A review by rachelisathomas22
Blood & Steel by Helen Scheuerer

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Althea Zoltaire knows two things: 1. she wants to be a warrior. 2. The laws forbid her to do it. 

As she embarks on a journey with the prickly warsword Wilder Hawthorne, the journey begins to unfold much differently than she ever imagined. Now she must do everything in her power to stay alive. 

Blood & Steel fits in the romantasy genre well. It's full of action, friendship, broody love, and untold destiny. Anyone who is a frequent reader of the genre will find the book to be par for the course. 

I rated this book a 3.5 stars. While I enjoyed this book enough to want to continue the series, I found the first book to be a little on the nose. It often felt like the tropes and some of the dialogue took me out of the story. It felt obvious or heavy handed, when I wanted to just be immersed in the story. I'm hoping this is just the first book and the others will improve on this as the story progresses, because I see a lot of potential for Althea's character arc.