Blood Oath

<b>2.5 - 3 Stars</b><br><br>It took me a while to get into this book, which is crazy as it has dragons in it. <br><br>And ya'll <i>know</i> how I feel about dragons... <br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1524769642i/25438404.jpg" width="236" height="248" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>I will pretty much read any book that has them in it.<br>Period. <br><br>So you can imagine my excitement when I saw that, not only were they in this book, but that they were a central character focus. <br><br>And yet...<br> <br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1524769642ra/25438405.gif" width="344" height="194" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The beginning of this book trudged along at what was for me the pace of molasses in winter. <br><br>There was a lot of torture. <br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1524769683ra/25438412.gif" width="200" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Lots of ambiguous "who is <i>actually</i> the main love interest here."<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1524769990ra/25438430.gif" width="245" height="245" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Basically ZERO romance. <br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1524769642ra/25438406.gif" width="344" height="175" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>And some twists in the end that I called early on and weren't really all that...twisty. <br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1524769642ra/25438407.gif" width="344" height="193" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>So yeah, not really what I was expecting. <br><br>That said, there was a least some halfway decent action in the end which made the book almost worth it. <br><br> <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1524769990ra/25438431.gif" width="344" height="235" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Although, I must admit that if I didn't get this via KU, my rating would probably be lower and my irritation higher. <br> <br>Just sayin'.<br><br>I will probably still read the next one just to see if it gets better - but only because it too is available via KU - and also because I feel like it has the potential to get better for me. <br><br>And that's all I got.

i am amazed it took me this long to discover this story and shocked that only 25 of you guys have this added to your books. so do me a favour and click the 'want to read' button right now. dont let the cover fool you - you wont regret it.<br /><br />i actually feel if this had the right promotion/publishing, it would be wildly popular and successful. and maybe it has and ive just been living under a rock. lol. regardless, im here to spread the word.<br /><br />i had no idea what to expect when i picked this up, and didnt have any expectations, but i really quite enjoyed this. its fast paced, has excellent world-building with a unique fantasy aspect i havent read before, and really easy-to-devour writing. <br /><br />although there was one major component i was able to predict very early on, it didnt stop me from having fun with this story. its a wonderful fantasy blend of magic, court politics, romance, and dragons! <br /><br /><b>↠ <i>4.5 stars</i></b>

So honestly.... Just fucking skip this one guys. <b>Go straight to the second book.</b><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1561930390ra/27748003.gif" width="200" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1600448232ra/30123928.gif" width="200" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> <br><br>When we first meet our heroine, <b> Ryn</b>, she the accumulation of everything I hate. She’s naive. She’s immature. She knows nothing about the powers and in complete denial about having them. <b> She was a YA heroine thrown into an adult universe </b> <br><br>Looking back now, I see that Ryn was just starting out naive. But by the end of book, she has become a fully realized character, <b>capable and cunning</b>, ready to fight.... Just why did we have to wait fucking 300 pages for that *<i>*tears*</i>. <b>This was just a shitty start to a great series.</b> <br><br>Pause. Can we just stop and appreciate ---&gt;<b>That fucking cover</b>!!! <i>*chef's kiss*</i><br><br>HOWEVER!! What really pulls this book together (and reason I kept going in the series...)<br><br>The<b> world</b> is just fucking brilliant. Shape shifting, dragon empire, heroine learning powers, plots of overthrowing tyrannical kings, and did I mention dragons? <blockquote> <b> <i>“My mouth opened and closed several times before I could string together my words. Finally, I said, “You just threw that pebble in your hand and killed a man.”<br>“Yes,” Irrik said. “The king instructed me to protect you.”