dragon_lion64's review against another edition
3.0
Born of Betrayal
The League #10
Finally, it is Fain’s story! Fans of The League series know Fain from previous books but have only had glimpses into his life which just made us more curious about his story and background. He is the brother of Dancer Hauk whose story was in book # 8, Born of Fury.
Over 20 years ago, Fain Hauk gave up his one true love, Galene of the Winged Blood Clan of Batur, in order to protect her and his family. He had no idea that Galene was pregnant with his child when he left Andaria so his son, Talyn, was raised as a bastard and Outcast in accordance with the strict Andarian law and Caste system. Talyn’s story was in book #9, Born of Defiance.
Fain has led a pretty tough life since he has left Andaria but even before he left, things weren’t easy on him. His parents were too concerned with their place in society to dole out any love. They were cruel, petty and hate-filled and caused Fain and his brothers nothing but pain and misery. When he left, Fain was enslaved by Venik, one of the most vicious and feared of the Tavali (a coalition of freighters and pilots who are independent of any tyrannical nation, basically pirates who protect their own) but even though Venik was basically his owner, he viewed Fain as a son or friend. The relationship is complicated to say the least and I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of Venik in future books. The Tavali under Venik secretly fight for the Sentella, a group that opposes The League. The League is an organization of politicians and assassins who were originally meant to keep the peace but it has become corrupt and now rules the Universe by killing anyone who dares to go against them.
Galene and Fain are thrown together for a military assignment where they have to work together against a common enemy. They have a lot to overcome and learn about each other but can they truly ever forgive each other?
I found this book to be just okay. While I liked the overall story, I found the romance didn’t do much for me. I don’t know why. It just didn’t pull at my heartstrings. I found myself more interested in what was happening with all the other characters and the background story than with Fain and Galene. I do look forward to future books though because I need to know what happens with certain characters and what happens with Andaria.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
The League #10
Finally, it is Fain’s story! Fans of The League series know Fain from previous books but have only had glimpses into his life which just made us more curious about his story and background. He is the brother of Dancer Hauk whose story was in book # 8, Born of Fury.
Over 20 years ago, Fain Hauk gave up his one true love, Galene of the Winged Blood Clan of Batur, in order to protect her and his family. He had no idea that Galene was pregnant with his child when he left Andaria so his son, Talyn, was raised as a bastard and Outcast in accordance with the strict Andarian law and Caste system. Talyn’s story was in book #9, Born of Defiance.
Fain has led a pretty tough life since he has left Andaria but even before he left, things weren’t easy on him. His parents were too concerned with their place in society to dole out any love. They were cruel, petty and hate-filled and caused Fain and his brothers nothing but pain and misery. When he left, Fain was enslaved by Venik, one of the most vicious and feared of the Tavali (a coalition of freighters and pilots who are independent of any tyrannical nation, basically pirates who protect their own) but even though Venik was basically his owner, he viewed Fain as a son or friend. The relationship is complicated to say the least and I have a feeling that we will be seeing more of Venik in future books. The Tavali under Venik secretly fight for the Sentella, a group that opposes The League. The League is an organization of politicians and assassins who were originally meant to keep the peace but it has become corrupt and now rules the Universe by killing anyone who dares to go against them.
Galene and Fain are thrown together for a military assignment where they have to work together against a common enemy. They have a lot to overcome and learn about each other but can they truly ever forgive each other?
I found this book to be just okay. While I liked the overall story, I found the romance didn’t do much for me. I don’t know why. It just didn’t pull at my heartstrings. I found myself more interested in what was happening with all the other characters and the background story than with Fain and Galene. I do look forward to future books though because I need to know what happens with certain characters and what happens with Andaria.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
whitney0498's review against another edition
5.0
I have been provided with a review copy of Born of Betrayal from the publisher St. Martin’s Press for an impartial review. Born of Betrayal is the tenth book in The League: Nemesis Rising Series and it picks up around where the eighth installment Born of Fury left off. In this book we get to see Fain Hauk find his way to his happily ever after. This book was awesome it had me gasping left and right and thinking that possibly couldn’t have just happened. I really enjoyed this book not only do you get to see more of Galene Batur and her son Talyn that we previously met in Born of Defiance but you start to understand the whole picture better surrounding all three of them and what actually went on between them and why things are the way they are. What another great installment by this author and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.
pixi_reads's review against another edition
5.0
This is the best yet! You do probably need to read the other books in the series first, except Born of Ice, to enjoy it as much.
kriff08's review against another edition
1.0
I'm giving up. I'm over halfway through this book and just not interested. The beginning was ok but since then everything seems to be a cluster of characters from other books. I've read a few league novels but I'm not a die hard fan and I don't really want to read a character reunion. This book was supposed to be about Fain and Galene. Instead I'm getting like everyone I've already read about. I hardly feel like I know Fain and Galene at all for all the other characters that are making an appearance. So after two fake out explosions I'm pretty much done and putting this one away.
misskrislm's review against another edition
5.0
Completely worth waiting for! I loved Fain as much as I thought I would, and Galene proved her fire again after having really met her in "Born of Defiance". What an amazing couple those two make.
xakyr's review against another edition
3.0
I've been reading this series for a while now, and this book was a bit of a let down for me.
One thing I enjoyed was that it let us know that it was set several years after some of the events of [b:Born of Defiance|22046891|Born of Defiance (The League, #9)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412822622s/22046891.jpg|41371684]. That being said, some of those events made no sense to me, especially in a political Monarchy sense! It seemed too merciful to leave political enemies alive, as they could always wind up coming back to overthrow you all over again! It made it very easy to predict the events that ended this book!
