Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I started off liking this and thought I would be really into it, but by midway it kind of fell flat for me. Still an interesting read, just wasn't my favorite.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this Audio ARC Copy!

Well, that is the way to start a book if you want someone to be completely obsessed! This book is brutal and not for the squeamish, especially of the 8-legged variety, but it was still so good if you're able to deal with that. The amount of trauma that these characters go through throughout the course of this book was a lot, but it wasn't just brutality for the sake of the shock factor, and I really enjoy that in a book. I also really enjoyed the narrator, they did a wonderful job with portraying this story in the way it deserved. I will absolutely be continuing on with this series.

Many thanks to author Evan Leikam, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me the Advance Listeners Copy. This title was published on May 13, 2025.

4 STARS

Anji Kills a King tells the story of an average young woman who assassinates a ruler and must live with the high personal cost. Any passion, hope, or idealism that fueled her impulse did nothing to protect her from life as a fugitive. These bleak circumstances expose the audience to plenty of immersive internal dialogue, in which Anji is mournful, self-indulgent, floundering, contemplative, etc.

Anji's isolation is shattered by the introduction of Hawk. This legendary warrior serves as one of The Menagerie, a collective of top tier bounty hunters with animal names and masks who work for the judiciary. Anji initially reacts in childish awe, until Hawk takes Anji into custody. The captor-captive dynamic remains complex and dynamic as the plot progresses and more foes appear to threaten Anji.

The book tells a contained, personal story. It starts with just Anji and then most of it follows just Anji and Hawk. The worldbuilding is minimal and/or mysterious. Magic is present but not central to the plot. Stakes are questionable; Anji's life is high personal stakes, but a reader may not be sure about external stakes and whether or not that is even relevant. An impatient or plot-driven reader may find the book slow or not to taste. For me, Leikam's work paid off.

I was never bored and always kept guessing about what would happen. The fate of the protagonist was ever up in the air. Anji Kills a King reads with an unusual style that does not match fantasy norms and traditions. Joe Abercrombie's Age of Madness came to mind while reading(although it is not in any way a readalike). Heroes fall from pedestals. Anyone can be foundationally changed by suffering and loss. The bleak world and cynical perspective seem to support moral subjectivism but not nihilism or hopelessness.

"How ironic that the person who marched her toward death was the person that brought her walls down" (rough transcription of quote based on audio).

I slowly grew to love the odd pair of Anji and Hawk. They're fascinating. The relationship evolves over time, as their proximity and dialogue forces some understanding and simpatico to build atop the combativeness and conflicting goals. If I had to spend most of the book reading about any relationship, it might as well be this one! Hawk as a character did most of the heavy-lifting. While Anji kept my curiosity in terms of potential, Hawk appears as a character with unknown weighty history and proverbial demons. Hawk and Anji each get something from the other under dire circumstances and ones in which their options are limited.

I'm excited to read more from Evan Leikam.

AUDIO: Superb! The talented Moira Quirk is a pro at delivering rich, nuanced fantasy audiobook performances. Her timbre is pleasing to listen to, and she makes the different characters distinguishable. I have no complaints about the production quality and editing.

I wish I liked this more but it was very repetitive, I didn’t care about Anji. And I liked the Hawk just barely. However, like I said, very repetitive. Anji’s inner monologues made me angry and I didn’t see any character growth???

I expected more from the premise but it was just a very lackluster adventure novel for me unfortunately.

I had a lot of mixed feelings about Anji Kills a King. I absolutely loved the world building, the Managerie (especally the Hawk) and their magic, and all of the characters that we met along the way. Though the pacing was inconsistent at times, that's not necessarily unusual for characters on a trek such as Anji's. The hardest thing for me was Anji herself. I don't know if it was the narration (which I otherwise LOVED) or Anji herself, but I found her to be insufferable. And while that might be intentional, it really took away from the rest of the story for me.

I do wonder if I'll change my mind after the next book. It does seem like there is potential for a lot of character growth from Anji and I'm interested to see what her future holds and she is shaped by future experiences.

Without giving away spoilers, I loved learning more about the Hawk's history and motivations. The hawk as a character was so well done= the perfect balance of surliness and masked kindness.

