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erinarkin20
Secondborn is the first book in Amy Bartol’s new series and admittedly I was a bit nervous about diving into this series strictly because of what happened in the Kricket series. It is safe to say that I was not a fan and it actually made me pause before requesting this new one but I have to say, I was happy I took a chance on this. I will do my best to review without spoilers so apologies in advance if anything sounds vague.
Roselle St. Sismode is the secondborn child to one of the most powerful firstborns in the Republic. Living in a world where secondborns are transitioned into service to the government and answering to the Fates, Roselle is in a bad position and her mother isn’t doing her any favors. Right away, it was clear that her mother was washing her hands of Roselle. She clearly didn’t see her as anything other than a political pawn and a threat to her firstborn son, Gabrielle. It was painful to see what lengths her mother was willing to go to in order to distance Roselle from herself and Gabrielle. Assigned as the lowest level soldier in the fight against the rebellion, Roselle isn’t in a place where her chances for survival are really high.
Roselle was an interesting character. She clearly grew up in a world where she was treated differently due to who her mother was so when she transitioned to her new role, there was an adjustment for her. In addition to that, because of who she was, her whole life was recorded and watched by the Republic so when she does step into her new position, there are people around her who feel like they already know her. Roselle also draws the attention of someone pretty dangerous (dare I say…evil) which immediately creates some complications for her too so to say her transition to her new life was bumpy would probably be an understatement.
The world that Bartol created here was an interesting one. The idea of those considered “lower class” rebelling against the power and influence of those that are in charge isn’t a new one but the structure of the Fates and the Republic in conjunction with the rules and paths these characters are on adds something new to this type of story. The Gates of Dawn is the rebel group taking a stand against everything the Fates stand for and initially they show up here and there in the book but we really got to learn more about them and how actions Roselle takes early on, make an impact later on in the book.
I enjoy a great character driven story and outside of Roselle, the secondary characters were solid. I thought they helped move the story forward well. I want to know more about Dune and I was a little sad we didn’t get more with him. I am really hoping book 2 gives me more of his story. I also mentioned the bad guy earlier…he works for Census, which is a branch of the government tasked with hunting down unauthorized thirdborns. No one likes Census and the fact that she has drawn the attention of what appears to be one of the worst, Agent Kipson Crow, things don’t seem like they are going to go well for her.
Hawthorne Trugrave (I adore this name…seriously) is the man Roselle meets early on in the book. It is clear there was a connection between these two and while I wasn’t sure where Bartol was going with him as a character, I liked how she connected tied his story together and as it all came together, there were pieces that started to make sense. In addition to Hawthorne there is the rest of the “family” that embrace her and I loved how they all helped and protected each other. Especially as things change for Roselle and she is connected to a pretty powerful firstborn, Clifton Salloway, she does whatever she can to get her friends away from the danger of the battlefield. I liked Clifton but it was very obvious he had ulterior motives with everything he did. I will be interested to see what happens with him in the next book.
Overall I enjoyed the first book of this series and I will definitely be checking out book two when it comes out. This one has a solid story and interesting characters. If you like Bartol’s other books I would expect you will like this one too. If you’re like me and had some issues with some of her other books, consider checking this one out. It kept me engaged and wanting to know more around what was going to happen.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.
Roselle St. Sismode is the secondborn child to one of the most powerful firstborns in the Republic. Living in a world where secondborns are transitioned into service to the government and answering to the Fates, Roselle is in a bad position and her mother isn’t doing her any favors. Right away, it was clear that her mother was washing her hands of Roselle. She clearly didn’t see her as anything other than a political pawn and a threat to her firstborn son, Gabrielle. It was painful to see what lengths her mother was willing to go to in order to distance Roselle from herself and Gabrielle. Assigned as the lowest level soldier in the fight against the rebellion, Roselle isn’t in a place where her chances for survival are really high.
Roselle was an interesting character. She clearly grew up in a world where she was treated differently due to who her mother was so when she transitioned to her new role, there was an adjustment for her. In addition to that, because of who she was, her whole life was recorded and watched by the Republic so when she does step into her new position, there are people around her who feel like they already know her. Roselle also draws the attention of someone pretty dangerous (dare I say…evil) which immediately creates some complications for her too so to say her transition to her new life was bumpy would probably be an understatement.
The world that Bartol created here was an interesting one. The idea of those considered “lower class” rebelling against the power and influence of those that are in charge isn’t a new one but the structure of the Fates and the Republic in conjunction with the rules and paths these characters are on adds something new to this type of story. The Gates of Dawn is the rebel group taking a stand against everything the Fates stand for and initially they show up here and there in the book but we really got to learn more about them and how actions Roselle takes early on, make an impact later on in the book.
I enjoy a great character driven story and outside of Roselle, the secondary characters were solid. I thought they helped move the story forward well. I want to know more about Dune and I was a little sad we didn’t get more with him. I am really hoping book 2 gives me more of his story. I also mentioned the bad guy earlier…he works for Census, which is a branch of the government tasked with hunting down unauthorized thirdborns. No one likes Census and the fact that she has drawn the attention of what appears to be one of the worst, Agent Kipson Crow, things don’t seem like they are going to go well for her.
