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A review by maxarcreads
Poisoned Empire by Elyse Thompson
5.0
Minor spoilers
OMG I loved this book!! It was originally going to be 4.5 stars for me because it was a great book but then the last couple chapters had my heart pounding!!
This book starts off with the Empress of the kingdom on the run with her youngest child as they are being hunted and her children are being un alive. 5 of her older children have already fallen victim to this fate and she is doing everything to save her youngest. However, She and her child are able to survive this horrible night.
We then skip forward in time to 2 of the FMC's Iliana and Selene who are powerful mages in their own right Iliana a metal mage and Selene a poison mage. However, in their kingdom the top of the Foodchain when it comes to mages are those with elemental magic and this is why Selene and Iliana were castaway not just because they were illegitimate but also because they were not elementals. But casting them out was not enough for their noble fathers they also tried to get rid of them permanently. That is until they send bounty hunters finally catch up with them and instead take them hostage to their fathers.
The reason being is that the prince now older and basically in charge of ruling the kingdom has decided to host the bride show which is essentially all the noble women brought before to meet the prince and other nobles in hopes of making a match. However, the reason has brought back this old tradition when he is trying to move the country forward is that he suspects some of his top nobles of being traitors to the crown and may have performed an illegal and corrupted ritual to steal magic most likely from their daughters hence why he wants to see who of the daughters may have had the ritual performed on them.
Which is why Selena and Iliana were captured and taken to their fathers. To impersonate their half-sisters who are "unable" to appear at court. However, it is under threat of their fathers of great harm to them or others if they do not present themselves at court and take attention off their other sisters who are "different". So, off these women go to court to try and survive the task their fathers have given them and also survive being at court.
This book was for me the perfect blend of fantasy, palace intrigue, magic systems and romance. I will say it is light on the spice, but I did not notice as there was so much chemistry between the main characters. This book is multiple POV which usually I don't like as it gets confusing, but I didn't notice and didn't feel confused about the switching of perspectives. Infact, I enjoyed seeing some of the side character's POVs. I loved Selena who is a trickster poison mage which was such a fun play on the grumpy/sunshine trope with her MMC being a very serious gentleman. This was a very enjoyable fantasy read that made me smile and had my heart pounding at times wondering what was going to happen next. TOTALLY RECCOMEND AND CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE NEXT ONE!
OMG I loved this book!! It was originally going to be 4.5 stars for me because it was a great book but then the last couple chapters had my heart pounding!!
This book starts off with the Empress of the kingdom on the run with her youngest child as they are being hunted and her children are being un alive. 5 of her older children have already fallen victim to this fate and she is doing everything to save her youngest. However, She and her child are able to survive this horrible night.
We then skip forward in time to 2 of the FMC's Iliana and Selene who are powerful mages in their own right Iliana a metal mage and Selene a poison mage. However, in their kingdom the top of the Foodchain when it comes to mages are those with elemental magic and this is why Selene and Iliana were castaway not just because they were illegitimate but also because they were not elementals. But casting them out was not enough for their noble fathers they also tried to get rid of them permanently. That is until they send bounty hunters finally catch up with them and instead take them hostage to their fathers.
The reason being is that the prince now older and basically in charge of ruling the kingdom has decided to host the bride show which is essentially all the noble women brought before to meet the prince and other nobles in hopes of making a match. However, the reason has brought back this old tradition when he is trying to move the country forward is that he suspects some of his top nobles of being traitors to the crown and may have performed an illegal and corrupted ritual to steal magic most likely from their daughters hence why he wants to see who of the daughters may have had the ritual performed on them.
Which is why Selena and Iliana were captured and taken to their fathers. To impersonate their half-sisters who are "unable" to appear at court. However, it is under threat of their fathers of great harm to them or others if they do not present themselves at court and take attention off their other sisters who are "different". So, off these women go to court to try and survive the task their fathers have given them and also survive being at court.
This book was for me the perfect blend of fantasy, palace intrigue, magic systems and romance. I will say it is light on the spice, but I did not notice as there was so much chemistry between the main characters. This book is multiple POV which usually I don't like as it gets confusing, but I didn't notice and didn't feel confused about the switching of perspectives. Infact, I enjoyed seeing some of the side character's POVs. I loved Selena who is a trickster poison mage which was such a fun play on the grumpy/sunshine trope with her MMC being a very serious gentleman. This was a very enjoyable fantasy read that made me smile and had my heart pounding at times wondering what was going to happen next. TOTALLY RECCOMEND AND CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE NEXT ONE!