Review
I really don't know how I feel about this book. I liked it - adventure and romance! - and I didn't - vague and boring!
Truthfully it was two books in one.
The first was an espionage book which got on my nerves because while there was a vague backstory, I couldn't really connect with the spies because while I believed they were the 'good' side, I didn't necessarily know if they were the 'right' side (their leader seemed to be a bit of a douc*e, so I couldn't go by him). Also, as spies, they meet in secret with hoods on their heads and yet no one disguises their voices. So when our main characters meet their 'roles' they can't tell who the other is. Which is a little ridiculous. Add to that, you have a Spycatcher who really amped up the tension but it was really because of this character did I notice the lack of good detective skills on the parts of both our characters.
Saliel and Athan are colleagues but as Lady Petra and Lord Ivo they can't really stand each other. Ok, let me amend that. Petra can't stand him but every time that Ivo gets head from a whore he thinks of Petra. Does that make sense? It's the beginning of true love on his part, because while he thinks about Petra in order to get through the tiresome and boring act of being pleasured, he's also secretly in love with "Three" i.e Saliel.
So, when Petra and Ivo are forced to marry you get a clearer picture that their lives are not their own. Saliel and Athan and Petra and Ivo are really just puppets in two games without any satisfaction for either one of them except for certain death and a possible good payout if they survive. So through a semi-rape (of both characters I would argue because both didn't want to do it), a murdered colleague and a near-capture the espionage game ends.
What I would consider book two is Saliel and Athan making their way back home and coming to terms with what has been asked of them and taken from them. Athan feels extremely guilty about what he was forced to do to Saliel, Saliel can't stand the sight of him but also begins to feel bad for him because she sees that he was just as forced as she was. Not to mention Saliel's got some secrets of her own and Athan is really starting to fall for each other. However, they still need to make it home, debrief and avoid the spycatcher who is now hot on their heels.
As they journey home with another set of fake names, they grow further apart yet have to depend on each other in order to survive. Three quarters of the way in, when they learn each others name, the trust begins to grow. There is some sweetness wrapped in with the bitterness and there are a few things that they need to work on. Namely prejudices and secret keeping.
By the end of the book, they both learn that they must make their own destiny and cannot be anything but themselves. Who they are is who ever they want to be.
Good message, interesting set-up but not necessarily the best execution. At times vague and repetitive and at others meandering, this book really earns a 2.75 from me. I really wanted to like this book more, it had so much promise and potential and the idea of these characters could've been explored so much better. This book tried to cram two different books together without the proper cohesion and exposition. Perhaps if it had been longer and better drawn out and the characters made to be more vivid and alive, this book could've been better.
As it stands, if this book was a color it would be grey with veins of brown running through it.
Truthfully it was two books in one.
The first was an espionage book which got on my nerves because while there was a vague backstory, I couldn't really connect with the spies because while I believed they were the 'good' side, I didn't necessarily know if they were the 'right' side (their leader seemed to be a bit of a douc*e, so I couldn't go by him). Also, as spies, they meet in secret with hoods on their heads and yet no one disguises their voices. So when our main characters meet their 'roles' they can't tell who the other is. Which is a little ridiculous. Add to that, you have a Spycatcher who really amped up the tension but it was really because of this character did I notice the lack of good detective skills on the parts of both our characters.
Saliel and Athan are colleagues but as Lady Petra and Lord Ivo they can't really stand each other. Ok, let me amend that. Petra can't stand him but every time that Ivo gets head from a whore he thinks of Petra. Does that make sense? It's the beginning of true love on his part, because while he thinks about Petra in order to get through the tiresome and boring act of being pleasured, he's also secretly in love with "Three" i.e Saliel.
So, when Petra and Ivo are forced to marry you get a clearer picture that their lives are not their own. Saliel and Athan and Petra and Ivo are really just puppets in two games without any satisfaction for either one of them except for certain death and a possible good payout if they survive. So through a semi-rape (of both characters I would argue because both didn't want to do it), a murdered colleague and a near-capture the espionage game ends.
What I would consider book two is Saliel and Athan making their way back home and coming to terms with what has been asked of them and taken from them. Athan feels extremely guilty about what he was forced to do to Saliel, Saliel can't stand the sight of him but also begins to feel bad for him because she sees that he was just as forced as she was. Not to mention Saliel's got some secrets of her own and Athan is really starting to fall for each other. However, they still need to make it home, debrief and avoid the spycatcher who is now hot on their heels.
As they journey home with another set of fake names, they grow further apart yet have to depend on each other in order to survive. Three quarters of the way in, when they learn each others name, the trust begins to grow. There is some sweetness wrapped in with the bitterness and there are a few things that they need to work on. Namely prejudices and secret keeping.
By the end of the book, they both learn that they must make their own destiny and cannot be anything but themselves. Who they are is who ever they want to be.
Good message, interesting set-up but not necessarily the best execution. At times vague and repetitive and at others meandering, this book really earns a 2.75 from me. I really wanted to like this book more, it had so much promise and potential and the idea of these characters could've been explored so much better. This book tried to cram two different books together without the proper cohesion and exposition. Perhaps if it had been longer and better drawn out and the characters made to be more vivid and alive, this book could've been better.
As it stands, if this book was a color it would be grey with veins of brown running through it.
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