The Valiant

Review from Tenacious Reader: http://www.tenaciousreader.com/2017/04/24/review-the-valiant-by-lesley-livingsto...

4.5/5 Stars

The Valiant is a book that I thought sounded intriguing but I let it slip off my radar due to other review commitments. But then after I saw a couple of glowing reviews for it, I realized I had to find time to read it.

Turns out I absolutely LOVED this book, yes, it is worthy of the all-caps.

Fallon is the daughter of a Celtic King, and has been training her entire life to be a fighter worthy of joining the war band. We quickly learn that part of what motivated Fallon is that she idolized her sister, who was lost in war, and is determined to become the fierce warrior her sister was. In her tribe, men and women fight show more side by side. She is head strong and independent, so wants to prove herself as a warrior before thinking of such things as getting married. So pretty much, she is exactly the type of female protagonist that I absolutely love reading about.

The day before her seventeenth birthday starts as amazing. She is with Mal, her best friend since childhood, but she is starting to see how their close friendship could evolve into something more. And there is the anticipation of being inducted into the Cantii war band. But when everything falls apart, she is victim to several heartbreaking events in quick succession. What started as a hopeful and uplifting day of eagerness and love and anticipation, ends up landing blow after to blow to her dreams and her life. The final blow is being captured by slavers who are taking her from the land and life she has always known.

She must come to terms with her new life, new reality and new station in life. It is quite a change to go from daughter of a King, to being enslaved, treated not much better than cattle.

When it comes down to it, I absolutely loved Fallon’s character. Her attitude and how she handles adversity, and well, to be honest, her ability to kick ass, all kept me fully engaged the entire time. I loved the story as well as the character. It was exciting and fun. Definitely recommend this one (and thanks to those who read and reviewed it before me, because without the hype, I would have really missed out) show less

This is the first book I have read from this author. I can guarantee that it will not be the last one. Author, Lesley Livingston has an instantly home run with this book. Instantly, I was transported back in time. What I enjoyed the most about this book is the fact that strong, female gladiators were prominently featured in this book. It showcased that women can be just as equally strong and warriors as men.

Fallon took me on her journey. She was already strong to start out with but by the time the story ended, she came out even stronger. The romance featured with Cai was nice. I felt the chemistry between Cai and Fallon but the author kept it to a minimum, so it did not overshadow the overall story. The Valiant is one of the books to show more check out for 2017! show less

Female gladiators! Sisterhood! Friendship! Intrigue! History! With a touch of romance.

What a wonderful book I just read on female gladiators in Rome. It's the first time I ever read a book, young adult or otherwise, on the topic. And The Valiant did not disappoint.

Our heroine, Fallon, is daughter of the Cantii chief Virico, from the isle of Prydain (aka Britain). She longs to follow in her deceased sister's footsteps as a war leader, but that plan is thrown awry when she is instead betrothed to her lover's brother. Tensions rise and she runs away... straight into the hands of a slaver, Charon. But her story isn't over yet, and she's thrust into the hands of the enemy, Rome, to fight her way to freedom as a female gladiator.

Fallon was a show more delight to read. She was headstrong, feisty, and she always knew exactly what she wanted, and wouldn't let love come in between that. Numerous times she turned down guys' attempts to protect her or buy her contract... she instead came up with her own terms! She was truly powerful and honorable, and many of these traits carried her as a strong, unfailing heroine in her own right

Furious, a part of me had been holding back and I gave myself over to the fight. I was a warrior. I was a gladiatrix. And if Caius Varro had come to me that day looking for a fight, by the goddess, he was going to get exactly that.

Speaking of Caius, their relationship was exactly what I needed to read right now. Not too rushed, not too sappy. It just... made sense. It developed over time and wasn't forced. Plus, Caius sees Fallon as an equal, and vice versa.

"On that day, if you'll wait for me, I'll come to you, and we can be together as equals."

