⭐️⭐️
Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts
If you like adventure type books this one is for you. It really does start off well until romantic relationships get involved. I mean how can you go wrong with a princess, a warrior, a bookworm and a stable boy. Sadly I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

Sure to be a hit with fans of Game of Thrones. Plenty of fantasy elements along with relatable characters and comedic elements pitched alongside lots of action.

I enjoy a book with a cast of characters, it’s nice to get multiple perspectives. I loved the tension between some of the characters and the idea that they were just thrown together on this unwanted adventure,

I really liked the characters in this book. Tilla was amazing. She was a good person and had values and morals, but was able to do what she needed to do to save the kingdom. She loved her father and just wanted him to recognize her, but that was not to be. She was only 17, but when she falls for Zell, she falls hard. She is also smart, focused, loyal and someone I would want by my side if the world was in danger of a full scale war. Lyriana is the princess and future queen, but ends up on the run with Tilla, Zell, Miles and Jax. They have some unbelievable adventures.

I am not a fantasy aficionado, but I liked this story. There was some world building that left me with a few questions, but not enough to spoil the book. The author did an excellent job of developing the characters that enabled me to connect to them. And then there was the action, it was pretty much non-stop. This band of Bastards and misfits had one situation after another that they had to deal with and get through. There was also magic, but not everyone had it, and it was hard to determine who did. Of course it comes in handy a few times, but also ends up causing problems for our band at others. When there is a fantasy that involves war and uprising, you know there are going to be some traitors to deal with, some mercenaries that are pretty brutal, and some surprises along the way which were all included in this story. I do not want to spoil this book for anyone, so you will have to read it to see what happens, but I will say that as soon as I finished this one, I started on City of Bastards, book #2.

There were aspects in this book that worked and that I found entertaining, and then there were aspects that I did not enjoy. The premise sounded so intriguing and oh so rebellious which is what most of us loves, but the execution just did not live up to it. And don't get me started with the love triangle and special snowflake theme. The worldbuilding and action sequences were pretty much what saved this book.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I did not care about this book to start off with. The characters weren't strong and I dnf at 30%

I really enjoyed this book -- it was unique and I liked the idea of the group of "bastards" teaming up together to save the day. Definitely looking forward to reading more from Andrew.

Royal Bastards was SO MUCH FUN to read. Seriously, I picked this one up after months of looking forward to it, and the next thing I knew I was 50 pages in and hadn't come up for air.

This book is ridiculously fast-paced, and I mean that in the best way possible. Obviously, from my above statement, it starts off fast. Royal Bastards keeps up that same pace until the climax, where things go absolutely crazy and it. is. fantastic. It was a roller coaster full of corkscrews and loops with no boring bits. I actually loved reading something that was full of high action/emotion scenes, one right after the other, because I feel like that's something that has been missing in my literary life lately.

The characters were also a lot of fun. The modern day phrases they used in a sword-fighting, lords-and-ladies fantasy setting are hilarious. Towards the middle of the book I felt like some of the actions of certain characters were becoming a bit predictable, but I still enjoyed the directions everyone went.

I felt like the overall story lacked a little bit of depth. On one hand, this added to it being a really fast-paced, easy read. On the other, it left a bit of a wall between me and the story itself. I couldn't really throw my mind into what I was reading the way I wanted to. That said, I feel like this could easily be overcome in the sequel. And, obviously, it didn't stop me from reading and enjoying the book.

I loved the ending of Royal Bastards, I felt like Shvarts unapologetically took the story in the direction it needed to go and it just felt right. I can't wait for a sequel(according to book Twitter there is one in the works so YAY). I think Shvarts is an author to keep an eye on, and Royal Bastards is a really strong debut. I definitely recommend it to fans of fantasy, but it's very unique and I really think it could appeal to those who don't typically read fantasy as well.

After narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt, the princess and four newfound allies travel through the mountain pass they hope will give them safety from the psychotic murderer following them.

Too many cliche characters:
Boring, nerd brainiac becomes brave
Working-class ruffian falls for the princess
Noble, naive princess falls for the ruffian
Misunderstood barbarian is deeper than expected
Attention-seeking daughter becomes leader of the group.

I really liked the plot of the story and the characters. I especially liked the little bit of added thrill it had, but it didn't meet my expectations. I expected this to be more action, more ruthless, and with interesting characters. Sadly, it didn't really happen. Tilla and Jax are probably my two favorite characters and their relationship as half-siblings. I just think this story should veer more to a middle grade audience, instead of young adult since the world building is very simple and easy to understand.

Unfortunately I kept trying to read this one, and failing at it. It read very young to me, almost middle grade - or a step above. And while it may fit for some YA preferences, I tend to gravitate towards upper YA and crossover. The premise, however, was a delight, and I could tell the characters were fun - as was the writing style. So while I wasn't able to get into this like I wanted, I'll still recommend this to others!

Hard to get involved with the main characters and I didn’t want to finish.
They did not have a compelling story or characters. I think this missed the mark.

Not a badly written book, but was mostly uneventful. It should be good for younger teens that haven't really picked up any other books yet, but will be a good step in their reading journeys.

