Book Review: Allies & Assassins by Justin Somper

Prince Anders, the ruler of Archenfield, has been murdered, leaving his younger brother, Jared, to ascend the throne. Sixteen-year-old Jared feels unprepared to rule the kingdom and its powerful and dangerous court, yet he knows he can rely on the twelve officers of the court to advise him. He also knows he can just as easily be at their mercy-especially when it appears that one of them may be responsible for his brother's death. Unable to trust anyone, Jared takes it upon himself to hunt down his brother's killer-but the killer may be hunting him, as well. Murder, betrayal, and intrigue abound in Justin Somper's thrilling YA series debut. Exploring the political machinations of the medieval court and the lives that hang in the balance, Allies & Assassins is a gripping tale of a teen torn between duty and revenge.

My Review:
The sudden murder of Prince Anders after two years of peace has left the kingdom in chaos. Sixteen year old Prince Jared has never felt ready to be the heir, foever in his brother's shadow and not as good at anything his brother excelled at. Fear of failure as the new Prince is bad enough but he fears that the assassin might want to target him too. He is unsure who to trust and as the investigation continues, more suspects come into the frame. Is the assassin an enemy from a neighbouring kingdom who wants to restart the war? Is it one of the trusted Twelve who are there to assist the Prince in ruling the Kingdom? Is it a servant with free reign to roam the castle? Is it am ambitious family member who wants the Throne. With only one ally, Jared must find the truth quickly.

I picked this book up in a charity shop over a year ago and bought it on impulse despite not being that interested in fantasy as a genre, at least compared to my favourite genres. I was actually surprised to enjoy it more than I expected. The plot is a bit of a murder mystery with a bit of backstabbing and betraying going on, an investigation into the people at Court, as well as looking at the life and secrets of Prince Anders. I found it interesting and entertaining, and it did keep me wanting to find out who the murderer was and why.

Prince Jared is a good MC, easy to like and have sympathy for. He has never wanted to be the heir to his older brother as he never had the same interests ie hunting, and has no idea of how to be a ruler. He knows he has to pick the right person to be his heir in case something happens to him as well but it is hard when he doesn't know who to trust. He finds unexpected help in the form of Asta, the apprentice to Elias the medical man. Asta is struggling to prove that she is capable of doing her job, questioning her mentor about things she thinks he has missed and is unwilling to investigate. Elias is happy to just do the autopsy and let others piece together the investigation but when Asta thinks an innocent man is being blamed, she decides to speak to Prince Jared about her fears.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. There was the ambitious mother of the Prince, Elin, who is determined that things are going to be the way she wants things. She is somewhat ruthless and wants to make decisions for Jared who is too intimidated to argue. There is the wonderfully ambitious cousin Axel, who was already plotting against Prince Anders and is desperate to be chosen as the heir to gain power for his side of the family. There is the distraught Silva, widow of Anders who is realising that despite being pregnant, her husband was having an affair with someone else. I liked the mysterious falconer Nova and her gorgeous birds, Logan the Poet who organises so much for the Prince and Kai. Actually I liked pretty much all the characters and the way they were written. There was enough development there for me to get to know the characters and enjoy the story.

There is also a lot going on in the plot that the reader can try to work out. Is the murder political and personal? Who did it and did someone else plan it? Has somebody close to the Prince betrayed him? Who was Prince Anders having an affair with and was that connected to his murder? Is one of the Twelve involved in the murder plot? Was Silva the real target of the assassin to kill her baby? Was the second death accident, suicide or murder? I was thinking about what was going on in the plot the whole time and trying to decide who was the killer and which woman had the affair with the Prince. That was fun! I certainly did have a few ideas about what was happening and was right about the affair but wrong about everything else! I liked the subtle twists as the plot went on and the incidents that followed the original murder.

The story was good enough for me to want to read the next book and I was ready to do that. Then I found out that the author was only contracted by the publisher to write two books and that he supposedly finished the second book with a cliffhanger. Why would the author do that? If you are contracted to do two books only, you MUST finish the story in two books or you are cheating the fans! A lot of fans of the series said that it all seemed set up for a third book that was never going to happen, leaving an unfinished series. I'll be honest that this has really put me off reading the second book in the series and it is so frustrating! I wanted to see more of this world but it seems I'll never read the whole stort. Bummer!

Read June 2019
3/3.5 stars.