Review: Rule by Ellen Goodlett

Rule by Ellen Goodlett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this. It follows the perspectives of 3 sisters, who find out they are the bastard daughters of the ailing king. They have each been raised in very different lifestyles and each have different experiences and opinions of the kingdom their father rules. This has been compared to Three Dark Crowns, and I can see where that comparison comes from, however the sisters eventually come together to thwart a common enemy. They are all pitted against each other, as the king must eventually choose one of them to be his heir, but as each of them is being blackmailed for some sin they've committed in their past, they must unravel the mystery of their blackmailer to figure out who is at the heart of the blackmail. This is not as dark and sinister as Three Dark Crowns, and the sisters so far are not trying to murder each other. So this is very much it's own story. I thought I had it figured out, but the twist at the end totally threw me so know I don't have a clue whodunit. The cliffhanger at the end left me wanting to know what is going to happen next and I'm very much anticipating the next book.

I liked the magic system in Rule, each person must call upon magic in their blood to perform tithes to perform different magical acts. I feel like this could have been developed a little better because it is very much a part of the story and the dark side of the magic is mentioned quite often and also a significant part of the plot. I hope to see the magic system developed more in the next book. I wanted to know so much more about it.

Each of the sisters has a romantic relationship, and each is troubled by something. I would have liked a bit more character development especially with the side characters. I think that would have helped strengthen the plot a bit and move things along. I think because we switch POV's each chapter we don't get to know any particular set of characters as much as I would have liked. We do get to know the sisters well enough, I just wanted more.

Overall, I really did enjoy this and I'm looking forward to the next book.  This was exactly what I needed to pull me out of my reading slump.

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