Ugh...I hate giving less than stellar reviews, but in fact I almost bailed on this one several times.
Too long, hardly any action to speak of, choppy chapters told in alternating voices from the two mains, and the characters simply weren’t engaging, especially the Queen’s Assassin (Cal) who did not seem especially assassin-like to me. And to be honest, the writing seemed too juvenile for teens/YA (more middle school level except for one brief intimate scene). A twist at the end felt a bit bizarre and haphazard, and there’s also something of a cliffhanger as this is the first of a duo.
I had high hopes as the premise and sneak peek sounded intriguing, but this one was just a bit of a struggle for me unfortunately.
Thanks to #BookishFirst for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
Too long, hardly any action to speak of, choppy chapters told in alternating voices from the two mains, and the characters simply weren’t engaging, especially the Queen’s Assassin (Cal) who did not seem especially assassin-like to me. And to be honest, the writing seemed too juvenile for teens/YA (more middle school level except for one brief intimate scene). A twist at the end felt a bit bizarre and haphazard, and there’s also something of a cliffhanger as this is the first of a duo.
I had high hopes as the premise and sneak peek sounded intriguing, but this one was just a bit of a struggle for me unfortunately.
Thanks to #BookishFirst for providing me the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.