Kingdom of Exiles (Beast Charmer, #1)

by Maxym M. Martineau

Eragon meets Furyborn in this gripping first installment of an epic new YA fantasy series

I will not fall. I will not flee. I will not break.

As a Charmer, Leena Edenfrell can tame the rare magical beasts that inhabit her world. When she's falsely accused of using her magic to charm a human, she's exiled and forced to sell her beloved creatures to survive. It's heartbreaking work, but if she can just make it through the next week, she'll have everything she needs to prove her innocence and return to the only home she's ever known.

That is, until she learns that the Charmer's Council has sent Noc, the realm's deadliest assassin, to find her. And Noc will stop at nothing until she's dead.

Determined to evade capture, Leena offers the dangerous hunter a deal: four magical beasts in exchange for her life...beasts with powers strong enough to break the curse that's killed everyone he's ever loved. Noc needs Leena. Yet as these unlikely allies cross the realm in search of mythical creatures, Leena can't help but feel that Noc is hiding something-and that, no matter how hard she fights, her time may soon be running out.

Thrilling, intense, and impossible to put down, Kingdom of Exiles is perfect for readers looking for:

• books like Sarah J. Maas' Kingdom of Ash and Kalyn Josephson's Storm Crow
• high fantasy with paranormal and romance elements
• multidimensional characters and expert world-building
• a unique premise and a plot to die for

• ISBN10: 1728213797
• ISBN13: 9781728213798
• Publish Date: 3 April 2020 (first published 25 June 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Fire
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leigha]

Beast charmer Leena becomes a target to assassin Noc in this ho-hum fantasy romance.

Perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more if I did not read it right now. While I typically love unique fantasy settings and star crossed lovers, I struggled to connect to the main characters and the beast charming. It’s been rather difficult for me to read right now with everything going on in my life – I do give it credit for sucking me into the story rather quickly and easily.

I found Leena and Noc to be boring protagonists. They should have been fascinating considering their careers, and yet they felt rather ho-hum as individuals and as a couple. The setting is much more fascinating, although I will admit to struggling with picturing the “beasts” described in the text. I wish some of the beasts were not made up – we got plenty of fascinating animals in our world to draw upon. The ending had me intrigued, and I picked up the second book in the series on NetGalley.

tl;dr While the characters were boring, it was a quick and easy read with an intriguing ending.

[EBookObsessed]

You will be enchanted by this new Beast Charmer series.

In an compelling new fantasy series, we meet Leena who is a beast Charmer. Her people can naturally charm and bond with beasts. But Leena has been banished from her homeland after being falsely accused by the man she loved of breaking their most sacred law never to charm the most cunning beasts of all – humans.

Leena refuses to live her life in the shadows for something she would never have done. She has plans to charm one of the most elusive beasts, a Class A beast, who would prove her worth and her innocence so she could go before the counsel once again and this time be heard over the charming lies of her ex-love.

Her plans are upset when she finds out the hard way that someone wants her out of the way bad enough and has hired the Cruor, assassins raised from the dead and who cloak themselves in shadows. They are such silent killers that their victims fall before they even know death was stalking them. They never fail to kill their target since they are magically bound to a contract. If they don’t make the kill, they die themselves. But the Cruor have never come up against a Charmer like Leena before and she uses her beasts to thwart her assassin and make him take her to his stronghold. Leena knows that the Cruor will never stop until she is dead. Her only means of survival would be to buy her way out of the contract.

But as Cruor have never had a target like Leena, Leena has never come upon anyone as cunning as their leader, Noc. He agrees that none of his men will fulfill the contract on Leena if she give him and his friends four beasts, never letting her know that he has taken on the contract himself and once she captures the beasts, Noc himself will dispatch her. If he doesn’t kill Leena, Noc will die.

Leena convinces Noc to take her toward the legendary beast she is looking for and she will charm beasts along the way for him and his men. The problem is that the more time Noc and his men spend with Leena, the more they come to like her. There are too many secrets and too much danger to the Cruor if they don’t fulfill their contract, but how do you kill someone who has become one of your family?

