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winnzwordz's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
<strong>Interesting story</strong>
3.5 stars
This was an interesting and unusual story. I didn't care much for the lead, Princess Laetitia, initially. She was rude, brash, and a complete brat. However, her character growth was impressive.
I liked her chemistry, banter, and friendship with the four suitors. However, I felt the romance was too rushed. I didn't really understand her choices at the end.
I would have liked this story more if the plot twist was not completely obvious. I wish the author had only provided subtle hints about the twist.
This is a good story for anyone looking for a fantasy book with diverse characters and a strong female lead.
3.5 stars
This was an interesting and unusual story. I didn't care much for the lead, Princess Laetitia, initially. She was rude, brash, and a complete brat. However, her character growth was impressive.
I liked her chemistry, banter, and friendship with the four suitors. However, I felt the romance was too rushed. I didn't really understand her choices at the end.
I would have liked this story more if the plot twist was not completely obvious. I wish the author had only provided subtle hints about the twist.
This is a good story for anyone looking for a fantasy book with diverse characters and a strong female lead.
constant2m's review
4.0
Sophie Posey's book, The Four Suitors, was a surprise, to say the least. Princess Laetitia was a spoiled brat whose parents attempt to reign her in by bringing in four suitors who must not only woo her but make her proficient in their crafts. What are these crafts? Philosophy, Astronomy, Art, and Necromancy. The four crafts are the beginning of the intrigue, as none are typically taught to a young princess, but this particular princess has stubbornly refused to learn much as she grew up. But even more is at stake. If she doesn't become proficient and in at least one craft as well as choose a suitor within the next six months, her inept cousin will be placed on the throne in her place. Laetitia must now sit through lessons she finds infuriating and useless. To make matters still worse, peasants are dying without explanation and Laetitia's parents seem more interested in her lessons!
Numerous twists in the story kept me engaged and intrigued through my entire read. The personalities of the four men, as well as their particular trades, were not something I've seen combined in fantasy and it worked remarkably well. Additionally, Sophie has a knack of bringing elements and people back into the story just when we've forgotten them. She also took some risks with her characters that were unexpected and mostly worked. Laetitia herself grows from a stubborn, annoying brat to a stubbornly adamant monarch who cares deeply for the people of her kingdom. Each of the suitors was good, none of them fighting against each other, but truly noble in their treatment of Laetitia, their kingdoms, and others in the story. The only reason I didn't give this book five stars was that I disagreed with the way the ending was handled. No spoilers, but it felt like the choice Laetitia made was her way of not choosing, and backward rather than progressive movement in the story. But the reader can decide for themselves whether or not they agree with me.
I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Numerous twists in the story kept me engaged and intrigued through my entire read. The personalities of the four men, as well as their particular trades, were not something I've seen combined in fantasy and it worked remarkably well. Additionally, Sophie has a knack of bringing elements and people back into the story just when we've forgotten them. She also took some risks with her characters that were unexpected and mostly worked. Laetitia herself grows from a stubborn, annoying brat to a stubbornly adamant monarch who cares deeply for the people of her kingdom. Each of the suitors was good, none of them fighting against each other, but truly noble in their treatment of Laetitia, their kingdoms, and others in the story. The only reason I didn't give this book five stars was that I disagreed with the way the ending was handled. No spoilers, but it felt like the choice Laetitia made was her way of not choosing, and backward rather than progressive movement in the story. But the reader can decide for themselves whether or not they agree with me.
I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
booknookbella's review
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
The Four Suitors
Overall: ⭐.5
World: ⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐
Plot: ⭐?
Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐
Spice: N/A
Got 2 books by this author due to the covers and blurbs. They looked and sounded great, but I'm happy I only got the sample for this one because it was a DNF before I even got to the end of that. The princess is probably the least likeable character I've ever encountered. The writing is better in this one than in the novella I read, but I just couldn't deal with the MC.
Overall: ⭐.5
World: ⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐
Plot: ⭐?
Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐
Spice: N/A
Got 2 books by this author due to the covers and blurbs. They looked and sounded great, but I'm happy I only got the sample for this one because it was a DNF before I even got to the end of that. The princess is probably the least likeable character I've ever encountered. The writing is better in this one than in the novella I read, but I just couldn't deal with the MC.
onebookmore's review against another edition
5.0
https://onebookmore.com/2020/02/28/review-the-four-suitors-by-sophie-jupillat-posey/
This standalone tale focuses on Princess Laetitia, the unruly and temperamental only child of a floundering King and Queen. On her seventeenth birthday, she must marry. So, the King and Queen arrange for four suitors with specific specialties to come and work with Laetitia. The man who teachers her best wins her hand.
