Posted by When I started reading Blight Marked I realized that I never wrote a review for Fate Lashed! Lol how the fuck did that get by me? “longer review to come” – as she reviews a year later.
Hero Forged is one of my favorite self pubbed books ever, it ticked all my boxes in all the right ways, so naturally, I was super stoked for this book. This did have a different feel to it, thankfully I listened to the intro and knew that was coming.
The writing continues to be great, the dialogue engaging even if the tone was different at times. It’s fast-paced, tightly plotted, and there’s always something going on. Like, seriously, there was a lot of shit going down in this one. I think my favorite part of this book is the heart that’s so clearly behind it. I’m reading the next in the series, Blight Marked, hoping it can provide a break in between a bunch of bleak and dark as fuck book.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the love triangle vibe… I’m basically never a fan of love triangles so this isn’t so much a fault with the book as it is a personal distaste. The love triangle did serve a purpose which made it more bearable for me – Gabe definitely has a lot of his personality traits tested and analyzed by himself and others throughout this awkward phase of liking two people at the same time. It does resolve itself by the end of the book and thank god because I don’t think I could have handled another edition where he doesn’t know where his feelings actually lie. He figures his shit out, and onto the next book!
The lighter-hearted tone and snarky personality of Gabe continued to be a highlight for me. I liked getting to see more of the world, more of the big players in this universe, and the Star Trek references.
There’s a character named Esme… she’s a hag, and she’s almost never wrong. She’s also a badass. I approve of alllll of this.
Ratings:
- Plot: 13/15
- Character: 13.5/15
- World Building: 13.5/15
- Writing: 13.5/15
- Pacing: 13/15
- Originality: 13/15
- Personal Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Total: 88/100 – 5 star on GR