{Review} ROYAL BASTARDS by Andrew Shvarts

 

O P E N I N G   L I N E:

  PRINCESS LYRIANA CAME TO CASTLE WAVERLY two months after I turned sixteen. Thaat meant fall was setting in: the trees were red, the roads were muddy, and when Jax and I sat in the abandoned sentry tower on the eastern wall, passing a skin of wine back and forth, we could just baarely see our breath in the air as we talked.

(pg. 1, US ARC edition)

This review has been updated from its original version, which was first posted at A Backwards Story on July 5, 2017.

“You're proud of me...because I defied you?”

“Yes. There's no greater courage than defying your own.”

~ROYAL BASTARDS

This book is so bad-ass. I said that when I was only 80 pages in and everything was going wrong and I was describing the book to a co-worker. I still say that now after finishing!

One of the reasons I was first intrigued by Andrew Shvarts' debut novel ROYAL BASTARDS was because it was comped to SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo. Okay, yes, sign me up!! When I finally sat down to start reading and read the summary again, I just couldn't see the comparison. That's because I was expecting it to comp in a heist sense. After reading this? Despite not seeming so in the summary, the books are DEFINITELY in the same wheelhouse. Both feature a group of teens on the run trying to save someone--and they all have bounties on their heads. Both have--tasks, for lack of a better world--that can upend the world if not carried out. And, of course, just the gritty feel to it all. So if you like SIX OF CROWS? Yeah, I think you're going to like ROYAL BASTARDS, too.

There's danger. Heartache. Betrayal. First love. Friendship. Questions of loyalty. So many good things that keep you reading!

The book kicks into high gear pretty fast. Tilla, a family friend, Miles, and a newcomer to the group, a dangerous Zitochi warrior named Zell are all sitting at the table designated for bastard children in the royal hall. When the visiting Princess Lyriana arrives, she opts not to sit with her uncle the Royal Archmagus or Tilla's father--the realm's king. Instead, she sits with the bastards despite the improperness of it. While there, she talks about a superstition that if you dip your feet into two different oceans, you'll have good luck. She laments the fact that her uncle won't let her stop to do this while she's visiting, and the group decide to sneak out in the evening to go to the ocean (after picking up Tilla's half-brother Jax, who is a stableboy).

However, while there, everything goes wrong. The group witnesses their parents murder the Royal Archmagus and find out that Zell's brother was sent to kill Lyriana. They're trying to revive a long-dead rebellion against Lyriana's father, the king of all the realms, and have figured out a way to torture mages, steal their rings, and use them as weapons. The bastards are discovered and the group must flee for their lives. If they can get Lyriana home, she can promise them safety...but does delivering her home mean betraying their families and realm?

So good. Sooo good. And no spoilers, of course, but a couple of these characters change so much and really surprise you! There's one character I'm completely obsessed with by the end because, again--super bad-ass things have shaped this person--but ahhh, the spoilers!!! I also liked the slower burn of the romance and the way it felt very natural.

At times, Shvarts made my skin crawl. He has creatures reminiscent of spiders--and deadly, too. Let me tell you, if I had a superpower, it would be an Empath. When I read, I pick up characteristics of the characters or world. Last week, I was reading about a paranoid character, so I was super paranoid and hearing things when there was nothing. After this scene?? When I got up to do laundry after reading that scene, I did NOT want to be alone in the dark basement. And when I was outside later that day on the patio, and I heard the drip, drip, drip of the air conditioners? Definitely still shivers!!! I skimmed past most of the scene's visuals, too, but it still traumatized me a bit. ^.~

At times, the book felt very modern. It may take place in modern times and not medieval times, despite the nature of the setting. The language was very modern, from words such as "the hottest couple" to the sneaky drinking games away from adult eyes to the frank talk of sex and not saving oneself. It just felt very "current" at times. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But it gave me pause as to when this was taking place. Now I'm really curious!

The sequel, CITY OF BASTARDS, came out last year (and I'm lamenting the fact that it has been sitting on my nightstand for a year begging to be read), and the final book in the trilogy, WAR OF THE BASTARDS, is coming out on June 4th. Not much longer to wait now! I figured I would go ahead and re-post my original review of the first book now for in case you've never heard of the series and want to get ready for the final book now. You could read one book each month and absolutely be ready to pick up the finale right away! That's really not a long wait at all. I definitely want to do this myself, and am so excited to return to the world!

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C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: ( Kissing, innuendo of sex, but nothing explicitly stated )

Language: ( Whore, shit, bitch, etc. Sexual banter. Some innuendo about brothels and a joke about bestiality. )
Violence: ( Not overly GRAPHIC, but still very visual!!! A lot is left to your imagination in a way that brings it visually to life. There's a scene with spider-like creatures that is chilling if, like me, you have arachnophobia.  A lot of death is seen, mostly in battle/fights, though the bastards also stumble upon a crime scene at one point and watch their parents murder someone early on. )

Other: ( A lot of talk about drinking wine outside and stealing it; one drinking game. But this time period also has no restrictions on underage drinking. Usually not a mention, but the sneaking and games feels almost modern, so I gave it an aside. )

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C O V E R   D E S I G N:

I ADORE the way the "T" is also a sword and crosses over everything. And that gorgeous embossed silver!!!

It's a little odd to me that the throne is so flat and the goblet on the floor beside it is so 3-D. Plus, I feel the cover could have been so much more epic in scope.  Aside from the title, it doesn't really stand out so much.

But the inside endpapers? Are a map!!!! And if you look closely at the bottom left, you'll see a little blood spatter........ Very bad-ass, no? ^.~

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O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title:  ROYAL BASTARDS
Author: Andrew Shvarts

Release Date: May 30, 2017

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Received: For Review

 

SUMMARY:

Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children. 

At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children. 

Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness. 

Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery. 

The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .