A galaxy-wide rebellion is in the offing when a conquered Archon Empire rises from the ashes to challenge the mighty machine of the reigning Umber Empire. And, caught up in it all are three young people who are at the helm of destiny while still coming into their own. The first book, Bonds of Brass, left off on a stunning note and Oaths of Legacy carries things forward.

It is at this point that I’ll caution readers that if you plan to read the series then don’t read the blurb or the rest of my review. Too late, right? Oh well, there are still lots of twists and turns to come so I’ll keep those to myself.

At the end of Bonds of Brass, Gal who was on the run when an assassination attempt was tried while he was attending academy, ends up captured by the Archon rebellion and thinks his number is going to be punched until his academy roomie, escape partner, and blossoming romance interest steps forward and reveals his true identity as a lost last Archon royal and he wants Gal kept as a political prisoner rather than executed.

Oaths of Legacy switches from Ettian’s to be told all from Gal’s perspective. I was glad to have the chance at both their points of view after really enjoying the first book told by Ettian. But, I have to admit that Gal was in a lousy mood learning his best friend is now his sworn enemy since he’s his prisoner now and all. It was grueling at times when he was near Ettian the way he picked and prodded at the guy to provoke him. But worse, Gal was a true Umber in his calculated thinking of hating Ettian and stirring up as much trouble as he could to undermine him and ultimately see his new reign topple. Gal never saw himself as cold and cruel like his mother, but he struggles to come to terms with the fact that he shares his bloodline’s pride and belief in their right to rule and that he knows better than anyone else how to rule. He spends a great deal of this story trying to lead from the jail cell and believing that he knows better than anyone else. It wasn’t easy to read this, but it was necessary to see his progression to respecting that Ettian might think and do differently, but he isn’t necessarily wrong.

The odd friendship formed up between Ettian, Gal, and the rascally former street ganger, Wen, continues forward. Wen remains both their friend, even though she has taken a role in the Archon rebellion. She latches on to the legend of the Archon Knights of old and takes the piratical commodore as her mentor in her Knight training. She is also the security who keeps an eye on Gal so he works hard to influence her into helping him escape even while he works to keep Ettian from doing something stupid enough to die. Meanwhile, Ettian never had the proper training to rule his people and is forced to learn on the fly. His instincts are good even when his heart leads him to listen to Gal and he lets his feelings for Gal show and are a vulnerable spot for him.

As the middle book in a trilogy, Oaths of Legacy did the job of bringing the story along over the bridge to set up for the crisis point of the final book. There were exciting action moments, political intrigue, and a stormy relationship. It has a huge climax battle and then just when the reader starts to get complacent, a shocker twist happens. Okay, I confess I was expecting something to happen to get people moved to where they are, but I didn’t expect a certain person to be the means.

So, we paused at a good place that leaves the reader anticipating the third part of the trilogy. I still haven’t established if this is YA or Adult LGBT Sci-fi, but perhaps a bit of both. Definitely a series I would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Bellantine, and Emily Skrutskie for the opportunity to read Oaths of Legacy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book in the Bloodright Trilogy and takes place about a month following the events of Bonds of Brass. If you have not read Bonds of Brass, this review will definitely contain spoilers regarding where things stand at the end of book one.

Gal is now Ettian's prisoner. Wen has become a bit of a knight, in her own right. At least Gal has a nice fancy place to remain prisoner. He knows Ettian still cares about him, but being the Archon prince means he cannot show certain feelings for a certain Umber heir.

After an attempt on Gal's life IN HIS CELL, Ettian has a plan, somewhat instigated by an idea that Gal plants. Ettian is going to the front, and Gal and Wen are coming with him.

A good portion of the novel takes place on a large space ship in which Ettian works his rounds with the ship commanders to attempt taking control of further planets for the Archon Empire. After an event at a planet where Ettian gives a speech and almost loses his life, Gal fights with conflict between his heart and his bloodright as Umber heir.

