Book: Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott
Published August 2016 by Little, Brown Books For Young Readers|468 Pages
Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library
Series: Court Of Fives #2
Genre: YA Fantasy
Jessamy is moving up the ranks of the Fives—the complex athletic contest favored by the lowliest Commoners and the loftiest Patrons in her embattled kingdom. Pitted against far more formidable adversaries, success is Jes’s only option, as her prize money is essential to keeping her hidden family alive. She leaps at the chance to tour the countryside and face more competitors, but then a fatal attack on Jes’s traveling party puts her at the center of the war that Lord Kalliarkos—the prince she still loves—is fighting against their country’s enemies. With a sinister overlord watching her every move and Kal’s life on the line, Jes must now become more than a Fives champion…She must become a warrior.
I definitely admit to re-reading this one pretty recently (and not too long after originally reading it), so hopefully my review for this one is okay!
I really like this series, and this book was better than the first one. We see more of the world that Jessamy lives in, and even though we don’t see much of the Court Of Fives in this book, we do see how her training and the Court has helped her. I’m curious to see how it will continue to help her in the next book, especially with everything that happened in this book. It seems like she has the support of the commoners, and I’d really like to see if that has more of a role in the next book.
I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see any of the games, but I know that the book can’t revolve completely around it. Still, I want to see more of it, and how it will help her in the rest of the series.
I like how nothing seems to affect her, at least as far as insults go. She’s not ashamed of who she is or where she came from, and it’s certainly easy to see why the Commoners seem to love her. She’s fighting for her family and herself, though I could do without her father. He’s not going anywhere, of course, but this is a man that I do not like. And I’m not sure about her one sister either, but we shall see in the next book what is going on with the sister and the dad. I feel for her mom and only one of the girls is still with her, plus having twin infants.
I really liked seeing the divide between the Efeans and the Saroese, and the divide seems bigger than the ever in this book. But then again, the book seemed more focused on class than the previous one. Or maybe I was paying attention to it more in this book (or just noticed it more). And it makes me sad that Jes is seen as less of a person, not only because she is a woman, but because of her parents and where they came from.
4 stars. I did like the world-building in this book a lot more than the previous one, and I can’t wait to read the next one.
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