Hi hello and welcome to the blog tour for Sundial by Catriona Ward, hosted by JeanBookNerd! I'm so excited that I finally get to share my review for this incredible book. This was such a wild ride and I was not expecting any of the twists and turns that it had! Please be sure to check out all of the other tour stops here and stay tuned to the end of my review for an awesome giveaway where you could win a copy of Sundial! Let's get started!
___________________________________________________________________________

Giveaway!

 

From Goodreads: "Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn't what the storybooks promised. Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family's power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins. Then again, maybe he’s not the hero, for Kihrin isn’t destined to save the empire. He’s destined to destroy it."

Thank you to Tor Books, Jenn Lyons, and Jean Book Nerd Tours for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review. All opinions are my own. 

This is the longest book that I've read probably ever, I believe. It's one of my most anticipated releases of this year so when I had the opportunity to take part in this blog tour, I couldn't say no! 560 pages later, I'm honestly still struggling to put my thoughts together in a coherent way because this book was absolutely massive and filled with so much...stuff.

The Ruin of Kings has been compared to authors such as Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss (of which I have only read from Brandon Sanderson but I am aware of the plot of the Patrick Rothfuss book they're probably referring to) and knowing that these authors are highly revered in the fantasy world, I knew I was going to be in for a dense fantasy story. I mean, this book is over 500 pages! But I was prepared for a long read and got exactly that. I went back and forth with my feelings on The Ruin of Kings and I feel like this review isn't going to be long or detailed enough to convey all of my thoughts and feelings at this time. I did enjoy this read but as I said, I've been going back and forth about how I felt about this overall. There were parts I loved and parts that I wasn't a huge fan of, but I think that the positives outweighed the "negatives."

The main storyline beings with our main character, Kihrin, in jail and retelling his life story and the events that are leading up to his capture and current situation to the jailer, Talon. But here, at the beginning, is where it begins to get complicated. Kihrin's story doesn't begin at the start but rather in the middle of his journey. Instead, the first part is being narrated by Talon. This means that there are three timelines that the reader must follow- the current timeline in the present where Kihrin is in jail and telling Talon his story, and then the second and third being the past which tells how Kihrin got to where he is now. However, these second and third timelines are constantly switching back and forth between Kihrin's first-person narration and Talon's third person narration. But wait, on top of this, you also get footnotes by another character that is actually telling Kihrin's story. I know, confusing, right? I think it's a lot to take in and this is a book that you definitely need to take notes on while you read which, thankfully, I do that with all of the books I read! I did enjoy the story once I really got going with it, although the constantly changing perspectives and tenses did get really confusing. I do understand that this is the first book in what I believe is a five book series so I feel like there had to be a lot of world building and character introduction/backstory, so some confusion is probably just a common thing among first books in large/long fantasy series. I am hoping that the sequel will follow a more chronological timeline to lead to less confusion for the reader. But the story itself was a fun adventure to read and kept me interested enough to want to continue reading the rest of the series as the books come out.

The writing in this story was probably my favorite part. Confusing timelines and changing perspectives aside, Jenn Lyons can write a heckin book! I loved her writing and the way that she was able to draw me in to this world, however complex it might be. Everything was so descriptive and painted an absolutely beautiful picture of every single place in this book. Despite being confused, I was able to push on because I simply did not want to stop reading the writing. It's hard to believe that this is a debut because it feels like Jenn Lyons has been in the writing game, specifically the fantasy genre, for years. Every scene, every page felt like I was watching a movie unfold right before my eyes and that was such a wonderful experience to have. I love big books that I can just sit down and get lost in (don't mind me just laughing because there were times I was actually kind of lost) because the writing is just that good, and The Ruin of Kings had that. If anything, I want to continue the series just so that I can soak in more of Jenn Lyons' writing.

I said this above but I'm really just trying to process all of my thoughts on this book because there was just so much to it. I enjoyed a lot, was confused by some, but my overall thoughts are fairly positive and I'm definitely interested and fairly invested in the story and the world to where I plan to continue on with the series! If you're wanting a fantasy story that's a really great start to a new series with some truly fantastical writing that you'll most definitely fall in love with, I highly recommend The Ruin of Kings.

From Goodreads: "Elizabeth Lavenza hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her "caregiver," and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything--except a friend. Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable--and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable. But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth's survival depends on managing Victor's dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness."

About the Author:

From Goodreads: "Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can’t stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people. He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie doesn’t see a monster when she looks at Dresden. Essie is fascinated and delighted by his changing features. Risking his own life, he holds back his bees and spares her. What starts out as a simple act of mercy ends up unraveling Dresden’s solitary life and Essie’s tormented one. Their impossible romance might even be powerful enough to unravel a centuries-old curse."