This book definitely reads as the first book of a trilogy. It is the first act, setting the stage for the other two. This also means it doesn't read well as a stand-alone novel. This isn't a bad thing, it just means it's difficult to judge the merit alone.
I enjoyed it, but I can see where others might not like it. You have a first-person narrative where the narrator is thrown into chaos not long after the book begins. There is a lot of questions to answer and not all of them are fully answered in this story and a lot of 'answers' that change as the story progresses because the heroine's knowledge changes. In some ways, this is good, leading to questioning the status quo. In someways, this is bad because it leaves the reader on shifting sands, but this also leaves the reader in the main character's shoes.
I really liked the world building, the changes that might have happened in Europe had the Roman Empire lasted longer (and there is some evidence that weather changes did cause the fall of the Roman Empire among other things) and how the intermixing of African and Celtic peoples happened. I liked how skin color was noted, but it wasn't a determining factor of someone's worth, just something that contributed to an understanding of their heritage. It was fascinating that people clung to things that happened thousands of years prior to the beginning of the story as tightly as they clung to things that were only thirteen years past and that both histories were used to justify show more actions that might be considered unethical on their own merit.
The romantic elements of the book seem to cover both the awkward and Stockholm arenas of improbability. The 'hero's' approaches are very much in the awkward realm of life and the heroine's responses seem to be a result of either magic or enforced proximity. The next two books will determine more what is actually going on. In many ways, I'm glad that their interactions did not progress past a kiss—it would have been far to weird in the story. I'm not even sure that the hero's feelings are the result of genuine feelings or a result of rebellion against the House he's beholden to.
I look forward to reading the rest of this series. show less
I enjoyed it, but I can see where others might not like it. You have a first-person narrative where the narrator is thrown into chaos not long after the book begins. There is a lot of questions to answer and not all of them are fully answered in this story and a lot of 'answers' that change as the story progresses because the heroine's knowledge changes. In some ways, this is good, leading to questioning the status quo. In someways, this is bad because it leaves the reader on shifting sands, but this also leaves the reader in the main character's shoes.
I really liked the world building, the changes that might have happened in Europe had the Roman Empire lasted longer (and there is some evidence that weather changes did cause the fall of the Roman Empire among other things) and how the intermixing of African and Celtic peoples happened. I liked how skin color was noted, but it wasn't a determining factor of someone's worth, just something that contributed to an understanding of their heritage. It was fascinating that people clung to things that happened thousands of years prior to the beginning of the story as tightly as they clung to things that were only thirteen years past and that both histories were used to justify show more actions that might be considered unethical on their own merit.
The romantic elements of the book seem to cover both the awkward and Stockholm arenas of improbability. The 'hero's' approaches are very much in the awkward realm of life and the heroine's responses seem to be a result of either magic or enforced proximity. The next two books will determine more what is actually going on. In many ways, I'm glad that their interactions did not progress past a kiss—it would have been far to weird in the story. I'm not even sure that the hero's feelings are the result of genuine feelings or a result of rebellion against the House he's beholden to.
I look forward to reading the rest of this series. show less