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infinite_tbr's review
4.0
It took me a while to find the time to sit down and really get into this story, but once I did, I was hooked. I loved that Leena was not some weak-willed woman who needed a man to save her, nor was she a stereotypical strong-female character who hated love. I also liked that Noc had an actual reason for not wanting to let anyone get close to him, instead of it just being because he thought he was despicable. I liked the world and want to know more about it, but feel like I did understand the rules. The characters were excellent, the romance was nice and didn’t detract from the plot or serve as the only plotline. I liked Leena’s Charmer powers, though at times the beasts/Charmer dynamic felt very similar to Pokemon (not necessarily bad).
I’m really excited to read the next book as I have some questions that I’d like to see answered. Who was Noc before his resurrection? Who put the hit on Leena? And what is going on in Wilhelm? This book definitely delivered as both a romance novel and a fantasy novel.
**ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
I’m really excited to read the next book as I have some questions that I’d like to see answered. Who was Noc before his resurrection? Who put the hit on Leena? And what is going on in Wilhelm? This book definitely delivered as both a romance novel and a fantasy novel.
**ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
ameserole's review
4.0
I have received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Kingdom of Exiles was actually pretty good. I definitely flew through this once I found time to just sit and read. Leena is an exiled beast charmer who does what she has to do in order to live. It sucks that she can't go home and basically would trust a rock over a person but hey - she's adapting. I honestly really enjoyed her character. She was refreshing and quite lovable.
So we know that she's kind of the run due to being shunned from her homeland and it wasn't hard to believe that someone out there wanted her dead. It wasn't hard to think about who it was but it was fun for the book to try. I am, however, intrigued to find out which woman was behind all of this since we didn't see what we were looking for - maybe it's someone who comes at the end of the book?
Anyhoo, love is kind of in the air and the romance was cute. HOWEVER, I hate cliffhangers and this book did me dirty. I was so happy and I shouldn't have been because the rug was swept underneath me. Dirty book and a dirty cliffhanger that makes me want to scream. I definitely need the next one and I need for a certain someone to outsmart a certain villain ASAP.
Kingdom of Exiles was actually pretty good. I definitely flew through this once I found time to just sit and read. Leena is an exiled beast charmer who does what she has to do in order to live. It sucks that she can't go home and basically would trust a rock over a person but hey - she's adapting. I honestly really enjoyed her character. She was refreshing and quite lovable.
So we know that she's kind of the run due to being shunned from her homeland and it wasn't hard to believe that someone out there wanted her dead. It wasn't hard to think about who it was but it was fun for the book to try. I am, however, intrigued to find out which woman was behind all of this since we didn't see what we were looking for - maybe it's someone who comes at the end of the book?
Anyhoo, love is kind of in the air and the romance was cute. HOWEVER, I hate cliffhangers and this book did me dirty. I was so happy and I shouldn't have been because the rug was swept underneath me. Dirty book and a dirty cliffhanger that makes me want to scream. I definitely need the next one and I need for a certain someone to outsmart a certain villain ASAP.
carmibu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
alekswhite's review
4.0
So this was a solid read however..
I really liked the enemies to lovers aspect of this but given they were supposed to be “soulmates” The aspects of their society that governed soulmates was never really discussed in any great detail
I really liked Lena as a character and I thought that the four person band of assassins really worked and was a really enjoyable dynamic.
Ultimately this kind of felt like ACOTAR meets Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. So if you like but kind of book you’re going to love this
I really liked the enemies to lovers aspect of this but given they were supposed to be “soulmates” The aspects of their society that governed soulmates was never really discussed in any great detail
I really liked Lena as a character and I thought that the four person band of assassins really worked and was a really enjoyable dynamic.
Ultimately this kind of felt like ACOTAR meets Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. So if you like but kind of book you’re going to love this
lizzylovebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
relaxing
sad
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? Yes
5.0
anca_antoci's review
5.0
Kingdom of Exiles is an extraordinary story that skillfully combines adventure, thriller, and romance into a gripping read. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them meets Assassins Creed is an excellent description for Kingdom of Exiles.