As Laetitia begrudgingly meets with her suitors, the kingdom is plagued with disease and death. Laetitia, with the help of her suitors, determines to find the cause of her beloved kingdom’s troubles. However, this proves difficult as they are met with conflict at every turn. Can Laetitia and her suitors find out what is plaguing her kingdom? And which suitor will she end up with?
Laetitia is a BRAT for the majority of the book. She is a walking contradiction. Spoiled and obstinate, she also cares deeply for the people of her kingdom. She is proud and loyal but also vain and hurtful. She is strong and ahead of her time, but she is also short-tempered and impertinent. I still don’t know if I like her or hate her. I guess it’s a little bit of both.
She causes so many problems for herself and her people, and it took her a long time to learn empathy in many regards. However, as much as her mean-spirited actions and stubbornness drove me a little crazy, it made it all the more poignant when Laetitia begins to learn and mature. She is independent and wise, and she puts her kingdom ahead of herself. She becomes a clever and strong leader and potential partner.
Speaking of partners, let’s discuss the suitors. Each man is a master in a specific craft – astronomy, philosophy, art, and necromancy. These characters are vividly and deeply developed. From their backgrounds to their knowledge of their craft, the suitors are rich and dynamic. I love that each teaches Laeticia something different about herself and the world around her. They are the catalysts to her growth.
I also liked the supernatural elements of the story. Sir Braxton’s specialty is necromancy, and this part of the story is fascinating! Demons, spirits, and bodies rising from the dead all contribute to the fascinating plot and setting. Plus, Braxton and Laeticia have great chemistry, and his story is intriguing. His mysterious nature is also appealing and in contrast to the other suitors.
This is a fast-paced and intriguing coming-of-age story that contains dynamic characters and excellent messages about trust, friendship, loyalty, and life. Thanks so much to Book Sirens for providing me a copy of this book!
This standalone tale focuses on Princess Laetitia, the unruly and temperamental only child of a floundering King and Queen. On her seventeenth birthday, she must marry. So, the King and Queen arrange for four suitors with specific specialties to come and work with Laetitia. The man who teachers her best wins her hand.
As Laetitia begrudgingly meets with her suitors, the kingdom is plagued with disease and death. Laetitia, with the help of her suitors, determines to find the cause of her beloved kingdom’s troubles. However, this proves difficult as they are met with conflict at every turn. Can Laetitia and her suitors find out what is plaguing her kingdom? And which suitor will she end up with?
Laetitia is a BRAT for the majority of the book. She is a walking contradiction. Spoiled and obstinate, she also cares deeply for the people of her kingdom. She is proud and loyal but also vain and hurtful. She is strong and ahead of her time, but she is also short-tempered and impertinent. I still don’t know if I like her or hate her. I guess it’s a little bit of both.
She causes so many problems for herself and her people, and it took her a long time to learn empathy in many regards. However, as much as her mean-spirited actions and stubbornness drove me a little crazy, it made it all the more poignant when Laetitia begins to learn and mature. She is independent and wise, and she puts her kingdom ahead of herself. She becomes a clever and strong leader and potential partner.
Speaking of partners, let’s discuss the suitors. Each man is a master in a specific craft – astronomy, philosophy, art, and necromancy. These characters are vividly and deeply developed. From their backgrounds to their knowledge of their craft, the suitors are rich and dynamic. I love that each teaches Laeticia something different about herself and the world around her. They are the catalysts to her growth.
I also liked the supernatural elements of the story. Sir Braxton’s specialty is necromancy, and this part of the story is fascinating! Demons, spirits, and bodies rising from the dead all contribute to the fascinating plot and setting. Plus, Braxton and Laeticia have great chemistry, and his story is intriguing. His mysterious nature is also appealing and in contrast to the other suitors.
This is a fast-paced and intriguing coming-of-age story that contains dynamic characters and excellent messages about trust, friendship, loyalty, and life. Thanks so much to Book Sirens for providing me a copy of this book!
sometimesleelynnreads's review
3.0
Full review on my blog Sometimes Leelynn Reads to be posted on June 6th, 2021 at 10am EST.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to BookSirens and Sophie Jupillat Posey for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
Looking at some of the raving reviews I’ve seen on Goodreads, I’m curious to know if this book went through some revisions that I wasn’t privy to. Maybe it did and maybe things got a lot better. Hopefully I’ll get to try out that one and see if Laetitia’s temperament has changed enough to make her somewhat easier to deal with.
