it now. I am being a good noodle.
I really struggled with the first half of his book and I’m really not sure why. This book reminded me of Mistborn in a small way. So I should have really liked it more than I did. The two main characters, Euthalia (Lia) and Conri were the examples of opposites attract. You knew that once they met face to face it would be explosive. And it certainly was. I think the problem was that it took too long for them to meet. We had to get a long backstory about the history of what happened and for everything to fall into place for them to meet.
One of the reasons I gave this book four stars instead of three was because of the sex scene. Holy cow! Not only was it one of the hottest scenes I’ve read in a while but it was written perfectly. Lia was amazing in showing Con just how to do it and how to make her feel good. Con was always checking in, making sure she wasn't getting hurt, and asking her what felt good. It was literally perfection.
Overall, I did enjoy this book. I’m not sure if it was the right time for me to read it. I do want to continue with the series. Maybe I’ll enjoy them more since I’ll get more time with Con and Lia. I might end up changing my rating or at least my feelings on the first book once I read the second one. Overall though, it wasn’t a horrible book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Violence, Death of parent, Confinement, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Sexual content, and Torture
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