wabcoqueen's review
3.0
Well, this just wasn't the ending I expected. There just wasn't enough of a fight for me to enjoy.
johnboscoreads's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
calistaw12's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
bookishnicole's review
4.0
I wanted so much more from this finale, but there were too many players for me to keep straight. I enjoyed it and the sweet ending.
novelheartbeat's review
1.0
Not gonna lie, I pretty much only read this because I was 2 books in and felt the need to see it through. This was by far my least favorite of the whole series. It was just so....dull? Things were happening but I still feel like nothing happened. This series should have been a duology. It's also geared toward a much younger audience than me, so maybe that's why, but it just seemed very melodramatic with zero actual stakes. Characters would be freaking out about something and I'd just be rolling my eyes like 'it's fine, you'll be fine.'
I also haaated a certain thing in this book that I feel was just a plot device to push this into a trilogy, when it should have been a duology all along.
Spoiler
The whole 'Renard is back from the dead' plot line was just unnecessary, and frankly terrible. I hated it so much!! I also despise when a book breaks its own rules. Renard was back from the dead but when someone else died (Oh and while I'm in the spoiler tag, I strongly feel like Luca should have been the one to kill Renard because of the title. The title doesn't fit. Boo.
I would probably only recommend reading this series just for Ula. The main characters are pretty meh. Ula should have been the MC. Also, if you do read it? Stop at the last part of the epilogue in book 2 and pretend book 3 never existed.
This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.
loftyace's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
egoodin's review
3.0
This book was engaging and was fun to read. However, I got tired of all the feminist prose very quickly and it was a huge part of this installment.
I also felt it was predictable - I was able to correctly guess exactly who would die in this book.
I also felt it was predictable - I was able to correctly guess exactly who would die in this book.
beelovingqueen's review
5.0
This was a well written and quite thought through conclusion for this series. I really enjoyed how everything wrapped up in the end and how the storyline that we started with Amarande and Luca in the beginning has come to quite a different ending than I expected. Though unexpected, it was really enjoyable - all the politics that went on and especially the plot line that started at the end of the second book was really interesting to see through. All characters had some major character-growth, especially Amarande, who changed in her way of thinking throughout the series. I really liked this series and loved the ending it was pure power and desicion-making!
missprint_'s review
5.0
Princess Amarande is finally poised to have everything she wants. After a brutal trek across the Torrent and back she is reunited with her love Luca, a lost prince himself raised in hiding as a stable boy. Having fended off invaders, rivals, and her own mother Amarande is about to become queen in her own right--no need to marry except if she chooses--while Luca works to gather his own allies and begin rebuilding Torrance.
Flush with hope and dreams of new beginnings, Amarande and Luca and their allies are eager for the opportunity to rebuild the kingdoms of the Sand and Sky into something new as the continent puts the recent regicides and threat of war behind them.
But even as one queen and king hope to rebuild, there are others just as eager to burn everything to the ground if it means holding onto their own power.
No woman has ever ruled outright in the thousand year history of the Sand and Sky. If the patriarchal establishment has its way, no woman ever will. As obstacles old and new stand in Amarande's way, she will have to rally all of her forces to stand against her enemies once again in The King Will Kill You (2022) by Sarah Henning.
The Kill Will Kill You is the final book in Henning's Kingdoms of Sand and Sky trilogy. Start at the beginning with The Princess Will Save You and The Queen Will Betray You to avoid spoilers and get the most out of the series. Amarande is cued as white but there is a variety of skintones among the kingdoms of the continent and among the cast in this novel. A close third person perspective primarily follows Amarande but does shift to other key characters including Luca.
Every book in this series builds upon the last expanding both the world and the feminist themes that underpin the entire plot. Having laid the groundwork for this strong cast in book one and set up the political landscape in book two, The King WIll Kill You is positioned as both the best and the strongest book in this series.
Throughout this series Amarande, and readers, have seen characters strive for various goals--most notably power for the various monarchs--only to have the sweetness of success turn to ash upon achieving their goals. Henning reworks that conceit here one more time as Amarande's supposed happy ending is torn away leaving her and Luca once again scrambling to find safety.
