High Fantasy Picaresque - Three words I never would have put together, yet Nick Martell handles the task with ease.

With a whipcrack pace, Martell takes us through the districts and alleys of Hollow, pulling back the curtain inch-by-inch on the rich world and engaging mystery he's constructed. Plot points develop and resolve, only to reveal further complications that Michael Kingman must overcome. With all the roguish wit one requires in a picaresque, Michael acts as our mostly-trustworthy, although sometimes not, tour guide as he re-enters a corrupt noble society. At first as a task, then a dare, then a point of pride, Michael's successes and failures cannot help but remind one of the fortunes and adversities of Lazarillo de Tormes.

A refreshing addition to the world of high fantasy, and a series I look forward to continuing.

Hands down this was a great debut for Martell. Meticulous planning and thought were crafted into the world, characters, and plot to create something unique and memorable. The social structure and political upheaval, which is common in many stories, felt original and were the driving point for many of the characters' decisions.

At several points throughout the story I felt confused or unaware of many of the author's created classes or situations. Just like the main character is unaware of many of his own memories, the reader will likely be left in the dark on pertinent information about the people of Hollow. This was frustrating at times whether or not the author intended it that way. There are still several terms that were not explained or elaborated on. With the vast amounts of unique aspects in this book, it would have been helpful to know what those meanings were earlier.

Martell's story is shockingly true to the major points it presents. It has strong characters, interwoven conflicts, and aspirations that will lead me to continue the series with great pleasure. I'm excited to see where the next story goes!

Martells’ “Kingdom Of Liars” is the first novel in a planned epic fantasy series, “Legacy of the Mercenary Kings.” It is a complex fantasy featuring a feudal court, a vicious rebellion, magical powers (fabrications), and court intrigue. The world-building is terrific, offering the reader a glimpse of a small corner of the universe, the Hollows, which despite the name which might lead you to think of forests and streams, is a feudal city of lords and ladies and a desperate underclass keyed up to rebellion. Except for a brief journey into the forest to slay a wyvern, a legendary two-footed dragon-like creature with a deadly barbed tail, all the action takes place in the city. There are various “keeps” and castles and cathedrals and mercenaries to keep the populace in line. And, there is an ancient moon in the sky breaking apart with its haunted pieces falling to the city, often causing havoc.

The “magic” really takes a backseat to the story here and that’s unfortunate because it’s a fascinating part of this world and should take a more central place in future volumes in the series. The “magic” is called “fabrications,” consisting of light fabrications, dark fabrications, metal fabrications and more. These powers are hereditary and almost solely possessed by the nobles. There is of course a cost to their use and perhaps this is why they are rarely used in the story.

The cost of using fabrications is memory loss. The consequence is that the royals and the nobles all suffer from memory gaps, gaps they try to fill in with stories, with truth, with decrees. It is not evident till far into the book that the use of fabrications has led to confusion and mystery and people who sometimes don’t remember each other. The author could’ve done a better job of placing these issues front and center. It isn’t until late in the story that the reader realizes how big an issue the reliability-of truth becomes.

This is particularly true when one finally understands that the main character from whose point of view the story is told, Michael Kingman, is very much an unreliable narrator. This is so both because of the filling in of memory gaps and his youthful coming-of-age. Michael Kingman is not the powerful warrior that usually is the main character in these fantasy gigs. Rather, he is an unlikely hero, who is unsure if himself, childlike, Whiney, and easily manipulated. But, it is probably that he is just coming into his own skin, a nervous teenager growing up finally ten years after his father is tried and executed for murdering the king’s son. And now as our story begins Michael himself following in his father’s footsteps is in trial for murdering the king.

The Kingmans are a noble family, set to be juxtaposed to the Royals themselves, a counterweight to keep them in check. They are supposed to be loyal and the king’s confidants. But Michael, who is now a petty thief in the streets, has grown up these long years with the brand of traitor. He doesn’t know if he should join the rebellion or prove what he believes is his father’s innocence.

