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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I started and finished this book the same day. When I finished it, I wanted to turn back to page one and start all over again.
It's hard to say what I liked most about The Trouble with Kings, so I've made a list.
1. The main character is more passive than your average protagonist, but wants to become active. She doesn't always succeed, but I could feel her effort to do more. As an incurably lazy person, I loved this.
2. Secondary characters are interesting and enjoyable.
3. The world is more accepting than ours, not the rigidly anti-woman, anti-gay backdrop we see in a lot of fantasy. Characters also have a range of skin colors.
4. Our heroine is squeamish.
5. While the plot never felt directionless, I felt more like I was experiencing someone's life rather than reading a story. There was extraneous detail, which is supposed to be a bad thing, but instead I enjoyed the not-necessarily-important-for-plot bits just as much as the plot bits.
6. A slightly Jane Austenish feel to thoughts and conversations. (I'm sure it's not uniquely Jane Austen but rather regency stuff--I just haven't read any non-Austen regency romances.)
7. The romance is relatively subdued, but what there was made me weak at the knees. I understand from other reviews that not everyone felt like this but this girl needed to fan herself a few times. (Ha! Get it? Sherwood Smith book and fans? Anyone? Anyone..?)
8. The exquisite languishing. Please tell me I'm not alone on this.
I'm going to quit it with the list because when it comes down to it I loved everything. If you prefer glitter to grit in your fantasy, and enjoy thoughts and feelings more than blood and guts... I highly recommend The Trouble with Kings. The first time I read it (a few years ago) I wasn't hugely impressed but somehow this time it was just right. This is definitely going in my feelgood, read-as-needed books. Prescription strength. :)
It's hard to say what I liked most about The Trouble with Kings, so I've made a list.
1. The main character is more passive than your average protagonist, but wants to become active. She doesn't always succeed, but I could feel her effort to do more. As an incurably lazy person, I loved this.
2. Secondary characters are interesting and enjoyable.
3. The world is more accepting than ours, not the rigidly anti-woman, anti-gay backdrop we see in a lot of fantasy. Characters also have a range of skin colors.
4. Our heroine is squeamish.
5. While the plot never felt directionless, I felt more like I was experiencing someone's life rather than reading a story. There was extraneous detail, which is supposed to be a bad thing, but instead I enjoyed the not-necessarily-important-for-plot bits just as much as the plot bits.
6. A slightly Jane Austenish feel to thoughts and conversations. (I'm sure it's not uniquely Jane Austen but rather regency stuff--I just haven't read any non-Austen regency romances.)
7. The romance is relatively subdued, but what there was made me weak at the knees.
Spoiler
That horse ride on the escape from Drath? Completely innocent but ahhhhh the descriptions...8. The exquisite languishing. Please tell me I'm not alone on this.
I'm going to quit it with the list because when it comes down to it I loved everything. If you prefer glitter to grit in your fantasy, and enjoy thoughts and feelings more than blood and guts... I highly recommend The Trouble with Kings. The first time I read it (a few years ago) I wasn't hugely impressed but somehow this time it was just right. This is definitely going in my feelgood, read-as-needed books. Prescription strength. :)
Abductions and romances among the royalty (some rather scruffy and down-to-earth) of several small Ruritanian kingdoms in Smith’s world. The story starts when Flian has temporarily lost her memory after being abducted the first time, and is being hustled into marrying one king (Jason) by another (Garian). Flian would prefer to be left to play her music at home with her brother Maxl, but events among the kingdoms conspire against her. I enjoy the character of Jason and Jaim’s sister Jewel.
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars
I didn't know what to expect when I began reading The Trouble with Kings, which I think partially contributes to my rating. It's a light YA fantasy adventure with romantic subplot™ that I think turns a lot of YA tropes on their heads. It was enjoyable and there were parts of it that I really loved, but it wasn't all perfect.
What's it about?
