Review: Oaths of Legacy by Emily Skrutskie

Oaths of Legacy

Emily Skrutskie

(The Bloodright Trilogy #2)
Publication Date: September 14, 2021

Hardcover, 288 pages, Del Rey Books

Genres: YA, Sci-Fi, LGBT+

Goodreads

Torn between loyalty and love, a young prince will learn how much he's willing to sacrifice as he tries to destroy the rebellion that threatens his throne in this exhilarating sequel to Bonds of Brass.

Gal’s destiny has always been clear: complete his training at the military academy, prove his worth as a royal successor, and ascend to the galactic throne. When a failed assassination plot against Gal sends him and Ettian—his infuriatingly enticing roommate—on a mad dash through the stars, Gal’s plans are momentarily disrupted. But he was born to rule the Umber Empire, and with Ettian by his side, nothing will stop him from returning home and crushing the growing insurgency threatening his family’s power.

But nothing is ever that simple in war—or in love. Gal is captured by the rebellion during a skirmish and faces public execution, his grand fate cut short. To save Gal’s life, Ettian does the unthinkable: he reveals himself as the secret heir to the fallen Archon Empire and rightful leader of the rebellion . . . and, therefore, Gal’s sworn enemy. Now a political hostage in this newly-reignited conflict, Gal must use his limited resources to sabotage the rebellion from within, concoct an escape plan, and return to the empire he’s destined to lead. And if that means taking down the man he thought he loved?

All the better.

My Review

Gal and Ettian are back in the second installment of Emily Skrutskie's Bloodright Trilogy, and boy, are things just a wee bit complicated now. But I have to admit it was fun seeing all the relationship drama play out. What can I say? I love reading enemies-to-lovers romance. It's my thing. Add in a sci-fi element, and I'm all in.

So Oaths of Legacy picks up pretty close to where Bonds of Brass left off. I won't spoil the first book, but let's just say Gal wasn't in a good place and Ettian was in a slightly better one. Unlike the first book, however, Gal is the point-of-view character for book two, which was a little odd, but not unwelcome. It's a different strategy when it comes to writing YA sci-fi, and I'm intrigued to see who narrates book three now. 

While I was initially skeptical about the plot development Ettian had towards the end of the first book, I was 100% on board for it in this one. Ettian's new role made for some great romantic tension between two boys who just have no idea what the heck they're feeling and what the heck they're doing.

It had been a while since I read Bonds of Brass, so I had a little bit of trouble remembering some of the names and overall worldbuilding, but nothing was hard to pick up on once the book got going. However, I actually enjoyed Oaths of Legacy a lot more, simply because of the tension and Gal's internal and external dilemma in deciding where he stands in the war. I will say, though, that sometimes Gal got a little wishy-washy in his politicking and not a whole lot happened in terms of plot for him until the very end. There just wasn't a lot of action in general when compared to the first book. Did that stop me from wanting to know what was going to happen next? Nope. Those darn boys just kept pulling me back in.

All in all, Oaths of Legacy was a great second installment to a series that combines typical sci-fi elements like spaceship battles and robotic suits with the fantasy royalty tropes that are being devoured by readers right now. I'd highly suggest this story for anyone who likes Red Rising, Throne of Glass, The Kiss of Deception, The Winner's Curse, and the Star Wars franchise. It's just a fun time overall.

*Note: I received a NetGalley ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The Spending Problem Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Man, the past couple of weeks have been uber stressful. I applied to another job, didn't get it (which I'm fine with), and a lot of big things have been happening both in my work life and personal life. One of which, I'll talk about below. Despite my busy-ness, I managed to have book mail. Lots of book mail. I have a bunch of pre-orders coming in soon, and I already have way too many books to share, so here's this week's/month's/whatever's StS. It's a lot, so sorry in advance.

I got a suprise birthday gift from my book club/high school friend. It came a few weeks late, but better late than never! (I honestly didn't expect anything from her, so this was a fun gift to receive.) She sent me an art print of Bryce and Hunt from Crescent City and Deal With an Elf King by Elise Kova. Also, sorry for the terrible lighting in this pic. DWAEK is not a photogenic book.

I bought an ebook copy of Rhapsodic, as it was only $0.99 on Kindle. I've heard very mixed things about this series, but I am interested in trying it. I don't think it'll be groundbreaking or anything. The series does have some hauntingly beautiful covers, however.