There are so many great dramatic elements here. However, as an epic fantasy read, it just misses being great and is a bit uneven. It would’ve helped to know better at the start what was at stake and where things were going. The story takes the reader in many different pathways of courtly intrigue and one often lost sight of where things were heading and why things were important. But fantasy works these days are very complex, no simple quests for the holy grail, no simple mission to throw a ring in a pit of fire in a world where it’s always clear who is good and who is evil.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Micheal Kingman was branded as a traitor as a child, because his father killed the king's nine years old son. In a world and city that was ready to and continued to reject him and his family, Michael's life isn't easy and he gets by doing small crimes against nobles and royals with his friends, trying, in this way, to get back to them. In a magical and peculiar world, where memories are the price for magic, Michael thinks there's something in this mind, that will able to make him understand what happened years ago. So when he gets the chance to get back to court, he takes it. While trying to understand his past, Michael finds himself involved in mysteries, rebellions, lies, truths and unpredictable characters.

The story, that starts in medias res, is told by Michael in first person, who narrates what happened to him and what brought him in that situation, at his trial. The book, the first of The legacy of the mercenary kings is the debut fantasy of Nick Martell and it's full of interesting and intense characters, skillfully written in a complex plot with secrets, rebellion, lies, shocking and thrilling revelations.
I enjoyed reading and being hooked by this book and I liked a lot the magical system and how Hollow and its inhabitants are portraited and the whole worldbuilding.
The story is captivating and full of intrigue and politics. I really liked Michael and his voice, he's a complex character, sometimes infuriating, but well written and utterly human.

I DNF'd this at 22%. I had heard that the first half of the book was full of mystery, politics, and intrigue, and that checks a lot of boxes for me, but pace was much slower than I had anticipated. That would have been fine if the MC was compelling, but I found Michael to be a frustrating character to stick with. I get that it's likely the start of his arc to redemption, but the slower pace combined with an awful MC made me want to put this down and pick up another book that I'd actually enjoy.

A fantasy debut full of twists, mystery and reveals. Honestly, this book was very unpredictable for me; I really didn't know where things would end up and it had me guessing right up until the very end. The plot twists were my favorite part of this book.
The magic reminded me a bit of Brandon Sanderson with its unique naming system and the very real cost of magic use. The idea of memories was explored a lot in this book and I found this theme to be extremely interesting. I haven't read many books that deal with memory and legacy in this way before.
The whole story is told through the head of the main character, who is an interesting and flawed character that stubbornly persists in his quest to redeem his family name. I enjoyed the side characters a lot, and would have enjoyed hearing the story told from a few other viewpoints as well. The world was very unique and I enjoyed the court intrigue.
A story full of surprises and set in a unique, immersive world.
I received a free ebook copy of this book through Netgalley.

This is what Game of Thrones would look like, if it had a sense of an moral compass and heroism. This is what my intepretation of this fantastic novel is. It comes at a whopping 608 pages or so. This is what fantasy books should be in my opinion. I have seen a boy become a man by the end of this book. If I had to summarise it in one sentence, that describes everything that is for this book.

The details of distinguishing between the high and low nobles, the Ravens and the Fabricators, the Archivists is so painstainkingly done to every single detail, this was a labour of love done by Nick Martell. Michael Kingman is a character that you would expect to be a coward, a person that knows nothing. A man that’s too afflicted from his past. A man that runs from his past. A man that needs to discover the truth of what afflicts him the most.

I would call this under a category of a good mix of grim-dark fantasy combined with heroic fantasy. That’s what I think the novel represents in my opinion. Gwen in my opinion needed more scenes with Michael. I also wanted to see even more scenes of King Issac, to better understand his motivations, and more scenes of the Corrupt Prince, who I felt needed a few more scenes in there. But you can’t fit everything in this whopping debut. Without spoiling too much, I also wanted Michael to go towards his mother a lot more. I feel as if the mother holds more clues than she’s revealing.

Dormet is officially one of my favorite characters along with Dark. I do not know why, but if you read on, you’ll figure why. You will feature loss throughout this novel, and you will cry. The way in which Nick demonstrates loss is honorable, though it does have Game of Thrones tendancies some times. There is so much power and political intrigue I cannot understand how Michael Kingman must navigate through all this when his father was branded as a traitor. Sirash is a great character, and yet Trey…has a past that he must come to grips with.

