• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Reading Challenges
    • CannonballRead 14 Bingo
    • 2022 Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo
    • Completed Challenges
      • Pondathon II
      • CannonballRead 13 Bingo
      • SpringIntoLove Bingo
      • SnowInLove Bingo
      • JingleBooks Bingo
      • FallIntoRomBingo 2020
      • 2020 Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
      • 2018 Romance Roundabout Challenge
      • Read Harder 2018
      • January – March 2018 Quarterly Challenge
      • Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January – March 2018
      • Cover Hunt Quarterly Challenge: October – December 2017
      • October – December 2017 Quarterly Challenge
      • Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Series
    • Reviews by Year
      • 2022 Reviews
      • 2021 Reviews
      • 2020 Reviews
      • 2019 Reviews
      • 2018 Reviews
      • 2017 Reviews
    • Reviews by Rating
  • Rating System

Llama Reads Books

This llama reads - mostly romance, fantasy and science fiction

Reviews

Review: Oaths of Legacy – Emily Skrutskie

June 15, 2022 Leave a Comment

Review: Oaths of Legacy – Emily SkrutskieOaths of Legacy
by Emily Skrutskie
Series: The Bloodright Trilogy #2
Also in this series: Bonds of Brass
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: September 14, 2021
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 288
Source: NetGalley

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

Torn between loyalty and love, a young prince will learn how much he's willing to sacrifice as he tries to destroy the rebellion that threatens his throne in this exhilarating sequel to Bonds of Brass.

Gal’s destiny has always been clear: complete his training at the military academy, prove his worth as a royal successor, and ascend to the galactic throne. When a failed assassination plot against Gal sends him and Ettian—his infuriatingly enticing roommate—on a mad dash through the stars, Gal’s plans are momentarily disrupted. But he was born to rule the Umber Empire, and with Ettian by his side, nothing will stop him from returning home and crushing the growing insurgency threatening his family’s power.

But nothing is ever that simple in war—or in love. Gal is captured by the rebellion during a skirmish and faces public execution, his grand fate cut short. To save Gal’s life, Ettian does the unthinkable: he reveals himself as the secret heir to the fallen Archon Empire and rightful leader of the rebellion . . . and, therefore, Gal’s sworn enemy. Now a political hostage in this newly-reignited conflict, Gal must use his limited resources to sabotage the rebellion from within, concoct an escape plan, and return to the empire he’s destined to lead. And if that means taking down the man he thought he loved?

All the better.

Amazon  Apple  Barnes & Noble  Kobo  Indiebound  Bookshop

Goodreads

4 stars icon categories_m_m romance icon scifi icon


I wasn’t a big fan of Gal in the last book, so when I heard this one would be from his POV? Well, I had my reservations. Luckily, while I spent most of the book wanting to smack Gal upside the head, I also very much enjoyed it. This book contains definite spoilers for Bonds of Brass, so be warned!

“It never would have worked,” I tell him. “It took me a while to understand it, but . . . I got there.”
I got there the moment he claimed his bloodright. There are no soft wars to be waged here. This ends in blood—his, mine, or maybe both of ours—and no other way will suffice.
“I turned you into this,” Ettian says, staring into his cup. “And now you’re trying to turn me into you.”

After Ettian’s ascension as emperor of the Archon empire (such as it is), Gal, heir to the Umber empire, became his prisoner. But aside from a few chances to show him off, Gal’s captivity has been relatively luxurious. That all changes when, after an assassination attempt, Ettian assigns Wen to be his guard. There’s no love lost between the two: Gal resents Wen for her near-immediate connection to Ettian, and Wen thinks Gal is a stuck-up example of the worst of Umber (she’s not entirely wrong). With the war heating up, Gal must decide once and for all where his loyalty lies: with his empire, or with Ettian.

Gal is a highly conflicted character, and it’s certainly interesting being inside his head and seeing his rationalizations for his actions. Gal spent his years at the academy finding every way to rebel against his mother’s violent rule, but now that Ettian’s in power, he believes he needs to become that monster in order to protect the remaining Umber planets. Gal still loves his mother, and still believes that blood right is the only thing that matters, that those under him should be honored to serve his slightest whim without question. Watching how those assumptions hold up when faced with the completely different operating style of the Archon empire is both bittersweet and, well, pettily joyful.

“I can’t look at him. I have to look at him. He’s a black hole and a burning sun all at once, the gravitational center of everyone in the room. All I want is to escape him, but everything about him makes that impossible.”

Gal wants to hate Ettian, but even with everything that’s happened, he’s still in love with him, no matter how he tries to fool himself otherwise. Even when given every opportunity, Gal can’t quite make himself hurt Ettian – at least not physically. To be frank, Gal’s motivations are a bit of a mess throughout the book, making plans and then discarding them in favor of ones completely the opposite. It’s no surprise, honestly, as he’s frightened, betrayed and desperately trying to be what he thinks the ideal Umber heir is. He rationalizes his attempts to befriend people as efforts to sway them to his side. If he wants to escape, he needs Wen on his side, and the only way to get it is to help her – and by extension, the rebellion. He can only push down his feelings for Ettian for so long, though, and it’s his slow and unsettling realizations about those feelings that provide most of the angst in the book.

