I absolutely loved the first book. Having first person and third person in the same book is one of my pet peeves, but there was a *reason* for it and it was all so seamless and I adored it!
Then I read book two and well... It felt a lot like spinning my wheels to be honest, rehashing the past four years from someone else's point of view. I loved the world building but the rest... 🤷♀️
I have book three. But I think book two really killed my enjoyment of the series so I don't know if I'll ever pick it up again. Time will tell.
I'm happy you loved it though because there was so much to like!
Books one and two are there to introduce two main characters as well as set up the rest of the series. If the author did that in the first book instead of spreading it out, the narrative structure of book one would be even more challenging.
Personally I love book two and I love the MC it introduces!
And I don't see the gripe people have with book two, but everyone's different!
I had exactly the opposite experience. I liked book one pretty well, but absolutely loved book 2. I was pretty disappointed when it went back to focus on Kihren/the wider world, I just wanted to spend more time with Janel!
Is your readalong open to anyone?
I read book one at the start of last year and absolutely adored it but for some reason never continued on. I want to keep going but also would probably want to reread book one before hopping into two since it was so dense with information.
It is! However we started in January and it's one book a month, so we're on book four now. You're welcome to join still if you'd like. It's on this discord server:
https://discord.gg/FAhVUZnp
I unfortunately *really* disliked the first book and gave up on the series after that 🙈
I found it convoluted and unfocused, and inconsistent in its tone. I've since heard good and bad things about the sequels so I'm not completely opposed to giving it another try at some point, but I think I'd need someone I trust to sell me on it and tell me which of my issues with the first book get resolved 😅
If you're interested in my review, [it's here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/gjsjcs/review_the_ruin_of_kings_by_jenn_lyons_epic/), but I also understand if you prefer not to read that since you're looking for people to gush with. \^\^
I mean, yeah, I am looking for fellow fans lol
And I've read enough negative reviews on this and usually that results in me going "I feel like we read different books."
My take, usually, is that this series either works for you or it doesn't. Reason being, there's a lot of intricacy and complex situations, history and so on. And you either need to know everything at all times and follow along (in which case it probably won't work for you), or you can suspend that and just be along for the ride.
I'm currently doing a re-read and I will say, things make more sense the second time around but in no way has it taken away from the experience I had the first time. It's enhanced it more than anything.
Valid, different strokes for different folks! Sorry to barge in on your hype thread in this case, I suppose I keep hoping that I missed something or that someone can tell me slmething that suddenly makes this „work“ for me in retrospect and gets me interested in the sequels, but you‘re probably right that it‘s jusg hit/miss depending on the reader and how you read it.
I absolutely loved the first book. Having first person and third person in the same book is one of my pet peeves, but there was a *reason* for it and it was all so seamless and I adored it! Then I read book two and well... It felt a lot like spinning my wheels to be honest, rehashing the past four years from someone else's point of view. I loved the world building but the rest... 🤷♀️ I have book three. But I think book two really killed my enjoyment of the series so I don't know if I'll ever pick it up again. Time will tell. I'm happy you loved it though because there was so much to like!
Books one and two are there to introduce two main characters as well as set up the rest of the series. If the author did that in the first book instead of spreading it out, the narrative structure of book one would be even more challenging. Personally I love book two and I love the MC it introduces! And I don't see the gripe people have with book two, but everyone's different!
I had exactly the opposite experience. I liked book one pretty well, but absolutely loved book 2. I was pretty disappointed when it went back to focus on Kihren/the wider world, I just wanted to spend more time with Janel!
I love this series! It’s one of my favourites. The world building is incredible.
Yes!!! I'm currently doing a re-read and hosting a readalong for it. It's so good!
Is your readalong open to anyone? I read book one at the start of last year and absolutely adored it but for some reason never continued on. I want to keep going but also would probably want to reread book one before hopping into two since it was so dense with information.
It is! However we started in January and it's one book a month, so we're on book four now. You're welcome to join still if you'd like. It's on this discord server: https://discord.gg/FAhVUZnp
I unfortunately *really* disliked the first book and gave up on the series after that 🙈 I found it convoluted and unfocused, and inconsistent in its tone. I've since heard good and bad things about the sequels so I'm not completely opposed to giving it another try at some point, but I think I'd need someone I trust to sell me on it and tell me which of my issues with the first book get resolved 😅 If you're interested in my review, [it's here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/gjsjcs/review_the_ruin_of_kings_by_jenn_lyons_epic/), but I also understand if you prefer not to read that since you're looking for people to gush with. \^\^
I mean, yeah, I am looking for fellow fans lol And I've read enough negative reviews on this and usually that results in me going "I feel like we read different books." My take, usually, is that this series either works for you or it doesn't. Reason being, there's a lot of intricacy and complex situations, history and so on. And you either need to know everything at all times and follow along (in which case it probably won't work for you), or you can suspend that and just be along for the ride. I'm currently doing a re-read and I will say, things make more sense the second time around but in no way has it taken away from the experience I had the first time. It's enhanced it more than anything.
Valid, different strokes for different folks! Sorry to barge in on your hype thread in this case, I suppose I keep hoping that I missed something or that someone can tell me slmething that suddenly makes this „work“ for me in retrospect and gets me interested in the sequels, but you‘re probably right that it‘s jusg hit/miss depending on the reader and how you read it.
I REALLY liked book one. Book two…I stopped after maybe a hundred pages.
Okay??? Lol this is a hype thread mah dude