And can I mention the sisterly bonds of friendship? I NEED MORE OF THIS. Elka's banter with Fallon were hilarious. The fact that the romance took a sidestep for the friendship was marvelous. Despite knowing these girls for a short time, we can definitely see how strong their bonds are.

Simple words, simple promises. The very same oath the men swore in their rings of sand and swords. We were no different - except we were. And no one was more surprised by that than me. We were castoffs and slaves, orphans and unwanteds and used-to-be princesses. We were infamia...
But we were a sisterhood.
"Uri, vinciri, verberari, ferroque necari."
And we were mighty.

Finally, the incorporation of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar was apt and cleverly placed... the realm of female gladiators has to be explored more often!

With purposeful characters, action and friendship, powerful prose, and much more I dare not spoil, you'll definitely enjoy yourself with The Valiant.

Also posted at Wonderland Novels show less

This is what my kids call a potato chip book. It's fun to consume but not very substantial. I had the feeling that, while the setting was interesting, the action could have taken place with very few changes in pretty much any time period. Actually, it could be kind of fun as a 90s teen movie. In tone it could go either Heathers or Clueless and be interesting. Ooh, or Mean Girls!

(Originally reviewed at thelibraryladies.com.)

If you read the above description and thought to yourself “that sounds a lot like the movie ‘Gladiator’ but with a teenage girl instead of Russel Crowe,” well….you wouldn’t be wrong. Your mileage for whether or not that is a good or bad thing will depend on your opinion of that movie. I thought it was quite enjoyable, but I love overly dramatic action movies myself. So with that in mind, and firmly stifling any inner thoughts about historical accuracy, I was excited when this book arrived on the hold shelf at my library last week and jumped right in. And…it was kind of what I expected, there were things I enjoyed, but ultimately I wasn’t blown over by the book as a show more whole.

First to the pros! This book is non stop action, almost from the very first page where we meet Fallon attempting to execute a dangerous, yet flashy, spear throw from a precarious balance point on a racing chariot. The scene is set. Fallon is a no-holds-barred warrior princess, and I am happy to report that she sticks to these guns throughout the book. We are not simply told that she is an excellent fighter, we see it proven to us time and again.

With break neck speed, the novel rushes through our introductions to Fallon, her father, who is still devastated by the loss of his eldest daughter, Sorcha (who was a brilliant fighter in her own right and essentially raised Fallon and taught her everything she knows), and setting the stage that was Fallon’s life so far. And with equal swiftness, that rug is swept out from Fallon’s, and our, feet, and she’s off to Rome, a captured slave destined for the gladiatorial arenas. Lots of training, fighting, and political drama thus ensues.

And for the most part, I very much enjoyed this fast paced style. The book never sets out to present an in-depth character study of Fallon or historical analysis of her homeland (Britain) and its relationship with the conquering Rome. The book is meant to be full of fight scenes, and full of fight scenes it is. Character development does fall to the wayside with this approach, though Fallon remains true to her original characterization throughout, which was a relief.

I particularly enjoyed the introduction of Elka, a fellow slave-turned-gladiatrix (yes, that is what the female gladiators are called and I cringed every time it came up). Elka is badassery defined. And she also turns into a true and steady friend for Fallon. About halfway through the book, she sadly begins to fade into the background, but whenever she reappeared, I was reminded of how much color she added to the story. Fallon herself was a steady character, but her steadiness also read as a bit one-note at times. Elka’s more electric presence helped reinforce Fallon herself.

Most of my qualms came in the form of the romance. *sigh* All too often that is the case for me, and I was sorry to see it happen here as well. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the romance. But it is never built up. Cai, a Roman soldier, is given no unique traits and seems to, out of nowhere, fall in love with Fallon. And she with him. The amount of time they know each other is minuscule. The natural biases they would have against each other would seemingly be insurmountable, both based on the strife between their countries and the fact that he is a soldier who has probably been trained from birth to look down on slaves and she is a warrior whose father’s spirit was broken by Roman soldiers. It just seems like it should have been more difficult, or at least taken longer and be given more attention for a true-feeling relationship to develop. I simply didn’t care about Cai or this relationship. Elka’s and Fallon’s relationship is much better developed. And frankly, I would have been more than happy to have a book that is already largely focused on the sisterly bonds that can be formed between women and the power this can give them to have based its primary relationships on these only with no need to add romance into the mix at all.