I got one free ebook this month. It was a Kindle copy, of course. I need to use my Nook app more, but I just forget that it's even a thing. (Sorry, Barnes & Noble.) I had never heard of Fortune Favors the Cruel by Kel Carpenter before I saw the free listing, so this will be an interesting read, if I ever get around to it. It does have a very pretty cover, though.

Up next we have two pre-orders. One is the FairyLoot edition of The Iron Raven. I pre-ordered it back in June/July. The bad thing, though, is that my other Iron Fey FairyLoot editions are at my parents' house, so I can't admire the set as a whole. *sigh* I also just got TJ Klune's Under the Whispering Door, which I pre-ordered via B&N during their fall pre-order sale. I have one more book still to come from that sale. But look at that dumb sticker on the cover! Why, B&N?! Why?!

These next two pics are where things get expensive. Horribly, awfully expensive. Well, technically this one wasn't that bad. I went to my local used bookstore, and they had way more than I thought they would. They initially called me about a request I'd placed on Stray by Rachel Vincent, and I was super excited that a copy had come in. I went to the bookstore thinking I'd get one or two other titles, but I came out with eleven. Yikes. Five of them are Jennifer L. Armentrout contemporary romance books, of which I've already read two. The others are A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet, The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh, and Sweet Temptation by Wendy Higgins (the only book in the Sweet series I didn't have). I haven't read any of these, so in total, I added nine more books to my TBR with that trip.

And last, but certainly not least, I have my Titan tickets to 2022's Apollycon. The most expensive purchase of the month. Somehow I managed to get two tickets for me and my friend. I originally wasn't quick enough to purchase them. The major ticket tiers sold out in like one minute. So me and my friend were uber bummed, but through a glitch, more tickets that had been held back showed up in the app and I snagged two! Now, I'm just looking for two brunch tickets!

Well, that's all for this haul. It was insane, but I have more to come. So much more. My Bookish Box and FairyLoot FBAA editions, September FairyLoot, B&N pre-order, FairyLoot Gods & Monsters, UK EOTV, and some fan art items are all possibly arriving within the next week. It's gonna be another long post...

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Iron Widow

Xiran Jay Zhao

(Iron Widow #1)

Publication Date: September 21, 2021

Hardcover, 400 pages, Penguin Teen

Genres: YA, Sci-Fi, LGBTQ+

Goodreads

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

My Review

Wow! Xiran Jay Zhao is out to pack a punch with Iron Widow. I've never read a single YA book like it, but if this is the direction the sci-fi/fantasy storylines are going to take in the future, I am all for it.

Okay, so Iron Widow was a lot crazier than I anticipated it to be, which lead to some mixed feelings while I was reading. What I really enjoyed was how different it was from all other sci-fi on bookshelves right now. There's a polyamorous romance, a female character who has a very strained relationship with her family, and a mysterious world that leads to a crazy cliffhanger twist at the end.

To really get into my review, I have to note how fast-paced this story is. It's almost too quick-paced once we get into the first third of the story. While the battles go on a bit too long, everything else, like relationships and character interactions, seem to snap by a lot faster. I felt like there could have been more pauses and slow moments to really feel the tension. Everything was kind of Wham! Bam! One revelation after another. I'd also say the worldbuilding is a little confusing at first. It's like Pacific Rim, Voltron, and Transformers with some more complex rules thrown in. Pilots driving giant magic-esque robots to fight monsters. You get used to all the techy explanation stuff once the series goes on, though. (Iron Widow definitely has some major Transformers movie sequel vibes with the battles going on just a bit too long. But, if you like longer action scenes, you may seriously enjoy those chapters of the book.)

Now, back to the characters. This is where the book lost me at times. Because while I enjoyed Zetian, our female protagonist, her emotions did kind of hop from one feeling to the next pretty quickly. I personally wanted more angst, especially with three teen love interests trying to figure their lives out during monster attacks and sabotages. I'm a character-reader though, so if you're more plot-based, you might appreciate the fast-paced emotional changes. I will say that Zetian never backed down from a challenge, and I was continually impressed by every decision she made. I was rooting for her to go all Daenerys Targaryen on everyone and everything multiple times throughout the book.

One of the male love interests, Li Shimin, is a shady figure at first. He's a pilot who killed his entire family. Yikes. But the author, Zhao, goes a long way in really delving into Li's backstory and making him a sympathetic character. Poor guy. He's just a gentle giant who doesn't deserve all the hate.

My major love interest issue comes from Yihzi, who kind of just shows up. He doesn't get as much time or care as the other two characters, and when he is involved with one or both of them, I didn't feel a connection to him. Perhaps because his past isn't really shared? I think Zhao has potential to delve into his background a little more and not just make him the childhood best friend with a rich daddy, and I have my fingers crossed that this is the case. His storyline could turn out to be great if he gets more page time.

