Star of the Morning (A Novel of the Nine Kingdoms, #1)

[Leigha]

A woman goes on a epic quest to return a magical dagger to her king, discovering love and magic along the way.

I'm torn on this novel. Overall, I enjoyed the story. The lore and plot are interesting, if not all that unique to the genre. I will say the ending completely took me by surprise (in a good way!), which I did not expect. Similarly, the setting and characters are not very unique to the genre. If you've read any fantasy romance in the last year, you've read a version of these characters and plot before. However, the generic details and trope filled story line didn't necessarily bother me. Sometimes I just need something that doesn't require much of my attention, and this book matched my brain power.

The one difference between this book and others in the genre is the writing style. The action is told more than shown, particularly the lack luster battles. In regards to the characters, I never quite connected to them or their desires. Perhaps it was the verb tense or perhaps it was the obscure language, but, in any case, it made me feel pretty removed from the characters and story. I liked the story enough to read the second novel, but I'm not expecting much.

tl;dr A generic entry into the fantasy romance genre with a passive writing style.