Review: Court

Court
Author: Cat Patrick
Publication Date: October 23rd 2014
~A copy was provided by Rock Star Lit PR in exchange for an honest review~

For more than 400 years, a secret monarchy has survived and thrived within the borders of the US, hiding in plain sight as the state known as Wyoming. But when the king is shot and his seventeen-year-old son, Haakon McHale, is told he will take the throne, becoming the eleventh ruler of the Kingdom of Eurus, the community that's survived for centuries is pushed to the limit. Told through four perspectives, Court transplants us to a world that looks like ours, but isn't. Gwendolyn Rose, daughter of the Duke of Coal, is grudgingly betrothed to Haakon -- and just wants a way out. Alexander Oxendine, son of the Duke of Wind and Haakon's lifelong best friend, already grapples with external struggles when he's assigned to guard Haakon after the king dies. And commoner Mary Doyle finds whispers in the woods that may solve -- or destroy -- everything, depending on your bloodline.

Money. Love. Power. Community. What's your motivation?

I've read every Cat Patrick, which is why I was so excited to read Court, unfortunately, it didn't live up to her others. You could say that's because it's different to what she's done before, and it is, but it's not because of that. It's because there's not much going on. Court, in one word, is boring. I'm sorry to say it, but it is, and I can see why it wasn't picked up by the same publisher. I'm not saying Court is bad per say, but it doesn't seem up to her usual standard, and maybe that's just because it's something completely different or what, I don't know, but I wanted to root for it, but I couldn't.

Court has a After the End type of vibe to it, which, coincidentally, I didn't like either, and I didn't get it. The only way I can put it into terms is The Realm is a place like an Amish community, living in plain sight and don't follow any rules bar their own communities. Though in context, The Realm isn't like the Amish at all, more like Medieval times with technology, which even as I type that, makes no sense whatsoever, but there we go. 

Court's written in third person and on top of that we have a lot of perspectives to get used to, and for the first couple of chapters they all blurred together a little before you got to know the characters, and in all honesty, I don't exactly get why we have that many perspectives, you could easily cut out one and it wouldn't affect the story.  On the romance side of things, this is where the Cat Patrick familiarity started, it's still insta-lovey, but it was sweet, and of course, then there's the drama, which was where things started sliding downhill for me, it all became too fictitious.

My biggest problem with any Cat Patrick (even though I do love them) is the length, they're always short, and straight to the point and I've always wanted more from them. I got more from Court (so why the complaining?) but I guess I would've liked less on this one, I found it boring in places.

But, diversity! We have a character who thinks he's gay, but he's not sure if he is, or if he isn't, he's afraid to say it out loud because he's not sure who he is basically, but he does like this guy. And once he does finally come to a decision to tell someone, they already know. He was making more of a big deal out of it than the outcome, and it was nice to see that. Coming out is a huge thing for some people, especially ones who are afraid of being who they are and telling people, so I was glad that it come off to everyone else that it wasn't such a big deal, because it shouldn't be. It just is.

Although Court wasn't what I was expecting, and had aspects I could've done without, it's certainly something different from Cat Patrick.

Rating: 3/5