There is a solid possibility that I will never forgive Evan for some of the losses in Anji. I don't care if they were necessary. They hurt.

Anji Kills a King, while not an immediate love for me, definitely has peaked my curiosity for the next installment.

👑 A pissy laundress kills one tyrant king and suddenly? Everyone wants her dead.
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Anji opens with one of the boldest first chapters I’ve read all year- regicide, a bounty, and a brutal game of survival. From there, the book kicks into full gear: cults, magic masks, frozen tundras, drugged-up mercenaries, and two very damaged leads who do not get along.
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Anji is prickly, impulsive, and maybe a little lost in the consequences of her choices. Hawk, her captor-turned-companion, is grumpy, foul-mouthed, and secretly kind of iconic. Their relationship? Full of teeth and tension, with surprising moments of tenderness. It’s not romance, but it is complicated.
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This book leans grim, violent, and sometimes chaotic, but there’s also humor laced into the horror, and Moira Quirk’s audio narration brought every gritty moment to life. I did crave a bit more character development, especially for Anji, but the breakneck pace, killer dialogue, and wild world kept me locked in.
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If you like your fantasy unhinged, morally gray, and a little bit feral, Anji just might be your next obsession. (Also, that cover? No notes. Just vibes.) Thanks to @macmillan.audio for the ARC! @netgalley @book_reviews_kill
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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#AnjiBook #GrimdarkFantasy #EpicFantasyReads #HighFantasy #FantasyDebut #RegicideAndRun #GrumpyMentor #FoundEnemies #MoiraQuirk #FantasyAudiobook #BookReview #BookstagramFantasy #AdultFantasyReads #FantasyWithTeeth #FantasyBookRecs #ActionFantasy #WomenInFantasy #MacmillanAudio #IndieAuthors #EvanWinterFans #NewFantasySeries

Fairly solid debut from Leikam (who's known in the book reviewing community) about a girl who kills a king, her rapid capture by a member of a menagerie themed bounty hunter group, and them being on the run from other bounty hunters as she brings in the girl. The fight scenes are well done, the twist at the end is neat, I didn't particularly connect with Anji (which is a bit of an issue because the rest of the series hinges on her). I'll probably pick up the next book from the library. Moira Quirk does a great narration job on this.

Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam
Series: The Rising Tide, Book One
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Length: 332 pages I 10 hours 18 minutes
Narrator: Moira Quirk


I’ve been following Evan for a long time now and when I found out that he was writing a book (and then signed to Tor!) I’ve been over the moon about it. Not only does he recommend some of the best books I’ve read, he’s a local Portland author. My lovely friend Katy sent me the arc as an early birthday gift and I was approved for alc so this was a tandem read for me. The audio was perfect for this book.

As the title aptly states, Anji commits regicide in the first scene, from there she is on the run and is captured by a bounty hunter called The Hawk. This book is nothing if not a fast paced high fantasy with so much action at what felt like every turn. Moira Quirk’s audio narration did an amazing job at keeping me engaged. However I felt a lack of not only character development but just any connection to the character was not there for me. I thought it was extremely well written, the prose was perfect for the story Evan gave us and the action was incredible. I just wanted it to slow down for a touch so I could get a better handle on Anji’s motivations and care about her.

I wanted to love this so badly, I’ll definitely be picking up the next in the series. I highly recommend to anyone that loves a break neck speed high fantasy.

Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher and Author for an eAudio ARC of this work in exchange for my review.

Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam with Moira Quirk as narrator is an engaging and beautifully performed bounty hunter, political fanatical religious road trip fantasy drama and is the first book in a new series by the author.

The mysteries and connections slowly revealed about each of the main characters along with pieces of back story as well as the perils of the harsh world they traverse is compelling and fast paced. The dynamic between everyone is fraught and action-packed.

Despite the action, the repetitive complaints, stubborn and often impetuous actions of Anji, the titular character, combined with repetitive yet brutal reactions of almost everyone around her and a fanatical yet unexplained tone often lead to pacing and immersion issues as a reader.

The audiobook narration and performance enhanced the book immensely.

