A River of Royal Blood
by Amanda Joy
Quick Stats
Overall: 4 stars
Characters:4/5
Plot:5/5
Setting:5/5
Writing:3/5
All in all, I loved this book. It’s an amazing, diverse fantasy with African folklore and immersing magic. It’s a great read for fans of Children of Blood and Bone or Three Dark Crowns. The world was lush and swept me away in its history, culture, and magic. The characters were, for the most part, well rounded and likeable.
I absolutely adored Eva, Aketo, Mira, and Anali. I wasn’t a fan of Bacchas, but that’s just because I didn’t like his personality. I think he was a well-written character and played his part well, something about him just irked me. Eva was a great narrator, and I felt fully swept into her head, and even when I didn’t think she was making the right decisions, I was still rooting for her. Aketo is just a sweet innocent…deadly guy. His banter and chemistry with Eva felt natural and well done (mostly). I also really liked his feelings about his magic and how he discussed that with Eva. I think those conversations gave him a lot of depth as a character and made me like him all the more. Mira and Anali had smaller parts, but they both just had such motherly personalities and whenever I read their interactions with Eva it felt like a warm hug.
On the other hand, Isadore, the Queen, and Falun’s characters just… didn’t feel like they had enough back story. I spent most of the book trying to figure out what Falun’s point was other than being LGBTQ+ rep. He really just felt like a token gay best friend thrown in every couple of scenes for diversity’s sake. I know he had more to his personality. Mainly his protectiveness of Eva… actually, only his protectiveness of Eva. But he could have been taken out of the story and it would have worked just as well. His character had no point. Isa and the Queen obviously had a point, but they lacked motivation. I mean, they were motivated by power, sure, but it just didn’t feel like enough. The ‘big reveal’ at the end may have explained their distaste for Eva that seemed to go past the whole rival heir thing, but because we don’t know that reasoning throughout, I was left feeling like their characters were just underdeveloped.
The plot and setting were amazing. There were one or two places that things seemed to drag, but never too badly. Amanda Joy built this incredible world that swept me up from the start. The idea of “Rival Heirs” reminds me a lot of Three Dark Crowns, but the books aren’t similar otherwise. I’m honestly the worst at talking about plots, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
The biggest issue I had with this book, and the thing that kept it from being five stars, is the writing. Every once in a while, things would be worded in a way that just felt awkward. The dialogue, especially, felt stilted at times. However, the narrative aspects did feel poorly written at times too. It just made me feel like the book needed one more go through of edits.
Despite this, I still HIGHLY recommend this book! If it sounds interesting to you, definitely check it out!
by Amanda Joy
Quick Stats
Overall: 4 stars
Characters:4/5
Plot:5/5
Setting:5/5
Writing:3/5
All in all, I loved this book. It’s an amazing, diverse fantasy with African folklore and immersing magic. It’s a great read for fans of Children of Blood and Bone or Three Dark Crowns. The world was lush and swept me away in its history, culture, and magic. The characters were, for the most part, well rounded and likeable.
I absolutely adored Eva, Aketo, Mira, and Anali. I wasn’t a fan of Bacchas, but that’s just because I didn’t like his personality. I think he was a well-written character and played his part well, something about him just irked me. Eva was a great narrator, and I felt fully swept into her head, and even when I didn’t think she was making the right decisions, I was still rooting for her. Aketo is just a sweet innocent…deadly guy. His banter and chemistry with Eva felt natural and well done (mostly). I also really liked his feelings about his magic and how he discussed that with Eva. I think those conversations gave him a lot of depth as a character and made me like him all the more. Mira and Anali had smaller parts, but they both just had such motherly personalities and whenever I read their interactions with Eva it felt like a warm hug.
On the other hand, Isadore, the Queen, and Falun’s characters just… didn’t feel like they had enough back story. I spent most of the book trying to figure out what Falun’s point was other than being LGBTQ+ rep. He really just felt like a token gay best friend thrown in every couple of scenes for diversity’s sake. I know he had more to his personality. Mainly his protectiveness of Eva… actually, only his protectiveness of Eva. But he could have been taken out of the story and it would have worked just as well. His character had no point. Isa and the Queen obviously had a point, but they lacked motivation. I mean, they were motivated by power, sure, but it just didn’t feel like enough. The ‘big reveal’ at the end may have explained their distaste for Eva that seemed to go past the whole rival heir thing, but because we don’t know that reasoning throughout, I was left feeling like their characters were just underdeveloped.
The plot and setting were amazing. There were one or two places that things seemed to drag, but never too badly. Amanda Joy built this incredible world that swept me up from the start. The idea of “Rival Heirs” reminds me a lot of Three Dark Crowns, but the books aren’t similar otherwise. I’m honestly the worst at talking about plots, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
The biggest issue I had with this book, and the thing that kept it from being five stars, is the writing. Every once in a while, things would be worded in a way that just felt awkward. The dialogue, especially, felt stilted at times. However, the narrative aspects did feel poorly written at times too. It just made me feel like the book needed one more go through of edits.
Despite this, I still HIGHLY recommend this book! If it sounds interesting to you, definitely check it out!