Ettian is less successful at hiding his feelings for Gal, which leads to questions about his commitment, ones that can be used to sway power back towards General Maxo Iral. But it’s Ettian who’s keeping Gal alive, and if Iral (or any of the many other Archon commanders) becomes the true power, that also means it’s more likely that Gal will be executed in a particularly gruesome manner. Gal is faced with competing goals: undermine the Archon empire by any means possible, or in more subtle ways that keep Ettian (and by extension Gal) alive.

“There’s no line, is there? Between you looking out for me and you manipulating me?”
“That’s ruttin’ rich, coming from the guy who literally took me prisoner to save my life.”

Gal and Ettian spend less time together in this book which means there’s a lot less romance. In some ways, this is a good thing. Gal needs the space and time to work on himself (or maybe he just needs Wen to smack him into next Sunday, I’m still unclear on which I want). But one of the things that really delighted me about the first book was the romantic tension between the two of them. When it’s in this book, it’s absolutely sizzling, but there’s just not enough of it for me.

And then there’s Wen. It’s clear the author she’s a favorite of the author as well. She gets some of the best lines in the book and by virtue of the bodyguard plot, Gal spends a lot of time with her. It’s Wen’s rising star that makes Gal question himself – how does the daughter of a small-time crime boss rise so high, over Gal whose bloodright was born to rule an empire? Wen’s busy trying to figure that out herself, trying to find her place in a war between two empires she doesn’t belong to, and torn between friendships with two people on opposing sides of that war. There’s also more Esperza, who’s one of my favorite minor side characters.

“Ah, Gal. You’ll figure it out eventually.”

As for cons, this book definitely has middle book syndrome. There’s a feeling of pieces being maneuvered in to place for the final book in the trilogy, which means there’s several plot points that take up a lot of pages but don’t quite go anywhere in this book. The same can be said of much of the plot, as there’s a lot of hurry-up-and-wait sort of plotting, but that at least culminates in a pretty epic space battle. Overall, though, it’s the sort of book that’s easy to pick up and hard to put down, one that sucks you in so that you lose complete track of time.

Overall, a good second book, and given the cliffhanger, I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Content notes: View Spoiler »anxiety (including panic attacks), war, injury of MC, discussion of torture « Hide Spoiler

Related Posts

  • The Bloodright Trilogy Series
  • By Emily Skrutskie
  • Same Genre
Bonds of Brass
Review: Bonds of Brass – Emily Skrutskie
Hullmetal Girls
Review: Hullmetal Girls – Emily Skrutskie
Bonds of Brass
Review: Bonds of Brass – Emily Skrutskie
Strictly Confidential
Review: Strictly Confidential – Lynda Aicher
Want You
Review: Want You – Stacy Finz
Review: Frostbite – J. Emery
Captive Desire
Review: Captive Desire – Robin Lovett

You might also enjoy

Forgotten MagicReview: Through a Valley of White Mist – Anela Deen
Pilu of the WoodsReview: Pilu of the Woods – Mai K. Nguyen
What If You & MeReview: What If You & Me – Roni Loren
Previous:
Review: The Dawnhounds – Sascha Stronach
Next:
Review: The Unmatchmakers – Jackie Lau

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me


READING LLAMA

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m the Reading Llama! I love reading books. My favorites usually include a female protagonist with at least a little bit of romance.

Twitter    Goodreads    RSS    email

Follow


Currently Reading

The Monsters We Defy The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

August Reviews

The Reinvented Heart by Cat Rambo, Jennifer Brozek, Jane Yolen, Seanan McGuire, AnaMaria Curtis, Lisa Morton, Madeline Pine, Sam Fleming, Felicity Drake, Premee Mohamed, Beth Cato, Naomi Kritzer, Sophie Giroir, Maria Dong, Lyda Morehouse, Devin Miller, Aimee Ogden, Anita Ensal, Fran Wilde, Mercedes M. Yardley, Lauren Ring, Xander Odell, Claire Smith, Justina RobsonNot Betting on Forever by Natasha Moore

Recently Read


Goodreads Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
Lauren has
read 7 books toward
her goal of
250 books.
hide

7 of 250 (2%)
view books

Reading Challenges

Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo 2022

RB Summer Romance Bingo 2022
June 1 - August 31

hide

3 of 25 (12%)

CBR14 Bingo

RB Summer Romance Bingo 2022
July 15 - November 15

hide

1 of 25 (4%)

Badges

25 Book Reviews Reviews Published Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved Romanceopoly 2019 Participant

Latest Tweets

Tweets by llamareadsbooks
Eve
  • Ghosts, a secret library and magic collide in a dystopian Edinburgh. Highly recommended!
  • This month’s sticker from the #RomStickerClub is super cute and SHINY!
  • Finished up my ARC of Jackie Lau’s His Grumpy Childhood Friend (out this Tuesday) and I loved this quote! “Practice”
  • Starting off with a quote from one of my favorite books, Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at Bay, second in Big

Categories

  • Book Tour
  • Challenge
  • Cover Reveal
  • Excerpt
  • lol
  • Most Anticipated
  • PondathonII
  • Reviews
  • Sunday Update
  • TBR
  • Uncategorized
  • Wrap-Up

Copyright © 2022 · Dreams Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in