The story it noted as a cross between Assassin’s Creed and Fantastic Beasts but it takes the basic ideas and makes a story all its own. I liked Leena and her beasts. I liked Noc and his men. I had a hard time with Noc and Leena’s romance since Noc is under a curse and anyone he loves and who love him in return, falls ill and dies. So Noc is very cold and aloof to everyone, including his men, to keep them safe. This makes it hard for the romance to gel. Anytime there might have been feelings growing between them, Noc pulled back to protect her from the curse and leaving Leena feeling like a fool. She didn’t know how to feel and I had a hard time getting behind their romance. I kept wanting her to skip Noc and move on to Oz who was big and intimidating but actually very sweet and who was kind to her from the beginning. I enjoyed the bond between Oz and Leena and we had to go pretty far into the story for me to ship the right romance, but I still liked Oz.

There was great world building and we are introduced to some very interesting creatures. While it is not really a cliffhanger, this is the first of a trilogy so there will be some unfinished threads dangling at the end of the story. I definitely want to see where this story takes us.

Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Kingdom of Exiles through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Kingdom of Exiles is the first novel in a new series called the Beast Charmer by Maxym M. Martineau. I’m not going to lie to you – it was originally the cover art that caught my attention. That being said, this novel exceeded all of my expectations, and so much more. It’s described as Fantastic Beasts meets Assassin’s Creed, and it delivers on that promise.
Leena is a beast charmer, even if she is an exiled and disgraced one. Framed for committing a crime she had nothing to do with, Leena is forced to commit one of the biggest sins to beast charmers. She has to sell her beasts to make a living. Through this way of living, Leena finds herself in an even more dangerous situation, one full of treachery and assassins.
The description of this novel had me sold, and with good reason I think. That being said, having read it. I feel like the description doesn’t do the novel justice. Because I absolutely loved this book. I’m so sad that it’s over, though the fact that it’s a first in the series has helped keep my spirits up.


Warnings: Kingdom of Exiles has animal (beast) death inside, as well as kidnapping and torture. They all fit in well with the plot at hand, and more often than not you can see these moments coming ahead of time. So you can prepare yourself if needed.
Kingdom of Exiles was such a thrilling read. I loved nearly every moment, and I happily read the entire thing in one sitting. I just couldn’t put it down. The world described in these pages was lush, and I found myself wanting to know more and more about it.
I knew I wanted to read Kingdom of Exiles from the moment it was compared to Fantastic Beasts. And I’m not ashamed to admit that. That being said, this novel exceeded my hopes, throwing in a bit of a Pokemon vibe along the way. In that respect, this novel was a ton of fun. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of the beast charming elements, but I’m sure it’ll come up in later novels.
That being said, I went into this novel with certain expectations. I sort of expected that I wouldn’t like Leena, because of the whole selling beasts bit. So I was shocked when I found myself enjoying her character, and sympathizing with her situation. It was all very well done.
Noc’s character was likewise interesting, and admittedly I think I grew to like him even faster than I did Leena. I have so many questions about his past – questions that the novel did a good job of dancing around. I’m hoping we learn more about him in the next novel.
I found this novel to be very fast-paced, but in a good way. All of the beautiful creatures, and the beast charming in general, were fascinating. I would have loved to see more, of course. But I really enjoyed what I did see; Leena trying to match the beasts with the best person for them, and so on.
The treachery in Leena’s past…it was dark, and made for a brilliant driving force in Leena’s life, as well as in Kingdom of Exile. I’ll be curious to see how Maxym M. Martineau follows it up in later novels in the series. Which unfortunately I have to wait for. Even though I’m really looking forward to learning more about the two main characters, especially now.


For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[chymerra]

Leena was exiled from her Charmer home. Leena needed to make ends meet and to do so; she started selling off her animals on the black market. That is an offense punishable by death. So she wasn’t surprised when an assassin showed up. After beating the assassin, Leena forces him to take her to the guildhouse. It is there, Leena makes a deal with the guild master of the Cruor, Noc. 4 magical beasts in exchange for her life. What Leena doesn’t know is that there is no way for a Cruor assassin to back out of a contract. While Noc says yes, he knows that in the end, he will have to kill Leena and collect the bounty. But, it soon becomes hard for Noc to consider killing Leena. Enough doubt has been raised about the contract and if it is justified. Will Noc be able to do the unthinkable and break the contract? Or will everything end with Leena being killed?

What drew me to Kingdom of Exiles was the blurb. As soon as I caught sight of the words Fantastic Beasts and Assassin’s Creed. I knew that I needed to read this book. I am a huge Harry Potter and Assassin’s Creed fan, and I was interested in seeing how the author was going to combine those them together. I wasn’t let down. I do want to add in that I also caught glimpses of Pokemon in this novel too. Not in how the beasts were caught but in the battle scenes.

