Rating: 3⭐️
There’s a whole trope of romance fantasy books that’s falls into the academy/trials category where a character, most likely a FMC, has to undergo a certain amount of training (in an academic setting) and experience a set amount of traumatic , often potentially deadly, trials in order to meet their goal.
Survival, becoming a ruler, save someone, including yourself. Or the world are the typical end game examples. Or perhaps all of those. Gods are usually involved, lately the Greek pantheon, and the Fae are huge here. Huge!
So it takes an extraordinary or a very special well constructed or conceived story to rise up from the those that are already out there with the same type of theme and characters.
This isn’t the story, unfortunately.
It’s a nice one but the characters and world building is lacking substance. It’s initially three siblings, Lor, Willow and Tristan, the older brother in a death prison where she’s been since basically a toddler ( I just read another similar story), and it’s been years of trauma and struggles to survive.
Past and present mentions of SA, violence, and other physical attacks are part of their lives.
But why they are there, the Fae Kingdom it’s in, and any world building is pretty non-existent. And Lor and family members aren’t that believable as very young women and men who are starving to death, fighting for their lives under conditions that should have done them in years prior. Her brother is downright jaunty.
There’s a side accompanying story about a Fae prince who hates his father, the King. Why? We don’t know . But there’s a secret. And he needs to go figure it out.
Lor ends up , in an around about way, being a competitor in a contest to win the Sun King’s heart and a crown. It doesn’t make sense as it happens , other women are cardboard creatures at best, and the contest is wildly uneven.
The problem is with the characters, Lor especially. Is she someone who could have survived the prison experience she’s been through, has that personality and survival chops here or is she a naive young girl who’s somehow going to believe everything that told her, saving lives of those who trying desperately to kill her, etc. Lor’s personality seems as changeable as a throw of the dice. She’s just not a character worthy of investing in.
It’s more, huh, so that happens. Ok. Turn page. Where did that element go?
I’m still trying to decide if I’m going to get the next book. Probably not. As I’ve got several other series I’ve read that are terrific and have second books to read in the same trope.
Read it because you like the author or are a fan of the trope.
Artefacts of Ouranos:
Trial of the Sun Queen #1 (KU)
Rule of the Aurora King #2 (KU)
Fate of the Sun King #3
Tale of the Heart Queen #4
Completed series-2 are available on KU
Buy link
Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos)
Blurb
Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King’s heart.
Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to escape and pay him back for every moment of misery she’s endured.
When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the rival Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight as she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she’ll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.
But Lor doesn’t belong in the Sun Queen Trials. Not only does she not understand why she was freed, she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is removed from the competition, permanently.
Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she’ll be returned to the evil—and now vengeful—Aurora King.
My notes: the initial blurb compares this to Fourth Wing and other popular fantasy novels. No. Not even close.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 