Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Paladin's Hope

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher

29 reviews

epsyphus's review

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

After their introductions in the other two books, I hoped either Galen or Piper would get their own book. Them getting their own book together was everything I could have hoped for.

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espiargrant's review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

I really should've loved this book, but instead, I found it very disappointing. My favorite part of this book was the world, which was well-crafted and complex, with an interesting religion and minor magical elements. This in conjunction with a murder mystery story arc, lends to a setup for a great novel. However, the book didn't really follow through regarding the mystery element due to the 'Who' and 'How' of it being revealed almost immediately and the killer being

neutralized almost immediately, once the opportunity arose.

But in my opinion, the biggest disappointment of this book was the romance, of which I will enter even more spoilery territory:

Although both Galen and Piper were quite loveable at first glance, they eventually came across as quite flat and their connection was shallow. Both of their desperate need to sacrifice themself to save the other seemed to stem more from the fact the other was hot, as opposed to genuine mutual affection. The self-sacrifice also got quite repetitive, and did nothing to further either the plot or their character development. But what ticked me off the most about the romance was the sexual component. By Ch. 3, I was able to tell who the "Top" and the "Bottom" was going to be, not because the writing clearly shows what these characters prefer, but because they fit so neatly into heteronormative stereotypes. And what's worse is that they both somehow telepathically knew who was going to take which role, rather than having a conversation about what they each like. Lastly, for a book that spent so much time having these MCs fixate on how much they want to bang, I was incredibly confused that the 2 love scenes that were in this book were largely F-T-B (the 2nd moreso than the 1st). It just seemed like such a waste to listen to MCs long for eachother's bodies just to skip over the parts where they actually hookup.

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bethanycrowepowell's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

Galen's bright presence in previous Saint of Steel books and Piper's scene-stealing culminates in their own story to close out this trilogy. After an urban political plot and a quest to save family, this is by nature of its protagonists a bit more of a procedural. I enjoy the paladin angst every time, and I'll do it again. Piper, like the other counterparts, brings his own baggage but this ended up being a bit lighter on romantic angst and heavier on dungeon crawl. Lots of fun.

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notthatlibrarian's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.0

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mmkn_99's review

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adventurous funny 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? No

4.75

Third book in the series and it keeps getting better. New pairing, the plot continues and evolves. To say I am addicted to this series and the author would be an understatement. I love the characters, the world building is marvelous and the characters are flawed yet understandable.

Also,

OH MY GOD THE ENDING IS SO FREAKING GOOD. WHAT THE HECK. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE KNOWS HOW THE GOD DIED. I TRULY SCREAMED WHEN I GOT TO THAT PART. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT.

The book has me on the edge of my seat for the next installment, I don't necessarily need another pairing, but it would be appreciated, the plot and storyline are so intriguing and I cannot emphasize enough how excited I am for the next book.

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wickedgrumpy's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Hot emo paladin ✅
Cute lich doctor ✅
Unexplained murders ✅
Pining ✅

Since the smooth men were no longer an issue, this book felt like it was lacking some of the depth from the previous two installments. I did thoroughly enjoy it, especially learning more about gnoles. Also the allusion to the ancients possibly being from our current timeline (the fabric that melted instead of burning i.e. possibly polyester) was really subtle. I'm not sure what that means for the overall history of the ancients and their fallen empire/death traps.

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