I don't want to give too much away for the plot, as this is a middle book and quite a bit of character development occurs. It's a bridge leading up to how the third and final book for the trilogy may progress and is an important set-up for how this story will end. I love the way this book is written. You can find it in the regular sci-fi/fantasy section of the book store, but it does read like a young adult book, though it's not considered to be in that genre. This is also a romance. While the romance scenes between Ettian and Gal are few and far between, those moments are very special and a significant driving force for the actions the characters take.

This is an excellent bridge to the finale, and I can't wait to see how this book ends! I recommend for fans of Star Wars and lovers of space odysseys.

Great book. This is a sequel to Bonds of Brass, which I read to recommend as an LGBTQ+ leisure read to my students. I would also recommend the sequel. Great world-building and good character work.

Gal and Ettian are back in the second installment of Emily Skrutskie's Bloodright Trilogy, and boy, are things just a wee bit complicated now. But I have to admit it was fun seeing all the relationship drama play out. What can I say? I love reading enemies-to-lovers romance. It's my thing. Add in a sci-fi element, and I'm all in.

So Oaths of Legacy picks up pretty close to where Bonds of Brass left off. I won't spoil the first book, but let's just say Gal wasn't in a good place and Ettian was in a slightly better one. Unlike the first book, however, Gal is the point-of-view character for book two, which was a little odd, but not unwelcome. It's a different strategy when it comes to writing YA sci-fi, and I'm intrigued to see who narrates book three now.

While I was initially skeptical about the plot development Ettian had towards the end of the first book, I was 100% on board for it in this one. Ettian's new role made for some great romantic tension between two boys who just have no idea what the heck they're feeling and what the heck they're doing.

It had been a while since I read Bonds of Brass, so I had a little bit of trouble remembering some of the names and overall worldbuilding, but nothing was hard to pick up on once the book got going. However, I actually enjoyed Oaths of Legacy a lot more, simply because of the tension and Gal's internal and external dilemma in deciding where he stands in the war. I will say, though, that sometimes Gal got a little wishy-washy in his politicking and not a whole lot happened in terms of plot for him until the very end. There just wasn't a lot of action in general when compared to the first book. Did that stop me from wanting to know what was going to happen next? Nope. Those darn boys just kept pulling me back in.

All in all, Oaths of Legacy was a great second installment to a series that combines typical sci-fi elements like spaceship battles and robotic suits with the fantasy royalty tropes that are being devoured by readers right now. I'd highly suggest this story for anyone who likes Red Rising, Throne of Glass, The Kiss of Deception, The Winner's Curse, and the Star Wars franchise. It's just a fun time overall.

4 stars

*Note: I received a NetGalley ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

I must admit -- I didn't care for the first book. It wasn't necessarily a bad book -- the writing is solid, the characters are intriguing, and the world is immersive. It just... didn't hit the mark with me.

The sequel is much the same. I really had to push myself to finish this one. But, like the first, it's a solidly written story.

This felt very much like a second book where nothing really happened to progress the overall plot forward. The pacing was alright overall - it took a little bit to get into the story, and the beginning was a bit slower since it focused more on political schemes. However, the end definitely picked up the pace! There were some nice action scenes with battles and assassination attempts. Generally though, I did struggle to focus at times because I wasn't sure where the overall story arc was headed, and I just wasn't as invested as I was in the first book.

I also think I probably didn't enjoy this as much because it's "Gal's book." I don't find him nearly as interesting or likeable as Ettian, so this may have hampered my enjoyment (especially compared to the first book). Gal tends to be more whiny and entitled, and he often thinks he knows best. He's conflicted on what to do because he's torn between family loyalty (and inheriting an empire) and his feelings for Ettian. This does cause him to flip flop on his actions and beliefs quite a bit, and while it's understandable, it just doesn't always make for the most fun reading experience.

Thankfully, we do get to see Ettian again here as he's trying to step into the role he claimed in Bonds of Brass. He's not super respected yet, but I think he'll get there! He's still by far the most interesting character to me, and I'm a little bummed that we didn't get to see him more. We also just don't get to see him interact a ton with Gal, and I certainly would have preferred more of this.