<br>“Pretty sure he didn’t mean at the expense of killing his guards” I replied</i> </b> </blockquote><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1588591246ra/29411388.gif" width="200" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>See what I mean?? It has great elements but failed to actually engage the readers in it DURING the book itself. Looking back, <b>it honestly feels like a Prequel </b> with meeting the heroine and world because it isn’t till the second book that we gloriously get thrown into the middle of an amazing book adventure. <br><br>As a first book, the author failed to engage this awesome world with her readers. Instead we were trapped in a bubble— knowing ✨ dragon ✨ rebel ✨ war ✨ shit is happening but we are stuck reading about Ryn being tortured... sigh ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ<br><br>It is ONLY because I continued with the series, that I know the author eventually finds their bearings and<b> fully redeems themselves in the second book </b> *to me* <br><br>Where the first is <b>literal word vomit.</b> The second book focuses more on <b>character dynamic.</b> Where the first book has several problems but no actual plot <i>*dafq*</i>. The second book builds ups the great antagonist, explains the world better, and Ryn works to find her place in it. <br><br>Also… just a little heads up <br><br>The amount of <b>torture</b> in this book was …. stupidly excessive. I’m not gonna lie, there were parts I was like *why da fuck is the author being so SPECIFIC* about this haha <br><br><b> It was almost as if they had done all this research about torture and wanted to show it off or some shit </b><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1497039958ra/22981277.gif" width="200" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br>
<br>Either way, I much preferred the betrayal + intrigue that was entwined throughout the book where you never <i>*quite* </i> knew who to trust… and that made everything all the more delicious <blockquote> <b> <i>“Certainly, he wouldn’t have deceived me, betrayed me, like that.<br>His face was a smooth canvas, blank of all emotion. Void of everything.<br>“You,” I choked”</i> </b> </blockquote><br>Like come on, that’s a pretty damn good line and build up… just a bummer these great lines only came in at the end of the book <br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1439759591ra/15881698.gif" width="200" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><b>Overall, I enjoyed this book BECAUSE I know what's happening next and that <u> the sequel is wayyy better than the first</u></b>. I know I know, I can't believe I said that either but its TRUE and I'm sticking to my guns. The book itself was pretty decent read, <i>*skimming the excessive torture*</i> and I did love a lot of the world building, which is why I continued with the series and was SO EXCITED that the author built upon the greatness of her characters AND finally gave them a world/plot fitting to them in the second and third book!<br><br>Here’s a quote that honestly show those <i>*glimpses*</i> of greatness that the author learned from the critiques and FULLY develops to be stronger in the second book <i> *thank christ*</i> Honestly she does a whole redemption arc and I happy that I continued with the series! <br><blockquote> <b> <i>“Irrik ran his fingertips over the deep gash. Black blood dripped down his arm. “Did you . . . just attack me with a garden hoe?” <br>“I rushed to him, crying out, “It had my blood on it!” My hands fluttered over the grotesque wound. “Tell me what to do. I don’t want it to kill you.”<br>He moved to look at me, a curious expression falling over his face. “You regret hurting me?”<br>“What? No. Well, killing you, yes.” My stomach rolled at the thought of murdering something, someone, anyone. “How long will it take to set in?” I asked him, trying to remain calm. “Should we try cutting off your arm?”<br>Lord Irrik’s brows rose. “Cutting off . . . ?” He broke off and threw his head back in laughter. The gruff waves of it rolled across the potato field.”</i> </b> </blockquote>

<b> 3.5 Stars </b>

<u>Heavy amount of swearing ahead, because I just can't with the rage this book put me in.</u><br><br><b>DNF at 22%, because life's too short and there are endless awesome books I must discover still</b><br><br>I can't! I'm sorry, I just can't. She's too fucking dumb.<br>What the fuck is this? There's just no way I can read one more page of this bullshit. What the fuck?!<br><br>  <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1579131692ra/28785425.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br>Ok so, I need to calm down!<br><br>I absolutely loved Kelly St. Clare's Tainted Accords series. It was an awesome fantasy with a capable heroine, wonderful world-building, and a fun plot. But this soup she made with Raye Wagner was tasteless at best!<br><br>Granted, I only read the first 20% of the book, but let me tell you what compelled me to give up so soon.<br><br><u> <b>Dumb heroine:</b> </u> People, she is dumb as fuck! I only spent a small amount of time in her head and it was enough for me to want to carve my eyes out. Allow me to elaborate .