If I were to compare this to any fantasy novel out there that has a similar genre, it would be Mark Lawrence’s the Broken Empire. The characters are similar, and both are running from a past rather than taking course of their own lives. You know I’ve always loved fantasy novels which focus on the under-dog. And Michael Kingman is just that. There were so many emotional scenes in this novel that it is better you read it. I cannot express this into words. I found this an awesome read. The writing and prose is sharp. I want more novels that show the underdog. That show the under-dog rising through society to take his or her steps. I want more novels like this.

This is a brilliant, dazzling novel that will have you be emotional within hours of reading this book. It’s that fantastic. The writing, the dialogue, everything is on point. It is not easy to create an emotional scene, and Nick has done a fab job of making this. Nick, you’ve made me a fan. I am impressed, and I loved this. Please keep writing more awesome and bad-ass content like this.

Michael is a Kingman. His family name used to symbolize great honor and he would've been an important and respected man in the city of Hollow.
But he isn't.
His father murdered the young king and was executed for his crime. and now Michael is branded as a traitor as well.
He also has a habit of conning the nobles, and getting into trouble.
This intriguing fantasy story has unique world building and a magic system.

"We’re all selfish monsters—the only difference is some of us are more honest about it than others."

Synopsis: Michael Kingman is heir to a legacy of betrayal. After his father's appartent murder of the King's son, his once-powerful family are forced to live in disgrace and servitude. Ten years later, Michael is scraping by in the streets, moving from one con to the next like a common grifter. When an opportunity presents itself for him to rejoin the upper class and to clear his family's reputation, Michael seizes it... but power comes at a cost. Will Michael reclaim his lost legacy, or will he lose his very identity trying?

I'll start by thanking Gallery/Saga press for the opportunity to review an early copy of this novel! It's always a pleasure to have such opportunities, both to enjoy a good read and to offer some promotion to authors.

The Kingdom of Liars begins <em>in medias res</em>, with the "trial" of Michael Kingman, and does not really take the time to slow down. I am inclined to enjoy this pace, as it keeps one reading steadily and makes for an enjoyable reading experience. As I'll discuss below, however, this does at time let the reader down.

Let's start with some good points! I found the premise of the story quite interesting. I love a good redemption arc, and the protagonist's desire to vindicate his family is admirable and believable. The fact that Michael (our first-person narrator/protagonist) does not readily believe that his father may have been innocent of his crimes is refreshing, and helps sell the unraveling of the mystery presented; our hero is a reluctant one, and this helps balance the 1st person narrative with some introspection. I wasn't entirely enamored of the supporting cast, but Michael's friend Kai was a standout, as was his sister Gwen. These characters felt fleshed-out, and easier to picture; they were also a pleasure to read. My only criticism of the character development is that everyone felt, to some extent, over-impulsive; there are a lot of snap decisions made in this novel which I found jarring! Otherwise, I enjoyed the different personalities Michael is forced to contend with.

The complex setting of this novel deals with numerous factions, both within and outside of the monarchical political structure, and also features a unique magic system which trades memories as currency. Let's start with the magic: users of magic are called "Fabricators", and it is accepted that everyone has a single specialization. Magical power is something inherited, and those with the skills are generally more valued in society. There are fire fabricators, steel fabricators, light fabricators, dark fabricators... the system appears to be based on classical Elements. The variety of this is staggering, and several characters employ these powers with spectacular results. I am not at all surprised that Brandon Sanderson called this "An excellent fantasy debut", as the complex magic system seems like something he'd sink his teeth into. Now, magic in this world comes at a cost: use of a fabricator's powers can result in memory loss, and overuse of one's powers will result in one becoming a "forgotten" (essentially, an amnesiac). That about covers magic! For political factions, we have the corrupt monarchy/nobility (traditionally supported by the now-disgraced Kingman family), the mercenaries (so powerful that they are free to act with impunity), and the rebels. The scale of this story's components is so immense that at times the precious few details blaze by... and this is where I get a bit grumpy.

While I am all for a rich and layered setting, I sometimes feel that a certain amount of exposition is not just beneficial, but mandatory as well. What I mean by this is that there can only be a certain amount of glossing over details before one starts to lose interest. There are numerous examples of Fabricators at work in the text, as well as attempts to explain what they do, as though it is a clearly explained art/magic system... but this is then left ambiguous. Where does magic come from? How does it work exactly? Is memory loss guaranteed, or an effect of overuse? All of these things and more are glossed over. Similarly, mercenaries are made out as feared, near-mystical figures of immense power, capable of toppling an entire government when angered. If that is so, then why are they mercenaries at all? Why work for others? The setting is rich, and the world is large, but it feels as though there is insufficient plumbing of the depths. I suspect that this will take place more in the sequel, but it can be a hard sell for some.