Wen is back, and I have to say, I'm rather mixed on her. She seems almost manic at times, but I do like the role she's stepped into here. However, she makes some very dumb, poor decisions. Granted, she doesn't really have the training to strategize and ends up just jumping into things. This sometimes causes disasters because she really needed to think things through more.

Overall, this was a weaker installment of the series for me. I do still think it's an interesting world and plot, so I think I'd like to continue on (especially if we don't follow Gal in the next book). I'd still recommend this series overall to those who want some fun sci-fi!

My video review can be seen on my booktube channel (around minutes 0:29-4:13 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jvcmgJVMtI

A fantastic addition to the series. I really enjoyed seeing the effect of unexpected revelations had on Gal and Ettian's relationship, talk about angst. Wonderfully well-written with a switch in POV from the previous book that helped paint a broader picture of Gal and Ettian's world, I'm looking forward to my next visit.

*I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley*

I absolutely ADORED this book! even more than the first one (and it was one of my favourtites last year!!)

Seeing everything from Gal's perspective this time was kind of refreshing and new. He was holding so much inside him without us seeing it. I did miss Ettian's thoughts and knowing whats in his head but it was still easy to understand him. Even though the book was shorter, it was action packed from the moment it started!! i was so shocked over how everything changed so fast.

All the characters were brand new to me from Gal's eyes and that was very interesting. Especially his relationship with Wen. How we saw it from the beginning and where it landed at the end of the book.

AND THAT ENDING????? WHAT WILL HAPPEN OMG!!!???? I NEED BOOK THREE NOW!!!

I'm hoping it has both their povs<33333

I was lukewarm about this book at first, which surprised me given how much I loved the first book. I chalked it up to the POV change and the aftermath of the twist ending of the first. I even worried I would have to put it down due to just disliking Gal.

However, I can now say that I absolutely love Gal and I love this book. SO much. Seriously. I'm not sure I've ever met a character quite as scheming and conniving as Gal is, nor one so wholeheartedly dedicated to playing a part. If that part changes as the story progresses, well, that's just character development happening to him as his head catches up with his heart. I feel for him, I really do.

The painful beginning was necessary for letting us get inside Gal's head and really understand his emotions and motivations. By the end I was rooting for him to get what he has finally realized he wants.

And that ending!! I'm not sure anyone can top Emily Skrutskie's endings. Whew. I can't wait for the third book! And someone please tell Emily Skrutskie that Gal and Ettian and Wen deserve their happy ending?? I honestly have no idea what form it will take to get rival Emperors of a galactic war a happy ending, but just. Happy ending. Please?

*Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine, Del Rey for providing an e-arc for review.

Oaths of Legacy is the highly anticipated sequel to 2020's Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie. Fans of Bonds should get their hands on Oaths pronto, the book doesn't disappoint, it is intense, full of intrigue, machinations, and the gut-wrenching roller coaster of loving someone you think you hate. Bonds of Brass ended in a full impact gut punch, straight into a cliff hanger- well, just wait until you turn the last page on Oaths of Legacy. It is an outstanding read!

I've been sitting on this book for about a month now because I really don't know what to say but as release day is tomorrow I better get something out. The first book in this series Bonds of Brass was one of my favorite reads of 2020. So I had a lot of expectations going into Oaths of Legacy, perhaps too many expectations. For a majority of this book I was just simply bored. I think that's also a by-product of who we were following in the novel. Not that I wasn't interested in Gal in the first book, on the contrary I really loved him but his position in this book doesn't lend itself to that exciting of a storyline. He's a prisoner and as a prisoner that means his view is narrow and his days are somewhat monotonous. Now obviously because of the history between Gal and Ettian, Gal isn't some ordinary prisoner and without getting too into spoiler territory he is certainly allowed some freedoms that wouldn't have been granted to anyone else. However, so much of his internal monologue and thought process is just the same few things repeated over and over again. I got so tired of his plans to escape, his plans to make Ettian look bad, his conflicting feelings for Ettian after his secret was revealed (like he hadn't been hiding literally the same secret in book one). The book just cycles through these same thoughts over and over.

