Jennie's Reads

“I don’t fear death. But I will not die.”

⭐️ 3
🌶 3
🌒 Fated Mates
🌒 Sprit Animals
🌒 Stalker MMC
🌒 Bad Ass FMC
🌒 Elemental Magic
🌒 Forbidden Love

---

I’m going to be brutally honest here, I almost DNF’d this book a couple times. I’m really holding fast to the saying not all books will resonate with everyone, and I’m kinda bummed about it. The blurb was amazing, and the ARC readers before me had so many good things to say. I will admit that the story is an interesting one, the characters have so much potential to be *more*. Let’s break it down though.

Synopsis

The Gem
Marked by the Gods, Kya is forced to partake in a Trial for a chance to be deemed Worthy. If she succeeds, she’ll be gifted great powers. If she fails, she could lose her life or worse. But that’s only the start of her worries. Now, the same plague that took her home is spreading and threatening the fate of the realm. Can Kya survive the Trial of the Gods and gain the needed power to rid the world of the growing threat before it’s too late? Or will she be drawn to what awaits her in the shadows?

The Shadow
Ryker has waited a long time for her-his mate. Now he’s found her. He plans to claim what is rightfully his, but dark forces threaten to destroy his Nation should he embrace the bond he so desperately desires. Unable to escape the drive to be near her, he waits for his precious gem, lingering in her shadow.

My Thoughts

I really really wanted to love this book, truly. Lets break it down a little further into what I enjoyed and what I did not. *warning, possible spoilers below*

What I enjoyed

Kya: Kya has an AMAZING character arc and beautiful character development. We see her go from someone who’s fate is unknown because she’s a contestant in the Trial of the Gods. She basically lives with an “expiration date” on her mind- not knowing when she’s going to be summoned to compete for an opportunity at life or to be chosen. Everything is basically day-by-day for her until the summoning for the Trial and she lives it by being (yeh, ya fav) stabby FMC. Then, once she completes the Trial, she’s now faced with the character of development of someone who has basically *no future* to a Worthy chosen by the gods. Not just any god though, the only one who has never chosen a worthy before, and virtually has no nation/peoples left. She has to manage and figure out what all these extra powers are that the god gave her, and that her spirit guardian gave her… there’s just a bunch of added elements to her character she’s got to work through- and she does it with a surprising amount of grace, by the way! In addition to that, Kya is trying to not get killed by the other gods, and figure out what in the heck this Shadow-Daddy-Stalker-Dude is doing and why she feels the connection she does. I loved seeing Kya’s growth as a character, although there were parts of her dialogue where I questioned her age due to the over all juvenile feel of it. Over all though- Kya’s character development was one that kept me reading and wanting to know more.

Odarum: Yo, spirit guardian Odie is my main ♥️. I will forever love Odarum. He’s sass, he’s strength, he’s got *main character* energy.

**Odarum quote here**

Malina & Mavris: We all love a sassy h*rny bestie, let’s be real + a loyal brother who would do *anything* for his family.

World Building & Plot Development: All in all, the world building and plot development was pretty well done. You learn so much about 3 of the 6 nations that you’d be as familiar with them as the back of your hand. But I think there’s more to be said about the other 3. I’m kinda intrigued to read the next just to learn about how everything melds. But, I’m a sucker for an enticing fantasy world. The plot development works. There are some holes, and numerous questions left unanswered, but that’s why there’s additional books, right? The aspect of found family is also beautiful. AN Caudle did a wonderful job in blending Nikan, Malina, and Kya into a little hitman family that would do whatever needed to protect each other and love one another to the end.

What I didn’t like:

Dialogue: There were SO MANY parts of the dialogue throughout the book that just fell flat. I had so much hope for Ryker, but his declarations of love just didn’t do it for me. They seem trivial, and the way he expresses his devotion is not *devoted enough* for me. (Literally, could just be a me thing. I’m used to my shadow daddies bending back the fabric of time and space in their declarations for their queens). Additionally, there were some parts where the language and vocabulary used was beautiful- in other parts, it felt, again, very juvenile. It honestly just didn’t feel very consistent. Also- the pet names? 3/4ths of the way through I just cringed every time they used their damn pet names. Sorry. It just didn’t work for me.

Repetition: I will die on the repetition hill. I have notes to highlights in my kindle that literally say “this shit again!?”

Introducing New Things and Giving No Explanation: Introducing a new person/topic/place/term/plot development and Not. Explaining. What. It. Is. At first, I found this way of introducing things in Worthy of Fate really interesting because I was like, “oooooh new thing- keep reading, what is it, what’s going to happen, who is this!?” Then after half the book I was just like, “stop it. please. stop.” For example, we’re introduced to concept of the spirit guardians, we know all the Worthy’s have one. We experience Ryker’s spirit guardian, we interact with him, we dialogue with him… but we only learn of his verbal characteristics and behaviors… we don’t learn about WHAT he is until way past half way through the book. I just kept imaging him to be an angry black leprechaun or something until I learned he was a dragon. It made it extremely anticlimactic and I’m just annoyed whenever I experience him in the book. Note to remember too, that spirit guardians pass on their traits to their Worthy- and in so, we then finally get a fuller picture on Ryker. Which was also equally annoying.

Overall Thoughts

This is definitely one of those books I pushed myself to finish just to finish. I was also extremely intrigued to read to the waterfall scene that AN Caudle has an art print of. (Though I expected it to be more steamy- it was meh). Again, not all books will be for everyone. And this one was not really for me. I miiiiight read the second one just to see what happens- there’s a pretty steep cliffhanger to end Worthy of Fate but I’ll have to reassess my TBR and commitments when it releases.

If you enjoy an easier read, cheesy pet names, spirit animals, elemental magic, and a little bit o’spice- then definitely give Worthy of Fate a try.

This book drops on April 11th, 2024, but you can preorder using the button below.

*This blog is supported by its audience. If you take action (i.e. make a purchase) through the affiliate links on this site, I may earn a commission at no cost to you.

Also, tell me what YOU think, I’m open to hearing your thoughts and opinions! I’m always good for a book throw down or chat- comment here or DM me at jennies.reads on booksta!