<br>Basically, she lives in dangerous times in an oppressed kingdom where rebels are being hunted left and right. After being warned about soldiers hunting for rebels and to be careful, she proceeds to:<b><br><br>▪ Talk to strangers in dark alleys <br>▪ Not being smart enough to talk her way out of a fairly preventable situation where anyone with half a wit could've avoided <br>▪ Not immediately running away with her mom upon finally, by some miracle, detecting the danger<br>▪ Not being able to process what is being said right in front of her and continue to make more problems<br>▪ Running <i>back</i> to the house her mother just sacrificed herself to help her escape from and absolutely wasting the poor woman's sacrifice </b>(I love you, book mom. I'm sorry you raised a dipshit ).<b><br>▪ Continue to act like a dumb fuck and prevent the dude who is so clearly trying to help her and her mother from rescuing her <br>▪ Getting herself in deep trouble by being caught and having nowhere to run and fucking up her mother's last wish</b> (People, this is important! That brave, poor woman.)<b><br>▪ Hitting her possible ally dude and declaring her hatred for him, because in her own words <i>he has to know how much she hates him</i>.</b> Like trust me dummy, nobody cares, least of all him.<b><br>▪ Continuing to act like a moron and forcing her only possible ally's hand, so that now she has to go before the king her mother tried to save her from<br></b><br>To make matters worse, there was a make out scene at the end all of this. Which I know was so that the Ally Dude could compel the Dipshit to start cooperating and not get herself killed and blah blah. But I mean, what the fuck? Was all that description really necessary? Was the whole kiss actually necessary? Why couldn't he do this sooner before all that unnecessary drama happened? Why does it even have to be a kiss with a clearly unwilling participant. So unnecessary, y'all! <br>At which point I was so angry I stopped reading all together. I mean no one can expect me to spend another page inside this nincompoop's head!<br><br>She's all like, <i>I'm so bored of this mundane life. I wish something exciting would happen, ahhhhh!</i> And when something finally happens she's like, <i>Nooooo, this is too scary! I can't! Why is this happening?</i> <br>Like you dumb fuck, make up your fucking mind!<br>Honestly, all she's capable of is being a soap queen. (That's what she wants to be people, I am not making this up). I don't know why the author is forcing this story on her.<br><br><b> <u>Juvenile writing: </u> </b> The writing was not good at all. I felt like I was reading a teen's badly written diary. There were some attempts at humor which fell short for me. There were repeated phrases that annoyed me. I was rolling my eyes way too many times at the writing, which is never a good sign.<br><br><b> <u>Predictability factor:</u> </b> I mean come on, I guessed the whole thing in the second chapter. How original! Perhaps that's why the MC has to be so damn stupid, because otherwise there won't be any book.<br>On the other hand, I've read many entertaining books with smart heroines and not so mysterious plots and enjoyed the hell out of them. Tainted Accords series being one of them. So...<br><br><br>Needless to say, I won't be reading anything else from Raye Wagner. I do have to try Kelly St. Clare's other books though. I feel like Tainted Accords series was too good for this garbage to have happened. I'm not yet ready to give up on her stories.

<strong>Hmmmm. </strong><br /><br />So I definitely will continue with the series, but this book is a hard 3 and an extra star for the cover. <br />So many things were wrong with this story, the characters development and growth. The plot and world building and the actual emotional roller coaster it could have been. But the premise and intent was great, just missed on execution.<br />The MC is ridiculous and impulsive. The naive and immature just got old fast. <br />Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it. The world building was enough to keep me interested and the characters had just enough personality to hold my interest but it was like a generic version, a bit bland. But again but the worst thing I’ve read. <br />Good luck.

Normally when a fantasy-romance book has a 17 year old girl as a main character, I expect it to be kind of light on the torture/deaths front, but man, this book did not hold back. Holy crap. This book was very light (and clean, and a little insta) on the romance front, but dark pretty much with everything else. Some things annoyed me, like the fake news headlines or whatever those were supposed to be that she kept thinking up at random moments. But overall I kept turning the pages, long past when I should have gone to bed, to see what kind of horrors Ryn would be forced to endure next. I was there for it! And while this book tried to remind me of Rhysand (of A Court of Thorns and Roses if you are living under a rock), it sadly doesn't quite reach that level of love/angst enjoyment, at least not yet. But it tries, and I appreciated it. I'm going to just go ahead and read the next book now, which normally I don't do, but I want to see how this Rhysand-lite situation plays out. But I swear, if that nectar drink ends up being some kind of dragon/bodily fluid I am going to throw things.