This all isn't to say there weren't parts I enjoyed (like Wen getting to live out a new dream!) but overall the book did feel like a bit of a let down for me. With the exception of one character's choice the ending was also extremely obvious and I knew that's where we would be at the end even if I wasn't sure how exactly we would get there. I am curious since we got the POV shift in this novel if the third book will alternate between Ettian and Gal or if it will give us Wen's POV to round out the three main characters. I'm not even sure which I'm hoping for more at this point, I think both could work well. I kept my preorder for this and I'll happily shelve it next to Bonds of Brass, but I am sad to have to say this just wasn't the spectacular read I was hoping for and definitely suffered from book two syndrome.

Alright everybody, time to get our political pants on, here we go!
I’ve been looking forward to this book since the moment I finished the first one. I hate waiting, so getting the ARC for this has been amazing. I really have not been able to let this story go. I had a lot of fun with Gal and seeing things from his side. His relationship with Ettian and the complexity of it all was great.
Is the book perfect? Nothing ever really is. The plot could’ve really gone to the well and it would’ve been amazing if Gal and Ettian actually questioned the world they’ve been born into (a complaint I’ve seen many people have. It’s an understandable one). But I think of this series like getting a quick shot of space opera drama. In this case though, there’s less plot complexity and way more mech suits and gay men involved.

Of course, now I have to wait (very impatiently!) for the last book in the Bloodright Trilogy. And with that cliffhanger and twisty twist, I hope it comes out sooner rather than later.

The second in a trilogy, Oaths of Legacy, is a battle for galactic power. All of Gal's carefully laid plans were blown to pieces when his best friend Ettian reveals his own secrets and takes him hostage. Now Gal has to try to manipulate his way to freedom but at the same time keep his feelings for Ettian in check.

I love when sequels live up to the start of a series. Oaths of Legacy gave me everything I loved in the first book but with a little more angst and tension. Getting to read from Gal's point of view this time around was awesome, especially since we got to see some reminiscing of their past moments from his side. Of course, the whole time I was holding back a little bit from trusting Gal completely, since he is a prisoner, but I just couldn't help myself from loving the grumpy stubborn boy. Seeing Ettian from his point of view made my heart actually ache. I cannot get enough of the relationships between the main three troublemakers and of course the ending of this book left me questioning everything going on just like the first one did. Why must there be time between book releases! For me, this was a 5/5.

If you like friends to lovers turned enemies, crazy space fights where you're holding your breath, or love a pining emperor for his prisoner, this is the one for you. Also, if you haven't read Bonds of Brass, where have you been, and go read that one immediately.

I received a digital copy of this book free from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.

Oaths of Legacy is the forthcoming second installment of The Bloodright Trilogy by Emily Skrutskie. Published by Del Rey, the book follows shortly after the events of Bonds of Brass. It is told from the perspective of Gal, the heir to the throne of a galactic empire bent on conquering the empire of his former best friend and lover, Ettian turned captor and, oh, also the prodigal emperor of that very empire, Archon.

Strutskie is a master of perspective. What absolutely enamored me about Bonds of Brass was its genius use of first-person to cloak its biggest twist, Ettian’s being the heir to the Archon throne. Writing him as a reliable narrator only to turn him entirely unreliable at the last moment was absolutely shocking. And she carries that same energy straight into and through Oaths of Legacy. Switching the perspective from Ettian to Gal provides three excellent opportunities: the chance to get into the other main character’s head, a chance to be in the dark about Ettian’s experience, and a chance to see an entirely new form of mastery over perspective.

Gal is the total opposite of Ettian in so many ways. He’s very impulsive, very hot-headed, and very sure of himself. And having been scorned by the previous book’s unreliable narration, it’s easy to immediately recognize that so much of Gal’s descriptions of his experience are bluster, which is intentional because as a very middle of a trilogy-type book, it is all about the yearning and pining. So much of Gal’s feelings about his captivity and his loyalty to Umber are really wrapped up around his feelings for Ettian, no matter how much he tries to say otherwise. And so rather than wasting time pretending Gal is all serious about his hatred for Ettian, the veneer of his obvious affection is completely perforated from the onset. This leaves the reader left only to sit and wallow in glorious frustration over why they won’t just kiss and make up already.

