Review: Crier’s War by Nina Varela

Hey all, Dani here.

I’m doing all right with reading, and I’m starting to get back into the swing of regular blogging, though I still have some work to do on that front. I’ve at least got some of my blogging plans figured out, so that’s nice. And with just a few days until 2020, I’m glad that I’m at least prepared to jump into the new decade.

Anyway, continuing on with reviewing some of my Diverse December reads, let’s just jump into today’s review.

Summary

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, designed to be the playthings of royals, usurped their owners’ estates and bent the human race to their will.

Now Ayla, a human servant rising in the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging her family’s death…by killing the sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier.

Crier was Made to be beautiful, flawless, and to carry on her father’s legacy. But that was before her betrothal to the enigmatic Scyre Kinok, before she discovered her father isn’t the benevolent king she once admired, and most importantly, before she met Ayla.

Now, with growing human unrest across the land, pressures from a foreign queen, and an evil new leader on the rise, Crier and Ayla find there may be only one path to love: war.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

Before this book was released I heard a whole lot of people talking about it, but I feel like since it came out everything has quieted down a bit, which is interesting and a bit odd. This was actually a really good read. I expected to like it, but it went above and beyond my expectations, which is always nice.

So I don’t read a whole lot of sci-fi, just a couple books a year generally, but if a story sounds good then I don’t exactly care what genre it necessarily is. And this story sounded pretty interesting, you know an Automae or Made individual who is a princess, and a common human girl, both with their own beliefs and objectives, who end up in a few situations that push them together, and stuff starts to happen.

I think the hate/love relationship was executed really well, which is probably the biggest strength of the book. The political secrecy and maneuvering was super intriguing too. Honestly the plot was a little lackluster in comparison, because it pretty much just was these two young women trying to achieve their goals and better their lives while struggling against the way the world is at the moment. But really, aside from that, and their growing relationship, not much else was going on. I don’t say that as a bad thing, though. I still flew through this story, and I’m excited to read the sequel in 2020.

Where to Get a Copy

You can pick up your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore.

You can also check with your local library.