The Darkest Drae is absolutely ridiculous, and not in a good way. Sadly, it reads like a 12 year old writing fanfiction rather then anything worth being published; which sorry to say is probably the reason it's listed on Amazon unlimited rather then by its own merits (Sorry amazon unlimited, there are actually some good authors on there if you can manage to wade through this mess). <br /><br />Believe it or not by summary alone it has everything I could possibly want in a book. Shape shifting hot dragon men, the promise of a heroine with blossoming powers, plots of overthrowing tyrannical kings, I love this type of stuff. Now If only people would actually take this material seriously and not just try and make a buck with thoughtless dribble. <br /><br />Where to begin? The heroine, whose name is almost escaping me even though I barely finished reading this an hour ago. Let me think... no really, you probably think I'm joking but I'm actually stalling for time trying to figure it out. Oh got it, Ryn, Rynnie if you're her friend, probably stands for something else but I forget. Ryn is a young women, 17 years of age, on the cusp of blossoming young womanhood; she's not good at anything and thus her only hope at being semi useful is as a bartender at the local tavern/overly obvious gathering place for town rebellion. She serves potato stew, the only food left after the tyrannical king has driven the kingdom to utter starvation and desolation, and makes boring banter with the locals. Here's the problem with Ryn: she's just plain stupid and the reason for this lies solely on the shoulders of Wagner and St. Claire. She is written with a heavy inexperienced hand; she speaks like a 10 year old and her inner emotions don't fit the mood of the story which is utterly jarring. My personal favorite line; after spending months in prison being tortured daily, cursed at and beaten her inner dialogue in response to a tormentor reads: "Grow the entire kingdom food, Ryn. Be quick about it, Ryn. I'll torture you if you don't, Ryn" (pg. 185). Even as a thought how is this in any way an appropriate reaction post extreme torture?! She constantly oversteps her boundaries, jokes with her captors and fails to appropriately respond to her surroundings. Her prison cell is just an excuse for girl talk and her beatings, which take up about half of the book, fail to make a mark physically or mentally (well they make a physical mark but since she's a special kind of magic it doesn't last long enough to make a mark on her psyche). It's sad to say that the leading man describes her best of all: "You know nothing of betrayal, pain, or real suffering. You can't fathom what's going on. You say you hate me, but you don't know me. Every single thing I do has a reason. Everything. You? You're a cyclone recklessly acting on emotion and impulse. You're only alive now because of the generousity of others..." (pg. 176). Now most books have a section where the main character needs some tough love but that's not what this is. One, because she doesn't take it seriously and thus fails to change and Two, because it's literally a description of her entire persona and thus just sad. <br /><br />After all that, if you're still reading, you're probably wondering why I even finished, truthfully it was so I could add this to my reading goal this year seeing as there was nothing gripping about the plot either. Okay where did I leave off? Ah yes, the tyrannical king. Sadly, it's just sketchy from there: so he's ruined the land, enslaved a hot dragon man known as a Drae (because that's original and not obvious at all...), and killed all the land healers known as Phaeyten (because when playing at creating new language just change all 'i's' to 'y's', or better yet just add letters). He's trying to track down the rebellion but apparently the local tavern is too hard to find and thus employs his Drae to find them. Long story short, our potato stew bartender is captured, enslaved-kissed into submission, and brought to the king to serve out her sentence in prison. Oh wait, I gave the story too much plot. No idea why they even decide to imprison her seeing as at this point she's not worth anything. So there she spends her days sharing an exorbitant amount of food with her prison-mate and telling bedtime stories. Lead guard Jotun likes to beat her for no reason and lo and behold we find out she's the last Phaetyn (cause who didn't see that coming). He continues to beat her even though it's basically in opposition to the king's orders and yet he never really suffers for it. So she's obviously put to work using her convenient land healing powers to heal the land and all of a sudden the rebellion appears right from behind the corn stalks with no rhyme nor reason. Are there guards? How were they not found out since they all basically stay in that tavern? How can no one capture them? Nothing is fleshed out. Apparently the king has been doing some kind of cross species experimentation. No specifics on that though. And my favorite, apparently this world has an emperor who conveniently is mentioned close enough to the end of the book to semi explain the need to continue with this asinine series. How does this tiny world made of concentric circles have a king and an emperor? What does the Emperor emperor over if there's this all powerful king? <br /><br />I know this review comes off harsh but the point I'm trying to illustrate is the fact that it is essentially word vomit. It reads as if two women sat down one day to write a story of their favorite things. They have interest in dragons. They like brave heroines and kingdoms. They like fantasy languages and romance. So they write them all but they don't flesh any of it out. They don't build a world or explain the problem. They don't create believability for the romance or build the political spectrum. The Darkest Drae is a book that barely skims the surface in terms of anything. It's shallow and worst of all it's poorly written (which can be seen as soon as Mr. Drae uses the word "Ditto", don't believe me? Check page 217). I couldn't be happier to finish this book and it's a shame because it's full of my favorite subject matter as well, but you have to do more then simply include it, you need to expound on it as well.