Again, nothing is wrong with the plot. For those that like to guess what the plot twist will be or how things are going to end, this one may be easier to guess than most. I personally don’t try to think about that just so I don’t have to feel like the twist was a letdown or whatever, but that’s me. If you are able to get through a book despite not liking the main character, then I suggest giving this a try. You may like it more than me, and if that’s the case I really hope you enjoy this novel. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean that I don’t want anyone to like it. It just isn’t my thing. So despite my opinions on the main character – which really was my biggest problem with the novel – I do suggest at least giving it a chance and taking my thoughts as a grain of salt.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to BookSirens and Sophie Jupillat Posey for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
Looking at some of the raving reviews I’ve seen on Goodreads, I’m curious to know if this book went through some revisions that I wasn’t privy to. Maybe it did and maybe things got a lot better. Hopefully I’ll get to try out that one and see if Laetitia’s temperament has changed enough to make her somewhat easier to deal with.
Again, nothing is wrong with the plot. For those that like to guess what the plot twist will be or how things are going to end, this one may be easier to guess than most. I personally don’t try to think about that just so I don’t have to feel like the twist was a letdown or whatever, but that’s me. If you are able to get through a book despite not liking the main character, then I suggest giving this a try. You may like it more than me, and if that’s the case I really hope you enjoy this novel. Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean that I don’t want anyone to like it. It just isn’t my thing. So despite my opinions on the main character – which really was my biggest problem with the novel – I do suggest at least giving it a chance and taking my thoughts as a grain of salt.
reiyuka's review
1.0
Final thoughts:
While there is an interesting story at the heart of this book, I sadly found little to enjoy about it. The writing style is pleasant enough, tho.
The beginning seemed to drag on forever with exposition that was not particularly necessary for the overal story. I felt like it could have all been put much more concisely. The main character is unlikeable to the max, and while she does have somewhat of a change, she's still not exactly a likeable character at the end.
The climax, which should have felt like a reward after the long, arduous read... fell flat. There were a lot of interesting notions that went unexplored or lacked in impact because the limits of the magic system were unexplored beforehand. A character died without us having any emotional connection to them. The romance felt strained and hollow, even with the twist at the end that could have been interesting. The interesting parts were crammed in a sidenote at the end, pretty much.
Now, all this is to say that this book COULD be pretty good, with some heavy editing to ensure the "show, don't tell" rule is followed. But for now it was a struggle to complete, for me, and I only completed it because I had an advanced reading copy from BookSirens. Do with that as you will.
While there is an interesting story at the heart of this book, I sadly found little to enjoy about it. The writing style is pleasant enough, tho.
The beginning seemed to drag on forever with exposition that was not particularly necessary for the overal story. I felt like it could have all been put much more concisely. The main character is unlikeable to the max, and while she does have somewhat of a change, she's still not exactly a likeable character at the end.
The climax, which should have felt like a reward after the long, arduous read... fell flat. There were a lot of interesting notions that went unexplored or lacked in impact because the limits of the magic system were unexplored beforehand. A character died without us having any emotional connection to them. The romance felt strained and hollow, even with the twist at the end that could have been interesting. The interesting parts were crammed in a sidenote at the end, pretty much.
Now, all this is to say that this book COULD be pretty good, with some heavy editing to ensure the "show, don't tell" rule is followed. But for now it was a struggle to complete, for me, and I only completed it because I had an advanced reading copy from BookSirens. Do with that as you will.
kasfire's review
3.0
3/5 Stars
I have immensely mixed feelings about this novel. It was an interesting premise, but there was so much lacking in the book itself.
I honestly hated the main character. Laetitia was a spoiled brat throughout the entire thing. I get in the prologue she was eleven. But at seventeen? Ugh. Plus the main villain was barely in it and the explanations were pretty quick. I would've enjoyed his wrath being more pervasive in the story.
The suitors were all okay I suppose. They were kind of lackluster and mildly forgettable. The end was cute but predictable.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy from BookSirens.
I have immensely mixed feelings about this novel. It was an interesting premise, but there was so much lacking in the book itself.
I honestly hated the main character. Laetitia was a spoiled brat throughout the entire thing. I get in the prologue she was eleven. But at seventeen? Ugh. Plus the main villain was barely in it and the explanations were pretty quick. I would've enjoyed his wrath being more pervasive in the story.