Most of my notes for this book consist of variations of the phrase “ugh, Miles” so from that, it’s probably pretty obvious that Miles was my least favourite character.

Moving swiftly on, I actually quite enjoyed this book. I do agree with others who have said that the modern language used was strange and jarring in this setting, but I kind of got used to it in the end, even if it didn’t make much sense.

I really liked Tilla and didn’t find it hard to sympathise with her situation. Her father was, err, not the best of men, but I could understand why she still felt this need to be loyal to him (even when he totally did not deserve it).

There were parts that were a bit too unbelievable to be anything other than an obvious way increase tension and drive the plot into a certain direction (cough Tilla you couldn’t have just gone to a less public place cough) but the overall storyline kept me engaged and I’ll be picking up the sequel to find out what’s in store for these characters.

From the premise, I surely thought that I would be in deep with this one, but it just didn't click with me. I absolutely adore the idea of a band of misfits banding together and working against evil but... I wasn't feeling it. At the root of my problems are the characters. In order for me to be fully invested in any book, I have to respect, empathize, or root for the characters. However, in this book, I didn't feel that spark with any of the characters.

I think that there were some good action scenes and the ending was very fascinating. But for me personally, I didn't find my next favorite fantasy. I do think that young readers who enjoy fantasy will enjoy this, though, so again, it's just me. I think this book was interesting but maybe not enough for me to continue with the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for this review copy. I truly appreciate it.

I really, REALLY loved this book!! It was chalked full of bravery, running for your life and romance!! I really enjoyed the story line dealing with all the bastard children and where the story led to. I must admit that I usually tend to lean towards books written by female authors, for some reason they always seem to get the romance done just right, but Mr. Shvarts did a pretty amazing job and I was very happy in that department:)

The ending of the book was explosive and sad but I am very happy to have received this review copy and am really hoping that this is a series!!!

If you enjoy action and adventure, then you need to pick this one up! I thought it was pretty unique.

DNF Review

Tilla is a bastard. And so is Jax. And Miles. And Zell, too. (Yup, that's a lot of bastards.) One fateful night, these four bastards cross paths and find themselves entangled with the princess, Lyrianna. The band of teens accidentally stumbles upon something they shouldn't see, and realize their parents are tangled up in an evil plot to overthrow the king. Now they are on the run, being chased by their parents and the entire kingdom.

I had a very interesting relationship with this book. Before I even picked it up, a friend told me it was horrible and she gave up just a few pages in. I decided to give it a try, but I wasn't very hopeful. I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the story a bit. It didn't blow me away by any means, but it was enough to entertain me for a few hours. But then, when I was about 100 pages in, other things came up. Other books held my attention more, and I found myself not missing Royal Bastards at all. I thought I might come back to it in a week or two, but I eventually felt no drive to return to that story. After checking Goodreads to see what other people had to say (some of the reviews are absolutely hilarious, by the way), I decided I didn't want to invest the time in finishing a book that I wasn't loving to begin with.

One of the biggest complaints that readers seem to have about Royal Bastards is the writing. And I have to agree completely. The writing is simplistic and uninspiring. It feels as though it was written for an audience that is much younger than the teens in the book. There is very little excitement, and it takes about 100 pages for anything to happen to further the plot. Then immediately after that one action scene, nothing happens again for a long time. The language was also incredibly jarring. Royal Bastards is a high fantasy, but the characters speak with the colloquialisms used by teens today. It completely pulls you out of the story because the language doesn't fit with the world at all. It read like a poorly made, straight-to-DVD Disney movie.

The characters were also forgettable and flat. I honestly couldn't tell you anything about the personalities of the cast of characters, because nothing stood out about them. I think the girls were whiny and the boys were brooding. That's about all I can remember. And I think that even when I was in the middle of reading this book, that's still about all I could tell you about them. They have no distinguishing traits to set them apart from the crowd, and therefore, I didn't care about them at all.

I think Royal Bastards could have had some real potential. The base plot line is interesting and could have been taken in many different and unique directions. But, unfortunately, the author chose to go the route of the most obvious and trope-filled series of events, making the book boring and predictable. Combine a boring plot with boring characters and boring writing, and you have a book that I definitely don't recommend. There are so many other books out there that tell better and more exciting stories (and are well-written). There are so many other fantastic high fantasies out there, so I say don't waste your time on this one.

We featured this book in our June Whimsify box. This was a fun YA fantasy, at times even a little bit cheeky. There was more to this story than I expected going in and I really enjoyed it!

Tilla is a bastard of House Kent, toeing the line between living in luxury as a member of the aristocracy and living as a commoner with her half brother. One fateful night, it changes, when the princess of the kingdom sits at the Bastards Table.

While I thought the premise of the books was intriguing, the writing jarred me out of the story. The descriptors used, dialogue, and language did not seem to fit with the setting of the novel. To me, it felt that it was better suited to a modern setting than one in a medieval fantasy. I did not finish the book.

The beginning of this book was a little slow going, but about halfway through I was hooked. I really enjoyed the characters and their journey, but I would have liked a little more world building. I think overall, this is a great read but I'm hoping the sequel will work out some of the kinks. I'm excited to keep up with these characters.