Oath Taker (Kingdom of Runes, #1)

by Audrey Grey

Light magic is forbidden. 
Dark magic spells death. 
Haven has both.

After the Prince of Penryth saved her from captivity, seventeen-year-old Haven Ashwood spends her days protecting the kind prince and her nights secretly fighting the monsters outside the castle walls. 

When one of those monsters kidnaps Prince Bell, Haven must ally with Archeron Halfbane and his band of immortals to rescue her friend. 

Her quest takes her deep into the domain of a warped and vicious queen where the rules are simple: break her curse or die.

Lost in a land of twisted magic and fabled creatures, Haven finds herself unprepared, not just for the feelings she develops for Archeron, but for the warring powers raging inside her. 

Her rare and forbidden type of magic may be their only hope . . . but mixing light and dark comes with a steep price. 

Haven’s soul.

Faced with impossible love, heartbreaking betrayals, and a queen intent on destroying the realm, only one thing remains certain. 

Haven must shatter the curse or it will devour everything she loves. 

Welcome to the Kingdom of Runes where immortals and humans clash, light and dark magic reign, and mythical creatures lurk in the shadows. If you like fierce heroines, enemies-to-lovers romance, wild plot twists, and endearing characters that stay with you long after you reach the end, you need to discover the book readers are calling dark fantasy at its best. Just make sure to clear out some space on your calendar first!

**Oath Taker was previously published in the boxed set Shattered Worlds under the name Curse Breaker. This is a revised second edition. The Kingdom of Runes series is upper/mature YA and contains mild cursing and adult situations, including romance.**

• ISBN10: 1733747214
• ISBN13: 9781733747219
• Publish Date: 23 May 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Starfall Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 372
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sarah]

My thoughts are all over with this book but overall it was just frustrating to read. I read through as a combination of the Kindle Unlimited ebook and audiobook. The narrator did a pretty good job but couldn't save it for me. It's an interesting concept with a good premise but much more time should have been spent developing the worldbuilding and magic system (how does Haven's magic work? What are the limits? Why can she use magic to create clothes by just thinking about it when she needed to use runes earlier? Is the dark magic more sentient with the little voice? Why isn't it the same for light magic, just with the opposite impulses? etc.)

I understand Haven is 17 but she makes stupid decisions and plans to (and actively does) deceive/steal from/abandon her traveling companions and then in the VERY NEXT SCENE wonders why the other characters don't trust her.

The blurb spoils the entire point of this first book too. The first 75% is spent with Haven suddenly developing magic with no explanation (explained away as her magic appearing at "the right time"). But as a reader you knew it was coming since the blurb tells you outright she can use both dark/light magic. That could have been a much greater point of tension had we not known about it from the outset, and would have made the point that Bell only channeled Haven's magic a bigger reveal.

The supposed romantic interest(s?) comes up out of nowhere through a 3rd party character drawing attention to it in one of the last chapters. I would have never known this character supposedly had feelings for Haven had it been brought up in a conversation with him. Not to mention the infodumps throughout and the overall problem this book has of telling, rather than showing.

What really irritated me was the ending. It didn't end in a cliffhanger, it was just straight up unfinished. Haven finally gets an offer to start formally training with her magic and a deadline by which she has to save Bell and the book just...ends there. To me if you're going to have an overarching storyline in a series that's great, but each book should have a self-contained arc as well to serve a purpose and this didn't have that. There are a few plot points revealed that seem like they'll play an important role in following books, but I won't be continuing to find out.

[tweetybugshouse]

Interesting premise that hooked me from the start. Magic is forbidden which means their probably a few that have a lot of it and some that have no control over something they know nothing about. We have a power play between the Solis and Noctis, we have a character who has both light and dark magic which in either from is forbidden and a lost prince that needs saved. A dark quest to break a curse is the real draw that pushes the story along.

I was entranced from the first page and I did not want to put this book down. The qualities of our prince bell i can see in myself, wanting to hide myself way in a vast library far from the demands of the world. I also like that Haven is no way a perfect character she makes choices that you have your saying what are you thinking. In all this book did exactly what i wanted it to do drag me into the story and spit back out wanting the next one immediately. Pick this one you you won’t regret it.