kewlkat70's Reviews (250)

The books blurb was never very interesting to me.  But I was kind of in the mood for an academy based RH book.  They can be a mixed bag and the last few I DNF.  

Off the bat I felt this may be another DNF as the MFC was so introverted and socially awkward that I thought i was in for pages of why me and I'm not good enough whining.  But she actually has some backbone and sass and pushes back against her bullies.  
The rest of the book reads easily although there are many male characters to keep track of.  The magical elements are purposely obtuse. The magic is innate and can't be easily wielded and is gifted somewhat randomly.  The characters may be away of special skills and talents but they don't know the extent of them.  Are they cursed or gifted?  
Not much is revealed in this first book of the series but enough mysteries are present to make me interested to continue. 

There is very little spice in the first book. This is a rare occurrence for a RH book!  

The entire series is so enjoyable!  The characters are loveable and while the last book is more of a cozy monster romance than an exciting adventure story, the entire arc of the series brings the conflict.  This is more like  the happily ever after book. 

The author has promised some bonus material in the future to return to this world and I am looking forward to it 

I am always amazed this writer does not receive more attention from the romantasy crowd.   

12 Gods 12 challenges.  Even the author got bored of the concept when she made the protagonist go into a coma in order to miss 3 of them. 

This is a book that should have been on the shelf for younger readers but they slipped in one sex scene for reasons.   But don't worry the main character, who has never been kissed before, is sooooooo good at the sex she brings a god to his knees.  
There are other characters or at least card board cut outs of characters.  I took an additional .5 star off as her Canadian character actually used the word "hoser". 

Also, if you are going to write about the Greek Gods make sure you get the basic details correct.  She got some details ok but then refers to Aphrodite and Hades as siblings.  I can accept changing some of the details to make your story work but this detail was just dumb. 

I can't believe I finished this book but to be honest it started out with promise.  The writing isn't horrible and the set up to the so called crucible or competition had some interesting aspects.  But it looks like just as the reader got bored, so did the author.  

I won't be reading any more books in this series.  

I don't know if it's the wrong time or the wrong book but I just can't get into the main character.   
Also this is more fantasy in space with necromancy so I can't get beyond the Warhammer 40k aspect.  Not my cup of tea 

This book is a tense story through the world of The Bridge Kingdom full of intrigue and politics.  

The good part is that the machinations of the Harrendale kingdom are so unpredictable that as soon as one secret plan is seemin ly uncovered a second one is revealed with new motivations and players.  

The hard part is that I don't find Anna a particularly likable protagonist, especially in the beginning. It may be that she was written to be that way.  She is a woman of action and stubbornness who does not have the patience or subtlety of mind to play the games of politics and court intrigue. She is constantly surprised by the people around her as she tries to make moves and is outmaneuvered at every turn. She is the most arrogant of characters especially her behaviour towards Lara as her righteousness drives her hatred and lack of forgiveness.   She resents Aran for choosing Lara and refuses to see Lara as conflicted or capable of change.  

It's not until the last chapters that she even begines to understand the situation that Lara found herself in and that she may need to take similar steps to save herself and her country.  It's a hard lesson and Anna is stupidly obstinate throughout the book and makes many selfish choices believing she is doing the right thing but only creating a bigger divide between nations. 

The book ends on a cliffhanger so we will need to wait for the sequel to find out if she is ready to accept herself and make better choices for her future.  

While there is a romance storyline here it won't be resolved through a grand rescue of her love interest as in the other books.   Perhaps she will need to be rescued but more likely she will need to learn exactly who she is beyond a fighter.  

I listened rather than read this book and it was difficult to get into at first.  This is the first book by T. kingfisher that I have read and there is an established world introduced in previous novels, although this is a different city and different characters.  So it's not necessary to read other books before this one.    The reader is dropped into a world that already exists and is assumed to understand how the artisan guilds, gods and temple structure work and various artisan and craft magics available to this world's denizens.   
For example non human creatures like gnolls and golems appear but there is very little explanation as to what they are or their purpose.  They are not unique to the fantasy genre so for readers who are real read none of this will be a problem 

The world is balanced between magic and science so it gives the novel an almost steampunk atmosphere.  Clockwork machines, alchemy and animated humunculi are referred to throughout the novel. 

Each novel in the series takes on a different couple and their story with a secondary plotline that was not resolved in the first novel so I am assuming it will continue as a connecting thread for all 4 novels. 

The main characters are older and more experienced than most romantasy novels.  This feels like a relief to me as an older reader that is tired of the virgin trope.  

Both characters are introverted and awkward, stunning over what to say and usually saying the wrong thing.  I'm sure there are plenty of readers that will feel akin to their struggles.  There are enough interactions with characters that will take centre stage in future books that demonstrate this will not always be the case.  Although all characters skew older and experienced.

The spice is a slow burn and overall  🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of 5.   

I am looking forward to reading more of this world

This book is certainly delightful and the way "actual" fairy stories are weaved into the narrative is interesting. In fact the epistolary.structure of the writing (well it is journal entries not letters ) as well as the footnotes make this a unique experience.  

All in all it is more suited as a children's novel.  There isn't much of a storyline. It's cute and light hearted.