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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
This book was a solid YA romance with a bit of fantasy thrown in. There are some magical elements and magical creatures woven into the world, but at its core, this is a romance first story. There are a few spicy scenes, they’re pretty tame and definitely written for an older teen or early 20s audience, which makes sense for the tone and writing style.
I’ve seen reviews knocking stars off because the writing felt too juvenile, and at time it did but I assume it’s because that is the audience it was written for…it’s YA…and that’s not a bad thing. That audience deserves stories written for them as well.
But all that said, I flew through this one in 2 days, it was easy to pick up and kept my attention the whole way through. It’s not super deep or complex, but it’s entertaining and did exactly what I wanted it to do. If you’re in the mood for a fast paced, YA fantasy romance that leans more into the romance than the fantasy, this is a fun one to add to your list.
And without adding spoilers I want to say that Soro is so Joffrey (GOT) coded and I found that intriguing.
I’ve seen reviews knocking stars off because the writing felt too juvenile, and at time it did but I assume it’s because that is the audience it was written for…it’s YA…and that’s not a bad thing. That audience deserves stories written for them as well.
But all that said, I flew through this one in 2 days, it was easy to pick up and kept my attention the whole way through. It’s not super deep or complex, but it’s entertaining and did exactly what I wanted it to do. If you’re in the mood for a fast paced, YA fantasy romance that leans more into the romance than the fantasy, this is a fun one to add to your list.
And without adding spoilers I want to say that Soro is so Joffrey (GOT) coded and I found that intriguing.
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a book club pick, not my normal genre. I was super hooked on Leif and Maeve’s story and need the next one now please!
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was fun! I honestly wanted to keep reading this one nonstop which I feel hasn’t been very common recently for me, but this was so good! ….. Storywise at least.
This book, while being very entertaining and fun, was actually extremely hindered by its writing. As in a lot of put the book down to question why it was even considered a good idea to write like this sort of writing.
The dialogue is the biggest issue, mostly between Maeve and Leith, but sometimes between most characters, is too modern. There’s slang/diction that shouldn’t be in a high fantasy setting book. It’s more prevalent in the beginning and ending, but it still goes on throughout the whole book. The sentence “Holy shitting dragon balls,” should NOT be a sentence I’m reading in a high fantasy book, ESPECIALLY in a very solemn, sad, and enraging moment. That sentence, and plenty of others, really took me out, and it honestly ruined the experience.
There are moments when the writing is done like the author thinks the audience is stupid. Everything is elaborated on as if people can’t pick up the slightest hint of clue. Ever heard of subtly? There is none here. The main thoughts or goals are also constantly repeated. It feels like the author knew the reader would need multi day breaks from this book and had to repeat everything so they could catch up when they came back. Yes, Maeve is Leith’s girl. Yes, Maeve will do anything to be queen. Yes, the world is cruel and unfair. I picked up on these after the third time they were said. I didn’t need a reminder every single chapter (and I’m not saying metaphorically. I did not need these statements repeated in word form every single chapter).
Unfortunately, my last criticism is an issue that severely hinders my view of the book. And it’s that Maeve, as a character, is flawed to the point of uselessness. Maeve is so naive it’s infuriating sometimes. There’s a plot line involving her uncle and how he seems to want to use her as a puppet ruler just so he can keep his high position. While it does ultimately turn out that he was indeed trying to protect her the entire time, there was something so utterly frustrating about how Maeve held barely a suspicion towards him. I suspect the idea was to make her look smart enough to have been right about her uncle, but to me it felt like she was naive about the whole situation.
As a whole, Maeve. Does. Nothing. When I think about everything being accomplished in the book, Maeve really doesn’t even do much. She’s strong, smart, kind, and clever. I actually do believe this. She’s a healer and that’s a big trait for her at least at the start. But my god she doesn’t even really do anything else in the book that’s of notable consequence. At the end, I feel like she doesn’t really do a lot to save Leith. She sets up a scenario that, would’ve resulted in the same situation they both were in at the end no matter if she actually did it or not. Why? Because Leith willingly just goes against her wishes. It felt like a plot device to get Leith angry and to make Maeve helpless. This book felt like it was Leith’s story. Not Leith and Maeve’s. Maeve is just the female lead who helps once and then gets to play detective but not so much about it.
This is a very weird book to me in that the story is very good at picking you up and getting you to keep reading, but there are some serious flaws that, depending on your personal preferences, can really hinder the experience. I think this is ultimately a nice book you can pick up and read occasionally, as it’s still a good read, but know there will be moments where you may roll your eyes and sigh and question why certain writing decisions were made.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Finally knocked the first Book of the Month Sprayed Edge book off my TBR and I’m so happy I did! @cecyrobsonauthor absolutely killed this story line!!! This gladiator fantasy plot is incredible! I often pride myself of predicting books outcomes and nothing makes me more satisfied than when I’m unable to and Cecy did just that, not just once, but several times! It is so entertaining to be thrown for loops you weren’t expected and to have multiple “Oh Sh*t!” moments while reading a story! The only issue I had with the book, which could be more my reading and not the writing was that I felt like a few moments were immature or that they were moved on from two quickly/closed out quickly but there also was so many plot points that this book wouldn’t be as amazing as it is without, I really didn’t mind it. It was just an observation I had a couple times while reading! I literally cannot wait for the next book in the series! 🥳 The characters and story line were top notch!!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
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