The Unwilling

"My biggest complaint for this one is that it gets rather graphic - I'm really not a fan of gore. For me, it was more detail in that department than I prefer. I do really like the 4 "children". Their personalities work well together and they are easy to root for most of the time - they have their (believable) faults. And there's plenty of grey in the situations - does the end justify the means - at all; to a point; never; who decides when it is or isn't justifiable? I'm also liking the plot so far. Definitely going to read the sequel!"

"This ended too soon — need more of Judah and her “purple rope!” 😉 "

"This was dark.<br/><br/>I enjoyed the ambivalence of it -- many times you weren't sure who the protagonists/allies were, who the antagonist(s) were, what the goals were, what the outcome was going to be. That's not something you really see done much in fantasy, the ambiguity of it all.<br/><br/>In a lot of ways, this was a very small book; the majority of it takes place inside the castle walls. In other ways, it was immense, bordering on 600 pages. I felt like it read quickly, in that when I'd stick my bookmark in at the next chapter thirty or forty pages away, I'd be there without thinking about it. <br/><br/>In no way is this book YA. In no way is it not full of triggers. There are people in this book who are absolutely horrible. That doesn't make it bad.<br/><br/>Wondering if there'll be a second book to this, though. Curious to find out."

"<a href="https://laughinglistener.com/" target="_blank"><br/>The Laughing Listener</a><br/><b>February 2020</b><br/><b>Format:</b> Ebook ARC<br/><br/><i>*I was graciously given a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review*</i><br/><br/><b>Story Rating:</b> 3 Stars<br/><br/>When I first read the blurb for this book I was all over it. A foundling with a special gift? And unnatural bond?? A cruel mighty lord??? Heck yes. This had dark political intrigue all over it and I wanted in. Unfortunately I wasn’t quite prepared for exactly <i>how</i> dark this story was, but I still found the twists and turns of the story super intriguing. <br/><br/><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/AEnLlzSidoSOY/giphy.gif" width="" height="" alt="Intrigue. Mama like."><br/><br/>From the very beginning in the prologue, the universe and magic system of this world captured my attention. The people being paired up with their blood compatibility and testing children for magic—I wanted to know more and that feeling carried me through the book. I wanted to unlock all the secrets and find out what Judah’s power was. The way this universe is constructed is great and I liked all the political intrigue. <br/><br/>Plus, the characters are fun too. Judah is such a strong female protagonist and watching her strange bond with Gavin was so cool! I admit that Gavin wasn’t exactly my favorite, but he pales in comparison to his evil creeptastic father King Elban who gave me an extreme case of the heebie jeebies. And because I have a weakness for puffy cinnamon roll characters, Theron and his nerdiness was my favorite of the bunch.<br/><br/>How dark this book turned out to be is what shocked me the most, so don’t go in expecting your normal young adult fantasy. My emo soul isn’t one to be squeamish, so it wasn’t hard for me to get past, but I know others might have trouble with it. I was also very confused through the first several chapters. There are a lot of players in this story from the very beginning and my brain kept confusing everyone and tried to make connections that weren’t there. Once I let myself relax into it, I was fine, but it took me a hot minute to acclimate myself.<br/><br/><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/wKd2qpkBvi5x9XxWOm/giphy.gif" width="" height="" alt="My brain hurts"><br/><br/><b>FINAL WORD</b><br/><br/>This book definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. By the end, I was able to get lost in the story and the characters, but it definitely took me a little while to enjoy it."