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A review by josy
Axios: A Spartan Tale by Jaclyn Osborn
3.0
Sooo... I really don't know what happened here and what caused Karen and I to end up in the box of shame because literally all our GR friends loved this story to pieces and we struggled so much and at times were so bored that we got distracted by other things while reading this book.
And I really don't get it because
a) I loved not only the MCs but all of the characters in this book
b) it was an interesting time period that isn't often seen in romance
c) I appreciated the effort the author clearly made to make this book as historically accurate as possible. Even though I don't know much about this time, I recognized a lot of things I've read in other historical texts.
It's true that I often shy away from historical romance. There's no specific reason for that and the few that I have read I rated between 3 and 5 stars. For example, I really liked KJ Charles's Society of Gentlemen series and Kaje Harper's Into Deep Waters made me bawl my eyes out. I have also read non-fictional books from different time periods including Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, the Medici family, Napoléon Bonaparte, and WWII. So even if historical fiction/non-fiction is not my usual reading material, it's not that this has been my first one and I don't think that the time period had anything to do with why I couldn't connect with this story.
I think this book was well written and although I don't like time jumps in my books, here it worked well to keep the story going. This story spans a time frame of 25 years and without a time jump every now and then, it surely would have been too drawn out. What I did notice was that the language sometimes sounded too contemporary for the time period. I didn't mind that because I have a feeling I would have had an even harder time reading this had it been written in an 'old tongue' but maybe it bothers readers who expect 100% historical accuracy.
So you see, there were a lot of things I liked. The writing was good, the time period was intersting, and the MCs were great. I liked seeing them go from strangers to friends to lovers - earning each other's trust, discovering their sexuality together, having each other's back at all times, talking about their dreams and fears. There were a lot of lovely words and phrases that described the love they felt for each other, their families and brothers in arms. But sadly for me, that's all they were: pretty words. For whatever reason, they didn't connect with me and sounded hollow. They didn't evoke the emotions the author surely wanted me to feel. Karen used the word 'detached' in her review and I think that describes it perfectly. And I guess that's also the reason why the ending, although awesome and true to the story, just made my eyes burn a little whereas I would have been a sobbing mess at other times.
Karen and I felt almost broken when we didn't see the epic love story our friends have seen and I was so relieved to have her by my side and to not be alone with my cold-hearted feelings, lol! So if you are interested in reading this book, just look at all the awesome reviews already written about it and remember that we two are most likely the odd ones out. If you feel the same, though, we welcome you to join us in our box of shame :)
And I really don't get it because
a) I loved not only the MCs but all of the characters in this book
b) it was an interesting time period that isn't often seen in romance
c) I appreciated the effort the author clearly made to make this book as historically accurate as possible. Even though I don't know much about this time, I recognized a lot of things I've read in other historical texts.
It's true that I often shy away from historical romance. There's no specific reason for that and the few that I have read I rated between 3 and 5 stars. For example, I really liked KJ Charles's Society of Gentlemen series and Kaje Harper's Into Deep Waters made me bawl my eyes out. I have also read non-fictional books from different time periods including Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, the Medici family, Napoléon Bonaparte, and WWII. So even if historical fiction/non-fiction is not my usual reading material, it's not that this has been my first one and I don't think that the time period had anything to do with why I couldn't connect with this story.
I think this book was well written and although I don't like time jumps in my books, here it worked well to keep the story going. This story spans a time frame of 25 years and without a time jump every now and then, it surely would have been too drawn out. What I did notice was that the language sometimes sounded too contemporary for the time period. I didn't mind that because I have a feeling I would have had an even harder time reading this had it been written in an 'old tongue' but maybe it bothers readers who expect 100% historical accuracy.
So you see, there were a lot of things I liked. The writing was good, the time period was intersting, and the MCs were great. I liked seeing them go from strangers to friends to lovers - earning each other's trust, discovering their sexuality together, having each other's back at all times, talking about their dreams and fears. There were a lot of lovely words and phrases that described the love they felt for each other, their families and brothers in arms. But sadly for me, that's all they were: pretty words. For whatever reason, they didn't connect with me and sounded hollow. They didn't evoke the emotions the author surely wanted me to feel. Karen used the word 'detached' in her review and I think that describes it perfectly. And I guess that's also the reason why the ending, although awesome and true to the story, just made my eyes burn a little whereas I would have been a sobbing mess at other times.
Karen and I felt almost broken when we didn't see the epic love story our friends have seen and I was so relieved to have her by my side and to not be alone with my cold-hearted feelings, lol! So if you are interested in reading this book, just look at all the awesome reviews already written about it and remember that we two are most likely the odd ones out. If you feel the same, though, we welcome you to join us in our box of shame :)