Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Kingmaker

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan

23 reviews

ooohgoshtara's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

In the Kingmaker we meet Lennix a Native American women and Maxim who is from a wealthy, old money oil family. The two meet by chance for the first time at an oil pipeline protest where they are both arrested and spend some time in a holding cell together. Although they do not keep in touch after that day they never forget each other until they happen to run into each other four years later. The story spans many years and is broken up into three parts. So it is a slow burn for sure.

The story is told in dual POV. I enjoyed getting to know Lennix and Maxim as individuals and seeing them grow over the years. There is such strong character development among the main and supporting characters as well.

The Kingmaker is an amazing story with complex, diverse characters, an unpredictable storyline up to the very end. It's the first of three books in a series and ends on a massive cliffhanger. You can tell this story was heavily researched. It's politically charged in the way it tackles issues such as climate change and systematic racism. I enjoyed that I felt like I learned a few things along the way. This story was written with care to capture Native American Culture and the many issues that Native Americans are subject to such as racism and violence against Native people as well as the epidemic of missing native women. The writing is simply beautiful. I cannot wait to read the next installment and see where Lennix and Maxim's paths lead them.

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wornpagesandendlesscoffey's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Kingmaker was a much needed Romance featuring a diverse cast of characters. I enjoyed that the MC was indigenous, and though her story is tragic, it is necessary and I appreciate how Ryan is unafraid to delve into the depths of Lennix's experiences as the daughter of a woman who has been added to the ranks of the MMIW, entwining it with who she has become, without making it her entire story. It is a driving force throughout, but Ryan has left us room for love and laughter and friendship and ambition beyond Lennix's trauma. This book handles so well many social and cultural issues that lack representation too often.
The love story in this book is absolute gold. The Kingmaker jumps between several well known romance tropes, including the hard to perfect Second Chance, which Ryan has done superbly well, delivering a sweet, passionate romance without sacrificing a character's likability to do so. Both Lennix and Maxim are characters to root for, and I truly enjoyed how she handled bringing them back together without making that age gap creepy.
The Kingmaker shows us that, sometimes, love also has to wait on timing.

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sdupont's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed The Kingmaker! Kennedy Ryan is so good at writing emotional connections between love interests. She’s particularly great at second chance romances where she builds a strong foundation, realistic conflict, and then a strong connection when they reunite. I love how strong willed and determined both Lennix and Maxim are. They are so passionate about their causes and each other. I easily found myself rooting for them. And this cliffhanger?! Thank god I can immediately download the next book to my Kindle because I need to know what happens next.

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sarah_thebooknerd's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

4 ⭐️
2 🌶️

I have a lot of thoughts about this book. I love Kennedys writing and her way to weave a story is superior. If you are a fan of Scandal I think you will like this book/ duet. Lennix and Maxim are both really strong characters that do not want to compromise! I liked that not going to lie.

Beware there is a cliffhanger and you are doing to want book 2 before diving into this one.

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manoncrochan's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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krystalframe's review against another edition

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4.0

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psydneigh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love Lennix. Im kind of on the fence about Maxim in this one. Can’t wait to finish their story up!

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churrosmom's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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iamsammie27's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is bonkers - just absolutely bananas - and it ends on a huge cliffhanger that had my heart pounding at 1030pm, and not in a good way. I was *not ready* for Kennedy Ryan, y’all.

There’s a pipeline protest! There’s an Antarctic expedition! There are missing and murdered Indigenous women! There is a trip to Amsterdam (complete with tulips)! There’s a PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN?!? A trip to Central America to distribute vaccines! A billionaire boyfriend who can provide private jet dates! There are lies of omission! There is sex! There is swoon!

I loved Lennix, the heroine. She is brilliant and brave and so resolved in her convictions. Maxim, well, he’s okay. He has a possessive streak that borders on invasive, and despite very clearly knowing that this is a book about the super wealthy, I picked it up and was once again reminded that super-wealthy protagonists piss me off. Try all you want to make him a “good” billionaire, I’m just envisioning Elon Musk. 🥴

👍🏻 All told I think this is definitely worth your time if you’re looking for a book with love in it but also with a LOT of other stuff going on. Anticipate the cliffhanger and mind the CW (I’ve put them in the comments).

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