Friday 7 March 2014

Review: Death Sworn

Death Sworn  (Death Sworn #1)
Author:

Publication Date: March 4th, 2014    

~A copy was provided by Greenwillow via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review~
 

 
 

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When Ileni lost her magic, she lost everything: her place in society, her purpose in life, and the man she had expected to spend her life with. So when the Elders sent her to be magic tutor to a secret sect of assassins, she went willingly, even though the last two tutors had died under mysterious circumstances.

But beneath the assassins’ caves, Ileni will discover a new place and a new purpose… and a new and dangerous love. She will struggle to keep her lost magic a secret while teaching it to her deadly students, and to find out what happened to the two tutors who preceded her. But what she discovers will change not only her future, but the future of her people, the assassins… and possibly the entire world

 
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I had high expectations from Death Sworn, and on one hand, it did deliver, but on the other, it didn't. It's kind of great, but then it's kind of...ugh, I don't even know. I liked it. I kind of loved it. The characters are sarcastic, sadistic, completely moronic and sometimes savage, but there's a huge hole in the world building. Meaning, we don't actually get to see any. There's magic and assassins', and though we do get to see magic, you don't get the assassinations'. There's the fact we get a basic back story on what they are, what they do, the meaning behind the whole mission, but let's be real here. We don't see as much as the outside world, so we don't have much world building. We're set in a cave people, when I say set in a cave, I mean set in a freaking cave for the whole duration of the book. And while that was fun and different and all, because of it made Death Sworn hang in the balance by the characters. All on them.