A review by marie_thereadingotter
Daindreth's Assassin by Elisabeth Wheatley

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 I really enjoyed this book. I stumbled across this author on Instagram, and her book sounded like something I would enjoy. I can't quite pinpoint what stood out to me the most in this book. I do like the characters, they're all a bit sub-versions of character tropes. Admittedly, I mostly know this from what the author has said on her Instagram, but I could also see how she subverted the tropes, and I like how she did it.  
 

There is some world building in this book, even if most of it is a little vague. I assume it's because in this first book, all the information isn't needed yet, I would've like how the magic works to be explained better. There is a pantheon of gods/goddesses made for this series, and I want the rest of the series to go into that a bit more. In this first book I didn't feel like it was explained much. I don't feel like I understand the significance of what worshiping certain gods/goddesses means. 

The one part of this book that fell short for me, and it was the part that is supposed to matter the most, is the romance. It is very much a love at first sight story. But I didn't feel that invested in their romance. I didn't see where or how they fell in love. It seems very superficial, or surface-level at best. Did he fall for her because she was able to silence his curse? If that's the case, would he have given her a second look or thought if he never had the curse? I need a romance like this to work even if they'd met on different circumstances. I do hope that it makes more sense or is depicted better as the series goes on.

When it comes to the characters, while I do like them, not all of them make sense. I understand their motivations, but their chemistry with each other came across more like telling rather than showing. This does tie into the 'insta-love' feeling I got from the romance. But Daindreth and  Thadred, I was surprised when it was revealed that they were close in age. I was picturing a 40ish year old man when Thadred was introduced. Not just because he has a limp and uses a cane. The way he talks to both Amira and Daindreth made me think he was a lot older. It made their kinship feel one-sided. Amira and Thadred also got over their hostility towards each other very fast. 

All this sounds like I didn't like the book, I did, there is just a lot of small things that if I things that add up. There were also some small typos, for a self-pub author it wasn't that bad. I've read traditionally published books with more errors. I'm also a little confused about what era this book's setting is based on. There aren't many clues to give an idea for that.