Empire of Dust ARC Review

Title: Legacy of Kings
By: Eleanor Herman
Release Date: June 28, 2016
Pages: 432
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: eARC
All thoughts and comments are my own.
 I received this arc thru Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. 

SUMMARY:

In Macedon, war rises like smoke, forbidden romance blooms and ancient magic tempered with rage threatens to turn an empire to dust 

After winning his first battle, Prince Alexander fights to become the ruler his kingdom demands—but the line between leader and tyrant blurs with each new threat. 

Meanwhile, Hephaestion, cast aside by Alexander for killing the wrong man, must conceal the devastating secret of a divine prophecy from Katerina even as the two of them are thrust together on a dangerous mission to Egypt. 

The warrior, Jacob, determined to forget his first love, vows to eradicate the ancient Blood Magics and believes that royal prisoner Cynane holds the key to Macedon's undoing. 

And in chains, the Persian princess Zofia still longs to find the Spirit Eaters, but first must grapple with the secrets of her handsome—and deadly—captor. 

New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman entwines the real scandals of history with epic fantasy to reimagine the world's most brilliant ruler, Alexander the Great, in the second book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

NON-SPOILERY REVIEW:

Normally, I am very hesitant to start a sequel, even though I absolutely love series (hello Throne of Glass and Talon), just because I worry that the sequel will not live up to the hype or standards set in the first novel. Empire of Dust did not let me down at all. It was well written and still had all the amazing historical research that Eleanor is known for. I feel like the story was just as interesting as the beginning was in Legacy of Kings. The story has just as many cliffhangers and plot twists and a few moments where I was just mind blown by what happened, which you can find out when it is released next week! 

The first book had a lot of POVs, but I enjoyed most of them so it didn't bother me as much as it did in the sequel. I think there are way too many POVs. I did feel like some of them weren't that great and had to push forward with them in order to get back to the plot lines that I really enjoyed. I was really glad to see more of Cyn and Zofia just because I really like where their stories are going and how interesting they are as characters. There are also a ton of side plots that I didn't feel helped move the story along. Just keep reading for the amazing story goodness!

So I personally don't know much about this time period, but really love all of the true historical facts interwoven into the story. That being said, someone with more knowledge of the era could figure out some stuff that will happen/should happen, but everything for me is such a surprise and I absolutely love that. Also, the romance in this book is making my fangirl so very happy. Heph and Kat! I will go down with this ship. Seeing all of their tension and the slow building of their relationship after he saved her life at the end of Legacy of Kings has been so frustrating because I am ready for them to be a thing. I did not really see her being with Jacob even in the beginning of the first book when he like half proposed to her and honestly how are you supposed to explain that you stabbed your fiancé in battle? Bad move Jacob. 

OVERALL:

This sequel does live up to the hype of the series. I know there will be a third book, but if it's a trilogy or not is unknown to me. The ending was more subtle than the first book, but gives a good direction of where the story is going. Even though there are new questions that were not answered in this book, I am very excited to see what is going to happen next. I will be keeping up with this series, so stayed tuned for more as this series continues! Definitely pick this sequel up when it comes out if you want the blood, murder, romance, and betrayal to continue for these great characters! 

RATING:

Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman 4/5 Stars

Also, if you feel so inclined as to preorder it before it comes out on June 28, 2016 Eleanor has a preorder game set up on her website, which you can find HERE. I already did. :) Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Legacy of Kings Book Review

Title: Legacy of Kings
By: Eleanor Herman
Release Date: August 18, 2015
Pages: 428
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: Hardback
All thoughts and comments are my own.

SUMMARY:

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to a newcomer…

Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But she doesn’t account for her first love…

Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.

And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the shocking details of real history, New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known, Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series. 

NON-SPOILERY REVIEW:

Okay, honesty time. My roommate got me this book for my birthday, last September, because I thought the cover was pretty. It's been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well lucky for me, Harlequin Teen gifted me with an eARC of Empire of Dust recently. What better excuse to finally push this to the top of my TBR? The book for me, started off a bit slow. There were so many places and different POVs to establish in the beginning. After getting accustomed to all the characters, the book went by pretty quickly. I liked the third person narrative, but personally feel like there are too many POVs. I think there are about six, including two minor characters, that the reader gets a chance to follow. While this does offer a great wealth of knowledge on the situations happening at the same time, there were some POVs that I liked more than others. I really enjoyed Kat's and Cyn's chapters, even though there were more of Cyn's in the beginning than later on. I am strongly hoping to see more of her and her side plot in the sequel.  Also, we only see Zo for many three chapters, I feel like her ending chapter leaves much to be desired and was not a very well chosen place for her to be at the end of the book. I will riot if there is not more on her in the sequel. I feel like Zo could be a real star, but her story is extremely sad and distressing. It took a lot out of me to read what she has to endure. 

That being said, I went into Legacy of Kings having read the prequel, Voice of Gods. Let me just say that I HIGHLY recommend reading it before starting the series. It clears up a lot of possible confusion throughout the novel. Also, having read it, I knew some things that I thought were important to look after and I still did not see that ending coming. It went completely over my head. That twist was much needed in order to help the book and possibly the rest of the series continue with the same drama that propelled Legacy of Kings. I really enjoyed all of the research and history that is interwoven into the story. 

OVERALL:

I really enjoyed Legacy of Kings more than I thought I was going to. The prequel novella left much to be desired, and the writing did improve in this series debut. I felt transported back into a world full of war, mystical creatures, and treachery. Oh and did I mention Magic? There's so much more magic in this book than I was expecting and loved that aspect of it. Blood, Romance, Betrayal, Magic, what's not to love?

RATING:

Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman 4/5 Stars

Be on the lookout for a review of the highly anticipated sequel, Empire of Dust. Also, if you feel so inclined as to preorder it before it comes out on June 28, 2016 Eleanor has a preorder game set up on her website, which you can find HERE. I already did. :) Share your thoughts on Legacy of Kings in the comments below!

June TBR

Hi Everyone!

I don't know about you, but I get more done when I set goals. Today I am going to set my goals for the month of June to help me get done with everything. So here we go!

1. I'm slightly behind with this series, but I did finish the prequel, Voice of Gods, and am currently diving into Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman. All I know is that is has something to do with Alexander the Great, and I am all over that. 

2. I was lucky enough to be approved by Harlequin Teen on Net Galley to receive an eARC of Empire of Dust. It is released on June 28th, so look for my review soon after I finish Legacy of Kings! Also if you haven't already, then you need to check out Eleanor's Website! She has an amazing preorder offer going on for Empire of Dust here 

3. As much as I love the Doon series, so far I haven't been able to really get into Destined for Doon. I plan on finishing at least this one, if not the whole series, by the end of June.

I'm taking a few classes that last until the end of June, which is why I've been so slow getting through everything. Stay Tuned though because July is going to be a great month for reviews and ARC reviews! Subscribe to the blog to stay up to date on reviews and other news. Comment if you've read anything good this month or what your TBR pile looks like for June!