ype can be a double-edged sword, though; on one hand, it got me excited for the book, but on the other, it raised my expectations to unbelievable levels. So the question for today’s post is: did The Shadow of the Gods live up to the hype? Let’s get into that in today’s spoiler-free review of the first book of John Gwynne’s Bloodsword Saga!

My previous book review was for John Gwynne’s Malice, the first book in the Faithful and the Fallen series. I thought that it was good, but not great, and didn’t really stand out to me as a unique and impressive work. However, I found the ending to be a really compelling and well-written contrast to the first chunk of it, so I was excited to get into Valour, the sequel. In this spoiler-free review, I’ll talk about whether Valour met or even exceeded my expectations for the book!

I’ve gotta say, this book really stepped it for me in several ways. In this spoiler-free review, I’m going to dive into those ways in which the conclusion to the trilogy impressed me and give you my final personal recommendation based on my feelings toward the trilogy as a whole.

y review for that book, you know I was a little eh on the book overall, giving it an average rating of three stars. Not because it was a bad book, just because it isn’t really up my alley. I also voiced some expectations that I had for Jade War, which I had hoped would be met. Some of them were, others weren’t, but overall this was definitely an improvement on the first book, in my opinion. I think that’s enough allusion to what this review will entail, so let’s just get into it. This is my spoiler-free review of Jade War.

...honestly, what a note to end this year on. Dark Age has so much to love, so the question isn’t really did I enjoy it, but rather how much did I enjoy it? Is this going to end up being the first Pierce Brown book that I give five stars to?

Tau, a lower-class citizen within this book’s caste system, is on a quest for vengeance that leads him to join his people’s military. There, he trains to become a better fighter, but better will never be good enough for him. He aims to be the best and will accept nothing less of himself.