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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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:
N/A
medium-paced
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Fire for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
I loved the dystopian vibes of this book with it being set 30 years after the destruction of the republic.
It really was so interesting to see Kingsland and the clans with how different they are in every way.
Tristan and Isolde whilst not in my opinion being true enemies to lovers had amazing tension and their romance had me kicking my feet, I couldn’t put this book down because of them. I did just wish it was a bit more slower.
I really liked how there was some fantasy events involved and how it’s used really did have me kicking my feet more.
Tristan is a golden retriever, I loved him so much. He’s so patient with helping Isolde learn about his home as well as their history between both their homes. Both him and Isolde prefer to heal rather than hurt, I loved seeing Isolde heal and learn more about healing to help her people.
2025 reads: 145/300
i received a finished copy from the publisher as part of their influencer program. this did not affect my rating.
thirty-seven years after the republic was destroyed, two settlements, the five clans and the kingsland, fight for control. the five clans are outnumbered, which is why it takes everybody by surprise when kingsland’s brutal leader is killed. in the war that follows, isadora, the daughter of the clans’ leader, sets out to use her skills as a healer. after stopping a kingsland assassin named tristan, she’s poisoned and captured by his soldiers. to make matters more complicated, the only way to survive the poison is to become bound to tristan. isadora wants to make the most of the situation to help her people, but as she gets closer to tristan and learns more about the history between the clans and kingsland, her end goal becomes harder to keep her mind on…
this seemed like a YA romantasy full of tension, which is primarily what draw me to it. i also liked the promise of a dystopian element, especially since most dystopians i’ve read are far disconnected from the start of “the new norm,” whereas this book took place only thirty-seven years after. while i did end up somewhat liking these elements of the book, as well as the magic system, overall i thought this book was just okay. while i enjoyed some aspects of the romance between isadora and tristan, the start of their relationship was a bit too insta-love/lust for my liking. i also found the plot to be a bit basic, though i did like how it made room to discuss misogyny and the patriarchy, and i thought this book ended well.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
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
Fast-paced dystopian retelling of a medieval tragic love story of Tristan & Isolde. This one, however, had a much more hopeful ending, just so you're not concerned. ;)
"The Enemy's Daughter" takes place in a non-specific future post great war in which bombings destroyed most of the Earth and made much of the land uninhabitable. It isn't specified what was the reason for the war but you can glean from the tone of the story that it might have been greed for the resources. Our FMC Isadora is the daughter of a clan leader and her day-to-day is filled with following the rules and trying her best in a harsh reality of little resources and rough living without certain goods, access to most books, electricity or other pre-war modern day necessities. She trains to be a healer to fulfill the only role her community deems appropriate for women. She is also betrothed to a boy named Liam she is fond of but certainly isn't in love with.
The tension between the clans is not Isadora's only worry. There is also the near constant threat of an attack from the so-called Kingsland whose people are rumored to be thieving barbarians with blood on their hands and the reason why the clans are doing so poorly.
Enter MMC Tristan - from the enemy camp of the Kingsland itself - who first ends up Isadora's reluctant prisoner, then temporary 'kidnapper' and ultimately savior after a particularly unexpected and interesting series of mishaps occurs. Thus the story really begins.
I had fun reading this. While the set-up was pretty straight-forward and what the synopsis said, the story delivered on, it was still fun to follow. I found the character work to be nicely done, if not overly specific. However, there was one particular element of the plot that took everything over while anything else lost focus. It's that bit that categorizes the book as fantasy and not a mere dystopian novel. That main theme having to do with Isadora and Tristan's relationship in this is - I think - what will break-or-make the book for many readers. I don't want to say more as I don't want to spoil the fun of finding out. Personally, being a fantasy reader, I didn't mind it for what it was but it did speed things up between FMC and MMC in a way that made their bond very insta love-y which isn't my preference in most of the cases.
Overall, while the book wasn't anything to obsess over for me, I think it can still land harder for a bit of a different reader than I am. There were some themes of silent rebellion and what an amazing thing is to have access to books and the knowledge and ideas stored in them, that I particularly appreciated and loved.
*massive thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review*
"The Enemy's Daughter" takes place in a non-specific future post great war in which bombings destroyed most of the Earth and made much of the land uninhabitable. It isn't specified what was the reason for the war but you can glean from the tone of the story that it might have been greed for the resources. Our FMC Isadora is the daughter of a clan leader and her day-to-day is filled with following the rules and trying her best in a harsh reality of little resources and rough living without certain goods, access to most books, electricity or other pre-war modern day necessities. She trains to be a healer to fulfill the only role her community deems appropriate for women. She is also betrothed to a boy named Liam she is fond of but certainly isn't in love with.
