Reviews

Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon

the_kara_kara's review

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Murder

howfardoesthisgo's review

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

fyarae's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

A very comfy and homey feeling read. 

marx's review

very fun :) 

melinalovesbooks's review

4.0

Great character building and overall story. Some bits were a bit of a drag in the beginning though.

evesnowfall's review

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Classic princess/bodyguard romance with a good helping of Hidden Identity and a Plot to Steal the Throne

venusdemilo's review

2.0

plot was straightforward and the sex scenes were basic. kudos for featuring a butch/femme relationship, though.

frankvanmeer's review

3.0

When I started this book, I was afraid I picked up YA novel. The protagonists are young (mid to late teens) in the beginning, but the story spans nearly four years, so it's basically a coming of age story, wrapped up in a fantasy setting.

It wasn't all that bad as later on the story became a bit more harsh and nearly every topic is covered, from murder, rape, torture, sex, politics and an impossible romance. Yet, it has many flaws and sometimes the writing borders on the naive, but I could see what the author was trying to do.

So, if you can overlook some implausible plotlines, continuity errors and a deus ex machina device near the end, it is an entertaining story. Fans of "hard" fantasy should look elsewhere, probably the Valaerina Godesses series by Cassandra Duffy or maybe the Katya and Starbride series by Barbara Ann Wright.

cerylia's review

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

gewaechshausgeist's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

(Could be seen as a spoiler but there is a pretty graphic sexual assault/rape scenen in the book!)