There are three major and several secondary plotlines in Kingdom of Exiles. The first plotline focuses on Leena, her beasts and the reason why she was exiled from the Charmers. The second plot line focuses on Noc, the Cruors, and Leena’s contract. The third plotline focuses on Leena, Noc, and their relationship.

I liked all the main storylines. They were all well written. When the author did chose to bring them together, she was able to do it without interrupting any of the storylines. There were also no dropped storylines.

The secondary storylines were well written. I did think that there was a dropped storyline towards the end of the book. It made me a little aggravated because I wanted to know what happened to a particular character. But, it was brought back up at the end of the book. Which makes me wonder if that is going to be the main storyline for the next book.

Like the plotlines, I thought that the main characters were well written. Now, I will say that both characters a little off put me at the beginning of the book. They both came off as cold people. But as the book went on and I got to know both characters, my opinion of them changed. Their character development featured in my change of opinion.

Like I mentioned above, I didn’t like Leena when I started reading Kingdom of Exiles. She came across as aloof and uncaring. The scene with the buyer of the Gyss is an excellent example. But, then something remarkable happened. That first impression got turned around. My disinterest and disdain for her got turned around into me being invested and admiring her. I can count on one hand how many times that has happened.

Leena was also one of the strongest female characters that I have read to date. She went through a lot in the book, and she didn’t let it beat her down. She learned from those experiences. I loved it!!

Again, as I mentioned above, I didn’t like Noc when I started reading the book. He was cold and aloof. Take any of his scenes at the beginning of the book. Then, as the book went on, the explanations began. By the middle of the book, I understood why Noc had those walls up. He was afraid of his curse. He couldn’t show emotion or his curse would start up. But, like Leena, my first impression got turned around. By the end of the book, I loved him.

Speaking of Noc’s curse, I would have loved to know why the high priestess cursed him. Also, I would have loved to have known who he was before he was resurrected. There were hints but nothing confirmed. Drove me nuts because I have a few ideas of who he was, but nothing confirmed it.

The secondary characters were as well written as the main characters. I loved it. I felt that I got to know Kost, Ozias, and Calem as well as Noc and Leena. I can’t wait to see what book two holds for the secondary characters. I am hoping that the book focuses on either Calem or Oz. They were my two favorites in the book.

The bad guys in the book had my attention from the get-go. Wynn gave me chills. He believed what he was doing was the right, and that was frightening to me. What he subjected Leena to when he held her captive was heartbreaking. Ravenwas an enigma. I had questions that weren’t answered in this book. The most important issue was why? Why did she set those events in motion? I was frustrated by the lack of answers, but I have a feeling that they will be answered in the next book.

Kingdom of Exiles was a great fit in the fantasy genre. Leena’s Charmer abilities alone could have fueled a book. As well as Noc’s curse and his powers. I did find it creepy that he could make daggers out of the shadows.

Kingdom of Exiles was also a great fit in the romance genre. Noc and Leena’s instant attraction had my pulse racing. The back and forth dance that they did was hot. By the time they had sex, it was earth-shattering. I had to put my Kindle down and fan myself; it was that hot. My only complaint about the sex scenes was the use of crease of Leena’s vagina. Once, yes. But every single time, no. It got to the point where I started laughing when Noc was fingerbanging/eating her out, and crease was used.

There was also the point of the Kost/Noc/Leena semi-love triangle. I use semi because Noc didn’t reciprocate Kost’s feelings. But it was set up that way. I loved that the author had an LGBT representation in the book. I do wish that Kost’s sexual preference was made more clear towards the beginning. Because up until that scene with Leena, he came across as kind of a douche canoe. I also loved how Noc handled finding out about Kost’s feelings for him. It was done in such a classy way that I couldn’t help but say to myself “This is how it should be done in real life!!!” I am also eager to see Kost find love. There was a hint of something at the end of the book. Something that I can’t wait to see if the author explores or not.

The end of Kingdom of Exiles was excellent. I also had so many questions about what was going to happen and no answers. The epilogue held the most questions for me. Because of what happened to Noc at the end. What will that mean for him and Leena? I can’t wait to find out.

I would give Kingdom of Exiles an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is violence. There is language. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Kingdom of Exiles. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review Kingdom of Exiles.

Book Disclaimer

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

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