There were also a few “surprises” that weren’t surprises at all if you are familiar with the genre. I was able to quite easily predict the most major twist, and also understand the character motivations that were later revealed, thus making Fallon’s shock and struggle to understand these same points a bit tiresome to plow through.

So, while I did enjoy the action, and Fallon was a decent lead character (if made better by supporting characters like Elka), the story was a bit too predictable and the romance way too tepid for me to completely fall in love with this book. I’ll mark the second one as a “to read” but I don’t feel any anxiety in the wait for its release. However, if you want a strong YA female warrior book and don’t mind a few stale aspects, this might be worth checking out! show less

“We were castoffs and slaves, orphans and unwanteds and used-to-be princesses...and we were mighty.”
― Lesley Livingston, The Valiant

3.5 stars.

I enjoyed this book although I almost stopped reading at the beginning. It takes some time to really get going. It was tough for me to get into it but with time I was able to do so. I am glad I gave it a chance. It was interesting!

So this book is about princess Fallon who is kidnapped and taken to a special school for female Gladiators. Here, Fallon must learn the craft of the Gladiator.

This is not normally the type of book I'd read but I am glad I took a chance and went outside my comfort zone. While I did not love it, i t was not bad.

I enjoyed reading this book and about the girls school show more where Warriors are trained. It has that Historical element I love coupled with Dystopian. That was a good thing.

I did find it a bit draggy in the middle section but I still kept reading.

The actual fight scenes were written breathtakingly and easily keep one's interest. I knew almost nothing ab out Gladiators before reading so i t was a bit educational as well..

But my absolute FAVORITE thing about this book is the appearance of Cleopatra! That I did not expect. I mean I knew it was Julius Caesar's Gladiator school she was at but I had no idea Cleopatra would be featured in it. That made the book for me.

There is much cattiness and drama which did not enhance nor take away from the book in my mind. But apparently there is a follow up. I am not as much of a series reader as many so am not sure if I will go on to the next.

The book worked fine for me as a stand alone. show less

I've been seeing mix reviews about this book but I read a high praising review from a friend of mine on her blog. Which I had to pick it up because me and my friend have similar taste in books but I did have low expectation with The Valiant at first. But Ohh my I am so glad and happy that I decided to pick this book out from the library because I absolutely loved and enjoyed it. I can totally understand way some readers didn't like it as much. But I love everything about it I especially love the characters yes even the villains I love too, and the writing style was absolutely amazing as well. I love the plotline and concepts of this amazing book which I never read a book about gladertrix and different tribes, so this was very refreshing show more and new too me that I totally love. The world building and characters were well developed and well rounded that I couldn't get enough about them. The writing style was flawless and very descriptive that I could see everything in my mind on how she describe the world in The Valiant. There is romance in The Valiant but I don't think it is the main focused in the book, which I was alright about that aspect in the book which surprise me because I love romance in books. Now I don't want to go into any details about The Valiant because I don't want to be too spoiler, but it is basically about a Cantii warrior princess that was capture as a slave and sold to be a gladertrix in a school run by Fallon sworn enemy Caesar. After Fallon arrived in the gladertrix school she finds new friends and sisters in the school but she also find some enemy's and some truth's about the school as well. After that things go down real quick which I won't say because you need too read this book too find out what I am talking about. I really love and enjoy The Valiant so much that I can't want too read the second book next year, which well be pure torture for me ugh. Because I really want too know what happens too Fallon and Cai next after that ending! All and all I do recommend this book if you love young adult and fantasy books than this book is for you. I will also continue on reading more books by Lesley Livingston because The Valiant was the first book I read by her and I absolutely and totally love everything about it! show less