Champion of Fate (Heromaker, #1)
Kendare Blake
Behind every great hero is an Aristene. Aristene are mythical female warriors, part of a legendary order. Though heroes might be immortalized in stories, it’s the Aristene who guide them to victory. They are the Heromakers. Ever since she was an orphan taken in by the order, Reed has wanted to be an Aristene. Now, as an initiate, just one challenge stands in her way: she must shepherd her first hero to glory on the battlefield. Succeed, and Reed will take her place beside her sisters. Fail, and she’ll be cast from the only home she’s ever known. Nothing is going to stop Reed--until she meets her hero. Hestion is fiery and infuriating, but what begins as an alliance becomes more, and as secrets of the order come to light Reed begins to understand what becoming an Aristene may truly cost. Battle looming, she must choose: the order and the life she had planned, or Hestion, and the one she never expected.
Publication Year: 2023
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0~~Thank you to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications for the ARC!~~
This is probably the most boring book I've read this year. If any book I manage to finish before the year's up one-ups that, I'll be genuinely surprised.
Anyway, the writing, the story, the characters - it's all drawn out and made my eyes sag inside my sockets. How did Blake take an interesting premise and make it not work? Things kept happening, and yet I felt nothing. Reed's parents and settlement got killed by raiders, but all I was thinking was, "Oh, that's it?" It jut felt like the author was checking off a list before forcing the plot forward so not to linger on the emotional parts of such a traumatic event. Similar things were happening throughout the story.
The characters are also flat and uninteresting. Reed had no strong presence as a main character, Hestion even less so (Instalove is so annoying), and the rest don't stand out. There's friends, mentors, and other important Aristene figures that were constantly introduced, but I could not tell you who was who and what they did. Connection is the least of my concerns when I can barely recognize the characters as individual people.
Overall, this was just not for me. I still wanna read Blake's other works, particularly Anna Dressed in Blood. Hopefully, I'll get more enjoyment from there, because I certainly didn't with this book.
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