A review by kitkat8267
Kingsbane by Claire Legrand

5.0

So this book took so much longer than it usually does for me to finish a roughly 600 page book, and that was what made reading it through a little hard. Unless you have the intention to read and finish this book in a few days, one needs to take notes to remember things. I'll make sure to keep that in mind for when it comes to refresh myself before the next book! But holy cow! This was so good! Rather than talk about it all, I just was to summarize what I liked about it. The hard core love triangle between Rielle, Audric, and Corien is awesome! Somewhere along the line I just pictured "wow so this is what ACOFAM would be like if Rhys was evil and Tamlin was a cinnamon roll" (shudders at that last thought). But that is the best way to describe it. Corien is so deliciously evil I can't help but love it. Rielle and Eliana kick so much ass in this book. They take little to no shit, they hold no qualms about killing people in order to save the ones they love, and they are such strong female leads it is just right up there to the SJM level of bad ass women roles. The one downside is that by the end Rielle starts taking some of the shit from Audric, and he just lashes out at her full force. Which seemed odd because he went from 0 to 100 really fast. And then a chapter later he is just thinking that he didn't mean it. One of the few problems with the book though is that Jessamyn's change wasn't entirely explained. It was never finalized if the change to the past changed her alligence to the Empire, and could have used a little more explanation. And on that note. THAT FRICKING TWIST AT THE END!!! SIMON NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! How could he be evil? No! You loved her! You guys have the best chemistry! DOn't make Eliana end up with Harkan! She showed more chemistry with Jessamyn than Harkan. I don't like Harkan! He's a side character! HE THOUGHT HE KNEW BETTER THAN ELIANA AND WENT AGAINST HER WISHES! SIMON COME BACK! He better have an explanation because no! Claire Legrand if Eliana ends up with Harkan I'm not doing that! Also her adoptive father is alive and an angel! And a high up admiral! AND ALSO ON SIDE WITH THE EMPIRE! LIKE NO!!!!! SIMON WHY!!!! Simon broke my heart. So it is cruel to have to wait another year for this continuation, because I need Simon to be redeemed. I have faith in Kylo Ren Simon, I have faith in you too!