Paladin's Strength
Ratings56
Average rating4.2
I'm rounding this up from 4.5.
This is a sequel to Paladin's Grace, although I'm sure you could enjoy this without having read Paladin's Grace (but go read that anyways).
As the afterword to Paladin's Grace said: “I had it in my mind that I was going to write a fluffy romance. I am a great fan of fluffy romance. I am told that there are generally fewer severed heads and rotting corpse golems in fluffy romance, so possibly this book didn't quite get there, but I'm certain I can write something fluffy eventually. Probably.”
So there's another lovely fluffy romance in this book, plus more severed heads and rotting corpses, plus nuns with a secret. Plus some newts. And mules. And bears. And, of course, delight.
A quote: ““So their leader looks pretty dead,” said Istvhan, who was at the point where a corpse was a welcome break in the tension. “
If a corpse is not occasionally a break in the tension of a fluffy romance, you may not enjoy this book. If, however, you're willing for the occasional severed head coming up, in between the romantic tension, you will be delighted.
Probably more of a 3.5 but I'm rounding up.
This one took a while to get going for me but eventually I was totally engaged with the story and the characters. Clara is a super fun heroine and I really her character arc a lot, especially the reveal of her identity was such a delightful surprise. Ishtvan felt a bit different than the character I came to love in Paladin's Grace but he is still a compassionate leader and takes care of everyone with him. The plot was also a bit on the slow side which made me very distracted but overall, I had fun listening to the well narrated audiobook and hopefully will get to the next one soon.
This series of books has been a pleasant surprise and I am so happy to be reading/listening to them. The first book was great and this one kept it going. T. Kingfisher does such a wonderful job of writing such likable characters and you get immersed in the story easily.
Another fantasy romance book by T Kingfisher. To be honest didn't grip me as much as the previous book in the series but an easy read nonetheless.
...as the story progresses, Clara realises that while the hurts done to her shape her and are forever a part of her, they are not the end-all and be-all of who she is. She opens up, not because someone else makes her do so, but because she chooses to.
Full review here: https://wp.me/p21txV-K0
A bit of a long first half but love the characters and the way the author can infuse comedy and horror into her writing with the flick of a switch.