Author: Sarah K.L. Wilson
Series: Poisoned Saints
Genre: Epic Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: June 01, 2023
Edition: 540 pages, ebook
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's |
Synopsis:
Eleven paladins walk into a monastery. Only one knows it's a trap.
When Victoriana Greenmantle is summoned to represent her paladin order in an unusual quest, she's out of her depth from the very beginning. Victoriana has only just been made a paladin and she has none of the resources or experience that the others have. On top of that, she has no idea how she will fulfill her orders -- to find and claim for her superiors the God's own Cup of Tears.
Her rivals are stronger, smarter, and more experienced. They want this just as badly as she does. And one of them might not be a paladin at all.
When Adalbrand Von Menticure arrives at the monastery with the other paladin representatives he sees the obstacles before him as one more way to dedicate himself to his healing arts. What he does not expect is murder. Or the young female paladin who keeps insisting that they have a traitor among them. Or how she makes him start to feel things that have long been forbidden.
Together, these two unwieldy allies must discover who the traitor is, how that one is killing the others, and whether the Cup of Tears is really worth the bloodshed and danger within the monastery walls before time runs out and they are trapped forever.
A complicated mission, you say? Oh, but it gets worse, because forbidden love is slowly stalking them both, complicating everything, and leaving them each more vulnerable than they can afford to be in the face of a danger worse than either of them ever imagined.
Will this pair find strength in their strict discipline and careful practice in time to escape, or will they fall before the twin daggers of a rogue killer and an attraction more deadly than the simple risk of death?
When Victoriana Greenmantle is summoned to represent her paladin order in an unusual quest, she's out of her depth from the very beginning. Victoriana has only just been made a paladin and she has none of the resources or experience that the others have. On top of that, she has no idea how she will fulfill her orders -- to find and claim for her superiors the God's own Cup of Tears.
Her rivals are stronger, smarter, and more experienced. They want this just as badly as she does. And one of them might not be a paladin at all.
When Adalbrand Von Menticure arrives at the monastery with the other paladin representatives he sees the obstacles before him as one more way to dedicate himself to his healing arts. What he does not expect is murder. Or the young female paladin who keeps insisting that they have a traitor among them. Or how she makes him start to feel things that have long been forbidden.
Together, these two unwieldy allies must discover who the traitor is, how that one is killing the others, and whether the Cup of Tears is really worth the bloodshed and danger within the monastery walls before time runs out and they are trapped forever.
A complicated mission, you say? Oh, but it gets worse, because forbidden love is slowly stalking them both, complicating everything, and leaving them each more vulnerable than they can afford to be in the face of a danger worse than either of them ever imagined.
Will this pair find strength in their strict discipline and careful practice in time to escape, or will they fall before the twin daggers of a rogue killer and an attraction more deadly than the simple risk of death?
**************
I saw Elisabeth Wheatley talking about this book, and it sounded like something I would enjoy. And I did, some small issues aside.
The main characters are what kept me most engaged with this book, the plot while interesting in concept after a while felt a little meandering. It was a little repetitive. The side-characters were very one-dimensional in a way, verging on mustache twirly when they did something to paint them as antagonists. It was a little annoying that the only man who wasn't a misogynist was the MMC.
The pacing was my biggest issue with this book though. It was almost too long, 540 pages is a lot of pages, and some of them repeated plot-points, and the magic was overly convenient. Even when the antagonists were able to pray to their aspect to get things done, which didn't exactly make sense to me. If they were doing "evil" their aspect shouldn't have answered their prayer. I'm also not sure if this is a pantheon, or it's one god, who the paladins swear to different parts of. I believe this is going to be a series, so maybe more will be explained later.
This book could classify as insta-love, which I struggle to buy when it comes to adults. It's not exactly clear how old the characters are, Victoriana is I think in her mid-20s' and Adalbrand is supposed to be 10 years older than her making him in his 30s. These people knew each other for a week, at most, and were professing undying love for each other. Sure, trauma can bring people together, but their 'romance' didn't feel organic, it almost felt forced. It didn't make me hate the romance, it just wasn't as slow-burn as I felt it was pitched. Yes, nothing happens between them until the end of the book. But I think it would've had more impact if they had met in the past at some point and this was them seeing each other after years. I also am mildly uncomfy with the 10-year age gap. Yes, they are both adults, but 10 years is a lot of years... even if because of his aspect required him to be celibate since he joined when he was 16.
Things I really loved was that Victoriana is a super skilled swordswoman, who was able to go toe-to-toe with men more than twice her age. She is physically strong, and tall. As a short woman, I am tired of every female lead being a tiny waif. It was starting to feel infantalizing. I do like Adalbrand as a character, even when he was being an idiot. He almost always realized when he was being unreasonable and did what he could to make amends. I also enjoyed the writing in general, and want to read more by this author.
No comments:
Post a Comment