ARC Review: Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

eARC via Paper Lantern Lit
Published: August 25, 2015 // Harlequin Teen
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Goodreads // Amazon

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 newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author 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.

Alexander the Great. He is known though out the course of history as just that- great. Granted, also a little off the deep end, but none-the-less, he still did things like (I don’t know) lead a freaking huge military campaign and by the age of thirty, had created one of the most ginormous empires of the ancient world. In case you wanted a history lesson. I MEAN, Y’ALL, HE WAS TUTORED BY FREAKING ARISTOTLE. ARISTOTLE. What does any of this fantastic and rich history have to do with LEGACY OF KINGS? Why—that’s an excellent question! And I’ll tell you. This book is a historical reimagining of Alexander the Great’s ruling. And that is why I see no need for, like, six point of views. At most I can see about two  (MAYBE even three) being helpful. Some of the points of views *cough* Jacob *cough* made me want to throw my kindle across the room and tell the character to put on some big boy panties, stop being so dang desperate, and freaking just live your life.   

Okay, so I am going to tell you straight up what my rating of this book is. It’s two-point-five stars. It’s that low because of the points of views and the vast quantity of them. I am also going to tell you despite this, I still really want to read the second installment in the series. But not for the reason you’re most likely thinking of.

On that note, let’s talk point of view, plot and character development.

We have Alexander, Heph, Jacob, the Queen, Zofia, Kat and Cyn. So actually seven POVs. I mean goodness gracious and sweet Lordy that is a whole bunch of people. LEGACY OF KINGS is not a long book. All these different characters took away from what I think is the main plot of the story. That being Alexander coming into power, how he did so and what challenges did he face. Although I really liked Alex and Kat’s point of views the best, I’m not sure how necessary it was for me to know what Kat is thinking or her journey. I mean that is one part I especially enjoyed, but there are some major gaps in her story and why she does what she does and why she can’t be with Jacob (like girl, how did you know what your mission was before you learned all that stuff?) that really confused me. And I bet I just confused you. BUT THAT IS FINE. TRUST ME ON THIS. Alex, who I think is the most essential character in the story, really didn’t get as much screen time as I wished he would have. And that also distraught me. Quite a bit actually. He was the character who I found to be the most round.

Jacob *hits with sledgehammer* I detest him and his desperate for attention ways. I mean *grumbles incoherently under breathe* And then we have Heph WHO HAS FREAKING ADDING TWO PLUS FREAKING TWO ISSUES. Though, he can fight good. Which I guess means I can forgive a fraction of his stupidity. And the whole thing at the end was pretty cute. (why yes, I am tempting you to read it) THE QUESS IS CRAZY AND FREAKING BADASS BUT I WISH I FIGURED OUT THE EXTENT OF THAT FROM OUTSIDE HER HEAD. I honestly believe that being inside so many of the main character’s head’s took away from the story as opposed to adding to it. And we didn’t get to learn about them as much and they just didn’t feel like real people in the way I think they had the potential to do so.

Lastly, what was the point of Zofia? Seriously, what was her point? Did I miss something? I’m being completely serious.

LEGACY OF KINGS, while although had some swoon-worthy characters (Heph) it also did some things which made me an angry not-so-little reader. Like trying to made a character super (I want to say feminist because Kat and Cyn and even the Queen give off the vibe but that’s really not it so fill in the blank) but instead making them seem unnecessarily reckless. Also not expanding on points that need expanding upon and delving deep into points of others. I wish I got to know more about Alex’s crave for a cure and less about Zofia getting kidnapped and embarrassed. I wish I got to know Heph more and know why Kat craved revenge. Because, darling, that’s not enough. I wish for more self discovery.

So in the end, while nicely written, LEGACY OF KINGS lacked depth, but somehow has me wanting the copy of the next book just to see if there is more action and adventure. Also a dose of real hope and triumph. That is all.