erin beaty – GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: July 9th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Unlikely alliances are forged and trust is shattered in the stunning conclusion to The Traitor’s Trilogy.

A new queen under threat.
An ambassador with a desperate scheme.
Two kingdoms with everything to lose.

Once a spy and counselor to the throne, Sage Fowler has secured victory for her kingdom at a terrible cost. Now an ambassador representing Demora, Sage is about to face her greatest challenge to avoid a war with a rival kingdom.

After an assassination attempt destroys the chance for peace, Sage and her fiancé Major Alex Quinn risk a dangerous plot to reveal the culprit. But the stakes are higher than ever, and in the game of traitors, betrayal is the only certainty.

A FANTASTIC HAPPY-ENDING FILLED CONCLUSION.

OH HOW I LOVED THIS SERIES.

I question why it took me so long to get to this. I had heard mixed things, but should have trusted my gut. After I picked it up I never looked back. Perk of waiting so long? I barely had to wait to have all three books in my hands. A top series of 2019.

Sage went on an amazing character journey. I love that she realized her faults and choices had caused harm to her friends. She was able to apologize and actually become a better person for it.

The only tiny issue I had was how much Clare annoyed me. I could not handle her woe is me style and thought she was going to be a downfall to the plot. LUCKILY, things highly improved on this front and I loved how her story came to an end and thought it made sense for her and Sage’s relationship.

ALEX AND SAGE. One of my new OTPs. UGH HOW I LOVE THEM. They infuriated me a lot less in this book, but I distinctly had a moment of being reallllll angry with Alex, WHY DUDE. But, hot dang, did he recover with fireworks. Their quiet moments WERE MY EVERYTHING. Typing this review makes me want to reread this book purely for their interactions. Oh, how I love them so.

A lot more drama and actual plot progression here too. It was easy to flip pages, and slowly read, savoring all of the moments this book had to give. I loved how much more intrigue this book had. There was less battle and more focus on the politics (and this change was done well). It kept me on my toes, when even I was pretty sure I knew who was behind everything there was still so much more to explain! I was interested in this as much as I was making sure Sage & Alex got the happy ending THEY DESERVED DANG IT.

Lots of female power in this too. Sage and her friends, Lani, Clare, and Queen Zoraya are a force to be reckoned with and I like that their subplot allowed a lot more insight into all of their lives. I learned more about them and their journey which had me really invested in them getting happy endings too (OHEMGEE the very end *shrieks with joy at how cute that scene was*).

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy + romance
Language: a little light language
Romance: kisses, a few tasteful little detailed FTB scenes
Violence: arrows, murder, swords, fire
Trigger warnings: PTSD (from an extreme burn), mentions of past drug dependence

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Book Review: The Traitor’s Ruin (The Traitor’s Circle #2) by Erin Beaty

May 23, 2019May 8, 2019 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: July 10th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After proving her worth in book one as a deft spy and strategic matchmaker, Sage Fowler is now comfortably positioned in high society as the royal tutor. When she’s called upon to teach his majesty’s soldiers how to read and write, she jumps at the chance to serve her kingdom of Demora—and to be reunited with her fiancé, Captain Alex Quinn.

During a skirmish, Sage and Alex are separated. She watches him die before he can deliver important military intel—or so she thinks. She escapes from the enemy and makes an unlikely alliance with a mysterious soldier from a third nation. As Sage tries to rally their support against a common foe, the important political alliance is plagued by secrets and betrayal.

Can Sage complete Alex’s mission and save her kingdom once more?

The Traitor’s Kiss Review – ☆☆☆☆☆

Y’ALL I AM SMITTEN BY THIS SERIES.

Some books hit you at the right time, causing you to love them on an even grander scale than you thought you originally thought you might. This has been that case and I can NOT stop gushing about it.

Alex & Sage ARE LIFE. THEY ARE SO PRECIOUS AND I LOVE THEM. And I can’t stop using capitals. Bear with me. They’re so many emotions to express.

