What a nice breath of fresh air from Maxym M. Martineu! Wonderful debut book <3 

First things First, BIG THANK YOU to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with a copy of this wonderful novel in exchange for an honest review. 

Kingdom of Exiles has a release date of June 25th, 2019.
If you enjoy fantasy with a touch of romance, you should add it to your TBR now. 🙂 

This story begins with Leena Edenfrell, a beast charmer, exiled by her people and alone in the world. Forced to sell her beasts to survive, she’s already low on luck when someone puts a price on her head, and an elite brotherhood of assassins has taken up the task of claiming it. 

I felt like this story was if the ‘Beastmaster’ TV show of the 90s was written a million times better and then you added in other supernatural aspects and species. I adored it. Beast Charming is just a small part of the story. It did have an extreme Pokémon type feel in some cases. Haha #nerdalert! This plot was well presented and written fabulously! I’m excited to see where the next books take us.

Yes, Kingdom of Exiles is only Book one in Maxym M. Martineu’s new series. 

No, book two is not out yet BUT, we do have a title and a year. Hahaha 

Book Two is slated for 2020 (next year) and is called “The Frozen Prince”. It does look like this will be a trilogy, at least based on current information. Sometimes decisions are made later. #pleaseletthisbeatrilogy #closuresooner hahaha 

NOW TO THE BREAK DOWN REVIEW! 

“Assassins are not warriors. We don’t fight fair. We don’t battle, and we don’t give forewarnings. We strike when we know we’ll win.” – Maxym M. Martineu

High level book feel: Fantasy with sass, action, and a detailed world. 

The author has gorgeous writing. Both in dialogue and in description. I was enveloped in the dingy bar atmosphere and the open spaces the characters travelled to and from. Her writing style flows very well and the pacing was fantastic. Other than the initial start, which required some build given the fantasy structure, the whole of the book is quick and smooth to read.

The world is phenomenal and I had zero issues being fully immersed from the beginning. This is such an original premise and I was immediately involved and curious about what made a beastmaster, and specifically, what made Leena tick. Maxym M. Martineu introduces more than just this ability in her novel and I do hope we get more information in later books and maybe even a spinoff?
(If she’s listening….a spinoff sounds amazing at this point, I need more information of certain characters…and history!!!) #nospoilers 

The characters!! All of them!! AH-MAZING! 

Whether this was happy, sad, or angry feels. I ended up feeling all spectrum of emotion from beginning to end for these characters.

Leena was is such a strong lead. She is everything that I hope for when reading, as I have a pet peeve of dumb heroines. 

Leena is not dumb. Ms. Edenfrell is not weak or silly. She is smart, driven, and empowered. She is then matched with a hero that has equal parts to compliment her. Even the side characters are fully flushed out and I, naturally, do have a favorite. (I have a thing for the shy, strong types *shrug*). As mentioned above, I would love to have a spinoff surrounding some of these side peeps. That’s how well she’s done in writing their story ARCs. <3 <3

Needless to say, the side characters make my heart happy and the main characters make the story worth every moment. 

Please keep in mind that this is an ADULT FANTASY book with romance. I say this as I know a lot of YA Fantasy has become popular and they include romance, but it’s not the same as adult sexy. So please be aware of the sexiness for any young adults or other audiences that are uncomfortable with more risqué content. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys paranormal romance and fantasy. Maxym M. Martineu Has created a world that I will easily revisit and I will absolutely read the next books as they are released. 

  • Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars
  • Plot: 4 Stars
  • Character Development: 5 Stars
  • Dialogue: 4 Stars
  • Writing: 5 Stars

Happy Reading!

Ash~

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