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badgermace 's review for:
The Veiled Kingdom
by Holly Renee
This book and series so far has a lot of issues. I read both this and The Hunted Heir back-to-back to give the series a chance, however, I was not impressed. The best thing I can say about this series is that the books are short. The second ends abruptly, clearly with the intention of stretching it out to a third book (entirely unnecessarily).
Both books could do with a thorough proof read - there were a number of errors throughout and some of the choices were cringe-worthy. I also felt that the timeline of events for the plot was unclear, particularly in the first book. The 'training arc' of the story could take place over a number of days or weeks - I was not entirely sure of which, and the training seems to have been only for the purpose of putting the main characters into forced proximity. It all feels a little rushed, which leaves little time or space for character and relationship development.
A major gripe for me throughout was the overuse of the term 'traitor'. I do not feel that the author understands the meaning of the term and has no interest in exploring what it means the individuals who are branded with it or what the costs of loyalty are. Instead, it is bandied around willy-nilly and made into a pet-name, which set my teeth on edge.
I didn't find either of the main characters particularly compelling and the only thing the book got right was calling the MMC an 'ass'. This is his only real character trait, and I don't think enough work is done in the second book to redeem him from that. The dialogue, particularly during the spice in these books, is highly repetitive and does little to progress the relationships between the characters. The MMC is possessive and sexually aggressive almost from the outset, for reasons that are only very vaguely explained in the second book, and I find this trope problematic, given the power dynamics between the characters in the situation.
Both books could do with a thorough proof read - there were a number of errors throughout and some of the choices were cringe-worthy. I also felt that the timeline of events for the plot was unclear, particularly in the first book. The 'training arc' of the story could take place over a number of days or weeks - I was not entirely sure of which, and the training seems to have been only for the purpose of putting the main characters into forced proximity. It all feels a little rushed, which leaves little time or space for character and relationship development.
A major gripe for me throughout was the overuse of the term 'traitor'. I do not feel that the author understands the meaning of the term and has no interest in exploring what it means the individuals who are branded with it or what the costs of loyalty are. Instead, it is bandied around willy-nilly and made into a pet-name, which set my teeth on edge.
I didn't find either of the main characters particularly compelling and the only thing the book got right was calling the MMC an 'ass'. This is his only real character trait, and I don't think enough work is done in the second book to redeem him from that. The dialogue, particularly during the spice in these books, is highly repetitive and does little to progress the relationships between the characters. The MMC is possessive and sexually aggressive almost from the outset, for reasons that are only very vaguely explained in the second book, and I find this trope problematic, given the power dynamics between the characters in the situation.