This was an enjoyable fantasy. It starts exactly after the event in the title. Anji is on the run from killing the king. It was interesting to learn about the world and background as the plot quickly moves. Anji was a difficult character to connect with, and it took me a while to decide how I felt about her. I enjoyed how she slowly widens her understanding of the situation she unknowingly impacted by assassinating the king. The Hawk is a somewhat more sympathetic character, though she is very mysterious for most of the book. This is very gory and dark, and Evan Leikam is not afraid to do the unexpected to our characters. The twists at the end were surprising and satisfying; I am very interested in where this story will go. I enjoyed the narrator, and it was easy to follow the story via audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for providing an eALC in return for my honest thoughts.

4.5 ⭐️ Anji Kills a King hooked me from the first chapter—literally, that’s when she kills the king—and it does not slow down from there. This debut from Evan Leikam reads like a gritty epic fantasy with just the right mix of dark humor, blood-soaked survival, and sharp political undertones. It’s fast, violent, and surprisingly heartfelt in places.

Anji’s on the run, branded a regicide, and hunted by elite mercenaries known as the Menagerie. The journey back toward what should be her execution is filled with chaos: creepy magic, shady religious orders, corrupt monarchs, and some seriously unhinged encounters. And then there’s Hawk, one of the Menagerie, and an older, gruff assassin type who you think is just there to drag her back to the gallows, but whose relationship with Anji becomes one of the book’s most compelling elements. Their dynamic? Complicated, messy, occasionally hilarious, and deeply human.

The worldbuilding leans light in this first installment (we get just enough magic, politics, and creepy world detail to be intrigued), but what really shines is the tone—sharp, bleak, and often unexpectedly emotional. The themes hit hard: power, survival, morality, and what happens when you have nothing left to lose. And the final 20%? Absolutely wild. The twists hit hard, and the ending left me stunned in the best way.

Is it perfect? Not quite. Some moments in the middle felt a little repetitive, some of the travel and bickering could’ve been trimmed, but it still moved quickly and kept me turning pages. And the audiobook? Moira Quirk crushed it. Her narration elevated the entire experience.

This feels like the kind of debut that could easily snowball into a fan-favorite series. Familiar fantasy tropes, but with a fresh, brutal edge, and characters that make you care, even when they’re doing terrible things. I’ll absolutely be picking up the next Rising Tide book the second it drops.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this Audio Arc.

I really really wanted to love this book. The main character is very annoying and her interactions with Hawk did not help to endear me to either character. The world building was lacking and the character development for the MC took way too long. The way the book ended did make me interested in the future books, but I am still not sure I would continue.

Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam (book cover is in image) is a great debut to the series Rising Tide. While I know some users are not going to be happy with the slow burn of of this initial novel, I enjoyed the deliberate introduction to these wonderful characters with the implied promise of a great series to come.

I normally like to do audio and print book simultaneously and was a little bummed out I did not get the book. But, I am so happy I got the opportunity to listen to this book because once I realized that Moira Quirk was the narrator, and also the narrator of the Locked Tomb Series, I knew that it was going to be great. As with Gideon the Ninth, she did an amazing job giving the characters depth and pulling me through this story in just one sitting. I highly recommend this book and am anxiously awaiting the next installment of this series.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this ALC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: May 13 2025

#MacmillanAudio
#AnjiKillsaKing
#EvanLeikam
#MoiraQuirk
#Fantasy
#yarisbooknook
#netgalley

Anji isn't much of an assassin. She sort of stumbled into it. Opportunity, a grudge and suddenly she's on the run... from the most dangerous hunters in the country, the fabled mercenaries, the Menagerie.
Filled with action and humor Anji Kills A king was a wonderful ride through the wilderness (quite literally at some points, up and down mountains) and a surprising, yet satisfying ending.

There was some interesting worldbuilding incorporated into this book. Mostly on a smaller level, the details that we were given made me want to know more about the setting and world. I liked the idea of the Menagerie, and their masks/relics and power were fascinating. There was also some details included about a drug that altered folks, which had potential. But none of the worldbuilding aspects were incorporated with enough detail/depth to really make them go anywhere.

