Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

Warprize (Chronicles of the Warlands, #1)

by Elizabeth Vaughan

SHE MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN HER PEOPLE AND HER FREEDOM... Xylara is the Daughter of the Warrior King, Xyron. With her father dead and her incompetent half-brother on the throne, the kingdom is in danger of falling to the warring Firelanders. Before she was old enough for a marriage-of-alliance, Xylara was trained as a healer. She can't usurp her brother or negotiate a peace--but she can heal the brave ones injured in battle. But not only her countrymen are wounded, and Xylara's conscience won't let Firelander warriors die when she can do something to save them. She learns their language and their customs and tries to make them as comfortable as possible, despite their prisoner-of-war status. She never expects that these deeds, done in good faith, would lead to the handsome and mysterious Firelander Warlord demanding her in exchange for a cease-fire. Xylara knows must trade the life she has always known for the well-being of her people, and so she becomes... "The Warprize"

Reviewed by Ashley on

2 of 5 stars

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Ugh what a disappointment. I read this book because it was recommended for fans of The Winter King but Warprize can't compare AT ALL. In the book's defense, maybe I enjoyed it less because I was hoping it would be like one of my favourite books of all time, which is a very tough standard to live up to. But it didn't even come close.

I considered not finishing the book so many times, but some morbid curiosity to see the ending kept me going.

There was basically zero world building. I mean, sure, there was some culture within the direct environment of the war camp (some cool stuff about dancing), but beyond that, there was nothing. Absolutely zero sense of what this world was, what it was like, how shit worked... nothing. I had no idea where the hell we were. Just some incredibly vague medieval-ish world.

The romance was disappointing. There was no sexual tension and honestly, no love there either. Just some form of weird ownership/courtship. But at the end of the day, this was a romance/"follow your heart" book, which was unsatisfying when you consider the romance wasn't exactly developed. I was hoping for a passionate, all-consuming romance, and Warprize is soooo far from that.

And finally, I thought the whole idea of the 'warprize' was so... weird. And specific.

"A warprize must be discovered during the course of a battle, on or near a battlefield. A warprize must render aid to the warlord or his men. Most important, a warprize must be attractive to a warlord, must spark feelings of desire. It is said that the attraction between warlord and a warprize is as the heat of the sun that shines in the height of summer."


Who the hell comes up with this shit? You need to find a woman during the course of a battle, she must give aid to the warlord or his men, and the warlord must be insanely attracted to her. Who came up with this? Where did these totally arbitrary and specific requirements come from? I'm amazed any warprizes could be claimed at all with that level of specificity.

And we certainly never saw an attraction like "the heat of the sun that shines in the height of summer". There was barely any attraction at all.

And I got so sick of the characters just being referred to as 'Warlord' and 'Warprize'. Sure, a guy can be a warlord. But who goes around calling him, "Warlord"?

The only reason I'm giving this book even two stars is because something wouldn't let me DNF. My stupid fucking curiosity had to see the ending. That tells me that despite my lack of love for the book, it could have been worse.

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Reading updates

  • 4 July, 2016: Started reading
  • 5 July, 2016: Finished reading
  • 5 July, 2016: Reviewed