ARC Review: Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

Title: Legacy of Kings
Author: Eleanor Herman
Kindle, 384 pages
Published: August 25th, 2015
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: YA - Historical Fiction
Source: via Netgalley

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Purchase at: Amazon | B&N | TBD | Kobo 

  I was given an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

  Legacy of Kings is about Alexander the Great, heir to the Mecedonian throne who would one day become the greatest warrior and conqueror in history. Set in his late teen years, Legacy of Kings aligns in the time when Alexander is just about to discover his true greatness.

  I don't know anything about Alexander's time or about Alexander the Great himself, only that he conquered great amounts of lands and is a great warrior. Despite that fact, I was still eager to read this book because I've always been fascinated by historical fiction, and there's this interesting book in the young adult genre. I also heard that Eleanor Herman is a historian, so that's a definite bonus.

  Legacy of Kings was a bit of a let down from my great expectations, but I still really enjoyed it. That should teach me not to have great expectations next time! This first book opened up a world that I never knew of before - a world filled with treachery, mythology, magic and mystery - and I was really excited to be immersed in that world.

  The reason why I was let down was because I think this book did an amazing job as a first book in a series - setting the world and letting the readers get a feel of how the series will turn out to be. But as a standalone book, I felt like it didn't really make a full story. Another thing is that I felt like there were too many POVs in the book. There were 6, and I felt like in trying to fit that much perspective into the book, Legacy of Kings didn't have much room for the actual story anymore.

  I couldn't connect with the characters much, but I couldn't connect most to Zofia, probably because she was so far away from everything that was happening. She's the one who really confuses me when her POV emerges because I often forget what was happening with her. The characters that I can connect to the most are Kat and Alex, and also Heph towards the last 10% of the book.

  I really liked this book and delving into it's world, but I didn't love it. My favorite is the last 10%, which was really fast-paced and exhilarating. Even though it's a book that I didn't love, I'm still really, really excited to read the next book in the series! I think that the second book is bound to be ore exciting and I'm excited to see what's in store for the characters.

I liked it. Would maybe recommend