The Trouble with Kings is a very light, not super high-stakes, standalone fantasy adventure featuring a wealthy Princess, Princess Flian. The book starts and Flian wakes up in a cottage after a family rescued her after falling off her horse. Because of the fall, she has amnesia and doesn't know anything about her life or who she is. But in comes the boisterous and attractive Garian who whisks her off to a castle and tells her how she was soon supposed to marry another man, Jason. Flian meets Jason, who is cold and aloof, and can't imagine that she'd marry him, but again, she doesn't remember anything so she's basically at the mercy of what these guys are telling her. But then! She's rescued (kidnapped?) by yet another man, Jaim before her marriage. Soon after this, Flian does get her memories back, and gets some clarity. The amnesia plot is really a device to throw us readers into the story along with Flian and to make it unclear who the good guys really are.
Flian comes from a wealthy family and she's just an ordinary girl who only gets attention from men because they want to have her wealth. But now she's thrown in the middle of political scheming between these three men and has to find her voice and take action to avoid being a pawn.
The Review
The first thing I want to talk about is the tone of this book. It is very light, and reminiscent of more old school YA fantasy. I've read a lot of the more recent "YA" fantasy (Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses, Holly Black's The Wicked King, Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone etc.) where although it's YA, it's high stakes and there are darkish elements in the books (major character deaths, torture, etc) The Trouble With Kings is not that kind of book, and gives a more Princess Bride feel. Flian is kidnapped like, 3 times and I was expecting awful things to happen to her, and while she is threatened, it is pretty low stakes. This is not a bad thing, it was just something that I wasn't expecting and had to get used to. Once I started looking at things in a more comedic light I got more into the book.
If you want any intricate or cool magic systems, this is probably not your book. Magic plays no major role in the story and is used mostly to clean oneself. The fantasy elements are basically used to create a random setting with many different kingdoms. This didn't bother me but for people looking for rich world building and magic, it will not fit the bill.
The book is very slow (and kind of boring) the first 100 pages or so. At the very beginning it's interesting because you are there with Flian not knowing what's going on, but it gets old by the 20% mark. There's a lot of exposition, unnecessary detail and not much really happens. Flian is just thrown in different situations and you still don't really get what's going on. However once you realize who the love interest is supposed to be, and once Flian isn't in the dark anymore (and therefore you as a reader aren't in the dark about characters' intentions) things get a lot better.
This book is mostly court intrigue/politics with a side of a nice, clean romance. I wish there was a little more to the romance just because I think it was the best part of the book. The court intrigue varied from "meh" to "somewhat interesting" and at some points it was hard to follow and I think that's mainly because I wasn't fully invested.
I was at first annoyed by Jewel, Flian's loud-mouth, party-loving BFF, but once I took her more as comedic relief, I liked her a lot more. She's taken by a villain and just won't stop insulting them- at first I took it as her being dumb as rocks in regards to self-preservation, but when I got a hang of the tone I liked her a lot more.
That was a lot of critique, but there were things I did really appreciate and love about the book. Sherwood Smith puts a lot of fantasy/YA tropes on their heads. Flian is, thankfully, no Mary Sue. She's... normal, and not particularly amazing outside the ordinary. Which is near impossible to find in YA books. I think that's why I liked her so much. She wasn't super beautiful and super perfect and super powerful- she was just her. She liked playing the lute and was normal. I think it's why I liked her love story and general character growth so much.
The romance was great even though it wasn't super heavy handed at all. The enemies-to-lovers aspect played out really well and I did like how you had no idea who the love interest was supposed to be at first. After reading a bunch of books with insta-love/lust, this was a welcome reprieve. The action/adventure aspects of the book were also entertaining- when Flian is tossed around and in the clutches of the three men it can be quite entertaining.
Sherwood Smith does throw in some funny lines between heroes and villains, and also throws in a lot of interesting points about ruling and life that can be some good discussion fodder.
Overall I'm glad I read the book and while there were aspects that prevented it from being a great read, it was enjoyable.
I would read this if you like:
-lighter, low-stakes YA fantasy with a hint of comedy on the side
-clean, slow burn, enemies to lovers that's not heavy-handed
-lite court politics/intrigue
I didn't know what to expect when I began reading The Trouble with Kings, which I think partially contributes to my rating. It's a light YA fantasy adventure with romantic subplot™ that I think turns a lot of YA tropes on their heads. It was enjoyable and there were parts of it that I really loved, but it wasn't all perfect.
