Review: Kingsbane by Claire Legrand

Kingsbane by Claire Legrand
Narrated by Fiona Hardingham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I felt like this was a good sequel. I listened to the audiobook, but I was also provided with an ARC via Edelweiss for review. The narrator was amazing and she brought life to all of the characters in such a spectacular way. I highly recommend the audio because this book is long and much like with Furyborn the pacing was off in places. I find that audiobooks tend to help with pacing issues, especially with very large books.

This picks up where Furyborn left off, but we still haven’t gotten back to the opening bit in Furyborn where Rielle falls. I still have lots of unanswered questions, in fact after Kingsbane I think I have more unanswered questions. I hope that those will get answered in the next installment as I feel like we are getting there slowly. Much like in Furyborn we are still following the back and forth perspectives of Rielle and Eliana as they navigate their power and their place in the war and politics of their respective times. There are also some other perspectives randomly thrown in throughout the book. Some of them are valuable, while I felt others didn’t really lend much to the story.

A downfall of this series is that the books are much too long. Legrand's writing is getting better and better as she continues to hone her craft, but I feel like there were far too many verbose scenes that while written well didn't really add to the plot advancement. I think that is just the author's style, she is very descriptive and sections of the book are repetitive. That being said, there is a lot going on in this book but I’m still not clear where it is heading. I’d like a bit more on the magic system, I’m still not clear on castings and why some people need them and some don’t. We did get an explanation on the angels and the saints and that whole situation. I appreciated that. I’m still not really clear on the political motivations of any particular character anymore and I’m not sure if that is by design or if that is because I missed something. At the end of this book I kind of just felt overwhelmed and confused, I think that is because the ending felt rushed and after a 500+ page book that should not be the case. I’m looking forward to the next book and I’m hoping all will become clear in the final installment of this trilogy. I’m looking forward to seeing how things play out for our two leading ladies as things have shifted for both of them. We have started to see Rielle’s fall from grace and Eliana has begun to embrace her power but things are not going according to the original plan. I’m also really interested in seeing what part Corien plays in each of their stories as this all plays out.

I also have a big problem with this series being marketed as a YA, it is not. It is an adult fantasy series. A huge pet peeve of mine is when characters are teenagers and a series is labeled YA, I don’t care what their age is it is their actions and the content that should be considered when marketing a book to specific age groups not the age of the characters alone. I think there is a line that should be maintained when it comes to sex and violence in YA vs. adult fantasy and this is clearly adult. There are some questionable scenes in this book that while I can roll my eyes at them and say it’s just a book or that’s not OK in real life, young readers may not be ready for that content or may not want to read those scenes just yet. Again that’s just my opinion.


View all my reviews

Review: A Reaper at the Gates

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
Narrated by: Steve West (Narrator), Fiona Hardingham (Narrator), Katherine McEwan (Narrator), Maxwell Caulfield (Narrator)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my favorite book of the series so far! I really loved how much the story progressed and where it left off. Even though we follow the 3 main perspectives with a cameo by the Nightbringer, they are so well done that you never lose your place in any of the storylines. I typically get confused in multi-perspective narration, but the narration in the audio was excellent. The narrators did such a great job.

This follows Laia as she is trying desperately to save the Scholars and the Tribes from the Marshalls. She is also trying to stop the Nightbringer from his plan to release the Jinn from their prison. Laia is my least favorite character; she is stubborn to the point where she grates on my nerves. She makes dumb decisions because of her stubborn nature, but she always seems to come out on top and unscathed. She is always trying to do good, but doesn’t really think about consequences. I never really cared for her and have found her to be weak and she doesn’t ever learn from her mistakes. She has some redeeming moments but I just want to yell at her most of the time.

Elias is struggling to learn his new role as the Soul Catcher, but he doesn't want to give up his life as a human. He made a deal, but he doesn’t seem thrilled to live out his days without those he loves. I’m not a fan of his relationship with Laia, I always held out hope he and Helene would get together, but I’m over that now. He does finally give in and start doing his job as Soul Catcher, and we learn more about the Jinn and the Nightbringer. I do like where his character ended up, but I was expecting more action from him. He was such an awesome warrior.

And Helene, always loyal to the Empire, is doing her best as Blood Shrike, while keeping her grudges against the Emperor and the Commandant close to her heart. I’m solidly on Team Helene. She is by far my favorite character in the series. I really like where Tahir is taking her character. I hope that she finds happiness and love in the end. I do feel like the her whole interaction with the Commandant has dragged on long enough. Helene is smart and strong, but she is never ahead of Keris. She has been bred for battle strategy and should be able to see a trap coming, yet she always walks right into them. I feel like Helene was written to have weaknesses that she didn’t need. She is so amazing; she didn’t need to be softened at all.

I loved the addition of the Nightbringer to the audio. His bits of the story add a little more to the plot and it is just enough to keep you interested in the 4th book. Parts of the plot drag a bit, and feel like they could be condensed or are confusing. He and Keris have been plotting for sometime now, and you know he’s up to something, but that’s been going on since the first book. Now he’s betrayed Laia and Helene to get to his end game and you know that our three main characters have more to do before it is over.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this book to keep you on your feet and I’m looking forward to listenting to the final installment. I’ve only listened to the series on audio and I can’t imagine finishing it any other way.


View all my reviews