Year of the Reaper

This book felt extremely “three stars” to me. I didn’t hate it. I liked the premise, and the mystery (and reveal), and the characters were all likeable. But I didn’t love it either. It was very much a “just fine” book. I wasn’t super invested in the story, but it kept me interested the whole way through. All in all, it was a quick and easy read. I think it would be a great “palate cleanser“ book if you are shifting between series or genres.

Things I liked:
• I loved Lena!!! She felt like such a “golden retriever” character, but she was also just so smart and cool and just a great character.
• I loved the mystery side of the story. I was most engrossed in the story when we were uncovering clues and discovering show more facts behind the assassination attempts.

Things I didn’t like:
• As mentioned previously, I just wasn’t invested in the story. I didn’t feel a super strong attachment to the characters. I felt like I would have felt more impacted by Cas’ traumas if the story had started before he was captured.
• I also wish the romance would have gone a little deeper. It felt very “surface level”. It was still very sweet, but again, I just didn’t feel attached. show less

A thoroughly enjoyable stand alone read with strong main characters. Cas' journey from injured soul to a leader finding a path to resilience is believable in this author's hands, and the mystery at the core of the plot held my interest. The only question I had was Cas' special "gift", that certainly did help him solve the mystery, but remained otherwise a side note that stays unexplained.

A swirling plot, rife with darkness and a neat romance that must flourish in the midst of a series of attempted assassinations on a queen. The wrap up is one that many should find surprising, I most assuredly did.

I really enjoyed this book! The story balanced dark themes like trauma, betrayal, and plague with lighter themes like friendship, hope, and love. I was very invested in the characters and would recommend this to any readers who enjoy medieval fantasy settings similar to Game of Thrones.

This was fun.
I liked the characters, the mystery was great - Cas sounded much older than his years, I kept forgetting he was a teen. I wish they had done more with his magical gifts but all in all it was enjoyable.

I read Year of the Reaper a couple of months ago and didn't realize that I failed to write a review. I'm rather annoyed with myself. Let me see what I remember.

As we have experienced Covid, the characters in this novel has been dealing with a plague taking out much of the population quickly. Jehan is headed to marry a prince in another kingdom. The travel is treacherous, as they don't want to get sick. On the ride, several fall ill. The novel picks up a year later when Cas returns to his life. No one realizes that he is alive. He's been assumed dead. Held prisoner, he escapes and returns home. Thing is, Cas can see the dead after surviving the plague. He helps them. He learns much of what happens by listening to the dead. While helping show more a dead toll keeper, a girl steals his horse.

Cas returns home (sans horse), rescuing the King and Queen's new child when an attempt is made on their lives. Quite an entrance. He also finds his brother is the lead soldier for the King, protecting him and his family. If I recall, the king and his queen, Jehan are staying in Cas's family home in order to stay from from the sickness that hasn't quite died out. The queen makes sure that he gets clothing, wanting to thank him. They have a bit of a rocky beginning of a relationship. Of course, the girl who stole his horse, Lena, shows up as well. She is the king's sister. Lena's grandfather tells of Jehan's travels in his journals, but then he died and there is no official record of how she arrived at the palace. Lena wants to research what happened.

As the novel progresses, Cas and Lena get closer to each other and also to what happened to everyone who traveled with Queen Jehan. There are a few twists and a nice romance between Cas and Lena. Overall, it was perfectly fine. I figure if I don't remember much, it wasn't outstanding or great. It was a lovely distraction, but that's really all it was. show less