asims723 's review for:

The King's Messenger by Susanna Kearsley
4.75
adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
The King's Messenger is a Historical Fiction novel imbued with romance, Danger, and moral ambiguity. The characters are some of the strongest realized I've read in a historical fiction novel. At first, I was thrown off by the beginning focusing on a pretty scrivener's daughter, but quickly the narrative enraptured me. The extensive author's note at the end explaining the history and reasoning behind everything from her inspiration to the spelling of characters' names was very interesting. I found her storytelling did just enough to keep pressure on the characters without it ever feeling like too much or unrealistic. Even the nod to Second Sight made sense within the context of the narrative, staying true to the times and cultural norms. Though this is not my preferred genre, I really enjoyed reading this novel. 
I started with the audiobook, which was well done, but I needed to switch to reading the ebook to read more quickly for my understanding. It was worth it.
Thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and RB Media for this ARC!
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