We’re introduced to a fantastic realm where Leena is a charmer. This means that she can tame and bound with beasts (magical creatures with different supernatural abilities). Leena can summon them at will, and her beasts can protect her.
Blamed for a crime she didn’t commit, Leena is exiled by the Charmers Council and forced to make do by selling her beasts. Things go from bad to worse when an assassin tries to kill her, and she finds out there’s a bounty on her head. Her only chance to survive is to make a deal with the devil. Little does she know about the magic of Cruor’s Oath – assassins are bound by magic to complete their contracts. And thus the adventure begins.
“You’re a long way from home, Charmer. I will neither remove the bounty nor permit you to leave here safely.”
[…]
She was so fragile. Breakable. Hard to believe she’d somehow managed to trap my second-in-command. What made her so dangerous that she warranted a bounty?"
She strikes a bargain with Noc, the leader of the Assassins’ Guild by offering him beasts in exchange for her freedom. Since she’s unaware of the Cruor’s Oath, he can easily deceive her to get the promised beasts. He plans to kill her as soon as she delivers her end of the bargain. As you can expect, that doesn’t happen. Slowly but surely enemies turn into lovers, but they both have secrets and trust issues, so they fight their feelings. That part of the story was well developed and didn’t fall into the fake insta-romance trap.
He was an assassin. I was his bounty. There were so many things that could possibly go wrong— for both of us. And yet, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I found myself drawn to him. Pulled to him like the ocean waves were guided by the moon.
Read the full review here: https://www.summonfantasy.com/book-reviews/kingdom-of-exiles-by-maxym-martineau
We’re introduced to a fantastic realm where Leena is a charmer. This means that she can tame and bound with beasts (magical creatures with different supernatural abilities). Leena can summon them at will, and her beasts can protect her.
Blamed for a crime she didn’t commit, Leena is exiled by the Charmers Council and forced to make do by selling her beasts. Things go from bad to worse when an assassin tries to kill her, and she finds out there’s a bounty on her head. Her only chance to survive is to make a deal with the devil. Little does she know about the magic of Cruor’s Oath – assassins are bound by magic to complete their contracts. And thus the adventure begins.
“You’re a long way from home, Charmer. I will neither remove the bounty nor permit you to leave here safely.”
[…]
She was so fragile. Breakable. Hard to believe she’d somehow managed to trap my second-in-command. What made her so dangerous that she warranted a bounty?"
She strikes a bargain with Noc, the leader of the Assassins’ Guild by offering him beasts in exchange for her freedom. Since she’s unaware of the Cruor’s Oath, he can easily deceive her to get the promised beasts. He plans to kill her as soon as she delivers her end of the bargain. As you can expect, that doesn’t happen. Slowly but surely enemies turn into lovers, but they both have secrets and trust issues, so they fight their feelings. That part of the story was well developed and didn’t fall into the fake insta-romance trap.
He was an assassin. I was his bounty. There were so many things that could possibly go wrong— for both of us. And yet, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I found myself drawn to him. Pulled to him like the ocean waves were guided by the moon.
Read the full review here: https://www.summonfantasy.com/book-reviews/kingdom-of-exiles-by-maxym-martineau
seahagbookclub's review against another edition
3.0
3/5 stars from me- I liked it, but probably won't read the sequel.
This book is basically Pokemon, but make it romance
The best parts of the story are the beasts (of course) and the interesting crew of secondary characters, particularly Kost, Noc's right hand man. The main characters fall flat however, and the romance just isn't believable because it happens so quickly- perhaps not in terms of the page number, but certainly in terms of plot. Am I really meant to believe that Noc is finally free to express his love and chooses the girl he met last week over the close friend who's been there for him every step of the way? If the story happened over the span of months, or crossed several books in the series, I'd buy into it more.
This book is basically Pokemon, but make it romance
The best parts of the story are the beasts (of course) and the interesting crew of secondary characters, particularly Kost, Noc's right hand man. The main characters fall flat however, and the romance just isn't believable because it happens so quickly- perhaps not in terms of the page number, but certainly in terms of plot. Am I really meant to believe that Noc is finally free to express his love and chooses the girl he met last week over the close friend who's been there for him every step of the way? If the story happened over the span of months, or crossed several books in the series, I'd buy into it more.
truequeenofchaos's review
5.0
Read my full review here.