The suitors were all okay I suppose. They were kind of lackluster and mildly forgettable. The end was cute but predictable.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy from BookSirens.
melisbookreviews's review against another edition
5.0
Great queens didn’t need men, especially men weaker than them.
onebookmore's review
5.0
https://onebookmore.com/2020/02/28/review-the-four-suitors-by-sophie-jupillat-posey/
This standalone tale focuses on Princess Laetitia, the unruly and temperamental only child of a floundering King and Queen. On her seventeenth birthday, she must marry. So, the King and Queen arrange for four suitors with specific specialties to come and work with Laetitia. The man who teachers her best wins her hand.
As Laetitia begrudgingly meets with her suitors, the kingdom is plagued with disease and death. Laetitia, with the help of her suitors, determines to find the cause of her beloved kingdom’s troubles. However, this proves difficult as they are met with conflict at every turn. Can Laetitia and her suitors find out what is plaguing her kingdom? And which suitor will she end up with?
Laetitia is a BRAT for the majority of the book. She is a walking contradiction. Spoiled and obstinate, she also cares deeply for the people of her kingdom. She is proud and loyal but also vain and hurtful. She is strong and ahead of her time, but she is also short-tempered and impertinent. I still don’t know if I like her or hate her. I guess it’s a little bit of both.
She causes so many problems for herself and her people, and it took her a long time to learn empathy in many regards. However, as much as her mean-spirited actions and stubbornness drove me a little crazy, it made it all the more poignant when Laetitia begins to learn and mature. She is independent and wise, and she puts her kingdom ahead of herself. She becomes a clever and strong leader and potential partner.
Speaking of partners, let’s discuss the suitors. Each man is a master in a specific craft – astronomy, philosophy, art, and necromancy. These characters are vividly and deeply developed. From their backgrounds to their knowledge of their craft, the suitors are rich and dynamic. I love that each teaches Laeticia something different about herself and the world around her. They are the catalysts to her growth.
I also liked the supernatural elements of the story. Sir Braxton’s specialty is necromancy, and this part of the story is fascinating! Demons, spirits, and bodies rising from the dead all contribute to the fascinating plot and setting. Plus, Braxton and Laeticia have great chemistry, and his story is intriguing. His mysterious nature is also appealing and in contrast to the other suitors.
This is a fast-paced and intriguing coming-of-age story that contains dynamic characters and excellent messages about trust, friendship, loyalty, and life. Thanks so much to Book Sirens for providing me a copy of this book!
This standalone tale focuses on Princess Laetitia, the unruly and temperamental only child of a floundering King and Queen. On her seventeenth birthday, she must marry. So, the King and Queen arrange for four suitors with specific specialties to come and work with Laetitia. The man who teachers her best wins her hand.
As Laetitia begrudgingly meets with her suitors, the kingdom is plagued with disease and death. Laetitia, with the help of her suitors, determines to find the cause of her beloved kingdom’s troubles. However, this proves difficult as they are met with conflict at every turn. Can Laetitia and her suitors find out what is plaguing her kingdom? And which suitor will she end up with?
Laetitia is a BRAT for the majority of the book. She is a walking contradiction. Spoiled and obstinate, she also cares deeply for the people of her kingdom. She is proud and loyal but also vain and hurtful. She is strong and ahead of her time, but she is also short-tempered and impertinent. I still don’t know if I like her or hate her. I guess it’s a little bit of both.
She causes so many problems for herself and her people, and it took her a long time to learn empathy in many regards. However, as much as her mean-spirited actions and stubbornness drove me a little crazy, it made it all the more poignant when Laetitia begins to learn and mature. She is independent and wise, and she puts her kingdom ahead of herself. She becomes a clever and strong leader and potential partner.
Speaking of partners, let’s discuss the suitors. Each man is a master in a specific craft – astronomy, philosophy, art, and necromancy. These characters are vividly and deeply developed. From their backgrounds to their knowledge of their craft, the suitors are rich and dynamic. I love that each teaches Laeticia something different about herself and the world around her. They are the catalysts to her growth.
I also liked the supernatural elements of the story. Sir Braxton’s specialty is necromancy, and this part of the story is fascinating! Demons, spirits, and bodies rising from the dead all contribute to the fascinating plot and setting. Plus, Braxton and Laeticia have great chemistry, and his story is intriguing. His mysterious nature is also appealing and in contrast to the other suitors.
This is a fast-paced and intriguing coming-of-age story that contains dynamic characters and excellent messages about trust, friendship, loyalty, and life. Thanks so much to Book Sirens for providing me a copy of this book!
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