The Affiliate

If you've enjoyed any of K.A. Linde's books PLEASEEEE give The Affiliate a chance. Her writing is exactly what I've come to expect, TERRIFIC! Being that this is the first book of the series and it's in a "fantasy" world, there is a lot of explaining and set up. The only thing I really missed was the romance. Now don't get me wrong there is some but I NEED MORE but the story sucks you in. I have high hopes for the rest of the series and will be (not so) patiently waiting for The Bound. - " I can never be anything but the king...but when I'm with her, I want to be."

Review: Protagonist: So while this book is told from the third person and sometimes follows certain side characters, for the most part this book focuses on the character of Cyrene. All Cyrene's ever wanted was to be chosen to stay in first class like she was raised and hopefully be given the position of an Affiliate to the Queen of her kingdom. Someone should have told her to be careful what she wised for. Being an Affiliate isn't all it's cracked up to be for Cyrene, especially when the Queen seems to hate her and other Affiliates and those in the First Class seem to be gruesomely and horribly killed. I loved the character of Cyrene, she's a kind, loyal, and curious character. While she doesn't develop that much over the course of this first book, there's plenty of potential for development in future books. Romance: So, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not a huge fan of love triangles in which the two people vying for the main character's affections are siblings, especially when one seems kind and caring while the other is promiscuous and relentless in their pursuit of the main character. All that being said I actually found myself kind of enjoying this one. While I'm not quite taking it seriously as Cyrene doesn't seem to hold any feelings for Prince Kael, particularly after one incident, I do actually like the idea of Cyrene and King Edric together. Is it bad that I want them together even though he's married? Though I should clarify that it's a loveless and arranged marriage. The connection between Cyrene and Edric is very well developed, while it starts off as sort of an insta-infatuation while some BS about electricity, sparks, and bonds, it begins to develop into a fairly realistic romance, even though there isn't all too much of it, I found myself really enjoying it and anticipating seeing where it will go in future installments. World-Building: So I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the world-building in this book. I love it because this is very interesting and semi-unique take on the fantasy genre, but at the same time I hate it because I had to sort of gather most of the world-building and explanations on various things from context clues. There are moments when certain things are beautifully and wonderfully explained and I got a real sense for what I was dealing with then there would be things such as the position of Consort in the court of Byern that sort of escaped me. I always had a vague idea, but it would have been a great help to have the explanation however long or short so that I didn't feel as though I was guessing most of the things I felt I should know. Predictability: I was also a bit split on the predictability as well. While there were some amazing reveals in this book, I mean some completely awesome things, I felt as though they were a bit few and far between. Also, there would be times where I was lost as to where the story was going to go, by that I mean the story would lull at times and I really wanted a much more evenly spread pacing instead of having these great plot infused chapters and then some that I just felt sort of lost in. Rating: So yes, this book does have it's flaws but I was drawn into this world and I didn't want to leave. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to get my hands on the next.