dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Let’s just start with the cover. Because it’s horrid. I’ve certainly seen worse, but this one is not good. Very much “I did this myself in GIMP and it looks okay enough.” It’s just . . . very off-putting, very amateur-looking, and very indicative of a self-published novel. Luckily what’s beyond the cover is markedly better than what this digital manipulation would otherwise suggest.
Markedly better, but still not great. The pacing is somewhat jerky, lingering too long on exposition and unnecessary world craft-type of nonsense that fills in pockets of worldbuilding because you don’t get to see a lot of the world for most of the story. So you get aristocrats droning on about this city and these goods and I found myself not really paying attention during those parts because they were boring. Just get along with the plot, please.
The story itself is pretty interesting and I would like to know more about this assassins guild, especially toward the end there (no spoilers). Unfortunately for an assassin you don’t get to see Lily really do her job all that much. The book starts off on an upswing where she kills an unsuspecting jerk in a brothel and that was fun. But then she slips into her courtesan role with a bad accent where we see more of her heaving bosom than anything else. Most of the scheming is going on in Lily’s head while outside she’s having meals and conversations with people. So for a story about an assassin, there’s not a whole lot of assassining going on.
The sex was . . . odd. Kudos for the bisexual lead, but the sex with the lady’s maid was gratuitous. The thing is, I like erotica. I like sex in books. But it needs to be well-placed. The scene with her and Alec made sense. The scene with the two women didn’t actually contribute to the plot at all and just seemed rather throw-in, kind of hammering home like “WE HAVE A BISEXUAL CHARACTER IN OUR BOOK LOOK AT HER BED THIS WOMAN.” It felt disingenuous.
The relationship between Lily and Adrian, though, I think was the best part of the book. That actually felt surprisingly natural, especially as it developed (again, no spoilers). The antagonism between the two of them was done well without being overblown and I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes at any stupid decisions anyone was making or plot-serving misunderstandings happening because there were none. Those two fit together really well. They each had a calming effect to the other’s personality that served to soften Lily’s edges and unclench Adrian’s posterior.
The world itself was rather typical. Some kind of medieval type of world that isn’t from this one but still has exotic-sounding names and a castle and a “low quarter” with swords and guards and what not. Nothing to write home about.
All in all it’s an interesting enough story, but the plot needs to be tightened. One of the better self-published books, I think, but still room for improvement.
3
I received a copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.
Markedly better, but still not great. The pacing is somewhat jerky, lingering too long on exposition and unnecessary world craft-type of nonsense that fills in pockets of worldbuilding because you don’t get to see a lot of the world for most of the story. So you get aristocrats droning on about this city and these goods and I found myself not really paying attention during those parts because they were boring. Just get along with the plot, please.
The story itself is pretty interesting and I would like to know more about this assassins guild, especially toward the end there (no spoilers). Unfortunately for an assassin you don’t get to see Lily really do her job all that much. The book starts off on an upswing where she kills an unsuspecting jerk in a brothel and that was fun. But then she slips into her courtesan role with a bad accent where we see more of her heaving bosom than anything else. Most of the scheming is going on in Lily’s head while outside she’s having meals and conversations with people. So for a story about an assassin, there’s not a whole lot of assassining going on.
The sex was . . . odd. Kudos for the bisexual lead, but the sex with the lady’s maid was gratuitous. The thing is, I like erotica. I like sex in books. But it needs to be well-placed. The scene with her and Alec made sense. The scene with the two women didn’t actually contribute to the plot at all and just seemed rather throw-in, kind of hammering home like “WE HAVE A BISEXUAL CHARACTER IN OUR BOOK LOOK AT HER BED THIS WOMAN.” It felt disingenuous.
The relationship between Lily and Adrian, though, I think was the best part of the book. That actually felt surprisingly natural, especially as it developed (again, no spoilers). The antagonism between the two of them was done well without being overblown and I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes at any stupid decisions anyone was making or plot-serving misunderstandings happening because there were none. Those two fit together really well. They each had a calming effect to the other’s personality that served to soften Lily’s edges and unclench Adrian’s posterior.
