Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman
- Pub. Date: August 18, 2015
- Publisher: Harlequin Teen
- Pages:384
- Rating:5/5
- Series: Blood of Gods and Royals #1
- Goodreads/Amazon/ Book Depository
Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.
Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to a newcomer…
Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But she doesn’t account for her first love…
Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.
And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.
Weaving fantasy with the shocking details of real history, New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known, Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.
First Line: "Katerina races across the meadow, scanning for any roots or rocks in her way."
Review: Legacy of Kings was incredible. It was the perfect blend of historical and fantasy with some seriously addicting characters. Now I am always a little nervous going into books with multiple points of views since there have been times when I find a character boring or pointless and it brings down the book for me but even with all seven...yes that's right seven points of views I enjoyed every minute of it. Every point of view drew me in, I cared about each one of them even the villains were more than just the "evil guys" they had complexity to their characters.
Review: Legacy of Kings was incredible. It was the perfect blend of historical and fantasy with some seriously addicting characters. Now I am always a little nervous going into books with multiple points of views since there have been times when I find a character boring or pointless and it brings down the book for me but even with all seven...yes that's right seven points of views I enjoyed every minute of it. Every point of view drew me in, I cared about each one of them even the villains were more than just the "evil guys" they had complexity to their characters.
I found Legacy of Kings to be fast paced from page one. If I had to pick, Alex and Kat were equally my favorites they both have a lot on their plates and their friendship was just all sorts of awesome. I kind of guessed the big reveal about the two mid-way with all the hints throughout the chapters and if you guys could see the ten pages of notes I took while reading this book you would see how excited I was the whole time with all the numerous exclamation marks in my notes trying to guess then second guessing myself on the two because even though I thought I knew I wasn't a hundred percent sure.
Heph was another favorite, he is best friends with Alex and I seriously hope there are more point of views from him in the upcoming books, this guy has seriously won my heart with the few chapters there were of him.
I also found Zo's journey very intriguing, she is betrothed to Alex but in Legacy of Kings their paths haven't crossed yet, Zo is going through her own trials right now, meeting some very interesting people, some good, some bad, and some in between like Ochus, I'm not sure what to make of him yet. Zo is not happy with her fate and she is desperately trying to find the Spirit Eaters who have been said can change a person's fate.
Another character worth mentioning is Jacob, best friends with Kat. I had a little bit of a love-hate relationship with Jacob and I want to dive in on exactly why but it might be considered spoilerish so I'm just going to say he made some not so good choices and I wanted to slap some sense into him. There were a couple of times I found him to be a bit selfish...actually very selfish! Anyhow even though towards the end of the book he was not my favorite person because of his actions I still loved reading his point of view and am very interested to see how his character progresses.
As far as the romance goes, I was at first feeling the whole Jacob and Kat thing to a point. I just felt their romance was too convenient, as in they are all they have known and usually I'm all for the best friends to lovers thing but not with these two. I know Jacob cares deeply for Kat, but he is going about it very wrong. As for Kat I feel she loves Jacob but not "in love" he was too convenient for her, always been there reliable Jacob. Okay yes, I might be a bit biased because even though much hasn't happened I am rooting for Heph and Kat. There was a spark of something between the two, more so from Heph's side of things than Kats but there is chemistry and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the two. Besides did I mention how much I adored Heph.
One thing I am curious about and hope to see explored more in the next book are the gods and why they are now non-existent.
Overall Legacy of Kings is definitely one of my favorites of 2015 and I recommend this to anyone who loves a well-written history-fantasy mash up with some unforgettable characters.
Memorable Quotes:
~"We are all caged and wounded in our own way"-Kat
~Weakness, he has learned, isn't in the leg or arm or back. Weakness is in the mind."-Alex
~"And though Kat has been everything from distracting to infuriating to mysterious to the enticing, maddening figure in his dreams, he believes her to be good." - Heph
~"We are all caged and wounded in our own way"-Kat
~Weakness, he has learned, isn't in the leg or arm or back. Weakness is in the mind."-Alex
~"And though Kat has been everything from distracting to infuriating to mysterious to the enticing, maddening figure in his dreams, he believes her to be good." - Heph