The title of this work is an odd choice. Anji kills the king right at the beginning of the work. There wasn't enough time or information included to make this a compelling event, so it ended up just feeling like a standard fantasy box that needed to be checked. Servant kills ruler - check. Why? Doesn't matter, don't worry about it, it needed to happen so the rest of the book could happen.

Unfortunately, Anji completely killed this book for me. She's captured very early on (not a spoiler), and it was my biggest regret of this book that her captor didn't use a gag on Anji. I haven't read a fantasy book with a protagonist this obnoxious in awhile. She was a major brat, brash, loud, and annoying, and her captor is supposedly a no-nonsense older hero just keeps saying "Shut up or I'll hurt you. Seriously, hush or it's going to get bad for you. You should stop talking or I'll cut out your tongue..." etc. This was most of the dialogue in the first 60% of the book.

Since Anji is taken captive at the very beginning of the book, she has zero agency for about two-thirds of the book. But since her personality is pretty much solely the arguing and being annoying and she doesn't get to do anything, she was not a compelling character. I was way more interested in the Hawk and the remaining Menagerie, but the Hawk spends most of the book telling Anji to stop talking, so we don't learn much about her either.

By about 70% through, some things begin happening, but they're predictable and felt like they are solely to set up for book two. Apparently this is an adult fantasy, but it felt very YA in some of the worst ways to me. If you like fantasy with obnoxious younger protagonists, you may enjoy this one. I'm also an outlier on this one, so don't take my word for it if the premise sounds good to you. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I think this is a good debut, full of action and interesting characters but it ended up becoming repetitive really quickly. The Hawk and Anji argued in the same circles throughout most of the book and the plot followed the same structure: travel for a bit, get caught by someone, fight, continue to travel, rinse and repeat. It felt like the book was actually meant to be the first half of a much longer book. By the time we got to the end, it felt like the halfway point.

I do think the potential is there and I am interested to see how the next book goes so I will be checking it out. Moira Quirk is a fantastic narrator and I enjoyed her work! Thank you to Tor for the early access to the ALC!

Thank you to Netgalley, Evan Leikam, and Macmillan Audio for an opportunity to listen to this book.

As an avid fantasy fan, I find myself more interested in adventure fantasy or small-scale fantasy rather than epic fantasy most of the time. Part of this comes from an apprehension for huge page counts but I also just like stories about a few flawed people trying to do their best with some magic and adventure thrown into the mix. Anji Kills a King was basically exactly that.

Despite having a page count that is pretty short, it doesn't feel like a lesser story because of it. The plot and narrative deftly gets you accustomed to the world and characters effectively while also maintaining the tension of Anji's demise. And also this story is emotionally brutal from the reader perspective. Not in a sense that I loved the main character and couldn't handle what happened to her, but it's very unforgiving in what it allows the main character space to do. Similar to Mad Max: Fury Road, Anji is confined for MOST of this story. She's malnourished, captured, and tossed around that, while not being wasted, did feel appropriately exhausting by the end. Whether it could've used more pages or not, I felt like I had truly gone through a this ordeal with Anji and I appreciated that. I would definitely not say that this book is full Abercrombie, Cook, Lawrence grimdark, it is harrowing at times in a way that is quite wearisome.

I resonate with other reviews of "not enough taking place," but in my opinion authors in fantasy rarely focus enough on real character work rather than events happening, so Leikam focusing on character works very well. Anji as a main character is annoying, loud, abrasive, and frustrating, but no less interesting to follow. I'll take a main character who is obnoxious and drives events than passive protagonists who don't do much but coast along with the plot.

And while I mention the above detractor, I may as well mention the only other problem I had with this story: the debut novel aspect does show--it's just rarely an actual issue. Character work, plot buy-in, and climactic payoff are flawed at times but they're really solid MOST of the time. Despite this not being perfect, there is way more to like than not.

Overall, this reminds me a lot of another fantasy adventure I really enjoyed, The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson. There were issues, sure, but what takes place is handled effectively and solidly that it really isn't worth complaining about. I would've definitely taken another 20-30 pages for certain sequences to sit a little while longer but I also really enjoyed the fast pacing as a whole. I'm eager to see where this heads next especially considering where the story leaves off.

