Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Paladin's Hope

WHAT.

HOW DARE YOU END THE BOOK LIKE THAT?!?!?!

IS PIPER OKAY?!?!?!?

IT'S TWO IN THE MORNING AND NOW I CAN'T GO TO SLEEP THANKS TO YOU AND THIS BOOK.

TEN STARS OUT OF FIVE.

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directorpurry's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? No

4.75

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lilbookbee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

God help me, T Kingfisher owns me, mind, body, and soul. I've loved every book I've read by her, especially those in The Temple of the White Rat series, but this one takes the cake. I was already pretty sure it was going to be a five star read, but that final line, WHEW BOY. I listened to this on audio in my car alone, and upon hearing Piper's utterance of the final line of the book I SCREAMED. Out loud. More than once, for multiple minutes. I stopped screaming only to start hollering again moments later. The ending of this book shook me to my core. A fellow reader in my book club said that Paladin's Grace (the first in the Saint of Steel series, of which this is the third) had the best opening line, and this one had the best final line. Nothing truer has ever been said.

I don't even know how to talk about how amazing the rest of this book was. I knew I was going to like Galen, but I still wasn't expecting to love him this much. And Piper too!!! They were the best match and the cutest and the snarkiest and all around my favorite couple in the series. Only Kingfisher could write a series and have me love each couple more than the last. Piper and Galen have my heart.

This book also had one of the hottest scenes I've had the pleasure of reading, and it wasn't even a smut scene. Listening to the scene in chapter 20 where Galen and Pipe are pressed together getting through the blade trap, and Galen keeps Piper distracted by murmuring potentially suggestive things and kissing the back of his neck. Like they are in an absolutely perilous situation and yet somehow the two of them are just oozing sexual tension. In the words of T Kingfisher herself, that scene made *me* want to howl like a dog. And then the follow up in chapter 21 where after getting a great blow job from Piper, Galen gives him the hottest reach around known to man. As in they are sitting on the floor, and Galen has Piper basically in his lap, Piper's back to his chest, and he reaches around and gets him off and oh my GOD. God help me, a position like that has ALWAYS made me hot and bothered, but after the rocketing tension from the chapter before??? Whew boy 🥵🫠

I cannot believe I waited as long as I did to read these books. I don't know if I will ever be able to stop talking about them. I want and need everyone to read them so I can discuss them in perpetuity forever.

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reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

3.0

I was really looking forward to reading Galen and Piper's story, but this book kind of disappointed me. It's the shortest in the trilogy and felt quite unlike the first two books. The plot was much more straightforward and the inter-character conflict took more of the center stage. It also felt like Galen's internal conflicts about getting into a relationship were too similar to Stephen's. What I thought would be the overarching conflict of the series, the smooth men, was resolved in book two, and wrapping up the series with an entirely new thing felt odd to me. I also really wish Piper's wonderworker ability was brought up more. It seemed like such an interesting thing to explore, but it was mainly used as a utilitarian plot device.

This is not to say I disliked the book. The fantasy portrayal of prejudice and discrimination through the gnoles was very interesting, I love when fantasy authors choose to eliminate homophobia from their worlds, and the epilogue felt like a nice sendoff to the series. The last line was especially impactful.

I had no idea before reading this book that Kingfisher had other books written in this same world, but I will definitely be looking into that.

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no_mourners_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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roksyreads's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

Another lovely fantasy with the perfect balance of mutual pining, smouldering romance, and loveable characters. But how can you end it like that???? I am relieved to know there will be more books, because I love these stories immensely, but I do rather wish there were more now following that last paragraph. Alas, I will have to put my patience hat on. Thankfully, there are plenty more stories written by Vernon under the Kingfisher pen name for me to read and re-read whilst I wait.

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narya's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Comienza mucho más directo y yendo al grano que los dos anteriores, lo cual al principio me descuadró. Pero es otra historia de otros personajes. Tampoco sigue la trama del misterio, aunque es cierto que queda bastante cerrado en el anterior, e introduce una distinta que también llega muy de golpe.

(Edit: vale, lo mismo leerse los libros de Clocktaur War antes que éste viene bien, pero tampoco es necesario. Solo es que Paladin's Hope rescata cosas de los otros y te hace algo de spoiler si no los has leído. Eso se apaña si tienes mala memoria.)

PERO

Compensa muchísimo con el desarrollo de los personajes, que se expresan con libertad (aunque sea para ellos a veces) y te permiten reflexionar sobre muchos sentimientos y situaciones. Son adorables, son humanos, los acabas queriendo mucho.

Un detalle:

Según avanzaba me iba quedando con la sensación de que el poder de Piper apenas se explota para lo prometedor que es. La últina frase del libro me lo compensó bastante. Ojalá haber sabido más sobre la muerte del Saint of Steel, no diria que no a una cuarta parte. Y si no, para la imaginación.

Brutales los giros que mete esta mujer en la trama y el cariño e intensidad con los que trata los temas sentimentales y las relaciones, una trilogía que he disfrutado muchísimo.

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