What's it about?
The Trouble with Kings is a very light, not super high-stakes, standalone fantasy adventure featuring a wealthy Princess, Princess Flian. The book starts and Flian wakes up in a cottage after a family rescued her after falling off her horse. Because of the fall, she has amnesia and doesn't know anything about her life or who she is. But in comes the boisterous and attractive Garian who whisks her off to a castle and tells her how she was soon supposed to marry another man, Jason. Flian meets Jason, who is cold and aloof, and can't imagine that she'd marry him, but again, she doesn't remember anything so she's basically at the mercy of what these guys are telling her. But then! She's rescued (kidnapped?) by yet another man, Jaim before her marriage. Soon after this, Flian does get her memories back, and gets some clarity. The amnesia plot is really a device to throw us readers into the story along with Flian and to make it unclear who the good guys really are.
Flian comes from a wealthy family and she's just an ordinary girl who only gets attention from men because they want to have her wealth. But now she's thrown in the middle of political scheming between these three men and has to find her voice and take action to avoid being a pawn.
The Review
The first thing I want to talk about is the tone of this book. It is very light, and reminiscent of more old school YA fantasy. I've read a lot of the more recent "YA" fantasy (Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses, Holly Black's The Wicked King, Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone etc.) where although it's YA, it's high stakes and there are darkish elements in the books (major character deaths, torture, etc) The Trouble With Kings is not that kind of book, and gives a more Princess Bride feel. Flian is kidnapped like, 3 times and I was expecting awful things to happen to her, and while she is threatened, it is pretty low stakes. This is not a bad thing, it was just something that I wasn't expecting and had to get used to. Once I started looking at things in a more comedic light I got more into the book.
If you want any intricate or cool magic systems, this is probably not your book. Magic plays no major role in the story and is used mostly to clean oneself. The fantasy elements are basically used to create a random setting with many different kingdoms. This didn't bother me but for people looking for rich world building and magic, it will not fit the bill.
The book is very slow (and kind of boring) the first 100 pages or so. At the very beginning it's interesting because you are there with Flian not knowing what's going on, but it gets old by the 20% mark. There's a lot of exposition, unnecessary detail and not much really happens. Flian is just thrown in different situations and you still don't really get what's going on. However once you realize who the love interest is supposed to be, and once Flian isn't in the dark anymore (and therefore you as a reader aren't in the dark about characters' intentions) things get a lot better.
This book is mostly court intrigue/politics with a side of a nice, clean romance. I wish there was a little more to the romance just because I think it was the best part of the book. The court intrigue varied from "meh" to "somewhat interesting" and at some points it was hard to follow and I think that's mainly because I wasn't fully invested.
I was at first annoyed by Jewel, Flian's loud-mouth, party-loving BFF, but once I took her more as comedic relief, I liked her a lot more. She's taken by a villain and just won't stop insulting them- at first I took it as her being dumb as rocks in regards to self-preservation, but when I got a hang of the tone I liked her a lot more.
That was a lot of critique, but there were things I did really appreciate and love about the book. Sherwood Smith puts a lot of fantasy/YA tropes on their heads. Flian is, thankfully, no Mary Sue. She's... normal, and not particularly amazing outside the ordinary. Which is near impossible to find in YA books. I think that's why I liked her so much. She wasn't super beautiful and super perfect and super powerful- she was just her. She liked playing the lute and was normal. I think it's why I liked her love story and general character growth so much.
The romance was great even though it wasn't super heavy handed at all. The enemies-to-lovers aspect played out really well and I did like how you had no idea who the love interest was supposed to be at first. After reading a bunch of books with insta-love/lust, this was a welcome reprieve. The action/adventure aspects of the book were also entertaining- when Flian is tossed around and in the clutches of the three men it can be quite entertaining.
Sherwood Smith does throw in some funny lines between heroes and villains, and also throws in a lot of interesting points about ruling and life that can be some good discussion fodder.