This was a really interesting debut fantasy, but it didn’t quiiiite do it for me. I thought it was more intellectually interesting than emotionally, but I am going to read the rest of the series because I’m super curious to see where this is going.

We start out strong with the titular Anji killing the king and then going on the run. We don’t know who she is or why she did it, just that she’s on the run, and there are bounty hunters after her. The story continues on like this, giving us bits and pieces of backstory as the book goes on; but where I think this was trying to create curiosity in me the reader, I think what it actually did was help to emotionally divorce me from the story. I needed more, sooner.

The other thing that lessened my emotional investment was that the main relationship between Anji and the Hawk (bounty hunter) that forms the structure of the novel was extremely frustrating. It’s essentially a road trip novel, where these two characters are traveling together (one being taken to be turned in for a bounty, and to be executed) and they encounter different peoples and situations along the way. I admire the author’s commitment to character here, as both Anji and the Hawk had consistent personalities the whole way through. It’s just, their consistent personalities really hindered the story, in my opinion. Anji was always going off half-cocked, not thinking, and asking tons of questions (and doing very impulsive, stupid things) and the Hawk instead of explaining literally *anything* to her, just keeps telling her variations of “shut up” for like, 80% of the novel. Their dynamic makes sense, but it was SO FRUSTRATING to read.

I feel like this barely got going by the time it ended.

I am rounding up from 3.5 stars, though, because this has a ton of potential to be a really good series. I hope the author can build on what he’s started here, and hopefully the pacing and character issues I had here won’t be a problem in the next one.

Moira Quirk narrates the audiobook, and she does a fantastic job, as always.

[3.5 stars, rounded up]

Anji Kills a King starts off filling the title's promise, our main character Anji kills the king within the first couple of pages of this novel. While it starts off with this explosive introduction to the world and main character, the rest of the story changes to a very long travel. We get introduced to our other main character Hawk early on, one of the hunters chasing after Anji. I think this was a me problem, but I didn't connect or found I cared about either of these characters. It was a very easy book to read, the writing is good, but I never found myself wanting to pick it up.

I would be interested to see what Leikam writes next, but sadly this didn't work for me.

A snap decision to stab the hated king sends Anji, a laundry servant, on a cross country and dangerous flight to stay ahead of the king's feared mercenaries, the Menagerie. Each enforcer sports an animal-shaped mask that is supposed to grant the wearer superhuman powers.

Anji is apprehended by the Hawk, an aging warrior who is clearly keeping secrets, such as why she is eager to stay away from and ahead of her fellow bounty hunters, and why, though clearly very ill, refuses to slow her pace toward their destination, where she intends to turn Anji over for execution.

They encounter cold, storms, foul creatures, and a terrifying brush with a Sun Warden. The journey is horrible, and deadly, and Anji learns that the Menagerie, whom all in the land are taught are noble, are very, very different from the stories about them.

Anji is no stranger to danger and unfairness, having grown up with two parents who protested the injustices of the land and rule of the king, and who were killed for their activities. Everywhere she and the Hawk travel, Anji sees terrible living conditions, poverty and desperation, and she learns that this situation, as well as within her hometown, is not unique within the kingdom. And Anji learns to question whether the honour of the Menagerie, when all they do is uphold the injustices perpetrated by the king.

I was immediately invested in this narrative. The story is brutal, and I could really feel the urgency in the Hawk's voice as she pushed, yelled, and dragged Anji along. Anji is naïve of the wider world at the story's outset, though this changes with each new experience she has with the Hawk, and her eyes are opened to much as she travels.

The action is quick and the violence sudden, and difficult and frightening as the Hawk is, I came to enjoy the dynamic between her and Anji, fraught with secrets, pan and anger as it is.

My enjoyment of this book was only increased thanks to the skilled narration by Moira Quirk in the audio. I'm very familiar with this voice actor's work, and have long enjoyed her interpretations of characters. It goes without saying that Quirk's Anji and Hawk are fantastically rendered, and her voicing of the other members of the Menagerie was chilling.

I greatly enjoyed the story's ending, and look forward to returning to this world in the next entry in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my review.