Odyssey by M.L. FergusMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
2.5 stars
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
She'd gone from a freedom-hungry nobody playing dress-up to save an orphan she'd never met to a princess who now held the life of her kind, sweet, long-lost brother in her hands.
Second in the Fractured Kingdom series, you'd definitely want to read Prophecy before jumping into this one as it picks up right where that one left off. Our main protagonists, Persephone and Azriel had been cornered by the evil Regent Mordesius in the castle. This was all after learning that Persephone was actually the long lost twin sister princess to the King Finnius. Trying to save their lives, Azriel comes up with a lie about knowing where the healing Pool of Genezig is and if Mordesius lets them go, he'll bring back some healing waters to prove it. Mordesius takes the bait, as he's obsessed with “curing” his deformed body and gives them one hundred days to find the Pool and come back, or he'll kill the king. Thus, sets off our Odyssey as Persephone, Azriel, and a revolving door of tag-along secondary characters travel the fantasy land of Glyndoria.
“Marry the girl...find the pool...save the king...fulfill the prophecy. It all fits,” breathed Cairn, her eyes aglow with excitement.
If you read my review of the first, you'll know I enjoyed the character dynamics and developing fantasy and politics worldbuilding, the four hundred pages here, ran too long for me. There was a healthy focus on delivering Mordesius' pov chapters and his reveling in his evilness became a lot to keep reading; numerous times torturing and calling a prisoner of his “cow”. I feel like so much of his story could have been cut, we know he's evil, we know what his goal is. The politics side was him trying to outplay a higher up Lord and maneuvering him and his daughter, that included the king, in a way that would ultimately lead him into power. He juggled some things in a believable way and others it was like, yeah, no surprise that turned out the way it did.
She tried to believe that she would never again lay her cheek against his warm chest, would never again feel his strong arms around her, would never again feel him lying so close to her in the darkness.
The romance between Persephone and Azriel did have some momentum, Azriel did some maneuvering of his own and we get a bit of forced proximity. Persephone kept true to character with, overly, fighting feelings and circumstances but as each new little adventure on their odyssey brought them closer together you could see their connect strengthening. This was still kept more in the YA category than adult with a firmly shut-door scene. I enjoyed the secondary characters, Rachel and the mysterious “dressed in homespun” man but others veered into over-the-top goofy annoying like the troll-ish leader. The ending gave us Persephone having to face one of her biggest fears, learning about her mother, a surprise move by a character, some sadness, and a kidnapping that will lead into more trials for our group in the third book. This read somewhat slower and dragged out for me but if you're more into longer adventure fantasy with YA vibe, you might enjoy more.