And as you huff and puff about their lack of smooching, a great war plot unfolds. Archon is on the brink of recapturing its lost territory, and Ettian, as well as Wen by his side, are bent on winning this rebellion. Meanwhile, Gal dedicates his every moment to attempting sabotage. He thinks that he can manipulate Ettian and the people around him into catastrophic failure. I love this plot within the perspective Strutskie forces us into specifically because we never know what Ettian’s perspective is on anything. We know what he tells Gal out loud. But does he see through Gal’s games? Or is he ignorant to them? Losing his perspective makes everything more intense, both in the war effort and their relationship.

While much of Oaths of Legacy is an emotional set-up for the trilogy’s conclusion, it’s also a unique and impactful exploration of the glories and follies of a first-person narrative perspective. Switching to Ettian’s perspective from Gal’s for this second installment created opportunities for all new kinds of emotional twists and surprises. All while offering a grueling will-they-won’t-they and complete excitement for the series’ conclusion.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Oaths of Legacy is the follow up to Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie. This book is set in Gal’s point of view and finds him as a political hostage, but at least alive and with his head still attached, thanks to Ettian. Gal feeling angry and betrayed at Ettian does his best to be as unaccommodating as he possibly can (did I mention though that his head is still attached, and that it was thanks to Ettian that it is so?). Gal does his best to glean what he can while in the heart of the Archon Empire rebellion and cause discontent and strife with little pushes and pulls doing his best not to be overt or get caught.
This book, being in Gal’s view offers some interesting insight. The difference between his empire, Umber, is run and the way the empire Ettian came from, Archon. The difference between a young emperor still getting their training in, Gal, and a young emperor who had his training cut tragically short, Ettian. Gal certainly has what it takes to be an emperor, the question is, what kind is he going to be if he gets the chance?
This book was a lot slower than the first book despite the cool space battles taking place. The first book was a lot of running, trying to stay ahead of the ones chasing them, and just general fleeing. This book was a lot more of the political realm, both of the empires, and the politics between those who want Ettian to run and those who want the General whose been leading everything since the Archon empire originally fell. Gal takes note of a lot of these things and uses it to his advantage when he can.
Wen, my space queen, is also a part of this book. Still as much fun and trouble as ever, I adore Wen. Attached to Ettian’s side her loyalty is more towards the emperor then the actual empire.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, slower pace and Gal’s mental angsting over the place included. My only problem is the ending, why? Ms, Skrutskie, why do you keep doing this to me? I actually screamed near the end of the book when the thing (you know what I’m talking about) happened. I wasn’t expecting it, and especially not from that person. Definitely took me by surprise. Can’t wait for book three to see how this is all going to wrap up.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing this book to read in advance.

I have been waiting for this book for what feels like ages. I thoroughly enjoyed it and CANNOT wait for the final book to come out. That cliffhanger!

Middle books in a trilogy are difficult. So much has changed from the first book and you have to set up what's coming while still maintaining a compelling story. It was a nice change having this book from Gal's point of view. The internal conflicts we get to witness. Sometimes I just wanted to shake him though. Actually, by the end, I wanted to shake a few people around. While it was frustrating waiting for some things to play out, I also appreciated that when things did happen, they made sense because there had been time in between that made it believable. I don't want to say much more for fear of spoilers, but I highly recommend this series so far.

Oaths of Legacy is the sequel to Emily Skrutskie's romantic (M-M) space opera "Bonds of Brass" from last year. I enjoyed Bonds of Brass, which very much took a Star Wars-esque setup (and may have started out as Poe/Finn slashfic) in some fun directions, as its main protagonist, a boy recovering after his world/home-system was violently destroyed by a conquering empire, went on the run with the boy he loved....who turned out to be the heir to that same empire. And so you had a story dealing with love vs duty, a story dealing with whether one can put aside one's past, and you also had fun piloting and other action-y sequences, to go along with a third major character in a gutter-rat girl who was an absolute blast. The biggest issue with book 1 was its reliance on a twist that was almost too far of a stretch to be believed, but I was interested in seeing how book 2 would be.

