Review - Lord of Secrets by Breanna Teintze

Lord of Secrets by Breanna Teintze

Published 23rd July 2019 by Jo Fletcher Books

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 36/50

I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Magic is poison. Secrets are power. Death is . . . complicated.

Outlaw wizard Corcoran Gray has enough problems. He's friendless, penniless and on the run from the tyrannical Mages' Guild - and with the search for his imprisoned grandfather looking hopeless, his situation can't get much worse.

So when a fugitive drops into his lap - literally - and gets them both arrested, it's the last straw - until Gray realises that runaway slave Brix could be the key to his grandfather's release. All he has to do is break out of prison, break into an ancient underground temple and avoid killing himself with his own magic in the process.

In theory, it's simple enough. But as secrets unfold and loyalties shift, Gray discovers something with the power to change the nature of life and death itself.

Now Gray must find a way to protect the people he loves, but it could cost him everything, even his soul . . .

With the humour of V.E. Schwab, the scale of Trudi Canavan and the deftness of Naomi Novik, Lord of Secrets is a heartwarming fantasy novel about saving the people you love without destroying the world (or yourself).

My Thoughts

I was kindly gifted a copy of this book via the publisher in exchange for a review and I'm pleased to say that I really liked this story. I've been really enjoying diving into some more adult fantasy lately and I definitely think this one sits in that realm over YA. The story is simple but great, we aren't following some really complex plot with several storylines and perspectives and, although I do like that type of read, this one was a refreshing change. However, just because the story is simple don't think it isn't good because it really is. 

We follow our main character Grey who is an illegal magician and whose Grandfather has been kidnapped. Grey is tasked by his Grandfather to find a magical artefact and hide it in order to save everyone, it really is that simple. The plot was good, solid. It was interesting and kept me hooked throughout the story, it didn't slump or slow and kept the pace throughout. I really enjoyed the 'tomb raiding' and puzzle solving aspects of this book and I would of loved it if there had been more of these. I also really enjoyed the magic system. The way runes had to be scribed before they could be cast was great coupled with the after effects of magic, made the system in this book really interesting.

The characters were really great too. Our main character Grey was actually quite complex. He wasn't 'good' but he always tried to make the right choices. He was arrogant at times and definitely wasn't used to working with people but his development over the course of the book was interesting and I enjoyed reading from his perspective. I also enjoyed our 'villain' character Jaern. He was another complex character, one that always had an agenda but as a reader you were often left guessing as to what that was. He wasn't outwardly evil but he was manipulating and calculating and that's what made him so fun to read about. I also enjoyed our side characters however, I feel these could of been developed a little bit more.

Overall I thought this was a really great debut novel. It was a fun and fast paced read with some interesting and complex characters. I'm not sure if this is part of a series or not. Goodreads says it is however, the conclusion of this book seemed pretty conclusive. That being said I will definitely be picking up anything else this author writes in the future.

Overall Rating