Lord of Secrets Book Review

Lord of Secrets by Breanna Teintze

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 . . .

So, this is a little late.

I did initially sign up to do the review tour for Lord of Secrets which should have been posted yesterday at the latest. Admittedly, YALC reading has gotten in the way a bit, plus I’ve been a bit slow on books due to some mental health days. But hey, better late than never, right?

First, thanks to Netgalley and Jo Fletcher books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I was drawn to Lord of Secrets by the amazing premise. A book with a unique magic system? And compelling hooks? And the humour of a Schwab book? Count me in. Alas, it wasn’t quite the novel I was expecting or hoping to open up, and it fell a little short of my expectations. That’s not to say it was a bad book, or anything like that. I actually quite enjoyed reading it, and I got through it in two sittings, so that was a big positive to me. But it was a bit misleading IMO at least, on the humour front. There were a lot of jokes and quips, but nothing that had even a slightly similar taste to Schwab’s sense of humour in her writing. I wouldn’t normally complain about something as inconsequential as a comp, but it felt a bit underwhelming to me mostly because it had told me it was going to try and leap over a very high bar and it…didn’t.

The world-building in this one was pretty incredible. I loved how the magic system worked, and how different it seemed from everything I’ve read before. It was imaginative and for the most part, I knew what was happening and why. There were moments where it lacked some explanation though, and at times it felt almost as if the magic just happened because it could. Unfortunately, it’s a big deal in fantasy novels. If magic isn’t explained enough, then the reader feels almost as though the characters can do pretty much anything with it because the plot tells them to. I did just try and push past these moments though, simply because the concept was so dang cool.

Character-wise, I liked everyone well enough. I thought the motivations worked well for each character, and they all came across as distinctive and well-developed. I particularly enjoyed seeing things from Corcoran’s perspective. It helped a lot to get his insight into the world around him. And although he didn’t have a Schwab type sense of humour, I did think he was an entertaining and quippy character. I was less sold on the romance aspects of the book. Although I liked both characters on their own, the romance itself felt a bit too instalove for me. I know characters are thrown together in dire circumstances and it means they bond a lot quicker, but it felt like there were some key choices throughout the novel where the characters made a decision based on love, even though it didn’t feel like it was at that level yet. I think part of the problem is that we don’t really see much of the two characters together in order to get a sense of their feelings. There’s definitely chemistry and attraction, but it feels like a biiiiig leap to say there’d be intense feelings between them throughout the book. There simply weren’t enough scenes of them interacting together, and even when they were, the plot definitely worked against this making sense.

Perhaps the thing that really confused me though, was the ending. I won’t go into spoilers at all, but I will say WTAF? There were some tiny hints threaded through Lord of Secrets and in some sense, I did enjoy how twisty the ending was, but it just wasn’t foreshadowed enough for me. There wasn’t enough earlier in the book to make me think this was a satisfying ending. Rather, it comes across as a bit OOC and just plain weird. As in, I actually stared at my book for a good handful of minutes trying to figure out if anything made sense any more. It might have been twisty and unexpected, but I wasn’t a fan of it. I don’t know. There are endings that feel justified somehow, they satisfy you. This didn’t do it for me.

I will say that pacing-wise, Lord of Secrets was pretty strong. The character motivations were so present and demanding that it definitely put a lot of pressure on their decision making and it felt like there was always a lot at stake, and there would always be someone missing out because someone else had made a decision to benefit themselves. The writing style is pretty punchy too, and lends itself to the fast pace of the novel.

Overall, I’m giving Lord of Secrets:

Although it was an entertaining read with some great characters and a unique magic system, I felt like it was lacking some essential spark for me. It didn’t come across quite as advertised, which is a shame because I think I would have enjoyed the book a touch more if I hadn’t been expecting so much from it. Furthermore, the plot twist at the end was just bizarre and didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and it didn’t leave me feeling satisfied. I would still give the next book in the series another chance, but I’d be weary about hoping for too much from it.

Has anyone else read this book already or plans to? What do you all think of it? Let me know in the comment section down below ❤