In the interest of full disclosure, for the past month I have been oscillating between fever, cold, sinus infection, and right back to being feverish again so I may have actually hallucinated how amazing this book is. However, I can claim that to my addled mind, this book was done really really well despite my skepticism, I thoroughly enjoyed it.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1456399529ra/18228494.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><b>Theme Song for Blood Oath: Change by RM and Wale</b><br><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rAyprZdo7o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rAyp...</a><br><br><i>Blood Oath</i> is about a young woman who has been starving, poor, and oppressed for her entire life. Ryn has never known anything except hunger, despite people saying that full stomachs had been a reality at some point. The land is no longer fertile. There is little hope, except for a small group of rebels that are attempting to overthrow the evil king.<br><br>The king has been stealing the power of healers in this world, making himself effectively immortal. He rules with an iron fist and does not tolerate dissenters. There is a strict curfew and people are stalked in the night by the Drae, huge dragon shifters that help the king hold absolute power.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1495404781ra/22813876.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The Drae that is responsible for Ryn's little sector of Hell is Lord Irrik. He is the stuff of nightmares. They say that he sneaks under your bed at night and will devour you if you let your feet dangle over the sides. His massive wings can block out the moons at night and he can control you with a single breath across your skin.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1511495388ra/24518310.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Talk about the stuff of nightmares.<br><br>Ryn is caught out after curfew which has disastrous consequences, forcing her into the evil clutches of the king and his minions.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1511495388ra/24518311.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>This is when the true horror begins. Ryn must hold herself together to resist the pressures that are put upon her by the king, Lord Irrik, and the evil minions in order to protect her friends and family. After all, there is no use in a rebellion if the king you are trying to get rid of knows everything about it.<br><br><b>Okay, onto the actual review now.</b><br><br>For a short book, the world building was actually pretty decent. This is one of those books where it would be easy to get lost in the world building, like you do when you are reading anything by Brandon Sanderson. It felt like this book just scratched the surface of the world. It was intriguing. Honestly though, the reason that this book does not get five stars is because I felt like I wanted more than what was given.<br><br>The characters were incredibly well written, in my opinion. I respected Ryn a lot. She had fire but she wasn't obnoxious like some strong willed female protagonists are. She felt despair. She gave up a few times. She felt deeply and fucked up royally a few times but you know what? Despite her massive flaws, I still ended up liking her ferocity. She looks out for people and that makes her incredibly admirable. I respect that about her.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1451623098ra/17568152.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>And Irrik. Oh Irrik, you poor tortured soul.<br><br>I felt for these characters. This author makes you <i>fucking hate</i> some of these guys but still feel pity in the end, which is worse sometimes than hating them. Pity is a more demeaning emotion. Hatred shows respect. Pity is something else altogether.<br><br>I respected a lot of the decisions that were made by all of the characters. I understood their intentions, though I may not agree with them in the long run. I think that is a challenge for a lot of authors but this author pulled it off flawlessly.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1446003960ra/16733374.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>The writing absolutely drew me in too. I was so skeptical about this book initially. The cover is rather uninspiring so I wasn't expecting much. But this book really brought me into the plot and I was worried for the characters and their causes. I wanted to help them. I mean, this book was pretty damn short and I wish it had been much longer. I want to know more. I want to invest more time in this and really delve into the world. What caused the king to gain power? How did the lands die so quickly? What do other kingdoms do?<br><br>And this book was genuinely funny sometimes. It wasn't just pages of death and hatred and torture. It had lighthearted moments. These moments sort of catch you by surprise but they add some lightness that is really needed sometimes. They break up the awful times in the book but they are well done and they don't take away from the plot. They show the fire of Ryn in a way that isn't overpowering but shows that you can find dark humor in the worst of times.<br><br>So yeah, four solid gold stars. I'm into it. Fucking dragons man. Done right.

