This Life is Fiction

I recieved an arc from Leah Cypess through a giveaway on her books facebook page. Check it out if you've not liked it yet.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Death-Sworn/396158113847062?fref=ts

(link to her page, apparently I cannot do urls?)

The book was all around really good. Cypess ended most of her chapters on mini cliffhangers so that even going to the bathroom and leaving the book behind proved to be difficult. I started it at about 12 am, and finished at 5 am, so it was obviously a good read as I neglected sleep just so I could get to the ending. Which by the way...while not a major cliffhanger, was done in such a way that you know there has to be more to come and so that is all you want, and you want it now. She left my emotions raw, and I was highly upset with the whole end of story. It was good, and made sense, but that does not mean I have to like it or accept it. In fact, I might just go form my own alternative ending to make peace until I get a real conclusion.

Cypess leaves you with a lot of questions through the book, but over all most of them were answered it seemed to me. As far as world building goes, there isn't much of a world that needs to be built when one is living in a cave. However, she does mention other places in the world that I can only assume we will see in later novels.

Ileni, our heroine, is someone who has been dealt a crushing blow in life. She was raised up to be someone great, and all in one fell swoop, she loses it. This then leads to her being expendable, and was sent to live and teach the assassins that her people abhor.

She's different from my typical heroine favorites. She's not kickass really, but she is sarcastic and sassy, and I definitely have to give her props for that. I like sarcasm and sass. She has her flaws obviously. A good bit of the beginning of the book I just wanted to slap her and tell her to get on with her life. However, that is what makes characters great, getting a reaction out of the people who are reading the book.

Our main man, well...I would definitely not mind spending time in a cave with him. Yeah...that's all.

We of course have our bullies and back stabbers (who I have love hate relationships with. I love to hate them.) However, I would love for Ileni to actually make real friends in the next novel. I felt like that was the one thing really lacking. Aside from the main male, no one really made any effort to get close to her, and she to them. I feel like that could have added depth to the novel for her to have been able to have a real friend.

Overall though, I truly enjoyed the book. It was good, and I look forward to more of Ileni and her world.