Unfortunately this book is not finalised, in my opinion. There are so much errors in the language, it takes away from the story. The author has also chosen to just fall into a main event without introducing the main characters so the reader has no idea what’s happening. I actually could not finish this book. The synopsis sounds great so the storyline idea is great but it need a lot more work.

***This ARC was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I will start this out by saying this book was a quick DNF. The writing is very reminiscent of poorly written and edited fan fiction. Not saying that fan fiction is bad, it is just there are more than enough examples of poor writing with such things. Elspeth seems to be the very epitome of purity culture and the soft and demure way that women [i]should[/i] act like. I only got 6% in and this character doesn't seem to be the type to be a "bandit queen". Yes, I know that in the first chapter we get the information that she has had her memory wiped, but still in this first chapter, the writing did nothing to endear me to the character. I am glad I got this as an ARC because otherwise I would have never picked this up.

This was not the book for me, I think this would be a great fit for younger audiences maybe YA or younger but I personally could not connect to the writing or characters. Saying this I think this is a good and interesting story I just don't think I am the audience for this.

It took me quite a while to get into this book. The different POV’s confused me, I wasn’t really sure who was who most of the time. All references to the characters pasts didn’t feel very real to me and the men were portrayed a little too perfectly.
Further into the book it turned into an enemies-to-lovers thing, which was fun. The ending shocked me when it ended on a cliffhanger.
Overall I’d recommend this to anyone who’s just now starting out in YA Fantasy.

I enjoyed this book. The plot flowed well and the characters were well developed. I look forward to reading the next book.
****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

The cover is what drew me in to this book. Unfortunately I don’t think it was a great fit for me personally and read too young for my taste.

I looked at the cover and decided to request this book. I’m glad I took my chances, because it is a good story. If you like fantasy and adventure and romance, you should read Betrayal and Banditry by Jes Drew. Looking forward to the next part of the story of Lady Elspeth and Prince Otelo.

Me gustó mucho la cubierta de éste libro y lo pedí. Me alegra haberlo pedido, porque es una gran historia. Si te gusta la fantasía, el romance y la aventura, Betrayal and Banditry por Jes Drew es una buena mezcla de dichos géneros. Sólo me queda esperar por la siguiente parte de la aventura de Lady Elspeth y del Príncipe Otello.

Betrayal & Banditry

This book was great, and having a female leader with the ability to lead people even better.
The face changing part of the book was a little confusing but other then that it was an excellent read.
Thank you NetGalley and Jes Drew for a copy of this ARC.

First I just want to say that the cover of this book is stunning, this would look fantastic on a bookshelf!

Overall I enjoyed the premise of the book, it was a light fast-paced YA Fantasy Romance and I think it fits well into that category.

I would have liked more world building early on in the book and inner dialogue from Elspeth FMC and Otello MMC. It felt like there was always so much happening in rapid succession or constant dialogue with side characters. It was pretty confusing at times, especially throughout the first portion of the book. Almost like I was being told about events rather than being shown why they were happening.

Unfortunately I think the writing style wasn't a good fit for me so I probably won't continue on with the series.

The author created a very interesting world and cast of characters, I think this book will find it's audience.

Thank you Jes Drew, Net Galley and Victory Editing for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review .

A promising premise and some interesting worldbuilding quirks, but ultimately an underdeveloped jumble with some major missteps.

Elspeth is a minor noblewoman with elvish blood and Otello is the Sacred Prince of the Holy Empire. They’re betrothed almost at first sight because she saves him from a falling chandelier, but a mysterious magical sage shows up and erases both their memories of the event. Several years later, after the Empire declares open season on elves, Elspeth’s aunt is murdered and she flees her home for the woods, and Otello decides that his response to his father actively committing genocide is to… go on a tour of the baronies [formerly] held by elven barons? To apologize?

Otello’s grand plan to somehow make up for his father murdering an unknown number of elves in his empire with no explanation or warning is never actually explained, and the obvious ridiculousness of a *renegade genocide apology tour* while said genocide is *actively occurring* is simply ignored.

The book hurtles through action after action at an astonishing clip (three “heists” in less than 40 pages, for example, all over without a single moment of suspense) without enough explanation or grounding details to follow the reasoning behind any of it, propelled by snappy dialog that I found stilted and awkward and a constant stream of instant, impulsive decision making by every single character.

The author also drops unfamiliar terms with little to no explanation consistently through the narrative, which I found confusing.

Ultimately this book was not for me!