Shifting viewpoints give a wide view of this story that spans multiple kingdoms and a well-utilized ensemble cast. After dispatching many of their enemies both Amarande and Luca hope to be able to work within the system to reform the Sand and Sky into something better not just for the kingdoms and their ruling class but for every person on the continent--something that other rulers attempt to thwart at every turn. After the intense action of previous installments, this shift to political maneuvering offers an interesting but no less engrossing change of pace as the action and intrigue of this series moves to a different stage. (Don't worry there are still quite a few sweeping battles and sword fights to be had here.)
While Amarande still faces some very real enemies and brutal gaslighting while trying to claim her power once and for all, the real enemy in The King Will Kill You turns out to be the establishment that has worked so long to help those in power and no one else. Faced with trying to operate within a system that was never meant to help anyone like her--despite her own father's successes as king--Amarande has to confront the fact that sometimes the best way to rebuild is to tear down everything that came before.
The King Will Kill You is an ambitious and ultimately satisfying conclusion to a fundamentally feminist series where action and adventure are tempered well with political intrigue and moral questions. After all, what can be more feminist than a book that literally tears down the patriarchy?
Possible Pairings: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim, The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows, Little Thieves by Margaret Owen, Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto, The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross
*A copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*
Flush with hope and dreams of new beginnings, Amarande and Luca and their allies are eager for the opportunity to rebuild the kingdoms of the Sand and Sky into something new as the continent puts the recent regicides and threat of war behind them.
But even as one queen and king hope to rebuild, there are others just as eager to burn everything to the ground if it means holding onto their own power.
No woman has ever ruled outright in the thousand year history of the Sand and Sky. If the patriarchal establishment has its way, no woman ever will. As obstacles old and new stand in Amarande's way, she will have to rally all of her forces to stand against her enemies once again in The King Will Kill You (2022) by Sarah Henning.
The Kill Will Kill You is the final book in Henning's Kingdoms of Sand and Sky trilogy. Start at the beginning with The Princess Will Save You and The Queen Will Betray You to avoid spoilers and get the most out of the series. Amarande is cued as white but there is a variety of skintones among the kingdoms of the continent and among the cast in this novel. A close third person perspective primarily follows Amarande but does shift to other key characters including Luca.
Every book in this series builds upon the last expanding both the world and the feminist themes that underpin the entire plot. Having laid the groundwork for this strong cast in book one and set up the political landscape in book two, The King WIll Kill You is positioned as both the best and the strongest book in this series.
Throughout this series Amarande, and readers, have seen characters strive for various goals--most notably power for the various monarchs--only to have the sweetness of success turn to ash upon achieving their goals. Henning reworks that conceit here one more time as Amarande's supposed happy ending is torn away leaving her and Luca once again scrambling to find safety.
Shifting viewpoints give a wide view of this story that spans multiple kingdoms and a well-utilized ensemble cast. After dispatching many of their enemies both Amarande and Luca hope to be able to work within the system to reform the Sand and Sky into something better not just for the kingdoms and their ruling class but for every person on the continent--something that other rulers attempt to thwart at every turn. After the intense action of previous installments, this shift to political maneuvering offers an interesting but no less engrossing change of pace as the action and intrigue of this series moves to a different stage. (Don't worry there are still quite a few sweeping battles and sword fights to be had here.)
While Amarande still faces some very real enemies and brutal gaslighting while trying to claim her power once and for all, the real enemy in The King Will Kill You turns out to be the establishment that has worked so long to help those in power and no one else. Faced with trying to operate within a system that was never meant to help anyone like her--despite her own father's successes as king--Amarande has to confront the fact that sometimes the best way to rebuild is to tear down everything that came before.
The King Will Kill You is an ambitious and ultimately satisfying conclusion to a fundamentally feminist series where action and adventure are tempered well with political intrigue and moral questions. After all, what can be more feminist than a book that literally tears down the patriarchy?
Possible Pairings: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim, The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows, Little Thieves by Margaret Owen, Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto, The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross
*A copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*