I had high expectations for this book after following McSpadden's publishing journey on Instagram. I liked the basic premise and some of the characters started to grow on me, but overall nothing really grabbed and held my attention. Additionally, while I love Easter eggs and nods to other popular works, the ones in Praetorian Rising were quite blatant, surprisingly numerous, and distracted from the story. I felt this story needed a bit more fleshing out and another proofreading pass.

With that said, congratulations to McSpadden on her debut work! I know she is working on book two in this series, and I wish her all the best in her writing journey.