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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Relied too much on the previous book while at the same time feeling like there was nothing new added to the genre. DNF.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
wish I could do half stars - didn't love this one as much as I loved book 1 (The Witch Hunter), and I spent most of the first half wishing Elizabeth would either suck it up and move on or just about anything other than mooning over John and her poor choices and feeling sorry for herself. The last 3rd of the book picked up and redeemed it... Not necessarily enough for me to be excited about a book 3 (if there is one) though...
omg omg omg! can I just freak out?!
I want to read this book slowly, but I just finished it so quickly. It's a good book, but at the same time I felt like there's no character development, all they do just go behind everyone's back and do things that they think will protect everyone else.
I wish there's more George in this book.
I want to read this book slowly, but I just finished it so quickly. It's a good book, but at the same time I felt like there's no character development, all they do just go behind everyone's back and do things that they think will protect everyone else.
I wish there's more George in this book.
Definitely not as good as the first. I skipped half the middle because I got bored.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5 stars. I thought the first one was a little better but this was a solid finish to the story. Very well done :)
I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.
The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker is an amazing sequel to [b:The Witch Hunter|18190208|The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter, #1)|Virginia Boecker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417954350s/18190208.jpg|25592624] and wraps the story of Elizabeth Grey up nicely. The story picks up a couple months after the events at the end of the first book (so if you haven’t read book one there are minor spoilers ahead). Elizabeth is still recovering from her encounter with Blackwell and Caleb without her stigma. John has that now and it’s not playing well with his own healer magic. Now Blackwell is coming for Elizabeth and her stigma, the question is why.
I’ll admit when I read [b:The Witch Hunter|18190208|The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter, #1)|Virginia Boecker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417954350s/18190208.jpg|25592624], I had a hard time liking Elizabeth. She’s one of those characters that grows on you. She was crass, tough as nails, and thought herself invincible. Now without her stigma, she finds she needs to redefine herself. Her life up to this point was about being a witch hunter. Now she isn’t. Now she lives in Harrow with John, Peter, Fifer, Schuyler, and Nicholas. She lives among the people who were her enemy. People she spent her life hunting and killing and sentencing to burn at the stake. Now Elizabeth needs to redefine herself and without her stigma she’s at a loss. She doesn’t know who she is, but she knows who she is not. It’s interesting and heart-breaking reading her struggles and I found myself rooting for her early on.
Then there’s John. I fell in love with him in the first book as did Elizabeth. John is one of those characters that just oozes goodness. He’s kind, caring, and loyal. He’s a healer and this aspect defines him. When you think of someone that their whole life is devoted to taking care of others, that is John. At least that was John before the stigma. Now the magic of the stigma is interacting and overshadowing his healer magic. He becomes violent, unkind, and an entirely different person. It’s heartbreaking!
When Blackwell begins sending his men to infiltrate Harrow and kidnap Elizabeth, she comes to one conclusion. She has to go to Blackwell and finish what she started in [b:The Witch Hunter|18190208|The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter, #1)|Virginia Boecker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417954350s/18190208.jpg|25592624]. She has to kill him. But it is never as easy as that. Harrow is building an army and Elizabeth must help train it. She is relied on and reviled. She is a necessary evil to the people of Harrow and it’s heartbreaking (have I used that word too much already?!) to read. She’s a different person yet not. She’s still strong, can fight, and is courageous, but she knows she’s no longer invincible, John is with her stigma. And that secret that John is alive must never reach Blackwell.
Overall I really enjoyed this book! It was full of ups and downs. One minute I was happy and smiling and swooning, the next I was angry and hurt, then I was sobbing before finally happy again. Trust me when I say this book is an emotional rollercoaster. I felt for Elizabeth and everything she encounters and dose throughout this book. I was heartbroken over and over again, yet left with hope. I loved the alternative fiction the author has created mixing it with the paranormal of witches and wizards. If you enjoyed the first book, you will enjoy this one. If you enjoy historical fiction and fantasy, I highly recommend you make this your next read!
The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker is an amazing sequel to [b:The Witch Hunter|18190208|The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter, #1)|Virginia Boecker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417954350s/18190208.jpg|25592624] and wraps the story of Elizabeth Grey up nicely. The story picks up a couple months after the events at the end of the first book (so if you haven’t read book one there are minor spoilers ahead). Elizabeth is still recovering from her encounter with Blackwell and Caleb without her stigma. John has that now and it’s not playing well with his own healer magic. Now Blackwell is coming for Elizabeth and her stigma, the question is why.
I’ll admit when I read [b:The Witch Hunter|18190208|The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter, #1)|Virginia Boecker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417954350s/18190208.jpg|25592624], I had a hard time liking Elizabeth. She’s one of those characters that grows on you. She was crass, tough as nails, and thought herself invincible. Now without her stigma, she finds she needs to redefine herself. Her life up to this point was about being a witch hunter. Now she isn’t. Now she lives in Harrow with John, Peter, Fifer, Schuyler, and Nicholas. She lives among the people who were her enemy. People she spent her life hunting and killing and sentencing to burn at the stake. Now Elizabeth needs to redefine herself and without her stigma she’s at a loss. She doesn’t know who she is, but she knows who she is not. It’s interesting and heart-breaking reading her struggles and I found myself rooting for her early on.
Then there’s John. I fell in love with him in the first book as did Elizabeth. John is one of those characters that just oozes goodness. He’s kind, caring, and loyal. He’s a healer and this aspect defines him. When you think of someone that their whole life is devoted to taking care of others, that is John. At least that was John before the stigma. Now the magic of the stigma is interacting and overshadowing his healer magic. He becomes violent, unkind, and an entirely different person. It’s heartbreaking!
When Blackwell begins sending his men to infiltrate Harrow and kidnap Elizabeth, she comes to one conclusion. She has to go to Blackwell and finish what she started in [b:The Witch Hunter|18190208|The Witch Hunter (The Witch Hunter, #1)|Virginia Boecker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417954350s/18190208.jpg|25592624]. She has to kill him. But it is never as easy as that. Harrow is building an army and Elizabeth must help train it. She is relied on and reviled. She is a necessary evil to the people of Harrow and it’s heartbreaking (have I used that word too much already?!) to read. She’s a different person yet not. She’s still strong, can fight, and is courageous, but she knows she’s no longer invincible, John is with her stigma. And that secret that John is alive must never reach Blackwell.
Overall I really enjoyed this book! It was full of ups and downs. One minute I was happy and smiling and swooning, the next I was angry and hurt, then I was sobbing before finally happy again. Trust me when I say this book is an emotional rollercoaster. I felt for Elizabeth and everything she encounters and dose throughout this book. I was heartbroken over and over again, yet left with hope. I loved the alternative fiction the author has created mixing it with the paranormal of witches and wizards. If you enjoyed the first book, you will enjoy this one. If you enjoy historical fiction and fantasy, I highly recommend you make this your next read!
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I was disappointed that all the serious character work going on between John and Elizabeth was usurped by this "infectious magic" thing, and they never really addressed the moral issues with John's family history and Elizabeth's past in any significant way. It felt a little too good to be true, and that colored a lot of this book. I also struggled with the tone shift and removal of George and Fifer from being true secondary characters, and instead a weird story with the deposed King as Elizabeth's friend now? Never mind that he was assaulting her for years and gave her what read as PTSD, we are supposed to believe that she fully forgives him and considers him a friend by the end of the book? I'm not buying it.