I rated this book with only 1 star out of 5 for several reasons: the lack of a real editor, the childish writing style, the typical Tolkien-esque world set-up...but the main reason for my utter dislike of this book is the base creatures she calls "characters." The protagonist, Derac, and his love-interest, Kie, are a couple typical of most amateur porn: they lack personality and integrity.
My review contains spoilers.
Derac watched his wife die an unrealistic death in Chapter 1, which reads more like a prologue than an actual chapter. Derac reveals toward the climax that he hunted down and tortured his wife's murderers, though he wisely recognizes that doing so couldn't bring her back, and that he'll have to live with his guilt. One would imagine, then, that he would not encourage torture when faced with the true killer--that he would warm the reader's heart by honorably allowing the justice system (for which he pledges his life) to do its duty. He disappoints.
Kie is the author, to put it bluntly. Kierianna is a Mary Sue, a character with all the virtues of her author, and talent where she has flaws. For example, Anastasia's daddy issues spill through as Kie's ability to catch any man she wants--and even some she doesn't. Though Kie considers this a curse, she seems to expect blatant adoration with nonchalant disdain: "“The one time you [all] agree is to protect my honor? That’s sweet. Thank you."
Kie is a tomboy, a trait I can identify with readily enough, but her perfection is laughable. Her need to muffle her femininity could come from her troubled past as a child-sex-slave for the dwarves, but instead, the author claims that wearing dresses and caring for one's appearance is superficial; so instead of making this display of masculinity evidence of Kie's insecurity, the author intends it as a choice made from pride.
Kie and Derac supposedly share a deep and meaningful love, but they never say so to one another. Instead, they exchange compliments based on their attractiveness. In a nutshell, they are in lust, not love. They never have a meaningful conversation that affords them an opportunity to love. They have a significant moment when they're planning their infiltration of the Gorgot Mines, and they sympathize with one another when Kie learns about Derac's wife, but neither of these scenes work to endear one to the other--let alone to the reader.
The intended foil to Kie is the only other female on the Kinir Elite team: Aeli. She is consistently described as stupid, slutty, and superficial, though she actually displays the opposite traits. The only time she does anything stupid is when she speaks out of turn. She is considered slutty because she lets the traitor think that she is loyal to him by letting him sleep with her, but she did so to keep her team alive. That's selflessness personified. Finally, if she's superficial just because she's proud to be a woman, then this author has written the most sexist book since the Twilight series. Aeli is disrespected, dumped by Jardel, basically raped by the traitor, and she's given no comfort or support. She even works next to her ex-boyfriend until the book's close without any thoughts or actions that hint at spite. In the author's quest to make her deuteragonist perfect, she's alienated her readers, and so created a foil to the intended foil.
I would recommend this book to teenagers if it weren't so sexist, as that seems to be the target audience (even though she claims she enchants adults, I was more disenchanted). Typos hindered the unimaginative sentence structures, and someone with a high school degree could tell have told her how one-dimensional her "characters" were. Ultimately, this book was a Mary-Sue love-fest between the author (Kie) and the character once modeled after her dad. It is little more than a shallow romance with action scenes (suspiciously similar to Lord of the Rings) propelling a predictable plot...yet another self-published mistake.
You can keep the 50 cents for Wounded Warrior...I want my $4.49 back.
