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nisha13's review against another edition
1.0
Unnecessary rape plot that came out of nowhere and pretty much tuined the story for me. The world was dark and serious enough already, this added nothing. It happens 93% (kindle ed) into the story so the characters are given no time to process it or properly deal with it.
The same problem with a whole load of other side plots and characters introduced way too late and given no room for resolution of any kind. The author should have kept it smaller and resolved better. The first half of the book was fantastic I expected to give ot 4 to 5 stars. Disappointing
The same problem with a whole load of other side plots and characters introduced way too late and given no room for resolution of any kind. The author should have kept it smaller and resolved better. The first half of the book was fantastic I expected to give ot 4 to 5 stars. Disappointing
sil_the_lobster's review against another edition
4.0
What a delightful read! This is your classical adventure tale, with knights and ladies and romance and magic and swords. Just... the dashing hero of this book is a dashing heroine, a not-so-subtle nod towards the fantastic Brienne of Tarth and every bit as stunning. I fell madly in love with both Rhiannon and Eleanor and I wish this book was part 1 of a trilogy because I'd love to read more about these two.
The second half seems a bit rushed, sadly, and I'd have liked to learn more about Rhiannon's magic sword, and although I didn't like Geoffrey and his son Ralph, their combined evilness came rather suddenly. They aren't mentioned all that much over the course of the book and then they're in your face and you wonder where on earth that came from.
All in all, the wee frowning moments didn't spoil my reading fun and I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves classical knight tales. With a twist.
Four out of five stars.
The second half seems a bit rushed, sadly, and I'd have liked to learn more about Rhiannon's magic sword, and although I didn't like Geoffrey and his son Ralph, their combined evilness came rather suddenly. They aren't mentioned all that much over the course of the book and then they're in your face and you wonder where on earth that came from.
All in all, the wee frowning moments didn't spoil my reading fun and I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves classical knight tales. With a twist.
Four out of five stars.
magnetgrrl's review against another edition
3.0
I don't really have a shelf for historical fiction, because I don't read a lot of it, but this felt more like that genre than just another fantasy novel. Even though there's magic and gods I don't recognize, there's also a pretty accurate depiction of a sort of medieval England/Europe with knights, and the crusades. Well, I'm certainly no expert but it felt more real to me than a lot of fantasy I've read lately, and it was pretty gritty. The only glaringly not real thing was, of course, the entire reason I was reading this - there's a lady knight, who starts shacking up with a wealthy widowed lady baroness or duchess or something. That would, obviously, never have happened back then for reals, but everything else felt pretty spot on - even if not actually historically accurate it certainly was believable and read that way.
The only bummer about this is, it just sort of ends abruptly with a lot of stuff unresolved. I was assuming that meant there's another book out or yet to come out, but haven't heard anything. I'll likely read it, if it exists, when I can find it though.
This seems like the type of book that the Vaginal Fantasy book club would read - except it's queer-themed and I am under the impression they only read more straight genre smut. It's too bad though - I've read a bunch of lesbian fantasy novels lately!
The only bummer about this is, it just sort of ends abruptly with a lot of stuff unresolved. I was assuming that meant there's another book out or yet to come out, but haven't heard anything. I'll likely read it, if it exists, when I can find it though.
This seems like the type of book that the Vaginal Fantasy book club would read - except it's queer-themed and I am under the impression they only read more straight genre smut. It's too bad though - I've read a bunch of lesbian fantasy novels lately!
rilester's review against another edition
4.0
The ending is rather abrupt but I guess the book has to end somehow. Other than that this is a solid book
kaleymack's review against another edition
5.0
Aa far as lesbian romance novels go, this one has it all. (Lady) Knights in shining armor, an amazing backstory, plenty of jumping around between characters, damsels who are not in distress but instead kick all of the ass. It's a must-read.
lunarxcross's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. I want to give it five stars. I really liked both heroines. Though, if I have to choose between the I would pick Rhiannon as my favorite. But, the ending feels rushed. The story line about the crusade, Aveline and Cecily's marriage are left up in the air and I hear that the author isn't going to do a sequel. The romantic relationship between Rhiannon and Eleanor is very fulfilling, but I wish we'd got more of an ending for the two of them. They end up together, but there are so many questions left about how the future will proceed for them that I would have liked more book. For these reason I cannot give a five stars, but a solid four stars, as long as people are our with the fact that there are some loose ends at the conclusion.
houxli's review
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
rogue_lurker's review against another edition
4.0
I liked Broken Wings so much, I ended up picking this one up as well. This book is quite different. There's romance, but there's quite a bit of adventure, sorcery and all that other good stuff that you find in a high fantasy and it definitely has a dark edge to it . Rhiannon is a female knight in a feudal society where such a thing is unknown. Upon returning from a war in an another empire, she is swept up into plots and battles and finds herself drawn to a wealthy widow. There's quite a bit of action and intrigue, the story moves along at a fast pace and the world is gritty and realistic - populated by quite a few nasty folks and situations. I've read on some forums that Baker isn't intending on writing a sequel for this book - which makes me grind my teeth. There were so many things set in motion in the book, this should be the first of a trilogy (at least ... perhaps more). I know that it's up to the author, but she's laid some very good groundwork and sown all kinds of hints of things to come. Good book though.
synth's review
2.0
Surprisingly not that bad. I was extremely skeptical beforehand, because of the cover, summary, and usual quality of such stories.
Someone mentioned that the story takes a bad or dull turn at the half mark, but I actually liked that not-at-all-surprising turn of event. As much as I agree in the sense that the more feminine of the two main characters in love ends being depicted basically and uncharaceristically as little more than a damsel in distress longing for her strong honorable knight; it was, in my opinion, a realistic difficulty to surmount for our main characters, very much in keeping with the priestess conniving schemes. Although the unnecessary and, to be fair, lazy writing trope used –in line with the chosen damsel-in-distress/honorable-knight atmosphere of the second part–(the more feminine main character being raped, and her knightly love getting revenge) to resolve everything was awful and dropped my rating, even had it not been too abrupt and almost-unresolved.
The writing is fairly good. The characters are mostly well fleshed out, and the dialogue well-crafted. The story doesn't get dull, although the priestess' storyline feels side stepped by the others in the second half.
I also command the author for not making the romance the entire focus of the book, but still not merely a detail, with political intrigue woven in, in a world that is decently built, with enough complexity to be believable (rather than realistic, i.e. don't read it if you're looking for the kind of complexity you'd get in The traitor Baru Cormorant for example).
Someone mentioned that the story takes a bad or dull turn at the half mark, but I actually liked that not-at-all-surprising turn of event. As much as I agree in the sense that the more feminine of the two main characters in love ends being depicted basically and uncharaceristically as little more than a damsel in distress longing for her strong honorable knight; it was, in my opinion, a realistic difficulty to surmount for our main characters, very much in keeping with the priestess conniving schemes. Although the unnecessary and, to be fair, lazy writing trope used –in line with the chosen damsel-in-distress/honorable-knight atmosphere of the second part–
The writing is fairly good. The characters are mostly well fleshed out, and the dialogue well-crafted. The story doesn't get dull, although the priestess' storyline feels side stepped by the others in the second half.
I also command the author for not making the romance the entire focus of the book, but still not merely a detail, with political intrigue woven in, in a world that is decently built, with enough complexity to be believable (rather than realistic, i.e. don't read it if you're looking for the kind of complexity you'd get in The traitor Baru Cormorant for example).