Disclaimer: I received the e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Master of One

Author: Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: m/m romance, gay main characters

Recommended For...: fantasy, magic, LGBT, romance

Publication Date: November 10, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, gore, romance, slight sexual content)

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 544

Synopsis: Rags is a thief—an excellent one. He's stolen into noble's coffers, picked soldier's pockets, and even liberated a ring or two off the fingers of passersby. Until he's caught by the Queensguard and forced to find an ancient fae relic for a sadistic royal sorcerer.

But Rags could never have guessed this "relic" would actually be a fae himself—a distractingly handsome, annoyingly perfect, ancient fae prince called Shining Talon. Good thing Rags can think on his toes, because things just get stranger from there...

Review: I really liked this book! The book was wonderfully well written and it has amazing character development. The characters as very well written and I loved our main characters. The interactions felt so genuine and the chemistry was so good! I didn’t even mind that it was a slow burn romance. The world building was also well done and I was intrigued by the plot from start to finish.

The only issue I had with the book overall is that the book had a slow burn romance, which some readers will not like, and the book felt a little cliché here and there. The language was also a bit weird since it felt so modern but the story takes place so long ago.

Verdict: A well done book!

Can I just say wow? Because wow. This book was incredible!! Fast paced and action packed, I loved every sentence of Master of One. The main character was interesting and it was easy to empathize with him. I was very invested in his story and development as a character. A few of the side characters fell a bit flat for me but I loved the majority of the cast and I didn’t dislike any of them. I also loved the diversity! The villain was also clever and hate-able and an all around great villain! Oh, and let me tell you I am OBSESSED with the romance. Seriously, it was the cutest thing ever. The relationship managed to be incredible while not overtaking the plot, which I really loved. The world building in Master of One is truly excellent. The authors managed to create and successfully develop a world that spanned a continent. I loved being immersed in this impressive world while reading. The writing style was very good and the story was highly entertaining as well as meaningful. I was immediately intrigued when I started reading and the plot got increasingly better as I read on. I couldn’t stop turning pages and I’m praying for a sequel!
I thoroughly enjoyed Master of One and all fantasy lovers should absolutely pick up a copy!

Thank you so much, NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's books and Harperteen for the chance to read this book!

TW: murder, torture, violence, loss of free will, kidnapping, death

Rags is an excellent thief, until he's caught by the Queensguard and forced to help a sadistic and cruel sorcerer to find an ancient Fae relic, a powerful relic unlike anything they ever knew. But after Rags finds a Fae, a beautiful, powerful prince called Shining Talon, things begin to become more and more dangerous and complex and he finds himself involved into a deeper plot. Between gallows humour, sinister and sadistic magic, prophecies and Fae magic, Rags has to face adventures, dangers and, above all, his and Shining Talon's feelings for each other.

Master of one is an intense, brilliant and funny young adult fantasy debut and it's unbelievably amazing. Set in a world ruled by a cruel and sinister Queen, Rags' life was a difficult one, living on the streets, stealing and building his name as a thief. His world expands when he's thrust into a complex and dangerous situation, forcing him to grow, to work with others, to understand himself and the world around him.
Rags is an unlikely and reluctant hero, fighting with self doubts, fears and using gallows humour to get by and survive the pain and the dangers.

The story is told, at first, by Rags' POV, but, as his world expands so the POVs, introducing an exiled prince, Somhairle, a deserter, Cab and one of the few survivors of a family slaughtered by the Queensguard, Inis. Each character is skillfully written and complex, with their pasts to face, secrets, lies, family to protect, revenge, guilt, remorse and so on. They are relatable in their fierceness, flaws and mistakes. They are introduced slowly, piece by piece, like a puzzle, adding more and more to the initial plot.

This is one the things I loved the most about Master of one.
Everything starts with Rags and a mission he's forced to do by a sinister sorcerer and the dangers he will find, facing it. But slowly the story breathes and expands, including more characters, places and plots, truths that have to be uncovered and faced, secrets and magic.
The worldbuilding is lush and well written, the story set in a world medioeval or similar to that time, but with magic and sorcerers, a cruel queen and enslaved people.

The interactions between characters are amazing and brilliant. The main relationship the reader sees is between Rags and Shining Talon, self deprecating, full of dark humour and doubts the first, a Fae brilliant, honorable and hilarious in not undestanding jokes and human nature the second.
Their relationship is a slow burn, an achingly beautiful queer romance between them, a chemistry and a yearning intense and lovely to read. It was amazing reading how much they grow to trust, help and love one other, above all witnessing the growth of Rags, from a lonely and stubborn thief, self-deprecating and sure of being better alone, to someone able to trust, protect and work with others and relying on them.

The magic is another interesting element in this book, both sinister and cruel if used by sorcerers, but full of wonder and beauty when used by the fragments.
I won't say anything more about this book, because it's an experience and everyone should read and love it!

So if you love queer romance, yearning, action packed plot, slow burn, suspence and an intriguing worlbuilding this book is perfect for you.

I loved the main characters personality. He is witty and funny, I found myself laughing out loud at his reactions to things and really liked him a lot.

The thing about this book, is that it is not what I expected. I thought it was going to be like Six of Crows or something along the lines of that, but it was more like Indiana Jones. Even though I enjoyed the main character it wasn't enough to hold me to the plot itself. It was a bit flat and I didn't feel connected to the world at all. The language he uses kept me thinking it was modern times, I had to keep reminding myself that this story takes place a long time ago, hahaha.
I can see how others would fully enjoy this book, but it was OK for me.

Thank you Harper Collins Childrens books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Rags, our main character, is a great head to be in. I will use it in He's funny interesting and enjoyable. I think the story from his point of view was the most interesting in the book.

Sometimes the pacing and the overall plot line of the book was a little confusing but overall I think it was a solid book and I think once books two and three comes out the world will get more developed The story will get stronger.

So I'll sound like a drag saying this, but all the same: this book suffered deeply from a lack of seriousness. The caustic, jokey (and far too modern) tone - particularly in Rags's chapters - diminished so much of what could have been here. Every time anything intense or tragic happened it was almost immediately scuppered by a "witty" (see: cliche) aside - ditto any scene that offered up any magic.

Alongside this glib tone I found the way the chapters - and, hell, the paragraphs - were constructed to be frustrating to read. There are so many two page chapters, and when these chapters end many times they don't jump to another perspective - as you might expect, given their length, and the action-oriented subject matter - but rather continue right where the previous chapter left off with the very same POV character we were just reading. I did not see the point of this other than to create a "cut to commercial" feel which...does anyone ever want that? Likewise, there were SO MANY one sentence paragraphs written in the style of "wham lines," which led to an overall very jerky rhythm while reading.

As for the story itself, it absolutely had potential, and was interesting at points but...alongside all the other issues I named there were many moments that the characters felt more like archetypes than anything else, and so many of their attributes were told rather than shown. Couple that with the interior narrative of each character being incredibly repetitive and I found it very hard to engage with the story being told here. Which is a shame because there were interesting elements...but not enough to overwhelm the issues I personally had with the writing.

This was my first book from these authors and there was plenty to really like about this book. There was action to start the book off. A thief is in trouble with the law so he sets off on finding a relic. The relic is actually a fairie. So the two start off on a quest to find a relic. The book has supernatural themes that I love: fairies and magic and a new world that I can enter for a while. The depth of the characters was great; I absolutely love it when authors take time to really flesh out characters. Well done.