I don't mean to imply that the novel was not an enjoyable read: it absolutely was. I just happen to be a very attentive reader, and I crave lore. If you dangle all those pieces of bait in front of me, there had better be a payoff! To me, the payoff in The Kingdom of Liars ended up being the flow of the narrative and the fast-paced journey it takes its reader as secrets of Michael's past are slowly and meticulously unraveled. This was an enjoyable and creative story, and my criticisms only reinforce this statement: I am absolutely invested in where this is going, and I want to know more about everything. The Kingdom of Liars releases May 5, 2020, so mark it in your calendar and make sure to give this one a try.

Happy reading!

ARC provided by the publisher—Saga Press—in exchange for an honest review.

The Kingdom of Liars is a solid debut that’s quite challenging to get through at first, but the second half offers rewarding experience to those who read the novel to its completion.

Similar to many cases with debuts by an unknown author in the past, my interest to read The Kingdom of Liars, the first book in The Legacy of The Mercenary Kings series by Nick Martell, was sparked due to the gorgeous cover art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme (US edition) and Richard Anderson (UK edition). Additionally, both Brandon Sanderson and James Islington—two authors whose works I immensely loved—gave high praise to this debut. How could I even resist reading this book!?

“It’s the long con that wins in the end, Michael. The people who do things worth remembering are the ones willing to wait decades to achieve it.”


The story in The Kingdom of Liars begins with the main character, Michael Kingman, being held on a trial for the death of a king. The story in this novel follows Michael narrating his journey that leads to his current predicament. If you want to find out more regarding the premise, read the official synopsis. The Kingdom of Liars is a book that’s filled with politics and mysteries; Martell did a great job in blending all of these elements to tell a story with themes of legacy, family, loyalty, power, responsibilities, and memories at its core.

“But the problem is, the older you become, the more you discover that memories change on their own. Some fade away, some stories change slightly, and some memories are so drastically different a decade after they occurred that no one can be quite sure what the truth is.”


I would recommend this book to many fantasy readers that love reading elements of mystery and many traversals of politics in their reads. I do, however, can only recommend this book safely by giving a warning, and that is this book needed some patience to go through. Why? Here’s the thing, the main character, Michael, throughout the entire first half of the novel was utterly irritating and infuriating. He’s naïve, cocky, selfish, and he repeatedly made stupid decisions. Plus, this is a book told solely through his POV in first-person narration; there’s no other character’s perspective to give the reader a break from his narrative, and that can get very testing at times. I won’t lie, there were several moments in the first half of the book where I almost gave up, and I imagine several readers would. If you have enough patience, know that his behavior felt deliberately done; heck one of the side characters even mentioned it to him blatantly right on his face. But is it worth continuing? Yes, I’ll say so. The second half displayed magnificent storytelling strength with a barrage of revelations that gave valid reasons why Michael behaved the way he did; I grew to feel empathetic towards him. Michael is a super flawed character, and it helped strengthen the narrative. I read through the entirety of the second half within a single day; I was captivated by the revelations, character development, and the way everything clicked together.

“One day you’ll understand there is more to life than the Kingman legacy. It’ll probably take a woman and a child to teach you that, but one day you’ll understand.”


World-building wise, I feel like Martell has only just begun. There are still many aspects of the world and history that’s still unexplained. Same as Michael, we readers know nothing about what’s going on outside the main city where the story takes place. I loved reading how the overuse of Fabrications—the magic system of this series—has the capability to cause its user a memory loss. Fabrications come in many forms, mostly based on elemental magic such as fire fabrications, lightning fabrications, metal fabrications, and darkness fabrications. Again, same as the world-building, there’s still a lot of potential in the sequel for the magic system to enhanced the overall strength of the series itself extensively, but for now, what I’ve read in the first installment was enough to keep me satisfied. In the end, the main feature in The Kingdom of Liars for me was the mysteries and how Martell was able to unravel them satisfyingly with an engaging and very compelling writing style. Even when I found the main character to be intolerable, or when the story was moving a bit too slow, I was able to push through because the dialogues and the writing were gripping.