And Oaths of Legacy.....is fine, but is very much not what I wanted or expected from this series. The book shifts perspectives to that of Gal, heir to the (conquering) Umber Empire, as he finds himself imprisoned by the boy he loved, and is desperate to escape. I expected the shift in perspective to further allow the book to deal with Empire, and with privilege, and about the sins of birthright, as those themes were somewhat important to book 1 and would make sense to be dealt with from the new point of view. Instead, we get a book that very much feels like a Star Wars book - in fact feels very much inspired by the specific plot of one particular Star Wars book, which is fine, but nothing particularly special.

Spoilers for Book 1 inevitable below:

---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------------
When Gal, incognito heir to the Umber Empire, was forced to go on the run after an assassination attempt, he was able to bear it all, and was able to survive and make it almost to safety because he was there alongside Ettian, the boy he'd fallen for. And then Gal and Ettian discovered that the Archon resistance was alive and growing - and in the process of trying to use it to escape, Gal found himself exposed and captured by the resistance.

And then Ettian then revealed himself to be Ettian emp-Archon, heir to the Archon throne, in order to take charge of the resistance and save Gal from execution.

Now Gal finds himself imprisoned, comfortably thanks to Ettian's weakness, but still imprisoned, while the boy he loved wages war against his own people and empire. Gal's hopes of survival rely on Ettian being in charge until Gal can escape, and so he begins to try to manipulate Ettian, and their former companion Wen, to ensure both goals are met. But as Gal sees Wen and Ettian faltering, he finds he can't just sit there and let it happen, even as he insists his love for Ettian must truly be gone and dead.....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonds of Brass took place entirely from Ettian's point of view, which was both a strong choice and a frustrating one: strong because Ettian was an excellent character with compelling reasons to have doubts and personal struggles alongside his external ones; frustrating because it meant Gal's actions could never be seen from inside and because the book relied upon the twist of Ettian's parentage being a surprise despite us being always inside his head. And so the shift to Gal's perspective promised to be very enlightening in many ways - first for showing how much of Ettian's feelings that Gal was abandoning his plans of trying to change the Empire to a more peaceful better version in favor of becoming more bloodthirsty was true and second for taking a look at this world from a more privileged perspective, with Gal always being confident in his world as a child, unlike Ettian whose family and world were destroyed when he was a child.

Alas, the shift to Gal's perspective is equally, if not more frustrating. For one, we lose Ettian's perspective as a lot of things happen off page where his actions and feelings are very relevant. But mainly, Gal is just a very frustrating character for the development he doesn't make. Yes he's privileged in his upbringing and grows up with a background that makes him feel the importance of power - such that he constantly finds himself outraged when Ettian promises that his power comes from the people, rather than his own birthright. But Gal never confronts that privilege, and never changes his views on power; nor does he ever confront the realities of what his Empire has wrought in its conquest. Ettian last book struggled between the idea of having a duty towards his heritage, which he thought had been rendered meaningless, and his hopes of moving forwards. Gal's struggle here is not based upon his heritage and training and privilege vs the reality of the universe, but his heritage vs the love and friendship he feels for Ettian and Wen....and it's just not nearly as interesting, even if it's done reasonably well.

In a way, it very much reminds me of a specific Star Wars Expanded Universe plot, the plot of Lara Notsil in the Star Wars Wraith Squadron trilogy (the fact that a squadron of pilots in this book are named "Wraith Squadron" doesn't help). In those books, Lara was an Imperial spy who, to avoid capture, goes undercover among Rebel pilots, only to find she cares for them (and the pilot who falls for her), leading to her turning to their side. Here, Gal attempts to manipulate Ettian and Wen (who has a fun plot as a girl desperate to find a role to play despite being an outsider), only to find he cares for them and would rather they survive and live than his own empire win, which you know is fine, but isn't that interesting. It isn't helped by Gal being imprisoned for so much of this book and away from Ettian, such that they have so few moments to develop actual chemistry - Gal and Wen's relationship is a lot easier to care about, but Gal/Ettian is supposed to be the real romantic relationship, and the romance is really just not there.