Hawthorne Trugrave (I adore this name…seriously) is the man Roselle meets early on in the book. It is clear there was a connection between these two and while I wasn’t sure where Bartol was going with him as a character, I liked how she connected tied his story together and as it all came together, there were pieces that started to make sense. In addition to Hawthorne there is the rest of the “family” that embrace her and I loved how they all helped and protected each other. Especially as things change for Roselle and she is connected to a pretty powerful firstborn, Clifton Salloway, she does whatever she can to get her friends away from the danger of the battlefield. I liked Clifton but it was very obvious he had ulterior motives with everything he did. I will be interested to see what happens with him in the next book.
Overall I enjoyed the first book of this series and I will definitely be checking out book two when it comes out. This one has a solid story and interesting characters. If you like Bartol’s other books I would expect you will like this one too. If you’re like me and had some issues with some of her other books, consider checking this one out. It kept me engaged and wanting to know more around what was going to happen.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.
Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk is going on record as one of my favorite books read in 2017. There is so much right with this story - as soon as I finished it I wanted to dive into the rest of Attia’s story, so someone needs to make sure that happens. This book has emotion, danger, action and a million other things that prompt me to recommend this and encourage everyone to read it.
Attia was supposed to be a queen but when Thrace is invaded by Rome and the people decimated, the life Attia had planned for is completely changed. Now Attia is a slave and given to Xanthus, the Champion of Rome. Despite his status, Xanthus is not a free man, but he has fought his way up in the ranks of the gladiators and with that status, he is presented with a gift in the form of Attia, from his master (Dominus).
I loved how the relationship developed between Attia and Xanthus. Attia has no reason to trust anyone and at first, she really doesn’t, but as she begins to learn more about where she is and who she is with, she figures out who she can rely on and who she can’t. As a slave, she also understands her choices are non-existent and Xanthus knows exactly what she is going through. He could have very easily become a domineering character, but he gives her the space she needs and allows her to make choices for herself when he can. As Attia and Xanthus become closer, a bond forms and eventually they realize they will do anything to protect the other from harm / danger.
The story revolves around these two characters but there is so much more going on here. As noted in the summary, this is the beginning of the story of Spartacus. Wyk has only touched the surface of the danger and deceit within the Roman empire and Attia and Xanthus are just two people in the midst of a larger story. I am excited to see where Wyk takes the story next.
One of the things I thought Wyk did really well was telling the story of these characters without getting too far down in the weeds of the politics and history. Don’t get me wrong there is some of that, but it doesn’t muddy the story down because in the end, the characters are the focus. There is plenty of action – these are gladiators and gladiators have to fight for their lives all the time. The action adds a layer to this story in that I never knew what was going to happen when someone stepped into the arena. In addition to the action, there was danger and deceit but there was also friendship and love.
In the end, this is an origin story for Spartacus so while we get glimpses into what is to come, we don’t have the full story and while there isn’t anything listed yet in Goodreads, I am hopeful that there is another book coming. Not only do I want the rest of Wyk’s interpretation on Spartacus’ story but I also need to know how things move forward for Attia based on the ending of Blood and Sand. If you don’t have this book on your TBR list yet, go add it now…I’m serious – GO NOW! I’m also serious when I say I will be stalking Wyk’s social media waiting to see if/when a book two is to follow and in the meantime, will have to re-read this book to dig into it all again!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!
Attia was supposed to be a queen but when Thrace is invaded by Rome and the people decimated, the life Attia had planned for is completely changed. Now Attia is a slave and given to Xanthus, the Champion of Rome. Despite his status, Xanthus is not a free man, but he has fought his way up in the ranks of the gladiators and with that status, he is presented with a gift in the form of Attia, from his master (Dominus).
I loved how the relationship developed between Attia and Xanthus. Attia has no reason to trust anyone and at first, she really doesn’t, but as she begins to learn more about where she is and who she is with, she figures out who she can rely on and who she can’t. As a slave, she also understands her choices are non-existent and Xanthus knows exactly what she is going through. He could have very easily become a domineering character, but he gives her the space she needs and allows her to make choices for herself when he can. As Attia and Xanthus become closer, a bond forms and eventually they realize they will do anything to protect the other from harm / danger.
The story revolves around these two characters but there is so much more going on here. As noted in the summary, this is the beginning of the story of Spartacus. Wyk has only touched the surface of the danger and deceit within the Roman empire and Attia and Xanthus are just two people in the midst of a larger story. I am excited to see where Wyk takes the story next.
One of the things I thought Wyk did really well was telling the story of these characters without getting too far down in the weeds of the politics and history. Don’t get me wrong there is some of that, but it doesn’t muddy the story down because in the end, the characters are the focus. There is plenty of action – these are gladiators and gladiators have to fight for their lives all the time. The action adds a layer to this story in that I never knew what was going to happen when someone stepped into the arena. In addition to the action, there was danger and deceit but there was also friendship and love.
In the end, this is an origin story for Spartacus so while we get glimpses into what is to come, we don’t have the full story and while there isn’t anything listed yet in Goodreads, I am hopeful that there is another book coming. Not only do I want the rest of Wyk’s interpretation on Spartacus’ story but I also need to know how things move forward for Attia based on the ending of Blood and Sand. If you don’t have this book on your TBR list yet, go add it now…I’m serious – GO NOW! I’m also serious when I say I will be stalking Wyk’s social media waiting to see if/when a book two is to follow and in the meantime, will have to re-read this book to dig into it all again!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!