While I will say that the premise of Iron Widow really drew me in, the execution didn't make this story one of my all-time favorites. However, I can totally appreciate what Zhao is doing with this book. Zhao is writing a female character who is taking charge of her life after she's been put through hell, and this female character is getting to finally experience power with two male love interests as her arm candy. It's great! But with all of these thoughts in mind, I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequel; though, I do think YA SFF lovers should pick this one up and give it a try. It's worth the read, especially for fans of Pacific Rim, Voltron, Transformers, Power Rangers, The Hunger Games, or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

*Note: I received an ARC of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

August Wrap-Up & September TBR

I feel like August has gone by in a flash. I also don't feel like I accomplished a whole lot, but when I list it out, it actually seems quite productive. Basically, I completed some major, stressful work projects, got my couch delivered, celebrated my birthday by being as lazy as possible and taking a personal day to just relax after said stressful work, and watched some TV. But that list isn't what you're here for, you're here for books.

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in August

The Exiled Fleet: 4 stars (my review)
Every Last Breath: re-read
The Endless Skies: 3 stars (my review; ebook; not pictured)
The Princess Will Save You: 4 stars
Artificial Condition: 3.5 stars (ebook; not pictured)

I read five books in August. Not bad, but I was hoping to read at least one or two more. Of the five, two were NetGalley ebook review copies: The Exiled Fleet by J.S. Dewes and The Endless Skies by Shannon Price. I adore J.S. Dewes's Divide world, and I seriously hope there are at least two or three more books in the series. As you can tell from this month's photos, I bought physical copies of the series because I love it so much. It's such a fun time. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells was another ebook I read, but this was for my book club. I also skimmed All Systems Red to refresh myself for the sequel. For the two physical books I read in August, one was a re-read, Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and the other was a whim read, The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning. The Princess Will Save You is the only book I read that I'd bought/received prior to 2021.

Books Bought/Received in August

 

August was a bad month for my wallet. Not only did I spend a lot on books, but I, once again, bought a lot of fan art. Oh, and my couch was finally delivered, which meant $500 was taken out of my account this month. Yay.

In total, I bought eight books in the month of August, and six of those were FairyLoot books. I decided to do a six-month subscription to FairyLoot, which meant I paid for all six boxes up front for a little bit extra off the costs. Of course I did this right before they announced an adult fantasy book subscription, which I'm way more interested in than the YA boxes. *sigh* I guess I'll just have to skip boxes for both subs whenever the book doesn't sound good. I hate doing that though. I feel like I'm going to miss something. Other than those six FairyLoot books, I bought The Exiled Fleet using Barnes & Noble's 25% off pre-order coupon, and I got an ebook of Artificial Condition.

As for books I received in August, my pre-order of Chest of Fandom's German Blood & Ash book box was delivered to my parents' address, same for the July FairyLoot book, Six Crimson Cranes. So my parents were able to deliver these to me during their previous visit. They also bought me The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes for my birthday.

Currently Obsessed With

Unlike earlier months of this year, August has been an insane time for me in terms of consuming movies and TV shows. That's probably why I only got five books read. Oops.

The show that took up most of my extracurricular hours was TNT's Animal Kingdom. The fourth season was available on Amazon Prime and the fifth season is currently airing, so I binged both and am watching new episodes every Sunday night. I actually stayed up until five a.m. to watch season four and part of five. Yikes. It was a weekend, so at least I wasn't working after. In addition to Animal Kingdom, I've been watching some of my favorite movies, like Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, The Mummy, and The Labyrinth. Oh, and I watched Loki on Disney+. I wasn't super impressed, but it was fun, I guess... The MCU just hasn't been able to impress me since Infinity War, sadly.

September TBR

More TBR repeats for the month of September, unfortunately. I'm truly hoping to get through my re-read of the Dark Elements/Harbinger series by the end of the month. I only have two books to go, and I've already started Storm & Fury. Then, I get to read Grace & Glory for the first time. The anticipation is killing me, but I have to do the re-read. I just don't remember enough to go into the last book blind. Other than these, I'm still working my way through A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. I'm on track to finish it before the end of this year. Woohoo! My other major TBR book is Oaths of Legacy by Emily Skrutskie. It's a NetGalley ARC, so it needs to be read. Oh, and I have my September book club read and These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan that I'll be getting to this month.

***

Okay, well, those are the month of August, plus some September sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!