The beginning of this book started when our smart, quick-to-get-w-the-program heroine Ryn is saved by her mother's sacrifice so Ryn can get out of the city unharmed. And what does Ryn, queen of deduction and smart choices do?? Runs back so she can hurl her body over her mothers corpse, makes a huge scene in front of the guards that were hunting her, and gets herself captured and imprisoned. The exact thing her mom sacrificed herself to avoid happening. This is about the time I started realizing what I was in for and began my prayers for patience<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1592781591ra/29684010.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>If I had to describe this book in one word it would be: torture. And I don't mean it was torture to read, I mean the entirety of this book was the protagonist being tortured. And not the fun kind. Legit this was this book: torture, torture, grow some plants, torture, torture, torture, power-struggle w the king, torture, torture, kissy-face w Lord Irrik, torture, torture, more fucking torture, torture, and torture. I kept waiting for the setting or plot to change bc the ambiance of <i>dungeon</i> rly only takes you so far but these authors said: no &lt;3 Torture til the end babe &lt;3 You know what the best part is though? I don't believe, for one minute, that this flighty ass girl could stand that much torture and not give up the information they wanted. No fucking wayyyyy!!!! Humans are not meant to withstand that amount/type of prolonged pain, even if she did have the disposition or training for it, <i>which she does not.</i> Arnik breaks in a few seconds but Ryn withstands it for weeks and weeks? Gtfo of here. And the king was the most one-dimensional villain ever. His palace was completely empty besides prisoners, he had 0 supporters and allies, and his only personality trait was his insatiable hunger for torture bc... reasons? Bc... <i>funsies?</i><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1614903900ra/30963960.gif" width="250" height="250" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Moving onto the ?love? section of this rant. So through this whole book there's basically 3 possible love interests (not including Arnik). <br><b> 1. Ty</b> is the prisoner in the cell next to Ryn's and he becomes her friend and strength in surviving the dungeons. He makes jokes in his scratchy voice and gives her companionship.<br><b>2. Tyr</b> is a mysterious guard who cleans and heals Ryn after every torture session (somehow unbeknownst to the king?) and he hides his face, deadass <i>doesn't speak</i>, and we don't know one thing about him but this doesn't stop our girl Ryn from falling head over heels ?in love? w him and believing he's her one and only.<br><b>3. Lord Irrik </b> the drae, who is also a slave to the king but on a higher tier than Ryn. He's kind of her overseer and they hate each other at first but eventually strike up a real bond. It's clear theres more than meets the eye w him, he says sweet stuff to her in his Drae language, and he's always going out of his way to protect her in roundabout ways that make clear he's in love w her.<br><br>So in the end it comes out that all these people are actually *dun dun dun* <b>the same person</b><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1614906479ra/30964091.gif" width="225" height="225" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>and Lord Irrik's name is really Lord <i>Tyr</i>rik<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1559373683ra/27600708.gif" width="250" height="225" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>and he's been using a funny voice to talk to her as friendly Ty, and covering his face to take care of her and make her fall in love w him as the gentle Tyr. And at this point I'm just like <br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1561256241ra/27711717.gif" width="300" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Really can't make this shit up huh. In a way it was kind of a relief bc I didn't understand why they had this girl falling in love w random ass Tyr who we deadass know nothing about, when it's clear the love interest/most compelling character/ person who has the most connection w Ryn is Lord Irrik. But now I'm just picturing Irrik donning all these disguises and using funny voices am just like skjsqio;efgw lmaooooo the comedy!!! the absurdity!! I just can't anymore w this and then when Ryn finds out they're all the same person she cries and cries bc her beloved Tyr is dead but it's like umm the real Tyr is standing right in front of you are you stupid???<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1614907146ra/30964103.gif" width="300" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>God this book rly put me through it but you wanna know who the real clown is in the end?? Me!! bc I actually had a pretty good time!!! Don't worry, I'll do the honors myself<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1614906321i/30964087._SY540_.jpg" width="225" height="225" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Even though I just complained for days, this book must have some mystical powers bc I was hooked in a bad way and will be personally leading the Lord Irrik Deserves Better campaign straight into the next book! Love a grumpy ass man who says things like "I hate sunlight" with a completely straight face. Gimme some more of that pls and thanks!