Scan barcode
A review by vwalklate
The Fires of Treason by Michele Quirke
4.0
This is a well-written historical novel featuring a royal brother and sister as the main characters. The worldbuilding is fantastic; the author cleverly weaves the history, politics and religion of the fictional country of Caracalla in with the rest of 16th century Europe.
The best thing about this story was the bond between the two siblings, Gregory and Elizabeth. The latter accompanies the former into exile when he is banished by their father the king and evil older sister. What follows are plenty of (very relatable!) arguments between the siblings, who take out their fears and worries on each other while still always having each others backs. I actually laughed out loud at some of their interactions, as they were so realistic, and the overall trust and devotion between them was lovely to read. Some of their conversations went on a bit long for my liking, and it did feel in places like they were arguing about the same thing repeatedly (which again I guess is very realistic for siblings!), but when the action happened it was hard-hitting and didn't hold back.
I prefer books with romantic elements for the MCs and would have liked to see poor Greg in particular have some luck in that regard. But there is definitely more to come in this series so perhaps I'll get my wish. All in all this was a great historical read and I look forward to the next book :)
The best thing about this story was the bond between the two siblings, Gregory and Elizabeth. The latter accompanies the former into exile when he is banished by their father the king and evil older sister. What follows are plenty of (very relatable!) arguments between the siblings, who take out their fears and worries on each other while still always having each others backs. I actually laughed out loud at some of their interactions, as they were so realistic, and the overall trust and devotion between them was lovely to read. Some of their conversations went on a bit long for my liking, and it did feel in places like they were arguing about the same thing repeatedly (which again I guess is very realistic for siblings!), but when the action happened it was hard-hitting and didn't hold back.
I prefer books with romantic elements for the MCs and would have liked to see poor Greg in particular have some luck in that regard. But there is definitely more to come in this series so perhaps I'll get my wish. All in all this was a great historical read and I look forward to the next book :)