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hteph's review
3.0
Well, not bad, but utterly forgettable fantasy of the standard anglosaxian vanilla type. The anachronisms are thus numerous and all the tropes are religiously adhered to.
I keep comparing it to Lynn Flewellings nightrunner series, and keep losing to it (and I wasn't totally sold on that either, but atleast it had it own voice).
I would shelve this as a Eddings substitute, YA for US teens, afraid of sex but ok with clinically clean massmurder.
I may be ruined by Miles Camerons engaging combat scenes (and general level of historical "accuracy" ) but this is really combat on cartoon level.
I have the next book so I wont sneer at the so called plot yet ... but ... *eye-roll*
I keep comparing it to Lynn Flewellings nightrunner series, and keep losing to it (and I wasn't totally sold on that either, but atleast it had it own voice).
I would shelve this as a Eddings substitute, YA for US teens, afraid of sex but ok with clinically clean massmurder.
I may be ruined by Miles Camerons engaging combat scenes (and general level of historical "accuracy" ) but this is really combat on cartoon level.
I have the next book so I wont sneer at the so called plot yet ... but ... *eye-roll*
scottish_kat's review
3.0
A pleasant visit with Royce and Hadrian.
I loved finding out how it all started :)
I loved finding out how it all started :)
faresiology's review
5.0
Now all I need is to read all the books that have Royce and Hadrian in them and my life would be perfect.
metamorphoses's review
4.0
From my previous 4 reads by Michael J Sullivan, what I remembered mostly was :
1 - good fun time
2 - I can tell the reveal/twist 300 pages in advance and that annoys me
Because of that I was going into this one expecting nothing much : a good, easy time. And it was ! But, plot twist : I didn't guess anything long in advance so YAY !
It was a really enjoyable read and I got some more Hadrian/Royce dialogues... Which are actually even better when they still hate each other! I think this one might be my favorite Michael J sullivan to date... I already have the rose and thorne so I'll read that one pretty soon...
1 - good fun time
2 - I can tell the reveal/twist 300 pages in advance and that annoys me
Because of that I was going into this one expecting nothing much : a good, easy time. And it was ! But, plot twist : I didn't guess anything long in advance so YAY !
It was a really enjoyable read and I got some more Hadrian/Royce dialogues... Which are actually even better when they still hate each other! I think this one might be my favorite Michael J sullivan to date... I already have the rose and thorne so I'll read that one pretty soon...
natachareads's review
5.0
4.5
I picked this book after hearing some of my favourite Youtuber recommendations. The especially raved about the friendship in the books and I do love a good friendship in my story. And I wasn’t disappointed. I loved both Hadrian and Royce. Hadrian is the nice ex-soldier that is tiered for killing and don’t quite know what to do with himself and Royce is the mysterious and dark assassin that won’t think twice before cutting your throat. They couldn’t be any different and this is why when they come together they are amazing.
Things I liked:
-The writing was simple and nice, and the plot, as well as the world-building, were also simple which made the story very easy to read and follow. If you do like complicated world-building and magic system though you won't find it here.
-I think I made it clear that I love Hadrian and Royce. They are both amazing and very well written character with their own distinct personality.
-I love seeing them getting to work with each other, and slowly turning this hate to a very strong friendship.
-This is the first book of the prequel series and this was a very nice story to introduce us to were it all started. The plot was simple and easy to follow but did its job.
Things I didn’t like:
-Throughout the story, we jump between Hadrian's and Gwen’s POV. Her POV was interesting but unfortunately, the two stories don't connect until the very last pages. Which, for me, felt like I was reading two different books in one. While reading Gwen's POV I found myself counting the pages to see when I'll be back with my two favourite characters because their story was the one I wanted to be reading about.
I picked this book after hearing some of my favourite Youtuber recommendations. The especially raved about the friendship in the books and I do love a good friendship in my story. And I wasn’t disappointed. I loved both Hadrian and Royce. Hadrian is the nice ex-soldier that is tiered for killing and don’t quite know what to do with himself and Royce is the mysterious and dark assassin that won’t think twice before cutting your throat. They couldn’t be any different and this is why when they come together they are amazing.
Things I liked:
-The writing was simple and nice, and the plot, as well as the world-building, were also simple which made the story very easy to read and follow. If you do like complicated world-building and magic system though you won't find it here.
-I think I made it clear that I love Hadrian and Royce. They are both amazing and very well written character with their own distinct personality.
-I love seeing them getting to work with each other, and slowly turning this hate to a very strong friendship.
-This is the first book of the prequel series and this was a very nice story to introduce us to were it all started. The plot was simple and easy to follow but did its job.
Things I didn’t like:
-Throughout the story, we jump between Hadrian's and Gwen’s POV. Her POV was interesting but unfortunately, the two stories don't connect until the very last pages. Which, for me, felt like I was reading two different books in one. While reading Gwen's POV I found myself counting the pages to see when I'll be back with my two favourite characters because their story was the one I wanted to be reading about.
rocker's review
4.0
I really liked it. It was engaging, action packed and a very quick, fun read. Anybody who wants a quick fix of fantasy and action should read this book. I can't wait to read more from the series. I love bromance. I love camaraderie. I love reading about best friends. This book had all my favourite things.
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