War of Princes Series by A.R. Ivanovich Talk (Spoilers)

I said in my review of Lastland, the last book in the War of Princes series by A.R. Ivanovich, that I wanted to talk more about the series in another post where I could talk about spoilers to my heart's content. Then I wound up putting it off because I feel like I have so much to say that writing this will take forever. I'm finally doing it though. I doubt this will be everything I could potentially say since that would be far too long.

Also, if it's not obvious by now, this post will contain lots of spoilers for all four books, so don't read it if you haven't read those books.

I can't start talking about this series without first talking about the character. I loved all of them, even ones I would have expected to hate. I wasn't Dylan's biggest fan in the first book, even before his true colors were revealed at the end. But the way he works towards redeeming himself for the rest of the series was excellent, and I loved how it was always a constant battle over continuing to work towards being a good person and wanting to give up for him.

When Kyle, Ruby, and Sterling began to play a bigger role in the second book, I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn't really expected it, especially when it came to Sterling. I do wish that Ruby had gotten to play a bigger role, but at the same time, I'm glad that we learn in the last book about what she's been up to and how hard she's been working to save Haven.

Kyle being Varion was, it goes without saying, a shock to me. I did not see that coming at all, and I loved the tension it created for Kyle and Kat's friendship. I can't even imagine learning that your childhood best friend is a centuries old prince who may or may not be evil. That was handled amazingly well, and I love that, in the end, he really was her friend. Upon initially reading his death, I was both sad and disappointed because I wanted him to live, but that's one of those things that I've thought about a lot since I finished the book. Now I really think that's the way the book needed to end.

While I'm on the topic of Kyle/Varion though, I have to mention Carmine because I was so disappointed when she turned out to be a spy. That was another twist that I never saw coming. I had really been loving her and Kyle as a possibility before it happened. I think the biggest disappointment I have with the series was not getting to learn more about her motivation. It seems odd to me that someone who seems to be so much of an opportunist would betray one of the Princes, the most powerful people in the world, when she has become his actual friend. Staying loyal to him feels like the smarter option after all, and especially after the epilogue that brought all of that curiosity up for me again, I have so many questions about Carmine as a character and her story and whatnot that I would really like to be answered.

I saved Kat and Rune for last because I felt like I had so much to say, but now all I can really think of is gushing about how wonderful they both were as both characters and as a couple. I don't even know where to start. I just really love both of them in all of the ways. In particular, I loved Rune as a character so much. I loved the way he was struggling with freedom after living so rigidly for so long.

But one of the things I really loved was how devoted they were to each other. I really appreciated that the series didn't have a love triangle like so many other series. Instead, it's established early on that Kat and Rune have feelings for each other, and that just gets to be a steady thing throughout the series. I loved how much they loved each other and how much they were constantly fighting to protect and help the other. I thought their relationship was wonderful, and it was definitely one of my favorite relationships that I have read about in recent years.

I know there is more I could say. I could easily talk about the construction of the world and the different aspects of that that I loved. I think I've said enough for now though, so I'll just stick with having gushed over the characters. Because that's probably I'll I'd end up doing if I went on: gushing.

If you can't tell, I really loved this series. It was one of the best that I've read recently and one that I would highly recommend. I'm really glad that I decided to read it.