I really didn't care for Fain as a hero. He never really went into the details of his past and what drove him from Galene. I really felt he owed her and Talyn that information. He seemed very closed off to me, and there wasn't a good reason given for it in current time! In the past, yes, but after his "redemption"? Not so much.
Galene I knew from [b:Born of Defiance|22046891|Born of Defiance (The League, #9)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412822622s/22046891.jpg|41371684] and I admired her quite a bit when I started this book. By the time it was over, though, my admiration had dimmed somewhat. She forgave Fain too easily, especially since it came to light just how much he had hurt Talyn in the past!
The book ended very abruptly for me, and it felt like a jarring finish. It was definitely action packed and I'm interested to see what happens in the political arena. The characters are beginning to get too confusing to me to be able to keep track of them without a flowchart!
One thing I enjoyed was that it let us know that it was set several years after some of the events of [b:Born of Defiance|22046891|Born of Defiance (The League, #9)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412822622s/22046891.jpg|41371684]. That being said, some of those events made no sense to me, especially in a political Monarchy sense! It seemed too merciful to leave political enemies alive, as they could always wind up coming back to overthrow you all over again! It made it very easy to predict the events that ended this book!
I really didn't care for Fain as a hero. He never really went into the details of his past and what drove him from Galene. I really felt he owed her and Talyn that information. He seemed very closed off to me, and there wasn't a good reason given for it in current time! In the past, yes, but after his "redemption"? Not so much.
Galene I knew from [b:Born of Defiance|22046891|Born of Defiance (The League, #9)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412822622s/22046891.jpg|41371684] and I admired her quite a bit when I started this book. By the time it was over, though, my admiration had dimmed somewhat. She forgave Fain too easily, especially since it came to light just how much he had hurt Talyn in the past!
The book ended very abruptly for me, and it felt like a jarring finish. It was definitely action packed and I'm interested to see what happens in the political arena. The characters are beginning to get too confusing to me to be able to keep track of them without a flowchart!
liliavisser's review
3.0
Even though I enjoyed the book, I thought Ms. Kenyon had a bit too convenient solutions for problems that would take longer to solve in other books. I do understand we all want a happy ending, but still...
All that said, I do want to read the next one, which I hope won´t take too long to be written.
All that said, I do want to read the next one, which I hope won´t take too long to be written.
cindai23's review against another edition
4.0
Ok, happy for Fain, Galene, and Talyn. Good conclusion to their story. Loved some of the major knowledge bombs Sherrilyn dropped involving some familiar characters.
Now, that said, I did not enjoy the fact that she used a huge explosion to supposedly wipe out whole swathes of characters families, then psyche us all out, multiple times toward the end. Once was hard, twice was meh, three times you say what the fuck? And I really am less than thrilled that Jullien is now one of the misunderstood good guys now. Come on! I loved the whole Styxx and Ash story in the Dark Hunters series. I even appreciate that Nyk's story came first and that there are great similarities between the two. However, I can't do this with Jullien. If his story turns out to be some tortured heartbreaking tale, I just don't think I can go there again. If she is just peppering the story, like she did here, great, I can give him a chance like the rest of the Sentella. I'm on board. But a heartwrenching tome of all the horrible ways you can hurt a child, or even a man, I can't do it. Not again. That story has been done, and done very well by her. It isn't what this series needs.
Look, I love her work. I will read most anything by her, gladly, willingly, even joyously. But, this would be hard to take a second time. Especially knowing Nero and Tray's stories are going to rip out our hearts in new and horrifying ways once they finally come out. But they earned their place here. Jullien needs to earn his too.
Now, that said, I did not enjoy the fact that she used a huge explosion to supposedly wipe out whole swathes of characters families, then psyche us all out, multiple times toward the end. Once was hard, twice was meh, three times you say what the fuck? And I really am less than thrilled that Jullien is now one of the misunderstood good guys now. Come on! I loved the whole Styxx and Ash story in the Dark Hunters series. I even appreciate that Nyk's story came first and that there are great similarities between the two. However, I can't do this with Jullien. If his story turns out to be some tortured heartbreaking tale, I just don't think I can go there again. If she is just peppering the story, like she did here, great, I can give him a chance like the rest of the Sentella. I'm on board. But a heartwrenching tome of all the horrible ways you can hurt a child, or even a man, I can't do it. Not again. That story has been done, and done very well by her. It isn't what this series needs.
Look, I love her work. I will read most anything by her, gladly, willingly, even joyously. But, this would be hard to take a second time. Especially knowing Nero and Tray's stories are going to rip out our hearts in new and horrifying ways once they finally come out. But they earned their place here. Jullien needs to earn his too.
jazzrizz's review against another edition
5.0
I can't believe I missed this one. I thought I had already listened to this one. I love the Andarians in this series. Fain's book does not disappoint!
I have to say I absolutely loved this book. This one hits the heartstrings a bunch. I was actually in tears when the first tragedy hit. It literally took my breath away. Even though I knew it was probably going to end up being ok (totally floored by what actually happened by the way). I was totally crying over the loss. Reactions were totally acurate to the characters.
The humor in this series is awesome, and was on full display.
I can hardly wait for Born of Legend!!!
I have to say I absolutely loved this book. This one hits the heartstrings a bunch. I was actually in tears when the first tragedy hit. It literally took my breath away. Even though I knew it was probably going to end up being ok (totally floored by what actually happened by the way). I was totally crying over the loss. Reactions were totally acurate to the characters.
The humor in this series is awesome, and was on full display.
I can hardly wait for Born of Legend!!!