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prynne31's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book would have been better if a little faster paced. Story was intriguing but very *very* dark.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
foxeswander's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Infidelity
booksthatburn's review against another edition
I was having trouble following the story across points in time, as the narrators didn't feel different enough to be distinctive. The perspectives are labeled at the start of each chapter, but I felt adrift, bored, and uninterested.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Body horror, Slavery, Torture, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault
silverbear's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault
wxrldwalker's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Look, I had no idea I would fall madly in love with Jenn Lyons' writing or this complicated yet amazing world she has created. I had no clue that a story about a boy who thought he was prophesised to be a hero (but is instead a villain) could be done so well and wouldn't take me months to finish!
Plot/ pacing:
The plot is quite confusing to explain, seeing as this is the first in a 5 book series! There's dragons, wealthy ruling houses, a FANTASTIC magic system, rich lore and history and a huge cast of characters. Basically, this is the story of Kihrin, a boy destined to destroy the world. He is initially an orphan who finds out who he really is after his curiosity gets the better of him. I think the way the story progresses was done so well. We have two stories taking place side by side; Kihrin's journey from a child to him coming to terms with his heritage- involving lots of political and family drama. And then there's Kihrin's story as he runs away from this situation and learns more about himself away from the people who claim to be his family…
I loved the action and drama! It was fast paced when it needed to be, and slowed down when it was necessary. I loved the ending, and I can't wait to pick up book 2 and see what happens next hehe.
Characters/ relationships:
We are following two POVs. One is Talon who is a shapeshifting jailer and is narrating the first half of Kihrin's story. And the second POV is Kihrin himself, who narrates his story from where Talon left off. I know, confusing right! So basically, at the beginning Kihrin is trapped by Talon and they are telling us about how they reached that point in time!
I really loved Kihrin- he's sassy and is strong but you really see how he develops from a child to who he is now. Also, damn I shipped him so hard with Teraeth. Like, I literally loved their banter. It was almost like a subtle, slow burn relationship where they really hate each other but then once they team up, they are able to 'tolerate' one another and I just loved them so much! Teraeth is quite broody and grumpy and those are the characters I love best! I also enjoyed Tyentso and her motherly treatment of Kihrin! The found family was so unexpected but I'm not complaining! Another relationship that I really enjoyed was Kihrin and his 'brother' Galen. They meet when they're teens and are told that they aren't friends because they must compete to be the next heir. But I loved their sibling wholesomeness! They're just enjoying running around the palace, finding hidden doors and theorising about their family history.
A new character was also introduced near the end and damn the chemistry between her and Kihrin!!! I need more of them insulting each other because damn I enjoyed that chapter SO MUCH.
Writing:
Oh my, where do I start? I was scared the writing was going to be dense and hard to read, but NOPE. It was straightforward, yet beautiful. It was complicated and yet me with my two and a half braincells enjoyed the heck out of it! I love love loved it! It was so well written! The glossary and family tree were so helpful :)
This book is quite chunky; the paperback is a whopping 685 pages and I think is the longest book I've read this year so far. Still, I believe it is one of my favourite epic fantasies of ALL TIME! HIGHLY RECOMMEND :D
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
syllareads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Ah, yes, my first endeavor into a new High Fantasy series, complete with a set of "WHAT" and "Who are you again" and the ever-present "oh my god what is happening".
The Ruin of Kings is the first book in the 5-book series "A Chorus of Dragons" by Jenn Lyons. It's fabulously red, nice and thicc and there are more names with T and K in it than I care to count (they have their reasons to be this many, but there's still so many, help my soul). The story-telling format itself is also rather unique - the entire story is two stories within a story, narrated by two individuals more or less after almost the entire events of book one have taken place. This makes for an intriguing premise since we already know what the end result will be - we just have no idea how things went tits-up in the first place. Also, has anyone ever told you they know your own life story better than you, and then played fetch with you and a recording stone? Because it's also quite amusing for that to happen on the sidelines.