And really I think that's my biggest problem with the book - it doesn't deal with the themes of Empire or Privilege, it doesn't deal with issues of power and rule, and yet the romance that is supposed to be at the heart of the series just isn't there either. There's a lot of fun here mind you in the battle scenes, especially once Wen gets taken off her leash (which also makes the novel feel very Star Wars-y or even Gundam-y, as Wen essentially gets a lightsaber), and I still really like Wen as the secondary character she is. But while that's enough to make this book enjoyable at times, and not a bad read at any point, it's enough to prevent this book from ever becoming something really good or special, despite a setup in the first novel that promised such potential.

⭐⭐⭐

Oaths of Legacy came fierce and quick with Skrutskie's near-legendary ability to write action, but it also suffers a bit from second-book-in-a-series syndrome.

I fell in love with Gal and Ettian in Bonds of Brass like so many others. The tension, the best-friends-to-lovers, and finally the reveal of Gal's true identity and all the complications that caused were really amazing to see unfold and the twist at the end left for a JUICY sequel just waiting to be written.

And while so much of this book was great, Gal's POV dragged. It wasn't just his constantly conflicted emotions, which were are completely understandable, but also the sheer amount of boring military speak was just too much for me to get through as someone who is simply not a fan of that type of writing. I can't really blame the author for that, it's a preference thing, but even without that bias I could tell that there was A Lot of it and it really dragged the pacing down.

I wanted more of Wen, but what I got of Wen, I wasn't sure what to do with. I adore her and how she is fearless and slightly insane but one can only escape death so many times before it starts to become a little hard to suspend disbelief. I didn't feel like any of the three *grew* as much as I would have wanted in this book. I know second books are hard and that they are essentially one big middle in themselves and need time to build to the end, but this one just left me craving all of the silliness and adventure and love that we had in the first book.

I'll definitely be here for book three though. I'm hopeful for a strong ending. XX

*My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.*

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Emily Skrutskie returns with the second installment in the Bloodright Trilogy, Oaths of Legacy. Readers follow Gal in the aftermath of the end of book one, Bonds of Brass. This second book picks up very shortly after book one ends, so any true plot discussion would venture into spoiler territory.

First and foremost, I don't believe that Oaths of Legacy fell victim to middle book syndrome. I believe that choosing to primarily follow Gal's perspective was a solid choice. Featuring his internal struggles as a primary aspect of the book even along the backdrop of space battles and interterritorial warfare gave a personal touch and lent toward further investment. I do wish Ettian had more page time, but I did like the role he played in this book.

I liked the character growth shown in all of our main three characters, Gal, of course, but also Wen and to a lesser extent Ettian. Even if I'm pretty irritated by some of the twists, I'm excited to see how they pan out and am eager to learn if my guess from the beginning is carried out in book three.

I would recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys complicated character relationships with a military scifi backdrop that isn't science heavy. I am happy to have had the opportunity to read Oaths of Legacy early, and am mostly just eager for book three after that cliffhanger ending.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for an early copy! All opinions are my own.

Oaths of Legacy picks up not long after the explosive ending of Bonds of Brass. I won’t say too much about the novel as it’ll spoil the ending of Bonds of Brass. Go read the book because it is an amazing sci-fi novel!

Okay, onto my thoughts. I found the first 50ish percent to start out slow. It wasn’t anything Emily Skrutskie did wrong; we had to get introduced to another narrator (I don’t think its a mystery that Gal narrates Oaths of Legacy). Once I was introduced to Gal and started trying to understand his motives, it picked up and my goodness, I couldn’t put Oaths of Legacy down. I read about 56% of the book in one day. I loved learning more about what was in Gal’s head (we only got Ettian’s viewpoint in Bonds of Brass) and his motives for doing things. He honestly does grow throughout the novel, and it’s so interesting to see where he’s at when the novel ends. I’m interested in knowing if the point of view of the third novel will change or include both Ettian and Gal’s points of view. Overall, I really loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new sci-fi series to read.

I’m super excited to read the final novel!