thelittlebookowl

Title / Sons of the Blood

Author /  Robyn Young

Publication Date / 2017

Genre / Historical fiction

Page no. / 416

Overall Rating / ★★★

This is the first book in the New World Rising series. It is set in 1483 so takes place during the last few years of the Wars of the Roses. It mixes historical fiction with a mystery.

The story is told using multiple perspectives and takes place in various place around the world including London and Seville. Part of the story is told from the perspective of historical figures such as Richard III and Henry Tudor (later Henry VII). While I enjoyed the setting of this book, it did get a little bogged down in details at time. Consequently I found myself skim reading small sections a few times. I did enjoy the story overall, although I wasn’t the biggest fan of one element of the ending, concerning the mystery surrounding Jack Wynter’s father. It is such a cliche and I just couldn’t get behind it. I’m not going to say more since I don’t want to spoil it but if you’ve read it hopefully you know what I’m talking about.

One thing to be aware of going in is the large amount of characters within this book. There are a lot of them to track of and names are quite often interchanged with titles, so it can be a little tricky to keep track of everyone. After a couple of chapters, I settled into the flow of the story and I didn’t find these switches jarring. I liked that it gives you a wider view of the events of the book. Some of the characters were a little under developed but I liked the way Young choose to portray the historical figures. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Jack Wynter so I’m hoping to become a bit more invested in him in the next book.

Overall I enjoyed this book but I did have a few issues with it. I will be checking out the sequel, since I actually bought it before the first one, because I didn’t realise it was the second book in the series. Books in a series should always be numbered on the spine, in my opinion. Have you read this book? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

Pippa