BEHIND THE MASK OF DUTY AND POWER, NO ONE IS WHO THEY SEEM…
Centuries after the Forgotten Wars ravaged the world and turned it to ash, the Houses of Pilar, Darakai, Boreal, and Bastiion forged an accord with the royal line of Thoarne, founding a Quadren of advisory to the throne of Orynthia. Every generation, a single Haidren from each of the four Houses is appointed to this coveted chair.
Upon her Ascension to adulthood, Luscia Tiergan takes her seat at court as al’Haidren to the House of Boreal and is quickly drawn into a maze of political traps and dark secrets. As she adjusts to her new life, Luscia uncovers a pattern of forgotten children, slain in the streets of Bastiion.
Raised on superstitious rumors about Boreal’s penchant for sorcery, Zaethan Kasim, al’Haidren to the House of Darakai, inevitably clashes with Lusica when she arrives in Bastiion. But when his position is threatened by an old rival, Zaethan is forced to set aside his hatred and form an uneasy alliance with the Boreali al’Haidren to secure his claim.
Following a disturbing stream of innocent bloodshed across Orynthia, Luscia and Zaethan discover their ideals are far more aligned than they might have imagined. But in a land of war and deceit, the path to peace should never be trusted.
-Goodreads
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
A gorgeous map, a mystery to keep me intrigued, and some solid political intrigue? K.L. Kolarich knows how to get me hooked on a book. I really can’t ever pass on a book with good politics – something about that kind of drama calls to me. While this first book didn’t have all that much romance, it did set the stage for future romances that I think have some wonderful potential. I think that the multiple POVs were all done really well, and the characters were well fleshed out with a fair balance of both flaws and admirable qualities.
I will give fair warning, the first few chapters are very heavy on world building and a bit difficult to get through. The world is quite complex and I imagine an info dump was bound to happen at some point, but it does make the book a bit difficult to get into at first. Additionally, while I did appreciate the glossary, referring to it to keep up with the world building pulled me out of the story more frequently than I would like.
Overall, I think that this series has a great deal of potential and can’t wait to see where the author takes future books! Thank you so much to both K.L. Kolarich and Book of Matches Media for including me on this tour.
As The Book Ends 