Quinn's Reviews > Warrior

3.5 stars

On paper (no pun intended), Warrior had all the ingredients for a 5-star read – exotic location, action and adventure, steamy romance, appealing characters. And it did deliver in all these areas. Yet, the overall package still somehow missed its mark for me.

There was plenty to like about Warrior. For a start, I loved both Gabriel and Thalia. Thalia was a strong and capable heroine who remained realistic. Being English born but raised in Mongolia by her father, she doesn’t resemble the gently bred English Rose you will often find in Victorian romance novels, but the author also ensured she never became one of those OTT kick-ass heroines you might find in Urban Fantasy, for example, either.

Gabriel was also a very endearing character, and it was wonderful to be reading this novel primarily from his perspective. A successful and talented career soldier, Gabriel is unsophisticated and inexperienced with gentlewomen, and finds himself drawn to Thalia, who is unlike any woman he has ever known. Gabriel is able to strike that difficult balance of needing to protect Thalia while recognizing and respecting her own capability.

The attraction and sexual tension between Thalia and Gabriel was very well done, and I really believed in them as a couple.

The author also did a great job with the Mongolian setting. She provided the perfect amount of detail regarding the landscape, culture and people to give a wonderful sense of place, which I was easily able to visualize.

The action, for the most part, was also well done, particularly the battle near the end. Again, the author provided a fantastic depiction of the setting and conflict, immersing the reader into the chaos.

That all sounds good so far, and it was, but the problem I found was how all these elements were strung together. There was something about the narrative connecting each individual scene that just didn’t work as well for me. The writing was almost, well, bland and it just didn’t grab me. It took me nearly twice as long to read this book as most others, because I just wasn’t compelled to pick it up, at least until the last third when things started happening in earnest.

I also don’t think the author did a good enough job of selling the overarching plot of the Blades of the Rose, the Heirs and the Sources – critical to the story. Having seen how talented she is in providing the perfect amount of detail to satisfy the reader in other areas, I think she really missed the mark here. The information we received was basic at best, sorely lacking in history and detail. As a result, I didn’t feel invested in or connected to that part of the story. I don’t know whether this was an intentional result of having mostly used Gabriel’s POV or not, but it didn’t work for me.

I will definitely be reading more of this series, because there was great potential and characterization in this one.