Thank you Little Brown Books for Young Readers for an ARC of Rule for an honest review. Rule is out on September 11th
As a teacher, we were always taught to start with the best things about our students. In fact, out of all the comments we could bubble in, when I was teaching in NYC, there was one in particular: Your child has an inquisitive mind. That was the one that we used when we couldn’t start off the comments in any other positive fashion and by second grade, let parents know the year wasn’t going particularly well. Let’s just say if I was writing a report card for Rule, I would say it had an inquisitive mind.
It is a shame really because the character building starts off particularly strong. You have three very different sisters from extremely different backgrounds, classes and worlds (although at times their personalities seem to mush together).
Akeylah adopted father is an abusive, alcoholic father and is considered the smartest of the three sisters. Her people are starving, and she wants the crown to bring an end to their starvation. Unfortuantely, it is her secret that we find out to be the most devastating among them.
Next, you have Ren (Star Wars, anyone?), a native of Kolonian who has the closest “connection” to life in a palace…. as a maid. Yeah, not quite the royal lifestyle she is now forced to become accustomed to as a princess. So while she knows her way around the place and is basically the information gatherer of the group, she wants out of her lower class status and into the high-life of palace life.
Then there is Zofi. Her tribe is not well-regarded by anyone in the empire and they know it. They don’t think twice. They are a tribe of nomads and love their travelling, nomad lifestyle. She is a strong female architype that can fight, use a weapon and in a no-nonsense realization concludes that dawning the crowns means ending the oppression of her people.
Unfortunately, as dynamic and amazing as these characters are built up – with different backgrounds, damage, regional colloquialisms and rationales for their wanting to Rule, that is where it just ends. It doesn’t build upon in actions, often allowing their personalities to run into each other like watercolors mixing on a page with too much water.
Before moving on to the premise and the that “cliffhanger.” I have to address the one daughter (I won’t mention who because it doesn’t even matter and why spoil everything) who falls for their step-mother, which as a Game of Thrones fan, again maybe I could even stomach, even in a YA novel… sometimes I’m sure the wrong affections could fall to the wrong place in stressful times. Should the step-mother kindly and delicately redirect her step-daughter in the right direction (another appropriate single female, perhaps) but nooooooooo…. she encourages it. Yes, let me repeat that… SHE ENCOURAGES IT.
Again, technically I could get the fact that they aren’t actually related although as the woman actually married to this lying cheating man, I’d be pretty angry that these three step-children get to be chosen queen when she’s standing there, but again maybe she’s doing it on purpose and has her own agenda. Who knows at this point the way this book is so wrongly done with so much potential. Anyhow, As the meme above indicates, I can take a lot. I watch some dicey shows but seriously? And in a teen YA book? Aw, hell now. You can’t go there, do this with that. I already texted my brother halfway through the book (and I’m not about censoring what my brilliant niece who is a senior in high school reads and was like—NOPE).
Ok- now the premise:
Basically, a Game of Thrones premise (and a true to history premise even if some might not consider it appropriate to YA audiences- it is what Kings did. You can’t really argue that part) A promiscuous King runs around sowing his royal oaths and ends up with three daughters. He finds out he’s dying and calls them to his court where he announces that he will have to choose one of them to rule.
And now … the Revealish and “cliffhanger”
Being no one has grown up in the Kings Court, none have a particular infinity to be Queen but power will corrupt as power does (or at least lodge itself into your deep, dark places), soon the girls find that why yes, yes of course I want to be queen. Except there is a hitch… each has a secret… there secrets to rule that can destroy them all and their father. Soon its all about that lies, that lies, that lies not just trouble…. (oh shush… I couldn’t help it). And it isn’t even definite… they are often perceived on suspicion that one sister is blackmailing the other on the secret they hold to get the crown for themselves which leads to… wait for it…
![Abbey-Lee-Shocked[1]](https://novellivesdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/abbey-lee-shocked12.gif)
Yea, well neither did this one. AT. ALL. The core, key relationship with the father was never explored in-depth enough. He takes them to meet the court and it is rushed through. Their aunt, his twin sister never seems to help them acclimate or dote on them the way one might expect in this kind of situation. I bring this up around the cliffhanger because maybe that’s part of the issue. Maybe it is coming in the second book or maybe she’s apart of the blackmailing because she wants the throne- but again that cliffhanger didn’t play well and had it played better, maybe we’d know more, and wouldn’t be left so blah about these core relationships, maybe they couldn’t bring them closer because she has a plot of her own. Maybe she’s killing the father.
OK I’m completely speculating here but you really have no choice the way the book ends, leaving so many relationships that would have brought depth, connection, and breath of complexity to core relationships unexplored and shallow.
For instance, with Mirage I kind of want t up my star review of because now I know there’s a second book (I didn’t at the time), and I’m really excited to know that there is one based on how it set up worlds, characters and the cliffhanger/conclusion. Rule did not provide that excitement. I have no excitement for a second book in this series.
What I do have hope for? Is that Three Dark Crowns- which I haven’t even started… and will basically get to read and review the whole series at once? Will be entirely better than this book/series. Rule brought nothing new to a YA fantasy genre saturated with amazing books. Trying to bring something new, it brought a whole lot of head scratching… oh no honey… don’t go there. I think it had some really good premise that hopefully Ellen Goodlett can take to her next project and improve on and make better in her next novel.
Great review 🙂 I haven’t heard of this one and not sure it’s one for me. I’m also not a fan of cliffhangers.
Also I’m really trying to follow your blog and failing miserably :/
Being most YA series have some sort of cliff hanger .. take the end of Six of Crows or the end of The Cruel Prince (and most definitely the end of the wicked King)… and the end of the second book in the Scythe series, Thunderhead… but it has to be done in a manner that shows the readers a manner of respect, even in the first book. Actually, I’d argue the first books cliffhanger is the most important. Look at the end of Lord of the Rings. It was gut-wrenching. This just falls flat. It is a waste. And it does nothing to make you hunger.. hurt .. or crave that next book. Does that make sense?
ok so this reply was from me but i came from my phone and messed it up lol The one right below that says @literacybatmanlives
Your review made me laugh. Honestly I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the girls, even though I can see that their personalities kind of blended a bit. I also really loved the whole lies and backstabbing stuff. But I’m total trash for espionage and lies. It was a fast read for me. While I really enjoyed this one, I did not enjoy Three Dark Crowns as much. I do want to read the sequel and see where the next book takes us. I can understand your issues though. This was a fluff read for me and something that I think was perfect when you still want a fantasy, but want something fast paced.
Funny enough I still haven’t gotten to that series… a year later. Ok I took a hiatus because of mom for 4 months but still.
Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of Three Dark Crowns I am still compelled to read the rest of the series. It’s like… I still need to know what happens even though I didn’t love the book.
Yeah a series will do that. There are a couple I started last year with ARCs and I want to continue but I don’t know if I want to have to review them- or at least not as ARCs. I haven’t really decided and then there are the ones that I’m just like GIVE ME NOW. But of course one of them I already know there won’t be an ARC of (Kingdom for a Stage), two I don’t know yet and one I’m already on the blog tour list for (sequel to Gilded Wolves but that isn’t till January or February).
Even though I didn’t love it I still NEED to know what happens. I feel like I’m like that with series, but at the same time I have so many unfinished series that I really need to catch up on.
Lord. I have so many I just need to start.