Oh how miscommunication wears on me in books. I didn’t hate the way this was done though. Alex was struggling through some PTSD-like emotions that were causing him to have a hard time coping. This lead to some issues with Sage that sent her into dangerous situations. While I am all over cheering Sage on, I was also like GIRL. STOP RUNNING TOWARDS DANGER. But she can handle herself, this is a favorite fact of mine. But really, once they started working together, magic happened. WHOOP.

The bad guy was kinda silly in this because he didn’t have the most villain-y reasons for battle and attempted kidnappings. The other political aspects were much more flourished and I loved getting to travel all of the map. It was amazing world-building full of getting to know other kingdoms, lands, and people.

One of my favorite tiny tidbits is that Alex actually shows emotion. He CRIES, and I want to cry with him. I always hate when guys think they’re too good to shed a few tears at truly awful situations. He cares so much and I feel that on every level.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy romance
Language: very little (I believe shoot was used once or twice)
Romance: lots of kissing and wanting each other
Violence: knives, fire, physical, battles, quicksand, torture, arrows

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Book Review

Book Review: The Traitor’s Kiss (The Traitor’s Circle #1) by Erin Beaty

April 29, 2019April 26, 2019 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy/Romance
Length: 344 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: May 9th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

An obstinate girl who will not be married. A soldier desperate to prove himself. A kingdom on the brink of war.

With a sharp tongue and an unruly temper, Sage Fowler is not what they’d call a lady―which is perfectly fine with her. Deemed unfit for marriage, Sage is apprenticed to a matchmaker and tasked with wrangling other young ladies to be married off for political alliances. She spies on the girls―and on the soldiers escorting them.

As the girls’ military escort senses a political uprising, Sage is recruited by a handsome soldier to infiltrate the enemy ranks. The more she discovers as a spy, the less certain she becomes about whom to trust―and Sage becomes caught in a dangerous balancing act that will determine the fate of her kingdom.

OKAY. THIS BOOK WAS MADE FOR ME.

Yes, I firmly believe this book was written for me, so if by the end of this review you aren’t feeling it. THAT’S COOL. I’LL BE FINE (but seriously if it’s up your alley you should read it and gush with me).

This is a love story with other components surrounding it. Definitely reminded me of The Remnant Chronicles by Mary Pearson (which I absolutely adore). The plot flowed from action, to new locations, to one heck of an epic battle scene at the end. EPIC.

My angst filled romance between the two main characters WAS EVERYTHING. This didn’t start out as enemies to lovers. It was more who are you to lovers. BUT NEVER FEAR. There was banter, some hate vibes (which created the angst I previously mentioned) and plenty of sweet, precious moments.

My dearest Sage. Girl is stubborn, rash, strong-willed, and independent. I love that she hung with the men and wanted to DO something rather than sit on the sidelines. Even better, our lovely military escort allowed her too. NO HOLDING HER BACK. What I appreciated most was when she found out some information (that of course, as a reader, I already knew) that she responded in a matter that made sense. Sage was angry, yes, but also was able to listen and understand why things were done in such a way. It made me love her character even more.

Don’t even get me started on our male POV — yes keeping his name out. It’s more fun this way, TRUST ME. Y’all he was so swoon-worthy. He’s a new addition to my ever growing book boyfriend list. His final battle scene had me cheering. YOU TAKE DOWN THE DUKE. I loved getting to know him on many levels and watching this love story grow.

There was even one part that brought tears to my eyes. I wasn’t prepared and didn’t think it would happen. I appreciate this in authors though because sometimes, crap has to happen. And that’s okay, even if it pulls at all my heart strings.

Funny tidbit: the opening scenes are straight out of Mulan (the matchmaker scene). Not sure if it was actually inspired by that, but it brought Mulan to mind and I thought it was humorous.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy + romance
Language: very little
Romance: a few kisses, and make-outs
Violence: Knives, poison, physical, arrows, battle scenes (+gore), mentions of torture
Trigger warnings: suicide (a random soldier in front of male POV), domestic abuse + miscarriage (mentioned that it occurred to a character not in book), sexual assault (unwanted grab of backside & kiss to female POV)