A review by suhbreenah
Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

5.0

Wow this book was such a wild ride! I was kind of worried about getting into an epic fantasy because I tend to move through those kinds of books really slowly but no regrets here. As a person who loves history I was drawn to this book in particular involving the history of the time of Alexander the Great, though I wasn't sure how well that would mesh with the magic elements I'd heard about. However I think it worked really well, partially because the book didn't only follow Alexander, which I hadn't known prior to starting it. I definitely wouldn't be worried about being unable to distinguish characters. I, as someone who usually struggles with that, didn't have any trouble with it at all. Each character manages to be unique with their own twists to have you rooting for each one as you read their perspective chapters. This book is a little slow because it starts off with a lot of build-up but by the end you won't regret it. Highly recommend.

Spoiler

I feel like I was annoyed with each character in this book at one point in time. Not annoyed as in I did not like their presence in the story, but annoyed as you would be towards a sibling making a wrong move. I loved the way the characters were written, especially Olympias and Cyn. If I had to pick a least favorite I'd probably have to say Kat just because I felt like she very much went into an almost Disney princess trope in that she did nothing wrong except fall in love and whatnot. She just seemed to be a weaker character to me, and I feel like her backstory wasn't as big of a reveal as it was presented to be. But Cyn. Wow I loved her. She was so kick-butt and even though she was kind of evil I feel like I understand her motives enough to still prefer her to Kat and even to cheer her on. Also I must say I'd MUCH rather see her with Heph. They feel like they're much more natural and interesting for each other vs Kat winning over his affections despite her meanness, another situation we've seen plenty of times. Oh and I cannot leave this review without talking about Olympias. I love to hate her. Her backstory completely changed my view of her, and now I'm just kind of stuck about how to keep disliking her as much as I did before. I love that Herman wrote from her different perspectives because it really illustrates the politics in a whole new way. Royal drama has gotten so interesting and this book definitely follows that pattern.

I'd also like to briefly discuss the magic system. The different kinds of Blood Magic really intrigued me, though I feel like it was presented in such a way that it felt a little out of place at first. I also would be much more interested in seeing these powers manifest in other characters. I think we definitely saw those hints in Heph and Cyn, and I'd really like to see how those progress over Kat's animal abilities. And what about Alexander? Did they just split the magic between them since they're twins, or is he something completely different? I really want to see that explored in the future. AND really interested to see more of Olympias's story with Riel. This curse thing is intruiging.

All in all, really enjoyed this. Looking forward to the next, and I'm strongly hoping for more action and magic in the books ahead after all the backstories presented in this installment.