The tension between the clans is not Isadora's only worry. There is also the near constant threat of an attack from the so-called Kingsland whose people are rumored to be thieving barbarians with blood on their hands and the reason why the clans are doing so poorly.
Enter MMC Tristan - from the enemy camp of the Kingsland itself - who first ends up Isadora's reluctant prisoner, then temporary 'kidnapper' and ultimately savior after a particularly unexpected and interesting series of mishaps occurs. Thus the story really begins.
I had fun reading this. While the set-up was pretty straight-forward and what the synopsis said, the story delivered on, it was still fun to follow. I found the character work to be nicely done, if not overly specific. However, there was one particular element of the plot that took everything over while anything else lost focus. It's that bit that categorizes the book as fantasy and not a mere dystopian novel. That main theme having to do with Isadora and Tristan's relationship in this is - I think - what will break-or-make the book for many readers. I don't want to say more as I don't want to spoil the fun of finding out. Personally, being a fantasy reader, I didn't mind it for what it was but it did speed things up between FMC and MMC in a way that made their bond very insta love-y which isn't my preference in most of the cases.
Overall, while the book wasn't anything to obsess over for me, I think it can still land harder for a bit of a different reader than I am. There were some themes of silent rebellion and what an amazing thing is to have access to books and the knowledge and ideas stored in them, that I particularly appreciated and loved.
*massive thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review*
Unfortunately, the writing was too shaky for me to enjoy the book. It felt like I was reading bullet points instead of sentences that naturally flowed. I think the writing needed to be more fleshed out.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
fresh take on the dystopian genre with magic. I also loved that it was a stand alone story, though I wouldn't mind more from this world.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
reflective
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:
No
Thank you to Quill Tree Books and HarperCollins for the book in exchange for an honest review!
I think with the resurgence of dystopians, caused by, once again, Suzanne Collins, this book is a decent addition to the YA dystopian genre. It does, however, focus more on the romance then the actual dystopian world itself, and for a standalone to be doing this, there was definitely going to be a lot sacrificed. Like, for instance, the worldbuilding itself.
The beginning was really interesting to read, because it's clear that this dystopian world reverted back to the hunter-gatherer type of society. It's clear just from how the women were isolated to do "women things" and the men were the soldiers and leaders, that misogyny was gonna run rampant in this story, and of course it does. I mean, that was the whole point of Isadora's story: she was being propped up as a prize to be won. And to unite the five clans against the "barbaric Kingsland", she has to marry the winner of her father's contest.
With so much being crammed into the story though, I did feel like it fell short of the sweeping saga of how two opposing communities learn to work with each other within this dystopian world. Isadora kind of reminded me of Lara in The Bridge Kingdom (a daughter who is tasked by her father to marry the enemy kingdom's king and ferret secrets out as a spy), only a less-developed form. It took literally two books for Lara to get the depth and character arc that was satisfying within the duology, something that Isadora couldn't really accomplish in one book. Which was a bit disappointing, because I felt like if this story was developed more, maybe as a duology or a longer two-parter, it would have made a bigger impact.
That all said, The Enemy's Daughter was fast-paced and fairly easy to read and follow. The writing was good, too, and if I was a younger reader, I'd definitely eat this up and understand the underlying messages scattered within the story.
I think with the resurgence of dystopians, caused by, once again, Suzanne Collins, this book is a decent addition to the YA dystopian genre. It does, however, focus more on the romance then the actual dystopian world itself, and for a standalone to be doing this, there was definitely going to be a lot sacrificed. Like, for instance, the worldbuilding itself.
The beginning was really interesting to read, because it's clear that this dystopian world reverted back to the hunter-gatherer type of society. It's clear just from how the women were isolated to do "women things" and the men were the soldiers and leaders, that misogyny was gonna run rampant in this story, and of course it does. I mean, that was the whole point of Isadora's story: she was being propped up as a prize to be won. And to unite the five clans against the "barbaric Kingsland", she has to marry the winner of her father's contest.
With so much being crammed into the story though, I did feel like it fell short of the sweeping saga of how two opposing communities learn to work with each other within this dystopian world. Isadora kind of reminded me of Lara in The Bridge Kingdom (a daughter who is tasked by her father to marry the enemy kingdom's king and ferret secrets out as a spy), only a less-developed form. It took literally two books for Lara to get the depth and character arc that was satisfying within the duology, something that Isadora couldn't really accomplish in one book. Which was a bit disappointing, because I felt like if this story was developed more, maybe as a duology or a longer two-parter, it would have made a bigger impact.
That all said, The Enemy's Daughter was fast-paced and fairly easy to read and follow. The writing was good, too, and if I was a younger reader, I'd definitely eat this up and understand the underlying messages scattered within the story.