Overall I'm glad I read the book and while there were aspects that prevented it from being a great read, it was enjoyable.
I would read this if you like:
-lighter, low-stakes YA fantasy with a hint of comedy on the side
-clean, slow burn, enemies to lovers that's not heavy-handed
-lite court politics/intrigue
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I don't even know where to begin - I stayed up until 3am to finish The Trouble with Kings so we'll blame sleep depravation. I've already decided that I'm going to have to reread it immediately to catch all the things I missed the first time.
Of all the Sartorias-deles arc books, this one is the least connected. There's one mention of Marloven Hess, but that's it. No mention of Remalna or Crown Duel at all. While they both share an enemies to lovers storyline, it's not fair to compare the two otherwise. The Trouble with Kings is delightful and does just fine by itself.
Of all the Sartorias-deles arc books, this one is the least connected. There's one mention of Marloven Hess, but that's it. No mention of Remalna or Crown Duel at all. While they both share an enemies to lovers storyline, it's not fair to compare the two otherwise. The Trouble with Kings is delightful and does just fine by itself.
If I get through this one alive, you'll regret the outcome.
It probably took me longer than it should have to realize who the MMC was. I mean, how do you go from a quote like that to him going out of his way to bring her instruments, the exact opposite of the treatment she experienced in Garian's hands? Next, we have our heroine admitting that she prefers life in Lathandra to life at home. But just when you think we're getting somewhere, we find out that Jason's secretly engaged to another princess and wearing her ring for the last nine years.
I thought of Jason wearing that ring over his heart for nine years. I remembered it hanging blood-smeared against his flesh that terrible day on the mountain.
As a romance reader, I felt like the author was playing with us! She also hinted at other tropes like older brother's best friend (Altan). And then there were all these mentions of how hot Markham was. I know it's too risqué for her style, but was I was like, "Are we going to get a threesome?!"
Eventually, the MMC's intentions became clear. At least for us the reader. I don't know why, but I just love it when the FMC is completely oblivious to how the MMC feels for her.
Also remember Garian brandishing Jewel as a lure to get you, but through you he wants to get a me.
I mean, how much more clear could he have been?!
Aside from all the romance, we got plenty of life lessons as well. Sherwood Smith mentioned that she placed a heavy focus on politeness - "Because when I was young, we were told that Ladies Make Nice . . . the problem was, life didn't always make nice back." so I was primed to be on the lookout for those instances in the book.
I really enjoyed Princess Flian's character development throughout the book, especially when juxtaposed with Princess Eleandra. For the first time, she begins to question the treatment she receives in her position versus that of a servant. She also, starts to consider their thoughts and feelings as individuals. Eventually, she takes the initiative to learn some self defense. By the end, she is stepping in avert potential social or political crises.
A couple of other themes shared in common: I mentioned it in my review of Crown Duel/Court Duel but once again, we have another female bully in Gilian. And while it wasn't stated as clearly as in the Inda or Time of Daughter books, there's a clear demarcation of civilized societies (Carnison) and more barbaric cultures (Ralanor Veleth).
Stayed tuned for more insights once I've done a proper reread.
3.5 stars. This book had a lot of similarities to Crown Duel/Court Duel (by the same author), which I liked better overall. It seemed like this story could have used some better editing -- there were several elements (such as the magic stuff) that just didn't seem relevant to the plot at all. I also found myself wishing for a little more action and a little less political/court intrigue.
This book is so cuuuuuute!! I love it so so so so much. I can imagine myself revisiting it every couple of years. I first read it in 2013 and here I am in 2015 reading it again and enjoying it even more! It can get confusing at times but Sherwood Smith has such a talent for world building and character building!!
And here I am in 2017 rereading it lmao
And here I am in 2017 rereading it lmao
Understandably juvenile as one of Smith's earliest books. The beginning wasn't great but I'm glad I pushed through because the second half proved to be much more satisfying. Despite what many people believe to be parallels with Crown Duel, the latter (as one of my favorite books) is incomparably better.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective