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skyelore_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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
4.5
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book and the start of this series. I am not usually a friends to lovers fan, but I loved Leo & Anna. This book is definitely dark academia with a new adult romance that gives Harry Potter vibes from the friendships, the enemies, to the yearly quarter bellum between the years.
This is a triple POV following Anna, Leo and Dean. All three are freshman at the prestigious university of Kingmakers in the Heirs division. Kingmakers is Hogwarts without the magic and a neutral ground where all the crime/mafia families send their kids to learn how to take over the family businesses. The best character was Dean but he is meant to be the villain that everyone hates! (Blame my villain loving dark heart) He was broody, controlling, dominant, and he is a very skilled fighter. Yes,Dean does a lot of questionable things in this book and he is a total jerk but I felt really sorry for him. Once you learn the backstory of Dean, his childhood and his life up until starting Kingmakers, it just broke my heart. I can’t wait to continue the series. This series officially has me hooked 🖤
This is a triple POV following Anna, Leo and Dean. All three are freshman at the prestigious university of Kingmakers in the Heirs division. Kingmakers is Hogwarts without the magic and a neutral ground where all the crime/mafia families send their kids to learn how to take over the family businesses. The best character was Dean but he is meant to be the villain that everyone hates! (Blame my villain loving dark heart) He was broody, controlling, dominant, and he is a very skilled fighter. Yes,Dean does a lot of questionable things in this book and he is a total jerk but I felt really sorry for him. Once you learn the backstory of Dean, his childhood and his life up until starting Kingmakers, it just broke my heart. I can’t wait to continue the series. This series officially has me hooked 🖤
olirubio's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-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
3.5
hnsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
kinsportch's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
sydneyd05's review against another edition
4.5
*4.5
I love a good friends to lovers book. Leo and Anna are really cute and were both being stupid in not admitting their feelings. Their families reaction to them being together was fun. However, the whole Dean plot pissed me off and I do not like that man.
I love a good friends to lovers book. Leo and Anna are really cute and were both being stupid in not admitting their feelings. Their families reaction to them being together was fun. However, the whole Dean plot pissed me off and I do not like that man.
thebookishbrewnette's review against another edition
3.0
Read as an e-arc under the new title "Kingmakers: Year 1".
This book felt like Mafia training at Hogwarts meets the Hunger Games...[minus the magic].
I was not expecting the book to go into as much detail about the school, the battles, and the overall operating system of crime families, but I think this set the book apart from others. It really laid the groundwork to help understand the characters and their motivations and gave us a glimpse into the type of tension that runs among the attendees and their family.
The Leo, Dean, and Anna triangle was a little strange for me at first (especially Dean's behavior), but as I read more it did add to the story and created opportunity for character development on both Anna and Leo's parts - I am not sure where Dean is going, but I was only a fan of his for a minute...so we will see.
This book felt like Mafia training at Hogwarts meets the Hunger Games...[minus the magic].
I was not expecting the book to go into as much detail about the school, the battles, and the overall operating system of crime families, but I think this set the book apart from others. It really laid the groundwork to help understand the characters and their motivations and gave us a glimpse into the type of tension that runs among the attendees and their family.
The Leo, Dean, and Anna triangle was a little strange for me at first (especially Dean's behavior), but as I read more it did add to the story and created opportunity for character development on both Anna and Leo's parts - I am not sure where Dean is going, but I was only a fan of his for a minute...so we will see.
cristina_02's review against another edition
5.0
the Hogwarts of Mafia
Omg this feels like is has everything you could want:
- boarding school
- enemies to lovers
- friends to lovers
- angsty love triangle
- Hogwarts style training and challenges
- fairly good spice
Omg this feels like is has everything you could want:
- boarding school
- enemies to lovers
- friends to lovers
- angsty love triangle
- Hogwarts style training and challenges
- fairly good spice
filemanager's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not entirely clear on the official difference between YA and NA, but in my personal definition, YA is where the characters in the book are high-school aged, and NA is where the characters are university or college-aged. So, by that definition, this book would be New Adult, and I've always had a hard time with New Adult books, because I can never really relate to them. I find the characters are always too immature, or too mature.
In the case of this book, I found the characters to be too very immature, though to be fair, they were fresh out of high school. I also wasn't a fan of the character art that was at the end of some of the chapters, the art style wasn't my thing at all. Some of the art near the end was very pretty, but didn't actually depict the scene of what happened in the book very well.
By about 30%, I noticed that the story was reminding me of Fourth Wing a little bit, just without any dragons. Probably just because of the "four quadrants, and part of a school" part of the story.
At 37%, and only by reading someone else's review, did I find out that the Kingmakers series is actually the second story arc, and should really be read after the author's Brutal Birthright series. (Kingmakers seems to be king of "Brutal Birthright series, the next generation", as it's all the kids of the characters of the first series.) GAH I wish I had known that, I would have read that series first to really have more depth into these characters! A little author's note or something at the very beginning as a 'heads up' would have been nice. sigh! This series can be read on it's own, but I would have liked to have that additional background, because the family's backgrounds and feuds and things does come into play.
In the end, it was a fast-paced, entertaining read, which was great. No slow parts, no boring parts, I was always interested to see what would happen next. I definitely want to continue the series, but first I want to go back and read the Brutal Birthright series!
In the case of this book, I found the characters to be too very immature, though to be fair, they were fresh out of high school. I also wasn't a fan of the character art that was at the end of some of the chapters, the art style wasn't my thing at all. Some of the art near the end was very pretty, but didn't actually depict the scene of what happened in the book very well.
By about 30%, I noticed that the story was reminding me of Fourth Wing a little bit, just without any dragons. Probably just because of the "four quadrants, and part of a school" part of the story.
At 37%, and only by reading someone else's review, did I find out that the Kingmakers series is actually the second story arc, and should really be read after the author's Brutal Birthright series. (Kingmakers seems to be king of "Brutal Birthright series, the next generation", as it's all the kids of the characters of the first series.) GAH I wish I had known that, I would have read that series first to really have more depth into these characters! A little author's note or something at the very beginning as a 'heads up' would have been nice. sigh! This series can be read on it's own, but I would have liked to have that additional background, because the family's backgrounds and feuds and things does come into play.
In the end, it was a fast-paced, entertaining read, which was great. No slow parts, no boring parts, I was always interested to see what would happen next. I definitely want to continue the series, but first I want to go back and read the Brutal Birthright series!