I received a copy of this book via BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review.
Content Warning: Abduction, Death, Torture, Adult Sexual Content, Battle scenes
I want to start off by saying that this book has an interesting idea. It was a “shot-in-the-dark” read for me, if I’m being honest. While I’ve read books that include some romance, I don’t typically read a lot of actual “romance” books besides the Classics. When I read the premise of this book, I hoped that Kingdom of Exiles would shed more light on the world building and fantasy aspects, and not get hung up on the relationship. Kingdom of Exiles crosses elements of Pokemon, Nevernight, and Fantastic Beasts. Sounds pretty interesting (and maybe a little weird), right? I found b>Kingdom of Exiles to be brimming with little purpose and lots of sexual tension--which for me, ruined possibilities for it to be something I could really appreciate.
The protagonist Leena Edenfrell shares the point-of-view with Noc, the lead hit-man of Cruor--an organization of assassins. Leena, a beast Charmer, has been estranged from her people due to a false accusation against her, and has had to rely on doing the illegal to survive. Selling her beasts as a beast charmer is one of the worst offenses, but Leena must survive somehow. When someone puts a price on her head, Noc’s gang of assassins is sent to complete the job by taking Leena out. With the help of her beasts, she is able to capture one of the assassins, and venture back to Cruor with the imprisoned Kost to negotiate her price. When an agreement is struck, and Leena agrees to procure beasts for the assassins of Cruor, Leena finds herself under their care instead of at the top of their hit list.
The new “crew” embark on a journey together, an inevitable attraction between Leena and the mysterious leader of Cruor sparks to life. It is from this point that the plot loses its progression, and gets stuck on the relationship aspect instead of venturing further into world-building, and overall explanation of Beast Charmers and their interesting beasts that never really get much recognition or real purpose. There are definitely some explicit adult scenes throughout the second half of the book, so beware of that while reading.
Overall, while I found aspects of the premise of this book interesting, it really didn't offer enough detail to keep me engaged. The character building was lackluster, and I really disliked how the characters interacted with one another. Their dynamics were unrealistic, rushed, and tried too hard to mimic a crew-like trope.
Vulgarity: Quite a bit.
Sexual content: There are a few scenes with explicit sexual content.
Violence: Moderate.
My Rating: ★★1/2
Content Warning: Abduction, Death, Torture, Adult Sexual Content, Battle scenes
I want to start off by saying that this book has an interesting idea. It was a “shot-in-the-dark” read for me, if I’m being honest. While I’ve read books that include some romance, I don’t typically read a lot of actual “romance” books besides the Classics. When I read the premise of this book, I hoped that Kingdom of Exiles would shed more light on the world building and fantasy aspects, and not get hung up on the relationship. Kingdom of Exiles crosses elements of Pokemon, Nevernight, and Fantastic Beasts. Sounds pretty interesting (and maybe a little weird), right? I found b>Kingdom of Exiles to be brimming with little purpose and lots of sexual tension--which for me, ruined possibilities for it to be something I could really appreciate.
The protagonist Leena Edenfrell shares the point-of-view with Noc, the lead hit-man of Cruor--an organization of assassins. Leena, a beast Charmer, has been estranged from her people due to a false accusation against her, and has had to rely on doing the illegal to survive. Selling her beasts as a beast charmer is one of the worst offenses, but Leena must survive somehow. When someone puts a price on her head, Noc’s gang of assassins is sent to complete the job by taking Leena out. With the help of her beasts, she is able to capture one of the assassins, and venture back to Cruor with the imprisoned Kost to negotiate her price. When an agreement is struck, and Leena agrees to procure beasts for the assassins of Cruor, Leena finds herself under their care instead of at the top of their hit list.
The new “crew” embark on a journey together, an inevitable attraction between Leena and the mysterious leader of Cruor sparks to life. It is from this point that the plot loses its progression, and gets stuck on the relationship aspect instead of venturing further into world-building, and overall explanation of Beast Charmers and their interesting beasts that never really get much recognition or real purpose. There are definitely some explicit adult scenes throughout the second half of the book, so beware of that while reading.
Overall, while I found aspects of the premise of this book interesting, it really didn't offer enough detail to keep me engaged. The character building was lackluster, and I really disliked how the characters interacted with one another. Their dynamics were unrealistic, rushed, and tried too hard to mimic a crew-like trope.
Vulgarity: Quite a bit.
Sexual content: There are a few scenes with explicit sexual content.
Violence: Moderate.
My Rating: ★★1/2