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malima 's review for:
A Vow So Bold and Deadly
by Brigid Kemmerer
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A vow So Bold and Deadly is following up on the conflicts set up in the two previous books.
Lilith is still the main antagonist, Emberfall and Syhl Shallow are still at the brink of war, the relationship between Rhen and Grey still fractured, the relationship between Rhen and Harper tense, Lia Mara tries to establish herself as queen with a differing style of ruling than the one of her mother and sister, Grey tries to establish trust in Syhl Shallow and with Lia Mara's soldiers. All around a tense situation and a lot of conflicts to be solved.
In the end, these conflicts were solved.
I always find it hard to talk about this type of book in a review, because this is what I want from a fantasy epos, the conflict, the politics, the intrigues, the magic, the human, but I can't seem to find the words to put into why I liked this in a way that is useful to anyone but me (or even to me in the future).
I can say in general terms that following two sides of a war, both of which don't want this war (or even when they do) is always interesting, so many different needs and wants warring with each others.
The idea of siblings on different sides (and in this book it's two and sometimes even three pairs of them) is also something that appeals to me, love and differences coexisting.
This series does these things well, but also many more.
The only thing that really bothered me is that in book 2 Rhen did something I didn't think he and his relationships could come back from, and I think at points the resolution of this was made quite easy, and while I think it's a valid point to move forward and give him a possibility to make better choices in the future, the whole "Should one bad action wipe out a thousand good ones?" didn't do it for me when the one bad action was THAT. When it was just one character I thought "why not, not everything is rational, and characters can be different from me", but it seemed to be the whole message at the end, which rubbed me the wrong way. There's more nuance to these thoughts which are way beyond the scope of this review, but the way this concept was presented in the book didn't sit well with me.
Still, I am mostly satisfied with the ending and the overall conclusion of the story.
As I said above, the politics, the drama, the intrigue, the emotions, and the relationships (except for that one thing I mentioned), as well as the magic, were very interesting, convincing, and kept me going with held breath until the very end.
Great series.
Lilith is still the main antagonist, Emberfall and Syhl Shallow are still at the brink of war, the relationship between Rhen and Grey still fractured, the relationship between Rhen and Harper tense, Lia Mara tries to establish herself as queen with a differing style of ruling than the one of her mother and sister, Grey tries to establish trust in Syhl Shallow and with Lia Mara's soldiers. All around a tense situation and a lot of conflicts to be solved.
In the end, these conflicts were solved.
I always find it hard to talk about this type of book in a review, because this is what I want from a fantasy epos, the conflict, the politics, the intrigues, the magic, the human, but I can't seem to find the words to put into why I liked this in a way that is useful to anyone but me (or even to me in the future).
I can say in general terms that following two sides of a war, both of which don't want this war (or even when they do) is always interesting, so many different needs and wants warring with each others.
The idea of siblings on different sides (and in this book it's two and sometimes even three pairs of them) is also something that appeals to me, love and differences coexisting.
This series does these things well, but also many more.
The only thing that really bothered me is that in book 2 Rhen did something I didn't think he and his relationships could come back from, and I think at points the resolution of this was made quite easy, and while I think it's a valid point to move forward and give him a possibility to make better choices in the future, the whole "Should one bad action wipe out a thousand good ones?" didn't do it for me when the one bad action was THAT. When it was just one character I thought "why not, not everything is rational, and characters can be different from me", but it seemed to be the whole message at the end, which rubbed me the wrong way. There's more nuance to these thoughts which are way beyond the scope of this review, but the way this concept was presented in the book didn't sit well with me.
Still, I am mostly satisfied with the ending and the overall conclusion of the story.
As I said above, the politics, the drama, the intrigue, the emotions, and the relationships (except for that one thing I mentioned), as well as the magic, were very interesting, convincing, and kept me going with held breath until the very end.
Great series.