Ellen Goodlett is bringing the fantasy drama on fierce!

First things first, Thank you so much to Little Brown, Books and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Rule was recently released on September 11, 2018 and is Ellen Goodlett’s debut novel. She does a great job!

This book is going to be part of a series, and book two (RISE) was just announced as well. So strap in for at least two books~ I’m hoping it goes a bit longer. hahaha

Rule follows the story of 3 young women that battle for leadership over the throne. These three women are not the best options, nor are they in the best situation. You will begin the book thinking ‘omg, what is happening no no no’. That is how the scene is set.

*Cue all the drama* *grabs popcorn*

“It was a nice lie. The dead deserved to die. If you believed that, you could believe you’d never be the one on the wrong end of the knife.” – Ellen Goodlett, Rule

It’s hard to articulate my feelings on this one. I did enjoy reading this but not in the way you may think~ so I’ll start with the my impression on the plot line first. The setting of Rule is excellent and the premise is solid. I enjoyed the world creation, as well as all the side character introductions and little things that made up the foundation building. This novel has all the good ground work and it makes the initial read very enjoyable and worth it.

As far as the characters, the first half of the book FLIES BY because of all the drama and secrets you find out. Can I just say the backstory on this is jaw dropping and shocking? (LOL)  I kept saying to myself “Oh no… OH NO!” which is always fun and a good indicator of where the story leads you.

I do think I have a favorite character and it’s Zofi~ she’s the most hardened of them and risky and I have a soft spot for that. Ren was probably my second favorite because she has a coldness and brutality that is specific to political intrigue. Her character does an excellent job with it. My least favorite character is Akeylah but I think that was mostly do to her BAD DECISION MAKING. Not that all of them made bad decisions in the beginning, but her love interest choice is also not great and I wanted to shake the book. *why can’t you see traps* 

Where was I?

Also, I would like to point out there are quite a few trigger warnings on this book. Warnings for Abuse, Self harm (which is a major component of the magic system), abduction, and violence.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but it didn’t blow me out of the water with plot or characters. I desperately wanted to love this book but I kept reading more for the drama than the plot progress. Then the plot progress wasn’t much and the drama did eventually get old. That being said HOLY CLIFF HANGER FOLKS. So fair warning on cliffs, haha.

  • Overall Rating: 3.25 Stars
  • Plot: 3 Stars
  • Character Development: 3.5 Stars
  • Dialogue: 3 Stars
  • Writing: 3 Stars

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a quick YA fantasy read.

~~Happy Reading!!
Ash


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