Treason: Book Two in the Grimoire Trilogy by S.M. Boyce

5 Stars

I received an Advanced Review Copy of this book.  I was encouraged to write a review.  Since I always write reviews this was a win-win for me!  Yay!

I absolutely loved the first book in this series.  Review: Lichgates: Book One in the Grimoire Trilogy by S.M. Boyce The world building is amazing.  I’m sure there are others, but the only books that come to mind with better world building in this genre are The Lord of the Rings books.  This book picks up with Braedon and Kara back in The Vagabond’s village.  They are training and waiting until they need to go to the Gala.  The Gala is where all the Yakona kingdoms (except the Stele, of course) will meet together to sign a treaty and celebrate.  This is where things got boring to me.  From 20-40% it was predictable and I dreaded opening it up! Of course the Gala goes all wrong and Kara and Braedon are in trouble again and this felt boring to me too.  How?  I don’t know, but something didn’t work for me.  Maybe it was just Kara pushing Braedon away over and over again saying the same stupid stuff.  So you are wondering how I can give the book 5 stars if I felt that?  It is because what comes after it is so amazing it blows my mind!

I convinced myself to keep reading and (this is a long book) from between 40-95% I was absolutely entranced again!  There were so many twists and turns.  I mean, an Isen?  Ahhh!  It cannot be!  And Braedon must go back to the Stele and I really didn’t want him to go! But he had to.  And the cat is out of the bag! Everyone knows everything.  Except Kara.  Kara only knows what people feel like telling her.  How can Kara possibly know who to trust?  They are all conniving behind her back and trying to get her power!  Niccoli plays a bigger role and Dierdre is back.  I can’t tell what her end game is even after the epilogue! 

I am going to say right now, that what I wrote above is quite possibly the worst synopsis ever, but there is so much that I can’t tell you. 

Favorite Quotes:

From Richard to Braedon: “You are and always will be my son.  That you ever doubted me is my failure and mine alone.”

Richard talking about Blood Gavin: “He led a campaign against the squirrels once for moving into an abandoned attic when he was six.  In his mind, they invaded his home.”

Lichgates by S.M. Boyce (The Grimoire Trilogy #1)

Ultra quick synopsis: Kara likes to hike and while on holiday with her father, happens upon a door in a mountain. Through a series of events, Kara finds The Grimoire and becomes The Vagabond in a new world where everything can be deadly and people don't always look like what they are. The people have waited a thousand years for the next vagabond and now that she is here there are those who would use her and those who would kill her. Kara must decide who to trust if she is going to live to try to bring peace.

I loved the world that S.M. Boyce built. I can't wait for the next book to come out and I hope that Braedan and Kara can end up together. I loved visiting the different kingdoms, they sounded beautiful with completely different people native to each one. Overall, I loved Kara, she is thrown into an incredibly stressful and important position and refuses to be used. I think it would be easy to go along with what other (scarier, bigger, deadlier) Bloods want from her while she is in this strange land. But it also annoyed me when she would go beyond stubborn (like when she refused to wear the dress. Just wear the darn dress Kara!). I loved the griffin and the rownthe and Feck (he was adorable!) and the rest of her menagerie of pets.

There was a time when Braedan’s adopted dad told Kara that she needed to watch how she spoke to his son (the new Blood). I didn’t like this and wished that Kara had somehow been able to let him know it was not ok to tell her to watch her mouth. It happened in a roundabout manner, but I wanted more of, “I am the Vagabond, you don’t tell me what to do scamp!”.