The world itself was rather typical. Some kind of medieval type of world that isn’t from this one but still has exotic-sounding names and a castle and a “low quarter” with swords and guards and what not. Nothing to write home about.
All in all it’s an interesting enough story, but the plot needs to be tightened. One of the better self-published books, I think, but still room for improvement.
3
I received a copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.
kittyg's review
3.0
*This is one of the #SPFBO titles in my batch this year*
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this read as it's a premise which could be relatively predictable, but it was written and read very cleanly and I found myself really curious for the next in the series after finishing it. This is the story of The Black Lily, an infamous assassin and the best in the Guild, when she is sent on a long assignment to kill a King and Prince and change the face of the Kingdom forever.
What I like about this book compared to other assassin books I have read is that Lily felt like a relatable character and a realistic one from her personality through to her past. I think a lot of the time you read stories like this and the MC just feels a little flat, and I didn't feel that way at all about Lily, I actually enjoyed her story right from the start and I think she makes some surprising choices along the way and is engaging throughout.
Of course, there is a romance in this story, which felt a little predictable to me from the start, but although I saw it coming I also did like the way that Alec and Adrian's personalities were developed via proximity to Lily, and that we saw their traits rather than getting told too much about them. I enjoyed seeing the way Lily interacted with both King and Prince to ingratiate herself into their lives as a courtesan, and I found their interactions to be believable and mostly fun.
I do think the main complaint I have with this is it doesn't feel as original as I would have liked, as I could predict from having read other stories where this one may be leading, but I would say IU very much enjoyed the ride and I found myself wanting to go back and read more of this which is definitely a big plus.
There's not really magic in this, in fact it's more of a sword than a sorcery story, but it's fun and light and very easy to enjoy. I think that the relationship between Alec as the King and his brother Adrian as the Prince was actually very interesting and well-developed. I enjoyed seeing their interactions and Adrian's thoughts about Alec and what he's up to as they certainly weren't always on the same page and this made them all the more believable as siblings and characters.
Overall, I liked this a lot, it does have some erotic scenes which makes it more adult than YA, and yet the pace and tone are both easy-going. I think the sequel holds a lot of promise, and I would be interested to see where the story heads next as I think there's more to come, and I definitely think it's one a lot of people would enjoy if they like assassin stories. 3.75*s which is 7.5/10 for #SPFBO
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this read as it's a premise which could be relatively predictable, but it was written and read very cleanly and I found myself really curious for the next in the series after finishing it. This is the story of The Black Lily, an infamous assassin and the best in the Guild, when she is sent on a long assignment to kill a King and Prince and change the face of the Kingdom forever.
What I like about this book compared to other assassin books I have read is that Lily felt like a relatable character and a realistic one from her personality through to her past. I think a lot of the time you read stories like this and the MC just feels a little flat, and I didn't feel that way at all about Lily, I actually enjoyed her story right from the start and I think she makes some surprising choices along the way and is engaging throughout.
Of course, there is a romance in this story, which felt a little predictable to me from the start, but although I saw it coming I also did like the way that Alec and Adrian's personalities were developed via proximity to Lily, and that we saw their traits rather than getting told too much about them. I enjoyed seeing the way Lily interacted with both King and Prince to ingratiate herself into their lives as a courtesan, and I found their interactions to be believable and mostly fun.
I do think the main complaint I have with this is it doesn't feel as original as I would have liked, as I could predict from having read other stories where this one may be leading, but I would say IU very much enjoyed the ride and I found myself wanting to go back and read more of this which is definitely a big plus.
There's not really magic in this, in fact it's more of a sword than a sorcery story, but it's fun and light and very easy to enjoy. I think that the relationship between Alec as the King and his brother Adrian as the Prince was actually very interesting and well-developed. I enjoyed seeing their interactions and Adrian's thoughts about Alec and what he's up to as they certainly weren't always on the same page and this made them all the more believable as siblings and characters.
Overall, I liked this a lot, it does have some erotic scenes which makes it more adult than YA, and yet the pace and tone are both easy-going. I think the sequel holds a lot of promise, and I would be interested to see where the story heads next as I think there's more to come, and I definitely think it's one a lot of people would enjoy if they like assassin stories. 3.75*s which is 7.5/10 for #SPFBO
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