Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed The Heart of Betrayal (Remnant Chronicles, Bk 2) on + 2527 more book reviews
This is the second book in the Remnant Chronicles by Pearson. I didn't like it quite as much as the first book, in fact the first half of the book is pretty slow. Things really pick up towards the end though and I ended up engaged and curious in the story again. I would actually give the first half of the book 3 stars and the second half 4 stars.
Lia and Rafe are held captive in the kingdom of Venda, Kaden's home kingdom. Kaden has told the Vendan leader, Komizar, that Lia has the Gift in order to increase Komizar's interest in Lia and ensure that she is protected. Lia, Rage, and Kaden have woven a complicated set of lies which makes everything tougher. Lia is also realizing that the Vendan people are not the barbarians everyone has assumed and it is affecting the choices she needs to make to survive. What will happen in the kingdom of Venda? Will Lia and Rafe escape, will they survive their capture or even make a life in that forsaken country?
I found the first half of this book to be incredibly boring. Lia wanders around awaiting rescue. Rafe wanders around pretending to be an ambassador from his home country. Both of them are waiting for Rafe's supporters to rescue them and neither are doing much productive.
This changes in the second half of the book when Lia gets a chance to have some serious political power it leads to her having to make some tough decisions.
This wasn't the easiest book for me to read. I had trouble engaging with the characters and story for the first half of the book and really struggled. The writing just didn't flow all that well. This changed some towards the end of the book when the characters finally started taking action and doing something.
The story is mostly intrigue and politics with some romance. The kingdom of Venda is pretty much a typical Norse-like kingdom (very cold, trouble finding food, lots of wearing animal furs, etc). There wasn't anything super creative here.
Overall this was an okay book. I didn't like it as much as the first book. I thought the first part of the story was very slow and had a lot of trouble engaging with the characters. Things picked up in the second half and I am curious about what will happen given Lia's choices in the second half of the book. I would tentatively recommend to fans of political fantasy.
Lia and Rafe are held captive in the kingdom of Venda, Kaden's home kingdom. Kaden has told the Vendan leader, Komizar, that Lia has the Gift in order to increase Komizar's interest in Lia and ensure that she is protected. Lia, Rage, and Kaden have woven a complicated set of lies which makes everything tougher. Lia is also realizing that the Vendan people are not the barbarians everyone has assumed and it is affecting the choices she needs to make to survive. What will happen in the kingdom of Venda? Will Lia and Rafe escape, will they survive their capture or even make a life in that forsaken country?
I found the first half of this book to be incredibly boring. Lia wanders around awaiting rescue. Rafe wanders around pretending to be an ambassador from his home country. Both of them are waiting for Rafe's supporters to rescue them and neither are doing much productive.
This changes in the second half of the book when Lia gets a chance to have some serious political power it leads to her having to make some tough decisions.
This wasn't the easiest book for me to read. I had trouble engaging with the characters and story for the first half of the book and really struggled. The writing just didn't flow all that well. This changed some towards the end of the book when the characters finally started taking action and doing something.
The story is mostly intrigue and politics with some romance. The kingdom of Venda is pretty much a typical Norse-like kingdom (very cold, trouble finding food, lots of wearing animal furs, etc). There wasn't anything super creative here.
Overall this was an okay book. I didn't like it as much as the first book. I thought the first part of the story was very slow and had a lot of trouble engaging with the characters. Things picked up in the second half and I am curious about what will happen given Lia's choices in the second half of the book. I would tentatively recommend to fans of political fantasy.
Lisa G. (plum-marie) -
I read this one in a day but while I was happy to see some strong relationship development (you really felt the connection with Aster, you got a feel for what the Komizar is like, etc) the story doesn't need to drag out like it does in my opinion. 470 pages spent in Venda minus like five or so with Pauline's chapters. Not that it wasn't important to come to understand what the people of Venda are up against and how they have been left on their own in a harsh climate/land but really this story is progressing slowly. I do like that Lia is not as sneaky as she thinks and it is obvious people can tell what she is up to even as she acts as though no one would know what she is doing. I just didn't feel the relationship between Lia & Rafe develop, rather it seemed to weaken in this book and yet the story begins and ends with the two of them and the city of Venda. There are tidbits here and there that will help in understanding the big picture but really 470 pages of one city and not much progression was tiring. I still disliked the chapters being told by different people-I probably wouldn't mind as much if Lia's chapters were labeled but you just have to assume any chapter without a name is her talking but it isn't actually that clear.
I loved this book... it was so hard for me to put down but so many times I had too... it took me about a week to finish it because of REAL life issues but I loved it... It made me laugh, cry, scream, feel the hate for the Kozamir, and love for Rafe and still couldn't decide how I feel about Kaden. I love that Rafe has these friends that would do anything for him and with that...Lia.. I CANNOT wait for the last book... It is TOO far away but this is a story that I will be seeing run in my head for many weeks... Absolutely Loved it!
