triciab04's reviews
919 reviews

So fun to be back in the world of the Others! With all new characters to get to know and love. I'm super excited to continue with this series and see where it all goes from here.

4.5 Stars 

As per usual with this series is chock-full of action, humor, violence, foul language, kick-a*s heroines and just generally a solid good time. The only thing that was a bit overwhelming to me was the sheer amount of names/people to keep track of in this fantastical world Aiken has created. I freaking LOVED the new bunch of characters. They were brimming with chaos and full on entertaining. They were so fleshed out instantly and I fell so hard for them that by the end I'm like PLEASE GIVE US A SPINOFF cause I need Annwyl's whole backstory. And then I made the most incredible discovery....this series already exists! No need to hope and wait, there's like 9 Dragon Kin books plus novellas already waiting for me to consume. Which totally makes sense as to the big introduction and them being so seemingly well established. Having read those first probably would have helped the whole being overwhelmed with all the new people to remember.

Anyhow, back to The Heretic Royal, Ainsley was super fun. I kinda dig her middle(ish) child vibe. Poking at her sisters and able to evaporate from their minds at times and just get up to her own shenanigans. But of course still integral to her family. Ainsley ruffling Gemma's feathers with each passing breath was a fun highlight for me. Gruffyn was a good counterpart for her. His general grumpiness and and aloofness with most people was oddly charming, and the whole champion grudge-holder thing still makes me chuckle. Ainsley probably rants enough for the both of them so him being a more verbally reserved dude works out kinda well. I like that he just quietly was amused by her and had her back from the jump. They established a nice friendship beforehand and it made the leap into something romantic even more enjoyable to me. 

Another noteworthy thing about this series, I love that it's really heavy on the fantasy with the smaller side of romance. That's pretty much the icing on the cake for me, gotta love a good solid base. The family dynamics never fail to entertain. I can't wait to see where things go next! 


I received an ARC of this book from Kensington Books via NetGalley and this is my honest review.

This was a solid read for me. A smidge campy (re: the absolute cheesefest of names, titles, places, etc.), a dash of slasher, a pinch of mystery, and a little woo-woo, all encompassed in this creepy Gotham-esq little farm town. It's snappy little pace paired with lots of intrigue and a colorful cast of characters will keep you flying through those pages. Ultimately what it ended up being about was even more interesting to me than the premise led you to believe, which is cool since that was already interesting enough to entice me to begin with. Who doesn't love some icing on the cake?! I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future! 

I received an ARC of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley and this is my honest review.