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: "As one of the Queen’s elite assassins, Sal finally has the power, prestige, and permission to hunt down the lords who killed their family. But Sal still has to figure out who the culprits are. They must enlist the help of some old friends and enemies while ignoring a growing distaste for the queen and that the charming Elise is being held prisoner by her father. But there’s something terribly wrong in the north. Talk of the return of shadows, missing children, and magic abounds. As Sal takes out the people responsible for their ruined homeland, Sal learns secrets and truths that can’t be forgotten."

Originally from Arkansas, Linsey Miller has previously worked as a crime lab intern, neuroscience lab assistant, and pharmacy technician. She is currently an MFA candidate represented by Rachel Brooks of Bookends Literary. Her debut novel MASK OF SHADOWS is the first in a fantasy duology out now (8/29/17) from Sourcebooks Fire. The sequel RUIN OF STARS is coming out August of 2018. She can be found writing about science and magic anywhere there is coffee.

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From Goodreads: "Arabella’s wedding plans to marry Captain Singh of the Honorable Mars Trading Company are interrupted when her fiancé is captured by the French and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp on swampy Venus. Now, Arabella must find passage to an enemy-controlled planet in the middle of a war, bribe or fight her way past vicious guards, and rescue her Captain. To do this she must enlist the help of the dashing privateer, Daniel Fox of the Touchstone and build her own clockwork navigational automaton in order to get to Venus before the dread French general, Joseph Fouché, the Executioner of Lyon. Once on Venus, Arabella, Singh, and Fox soon discover that Napoleon has designed a secret weapon, one that could subjugate the entire galaxy if they can’t discover a way to stop Fouché, and the entire French army, from completing their emperor’s mandate."

Thank you to Desirae from Tor Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

I recently read Arabella of Mars, the first book in this series, and absolutely loved it! Arabella is a fantastic, strong, and witty character that definitely stayed with me after I'd finished the book. The sequel is just as fantastic, if not more so, and I was so happy to be back in this world with Arabella.

Plot:
Arabella Ashby's plans to marry Captain Singh of the Honorable Mars Trading Company are put on hold when he's called away on urgent Company business to Venus. Now, the Captain has been captured by the French and is a prisoner of war. Of course, this won't do, and Arabella sets off to find passage to the enemy-controlled planet of Venus to rescue her fiance. To do so, Arabella must enlist the help of privateer Daniel Fox of the Touchstone and build her own clockwork navigational automaton in order to reach Venus before Joseph Fouché, the Executioner of Lyon. But once they reach Venus, they discover that Napoleon has created a secret weapon that could dominate the entire galaxy unless they can discover a way to stop Fouché, and the entire French army, from completing their emperor's orders.

I was so excited at the chance to read more about Arabella and her adventures! She's such a great character that really defies the norm of her time and I love that about her. This book certainly felt a bit darker than the first but I really enjoyed that feeling while I was reading. I thought that including Napoleon as an enemy was clever as the author is taking our world history and bringing it into Arabella's world and that made it feel a bit more real for me as a reader. This world is a unique one, for sure, and the idea that wooden ships flying in space was one that took me a bit to accept, but was overall a fun story to follow! The aerial battles were actually really exciting to read about and were probably my favorite part of the book. Again, while it was a little hard to picture, they were very well written and it made for an exceptionally entertaining read. I also thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of more alien life and how easily Arabella adapts to the Venusians. She's such an open and accepting character and I loved how she was an advocate for equality between the races, both human and alien. This plot moved at a relatively smooth pace, neither too fast or too slow, and it was easy to just sit down and dive back into Arabella's world. I honestly could not get enough of this character and will definitely follow her wherever she may go next. It was so much fun to follow her on her adventures to Venus and I am so excited to see where she goes in the future with her wonderful Captain Singh!

Characters:
Arabella Ashby is such a strong and fun character to follow. She lives in a time where women are treated as delicate little flowers that can't do anything but sit around and do needlework and learn foreign languages. But that's not who she is, and she's not ashamed of that. She's strong and loud and forward and does things that cause people to stop and stare. She disguised herself as a boy to get to Mars and save her brother and now she's taking another adventure to Venus to save her fiance. She likes working with automaton like her father and feels more comfortable in pants than a dress, especially when on an airship. Arabella is the strong female character that I've been dying to read about and there's no doubt that there are other readers out there who will fall in love with her as I have.

I also really enjoy the side characters such as Daniel Fox and Captain Singh. Although we don't get to see much of Captain Singh until about the later half of the book, I still really enjoyed his presence and how he and Arabella interact with each other. Fox was also interesting and definitely lives up to his last name, being very dashing and trying to charm our lovely Arabella. While Arabella is the main character, the other characters such as Fox, Singh, and even the crew are very well-written and enjoyable to read about. David D. Levine does a fantastic job at bringing these different characters to life and giving them each distinct personalities that all combine to make a fun reading experience.

Writing:
I never would have thought that I would enjoy a book that was described as steampunk, but here I am, absolutely loving it. I did have a hard time imagining that a wooden ship could travel to other planets, but the author really did an incredible job at making me suspend disbelief and just enjoy the story. You get some really descriptive, beautiful words throughout this book and are able to picture the crazy airship battles and amazing locations that are visited. Everything, even the automaton, come to life between the pages of these books and I think that everyone will enjoy reading the adventures of Arabella Ashby.

The world is unique, mostly because these characters spend most of the time on either Mars, traveling between planets, or on Venus, the leading lady is one that many will likely relate to and love for her out of the norm behavior, and the writing will take you on an out of this world adventure that you won't soon forget. Arabella and the Battle of Venus is an exciting sequel to Arabella of Mars that is sure to delight fans of steampunk and space travel and capture the attention of fans of fantasy with a hint of historical fiction.

Get Arabella and the Battle of Venus here!

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