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A review by alchemizaak
Kingsbane by Claire Legrand
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Honestly I didn't know what to give this book at first. I think the thing that kept it from being a 3 star book for me was Eliana. She really saved the day with her parts of the story and though I liked her in the first book, this one really made me fall even more in love with her.
I also liked the different POVs that would occasionally pop up in this book, it made the story feel a bit more fleshed out and I enjoyed reading what other characters were doing and what they were thinking as the events of the book took place, and I feel like they were used sparingly enough that it didn't disrupt the flow from Rielle's and Eliana's POVs.
However, a big let down for me in this book was Rielle. Rielle was my favourite character in the first book. I found her to be fun and loving, her pride offset by how fiercely she loved and was loved. All of that got changed in this book, which I suppose was the intention.
But it wasn't done gracefully or tactfully in my opinion. Her pride makes her stupid, causing her to do dumb, idiotic thing after dumb, idiotic thing until it's hard to feel sympathy for her. And I feel like the author wants you to feel sympathy for her. I just didn't. She came across more like an entitled brat than anything. And don't get me wrong, I do love a bratty protag, but again it just comes back to how stupid her brattiness made her.
And I think I could've excused that, if not for the countless characters all around her, giving her endless amounts of love and acceptance and coddling here. Again, I understand that this was done purposefully, to show that she wasn't the monster from the stories and to show how easily people could just fall for someone like her. But there's a point where it stops being a tragic tale about her becoming a monster the world makes her be and the undying love of those who know she isn't, and it just becomes a story about everyone being infuriatingly stupid. The execution of her becoming the blood queen was not well done.
Corien is also equally as much of a brat as she is. Maybe I don't understand her downfall because I just cannot wrap my head around her undying lust for the most milquetoast villain alive. There's nothing sexy or hot about any of it. It didn't have the underlining power play that it did in the first book. Bland, that's all it is.
Again, Eliana saved the day in this book and I enjoyed her parts. I feel like there was a lot of pride in her character in the first part too, pride and love and a need to protect those around her just like Rielle. But Eliana's character thrives where Rielle's does not. Her pride and vanity are done with purpose, with an end goal, and her love is unwavering and true even when it hurts her most of all. Rielle's pride and vanity lacks direction, ambition, and purpose and above all else, that is what infuriates me.
This book left me debating on whether or not I want to finish the series, but with the Illumicrate special editions coming out, and my love for Eliana as well, I will finish it if for no other reason than to hope that Eliana can at least carry the third book.
I also liked the different POVs that would occasionally pop up in this book, it made the story feel a bit more fleshed out and I enjoyed reading what other characters were doing and what they were thinking as the events of the book took place, and I feel like they were used sparingly enough that it didn't disrupt the flow from Rielle's and Eliana's POVs.
However, a big let down for me in this book was Rielle. Rielle was my favourite character in the first book. I found her to be fun and loving, her pride offset by how fiercely she loved and was loved. All of that got changed in this book, which I suppose was the intention.
But it wasn't done gracefully or tactfully in my opinion. Her pride makes her stupid, causing her to do dumb, idiotic thing after dumb, idiotic thing until it's hard to feel sympathy for her. And I feel like the author wants you to feel sympathy for her. I just didn't. She came across more like an entitled brat than anything. And don't get me wrong, I do love a bratty protag, but again it just comes back to how stupid her brattiness made her.
And I think I could've excused that, if not for the countless characters all around her, giving her endless amounts of love and acceptance and coddling here. Again, I understand that this was done purposefully, to show that she wasn't the monster from the stories and to show how easily people could just fall for someone like her. But there's a point where it stops being a tragic tale about her becoming a monster the world makes her be and the undying love of those who know she isn't, and it just becomes a story about everyone being infuriatingly stupid. The execution of her becoming the blood queen was not well done.
Corien is also equally as much of a brat as she is. Maybe I don't understand her downfall because I just cannot wrap my head around her undying lust for the most milquetoast villain alive. There's nothing sexy or hot about any of it. It didn't have the underlining power play that it did in the first book. Bland, that's all it is.
Again, Eliana saved the day in this book and I enjoyed her parts. I feel like there was a lot of pride in her character in the first part too, pride and love and a need to protect those around her just like Rielle. But Eliana's character thrives where Rielle's does not. Her pride and vanity are done with purpose, with an end goal, and her love is unwavering and true even when it hurts her most of all. Rielle's pride and vanity lacks direction, ambition, and purpose and above all else, that is what infuriates me.
This book left me debating on whether or not I want to finish the series, but with the Illumicrate special editions coming out, and my love for Eliana as well, I will finish it if for no other reason than to hope that Eliana can at least carry the third book.