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A review by alyram4
The Sword and the Dagger by Robert Cochran
4.0
3.5/5 stars
This was such a fun read! The first line was hilarious and seriously just made me love Elaine!
Also, don't listen to the synopsis you see on the sites. They are seriously just not that great and don't give you a feel for what this book is about.
So speaking of loving Elaine, her strength and just wanting to be independent is goals. She strives to be her own person with her own rules, not "doing her duty" to obey a husband or men, even though she is the princess. The blend of Middle Easten and French themes and characters is so well done, and you do see a battle of Christian vs Muslim beliefs in here as well. I think it was well done, and the characers grow very well throughout. Elaine is a strong female character who doesn't let a man dictate how she behaves or speaks. Conrad is the betrothed of Elaine, and really he's an ass at the start. His character grows so much that, by the end, I actually really enjoyed his scenes and POV. Rashid has to be my fave though. I liked him from the start, and he plays such a huge role between the two different cultures.
The pacing is a bit slow at first, for about maybe a quarter of the way through, but then it picks up once Elain makes a decision to visit a certain someone. It goes uphill from there and was really fun to read! The reasoning for my rating is just that it does drag quite a bit at times, and we start to see POVs by characters I personally had no interest in. Usually side characters that you hardly know much about, and so their POV just doesn't do anything except to say "hey look! This is what I think of XYZ".
Also, why do the chapters not say what POV we're starting with? Like I get that this is all 3rd person, but seriously... Give me SOMETHING so I'm not having to reread the starting page for each chapter over again to make sure I know which character I'm following. This is DEFINITELY my biggest problem with this book.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was such a fun read! The first line was hilarious and seriously just made me love Elaine!
Also, don't listen to the synopsis you see on the sites. They are seriously just not that great and don't give you a feel for what this book is about.
So speaking of loving Elaine, her strength and just wanting to be independent is goals. She strives to be her own person with her own rules, not "doing her duty" to obey a husband or men, even though she is the princess. The blend of Middle Easten and French themes and characters is so well done, and you do see a battle of Christian vs Muslim beliefs in here as well. I think it was well done, and the characers grow very well throughout. Elaine is a strong female character who doesn't let a man dictate how she behaves or speaks. Conrad is the betrothed of Elaine, and really he's an ass at the start. His character grows so much that, by the end, I actually really enjoyed his scenes and POV. Rashid has to be my fave though. I liked him from the start, and he plays such a huge role between the two different cultures.
The pacing is a bit slow at first, for about maybe a quarter of the way through, but then it picks up once Elain makes a decision to visit a certain someone. It goes uphill from there and was really fun to read! The reasoning for my rating is just that it does drag quite a bit at times, and we start to see POVs by characters I personally had no interest in. Usually side characters that you hardly know much about, and so their POV just doesn't do anything except to say "hey look! This is what I think of XYZ".
Also, why do the chapters not say what POV we're starting with? Like I get that this is all 3rd person, but seriously... Give me SOMETHING so I'm not having to reread the starting page for each chapter over again to make sure I know which character I'm following. This is DEFINITELY my biggest problem with this book.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.