ARC provided by the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I requested an ARC of this on NetGalley on a whim, simply because I was intrigued by the title and the stunning cover. I’m so glad that I was given the chance to read and review this, because this has made it onto my list of all-time favorite novels. I was completely blown away by this and I don’t think I’ll ever recover.
Magical animals, shadow assassins, and forbidden romance!! Where has this book been all my life?
“She was a Charmer, and I her unwilling assassin.”
This is being sold as “Fantastic Beasts meets Assassin’s Creed” and I honestly don’t know how that couldn’t intrigue you. It begins with a woman named Leena that was exiled from the magical Beast Charmers’ city for a crime that she didn’t commit, that’s having to illegally sell her beasts to get by. Noc runs a guild of assassins raised from the dead that can control shadows, and have been hired to kill Leena. Leena gets the drop on her would-be assassin and they strike up a deal that will keep her alive as long as she acquires them their own beasts.
Maxym Martineau’s writing was really easy to fall into and I enjoyed all of her enchanting descriptions. It hooked me from the very first page. But where she really excelled was her characters. I fell in love with every single one of them and can’t stop thinking about them even though I finished this book a couple of days ago. They were all extremely complex and fleshed out, and their unique quirks and personalities were just so heart-warming.
“No matter how hard you try, no matter how many battles you win, you will never survive me.”
But what really set Kingdom of Exiles apart is the romance. It’s a typical forbidden romance but the tension and slow burn were done so amazingly. And the steamy scenes? Yesss. I was LIVING for it and I seriously can’t recommend this book enough.
The only down-side of this entire novel was that it’s extremely predictable. It uses a lot of popular tropes so I knew almost everything that was going to happen. But the writing and content was so great, that the predictability didn’t matter. It didn’t hinder the story in any way for me.
The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
♛
Rating: ★★★★★
Overall, I loved every single word of this book and I will definitely be purchasing a finished copy. I was squealing so much while reading it and seriously couldn’t put it down. I’d highly recommend this to fans of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series or the Kate Daniels series!
ARC provided by the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I requested an ARC of this on NetGalley on a whim, simply because I was intrigued by the title and the stunning cover. I’m so glad that I was given the chance to read and review this, because this has made it onto my list of all-time favorite novels. I was completely blown away by this and I don’t think I’ll ever recover.
Magical animals, shadow assassins, and forbidden romance!! Where has this book been all my life?
“She was a Charmer, and I her unwilling assassin.”
This is being sold as “Fantastic Beasts meets Assassin’s Creed” and I honestly don’t know how that couldn’t intrigue you. It begins with a woman named Leena that was exiled from the magical Beast Charmers’ city for a crime that she didn’t commit, that’s having to illegally sell her beasts to get by. Noc runs a guild of assassins raised from the dead that can control shadows, and have been hired to kill Leena. Leena gets the drop on her would-be assassin and they strike up a deal that will keep her alive as long as she acquires them their own beasts.
Maxym Martineau’s writing was really easy to fall into and I enjoyed all of her enchanting descriptions. It hooked me from the very first page. But where she really excelled was her characters. I fell in love with every single one of them and can’t stop thinking about them even though I finished this book a couple of days ago. They were all extremely complex and fleshed out, and their unique quirks and personalities were just so heart-warming.
“No matter how hard you try, no matter how many battles you win, you will never survive me.”
But what really set Kingdom of Exiles apart is the romance. It’s a typical forbidden romance but the tension and slow burn were done so amazingly. And the steamy scenes? Yesss. I was LIVING for it and I seriously can’t recommend this book enough.
The only down-side of this entire novel was that it’s extremely predictable. It uses a lot of popular tropes so I knew almost everything that was going to happen. But the writing and content was so great, that the predictability didn’t matter. It didn’t hinder the story in any way for me.
The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.
♛
Rating: ★★★★★
Overall, I loved every single word of this book and I will definitely be purchasing a finished copy. I was squealing so much while reading it and seriously couldn’t put it down. I’d highly recommend this to fans of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series or the Kate Daniels series!
ccpprrjj's review
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0