Sleepless (Curse of the Blood Fox Book 1)
by Sera Ashling
The Blood Fox: a legend known throughout Kurdak, spanning as far back as the Broken Treaty wars. A cunning warrior that wields two ancient swords with crimson and gold blades, the Blood Fox will kill anyone—for the right price.
No one knows the Blood Fox is actually Santo, a polite, introspective mercenary who avoids sleep whenever possible. She might look young and inexperienced, but looks can be deceiving, especially for one who is tormented by a curse that was meant to drive her mad over a century ago… and it hasn’t entirely failed. The truth is that Santo is only interested in answers. Who cursed her? Why? She has only hazy memories, and no leads.
That is, until the mythical Week of Colors arrives, and with it a visit from a long-time acquaintance. Traken is a sharp-tongued sorcerer with a sadistic streak, and he comes bearing an “invitation” from his master, a secretive lord who has been tracking her for a very long time. The Blood Fox agrees to meet him after receiving an ominous prediction that if she does so, she will learn the truth—but likely die in the process.
*****
5 stars
Straight up amazing read. This is one of those books that I have a hard time explaining myself about. I go through stages when I read them, first I read to fast and skip paragraphs in my excitement (this will continue the entire read) then I get mad when I my kindle battery dies after I blatantly ignore the warnings that its on its last legs, following the convincing of myself that the book won't magically disappear if I go to sleep, that it will really still be there in the morning.
I really loved everything about it, I cannot for the life of me think of one single thing that made me mad. The plot was great, and just the kind of thing that I love to read. The world was interesting to hear about, it wasn't bogged down with insane details, just enough to give you a feel for everything. There was more then a few things I didn't expect to happen, but worked so great with everything happening.
The Blood Fox, known also as Santo was a great character to be following around. The way her mind worked was interesting, and watching her try to have normal conversations that would turn on her was amusing. And the banter between her and Traken keep what could have been a heavy read on the lighter side.
I would have been content with just the interactions between the two of them. I haven't had so much fun reading about two characters in a long time, it was really refreshing.
The development of both characters was interesting to watch as well, mostly on Trakens side. The end wasn't so much surprising as interesting. I really wanted to know what Trakens Lord wanted with Santo, and even though I pretty much figured out who he was before she did, I didn't expect the reasoning behind everything.
I kept catching myself looking at how much of the percentage was left in the book, and when I was certain the book should have been coming to an end it still had some steam left in it. Which was good because I wasn't ready to let go of the story myself yet either.
The ending was a complete twist though, would have never seen that coming in a million years. Everything wraps up as nicely as possible, there are only a few loose ends hanging around but they aren't any major plot points bought up in the beginning of the read. But Santa and Traken themselves are enough for me to want to read the second installment in this trilogy.
Would I recommend this book? Oh yeah, it was a very good read and I'm very much looking forward to reading more from Sera Ashling
No comments:
Post a Comment