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A review by bentheoverlordsbooks
Axios: A Spartan Tale by Jaclyn Osborn
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
So this is a complicated review to write but what I liked I loved and what I didn't, I didnt haha. So firstly what I loved, I loved the first chunk of the book with Axios in Spartan training and his burgeoning romance, I loved his friendship with Haden, Quill and Theon, their bond and banter was a lot of fun and I really loved seeing them throughout the book, and watching them grow. I also loved the scenes with the young King, he was a great character for the page time he had and I really liked that he seemed like a genuinely great leader. I also really liked the ending, it was well foreshadowed throughout, and knowing the history of the time I kinda knew what was coming. I also loved the way stories were used within the text.
So now for my gripes, there is one tiny gripe and one that is much larger. My tiny gripe is I kinda got bored with sex scenes, I just felt there were too many in such a short space of time, and they all felt very samey so I just would tune out and do other things. My much larger gripe and also the reason I will not be reading book 2 (which Ive found out is just this book from his pov) is Eryx. I wanted to love Eryx and he started off annoying but I was hoping he'd grow over the story but man was I wrong. He was such a possessive alpha man that I just couldnt with him. He was also so caught up on the fact his father had a dishonorable death that he himself became this charicature of everything wrong with Spartan culture. He was such a conformist that I just couldnt with him, and no point did he ever begin to question any of his beliefs, even the ones he had from childhood. I also hated how jealous either of them got when other men spoke to the other, but Eryx was specifically bad, because hed almost blame Axios for it, which I just wasnt feeling.
I will read more from Osborn, I really liked her writing and her other characters, so Im hoping that her other books are just one "smol bean" (although Axios can look after himself) and one alpha arse.
So now for my gripes, there is one tiny gripe and one that is much larger. My tiny gripe is I kinda got bored with sex scenes, I just felt there were too many in such a short space of time, and they all felt very samey so I just would tune out and do other things. My much larger gripe and also the reason I will not be reading book 2 (which Ive found out is just this book from his pov) is Eryx. I wanted to love Eryx and he started off annoying but I was hoping he'd grow over the story but man was I wrong. He was such a possessive alpha man that I just couldnt with him. He was also so caught up on the fact his father had a dishonorable death that he himself became this charicature of everything wrong with Spartan culture. He was such a conformist that I just couldnt with him, and no point did he ever begin to question any of his beliefs, even the ones he had from childhood. I also hated how jealous either of them got when other men spoke to the other, but Eryx was specifically bad, because hed almost blame Axios for it, which I just wasnt feeling.
I will read more from Osborn, I really liked her writing and her other characters, so Im hoping that her other books are just one "smol bean" (although Axios can look after himself) and one alpha arse.