The book itself (and its 3, yes you heard me correctly, 3 narrators) tackles a lot of heavy topics in the span of almost 700 pages, including but not limited to a character telling another one off on-page about how murder is okay but incest is where they draw the line because what will the children think (this is a direct quote and that is all I'm saying). There's much to explore in this world, anyway; slavery? Sure! Prostitution? Absolutely! Shackling someone's soul so you can have absolute control over them, why not. And most of this is achieved in the first few chapters no less!
As much as I enjoyed and snorted at the shenanigans, I have to say that this book lacked a bit of emotional depth for me. This might partially be because the character name situation wasn't just your usual High Fantasy hijinks but the author actively made it worse for beginners by including a lot of resurrection and soul shenanigans that I, for the life of me, couldn't accurately follow. This means that every conclusion characters arrived at had to be spelled out for me to understand why which in turn made it really difficult to connect emotionally with a lot of scenes. The snarky sass most of these adorable assholes possess didn't help; it might have been a coping mechanism, it might have been something else, but most of the time, emotional scenes didn't do it for me because the characters themselves weren't "convincingly" emotional to me.
(It was pretty damn funny most of the time tho).
TL;DR: Ruin of Kings is a great first book to a series that highly intrigues me (yes, partly because it is gay, and partly because all of my favorite characters so far are little shits) and I do recommend it; I can understand, however, if the unfamiliar narration style or the general lack of a lot of heartache turns some people off. I'll definitely be continuining on with the series, and I'm looking forward to more little shit moments, particularly by Teraeth - he's my son okay!!
The Ruin of Kings is the first book in the 5-book series "A Chorus of Dragons" by Jenn Lyons. It's fabulously red, nice and thicc and there are more names with T and K in it than I care to count (they have their reasons to be this many, but there's still so many, help my soul). The story-telling format itself is also rather unique - the entire story is two stories within a story, narrated by two individuals more or less after almost the entire events of book one have taken place. This makes for an intriguing premise since we already know what the end result will be - we just have no idea how things went tits-up in the first place. Also, has anyone ever told you they know your own life story better than you, and then played fetch with you and a recording stone? Because it's also quite amusing for that to happen on the sidelines.
The book itself (and its 3, yes you heard me correctly, 3 narrators) tackles a lot of heavy topics in the span of almost 700 pages, including but not limited to a character telling another one off on-page about how murder is okay but incest is where they draw the line because what will the children think (this is a direct quote and that is all I'm saying). There's much to explore in this world, anyway; slavery? Sure! Prostitution? Absolutely! Shackling someone's soul so you can have absolute control over them, why not. And most of this is achieved in the first few chapters no less!
As much as I enjoyed and snorted at the shenanigans, I have to say that this book lacked a bit of emotional depth for me. This might partially be because the character name situation wasn't just your usual High Fantasy hijinks but the author actively made it worse for beginners by including a lot of resurrection and soul shenanigans that I, for the life of me, couldn't accurately follow. This means that every conclusion characters arrived at had to be spelled out for me to understand why which in turn made it really difficult to connect emotionally with a lot of scenes. The snarky sass most of these adorable assholes possess didn't help; it might have been a coping mechanism, it might have been something else, but most of the time, emotional scenes didn't do it for me because the characters themselves weren't "convincingly" emotional to me.
(It was pretty damn funny most of the time tho).
TL;DR: Ruin of Kings is a great first book to a series that highly intrigues me (yes, partly because it is gay, and partly because all of my favorite characters so far are little shits) and I do recommend it; I can understand, however, if the unfamiliar narration style or the general lack of a lot of heartache turns some people off. I'll definitely be continuining on with the series, and I'm looking forward to more little shit moments, particularly by Teraeth - he's my son okay!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
caseythereader's review against another edition
I realized I no longer had any idea who was who and how they were related to each other and that I no longer cared.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Incest
madamepincers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Torture
scribblesandsuch's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
The story and universe are good, but the way in which they're conveyed is very confusing, and the author could have pulled back on the worldvuilding overload, which is constant through the book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
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