“We love despite a person’s flaws, no their lack thereof.”


The Kingdom of Liars is an enthralling debut that melded intriguing mysteries, shocking revelations, costly magic, and deeply strong familial theme into its narrative. The first half of the book may require some patience to get through, but the second half made the journey rewarding. It even shed a better light on the parts that didn’t work for me at first. There’s no cliffhanger ending here; the book would’ve worked well as a standalone should the author decided to go on a different path. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Official release date: 7th May 2020 (UK) and 5th May 2020 (US)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

2 stars, <a href="http://reviews.metaphorosis.com/review/the-kingdom-of-liars-nick-martell/">Metaphorosis Reviews</a>

<strong>Summary</strong>
Michael Kingman is the son of a traitor, but also the descendant of a family that made the kingdom what it is. Trying to find a place in society, he stumbles onto a mystery that may explain much about his executed father.

<strong>Review</strong>
I generally ignore blurbs, but every now and then, if it's from an author I like, one catches my attention. Sometimes, that's a mistake. I picked up Nick Martell's <em>The Kingdom of Liars</em> mostly for its interesting premise that magic costs memory, but partly because Brandon Sanderson's blurb said it was "excellent". You never know what goes into the decision to blurb a book, but this time I can say, at the least, that I disagree strongly with Sanderson's characterization. <em>The Kingdom of Liars</em> is interesting, but it's a very long way from excellent.

Mostly, the book would have benefited from several more rounds of developmental editing. There's a host of clever ideas in here, but they're all mixed together in a murky mess, and none of them is properly developed. It's the kind of manuscript an astute agent would see and say, "This has promise. Let's work on it." It's not at a stage where it should have been published to a mass audience. For example, we're halfway through the book before we learn what a 'tweeker' is - a type introduced very early on. I can't understand how this came from a major publisher.

I got an early foreboding from errors in the grammar of the prologue. I was reading an advance reader copy, so some typos are to be expected, but this is grammar, not spelling, and very early in the book. As I went on, the foreboding grew. The prose was often clumsy, and decidedly amateur in places. The errors continued. In addition, the balance of the book was off - too much was withheld from the reader, with the effect of making the action unclear. Notably, the story takes place entirely within one city, yet the geography of the place is very unclear, and there's no helpful map. Characters move from place to place as it's convenient for the story, and I never had any sense of the look of the place beyond one ruined keep (there seem to be several in the city) and one banquet hall. Not only is the travel random, much of the plot is as well - this is part of the balance and development problem mentioned above. Things happened because they needed to to move the plot forward, not because it made much sense. I couldn't get the economy or society to make sense either.

I found it hard to empathize with the narrator. While posited as a clever, likable, right-thinking underdog, he appears to have no qualms about torture, and not many about betrayal. He's constantly making promises to other characters, but it's never clear why he should be the one to take on this burden. Instead, the book simply leans heavily on us knowing the trope of heroic narrator as protector. He learns that part of his memory is missing - set up as a key plot point, but then abandoned with an 'oh well' attitude. He's occasionally very intelligent, though - from knowing flintlock pistols, he immediately grasps the idea of a revolver with cartridges.

The editing overall is just sloppy - both on a developmental and line level. There's evidently not been much effort to focus the book or to have the plot points make sense. Random strangers are suddenly crucial to the plot. Established central characters fade away. I wish I could say these are intended to surprise us by defying expectations and standard tropes, but I'm pretty sure they're just poor editing. The 'villain tells all' ending just confirms it all.

It's an odd book to review - very good ideas (too many jammed into one book) - but <em>very</em> little editing. I think Mr. Martell has a promising future. On the other hand, this looks to be the first book in a series, and I definitely won't be buying the rest. Maybe if he moves to another publisher, I could be interested again.

