Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts





Hardcover352 pages
Expected publication: May 30th 2017 by Disney-Hyperion
ISBN: 1484767659

Goodreads


Entertainment Weekly’s “35 Most Anticipated YA Novels of 2017”

Goodreads “Most Popular Books Published In May 2017”

Bustle’s “The Most Anticipated Young Adult Debuts of 2017—From February to June”

Brightly’s “17 of the Most Exciting YA Books to Read in 2017”

Culturess’s “12 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2017”

B&N Teen Blog’s “Your 2017 2017 YA Pre-Order Guide”

“This is one of those rare books that had me laughing and crying within a paragraph.”
—Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times bestselling author of the Seven Realms series

“We cannot wait for this high-stakes, edge of your seat fantasy.”
—Bustle

“Adventure-loving fantasy readers will eat it up.”
Kirkus Reviews

First in a planned series, Shvarts’s action-packed debut champions diversity, counsels perseverance,
and highlights the human cost of war.”

Publishers Weekly


Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.

At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.

Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.

Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.

The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .
 






Royal Bastards had everything I wanted in a middle-grade/YA fantasy. There was magic, political intrigue, action, and world development. The plot of this book kept me entertained, and this book left me excited to read more from this author!

As the book progressed, the book got darker, grittier, and more addicting. There was plenty of action and adventure that constantly kept me on the edge of my seat. 

One issue I had with this book was that the author used a very modern language, which was a little hard to get used to. It sometimes took me out of the book because I couldn't understand why there was such a modern language in this fantasy historical world. 

There were a lot of characters in this book, and I grew to love all of them. Each character was unique and memorable. I thought the author did a great job at developing them throughout the story. I am hoping there will be a sequel to this book so we can see the characters grow more and more. 

Sometimes the characters would annoy me, but that happens with most books. Tilla actually annoyed me the most because she was so rude to some of the other characters. However, I liked how the author had the characters realize their wrongs and learn from that. I also adored all the different relationships that developed through this story. This book had a lot of strong female friendships and I was LIVING for it. 

Overall, this was a captivating, exciting, humorous, and interesting novel. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good fantasy book! 

4 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. * 

No comments:

Post a Comment