<span style="color: #cc0000;"><strong>I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

I recieved this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
And so sorry but I think this book is not for me.
My first and worst problem is I don't care what is happening with the characters, all the family problem is boring and the characters are boring and the problem is boring.... The Kingman family are in disgrace when David Kingman (the father), kill the little prince of the kingdom and then, he dies executed.
The Kingman family is threaten like traitors and Michael are trying with his sister Gwen to survived and cared his mother.
This is a world full of magic and politics problems, lots of rebellions and death. And these themes I really liked it and I feel very excited when I recieved this book but I feel very dissapointed with this book :( I really sorry

A courtly intrigue ruled by a mysterious broken moon and a novel magic system. I was drawn to the overarching worldbuilding, the clashing rebels and broken memories. I can see where this series might go, and I'm intrigued. That being said, this book feels like a first draft. It's completely let down by anachronism: messy dialogue, confusing inclusion of handguns in what seems like a quasi-medieval society?, terrible modern character names. Plus the pacing is way off: some parts drag, while others jump confusingly during important moments. Shows promise, but not currently doing anything exciting.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! Free stuff doesn't color my opinion, honest.

I struggled with the political aspects of this story, but enjoyed the overall world and magic system that the author has created. If you were a fan of the politics in Game of Thrones, I'd definitely suggest giving this one a try.

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell was a fast paced political fantasy with rebellion, a unique magic set up, and plenty of intrigue. Yet though the writing was strong, I didn’t connect with the characters despite finding Michael Kingman an interesting character.

This six hundred page fantasy epic had both magic and guns, explosions and betrayal, and a large cast of characters each with their own unique history. There was a political system and a magic system.

And yet, I found myself struggling by 55% through. No fault to the book, or writing but I could not seem to care overmuch about the characters in general. I may give this book another go in the future but for now, I’m leaving as is.

My thanks to Gallery/Saga press, Netgalley and the author Nick Martell.
I did give up on this book. I was not jiving with any characters. Also, guns. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy shooting. That's how I was raised. Paper targets, and Tin cans! But, I truly don't like it when guns cross over into fantasy. Sure, I'll admit that I adore epic and grimdark fantasy. Still, as soon as guns are introduced I cringe. I'm just a sucker for swords and all. I love trebouchets. Yeah, that is likely the wrong spelling! But, I have a miniature one on my bookshelf, and it's loaded with a dry chickpea! Occasionally I like to shoot it at things! I'm going to keep this book on my "to be read" shelf though. I think I would like to come back to it later. Because I didn't finish the book, but I'm still a wee bit curious...I'm giving it a middling rating.

2.25/5

I thought the story itself was actually interesting, but I found this to just be boring. At least for me, it took a lot for me to actually care for anyone. The story felt so slow that it was almost dragging. Michael is an alright MC, but he definitely needs more fleshing out for me to actually feel anything for him. The side characters I can't even say anything about. In my opinion, the characters weren't catching my attention. Paired with the slowness of the book, I was really not a fan.

This book was very well written. That being said, the story fell a little flat for me. While I understand telling us from the beginning what happens at the end, I think it could've been done with more foreshadowing instead of just flat out telling us what happens. I love fantasy novels, and while this is a good effort, I felt like the world building could've been better. I like a little romance in fantasy novels as well, and that aspect was entirely absent. The plot was promising, but I would've enjoyed a little more magic. This was a good debut, but fell short of other fantasy debut novels I've enjoyed in the past. Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for granting me access to this advance reader copy. I will publish this review tomorrow to my Bookstagram and companion Facebook page, @thatreadingrealtor.

A Kingdom of Liars is a great first novel in what I expect to be a long series following Michael Kingman through his trials and tribulations. Martell weaves together characters with different values and desires, allowing them to play off each other and grow (or not) as they would naturally. He allows the reader to delve into his universe, but each burst of information uncovers more details about the world beyond Hollow, the city in which the story unfolds. Blending together the political scheming of George R.R. Martin, the disparate magic systems of Sanderson, and the first person narrative and protagonistic growth of Patrick Rothfuss, Martell's first foray into epic fantasy is one to read while eagerly anticipating the rest.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand it. I DNF’d around 20%. I spent a good two weeks trying to get into this and failing miserably. I couldn’t connect to the characters or the world, and I just kept losing focus. Maybe it gets better, but it starts off way to slow for my liking. Not much was explained in the first fifth of the book. I don’t need everything straightaway, but I need something to grab my attention. It got to the point I just couldn’t even try anymore. I was rolling my eyes so hard. *spoiler* When Michaels “best friend” swears vengeance after his brother is killed, blaming Michael, blech. It’s so cliché. He even gave the vengeance speech to go with it. It’s when I knew I had to stop.