“And it was done; I no longer had a face. I wasn’t Constanter; I was Silverlegs, and in that moment I felt like I could take on an entire army.”
A Roman style setting, vicious, well written battle scenes, epic sword fights. A female mc who refuses to be used and abused. Hell yes. Fantasy has been spoiling me lately with some fantastic books and Silverlegs by Camilla Monk is another top notch read. (How badass is the title and cover by the way!!)
Constanter knows how to run. She can run for hours and after being brutally attacked by her step father she draws on this innate talent. She refuses to be his victim anymore, she runs and hides, far away from the family who want to use her and control her. Unfortunately she runs from one danger straight into another. After being mistaken for a boy she is forced to fight for Clearchos, if she loses she dies. Constanter faces each challenge head on, refusing to be cowed. With her supreme speed and savage lust for violence, she slowly says goodbye to Constanter and becomes the feared Silverlegs.
What a fucked up world! The religion of the day is slowly murdering those who worship the old gods, religion is taking over the ruling body, controlling the war. It is happily destroying everyone who doesn’t conform to their views. We spend the majority of the book in a mercenary camp, so we don’t get a big picture of the outside world, it’s all very one sided but I feel as though this will change in book two.
The characters were so well put together. There were characters who were so fleshed out, they were practically leaping off the page, I was convinced they would be in the story for the long haul, next thing you know they are dead. No-one is safe here and I love that. It reflects war and a mercenary camp much better than if everyone had survived.
Constanter is a main character that I know a lot of my bookish friends will love. She works hard to become the badass she is, it doesn’t come easy to her. But what sets her apart is her drive, she refuses to backdown. She takes her natural ability and uses it to her advantage. She is burning with rage and uses the opportunities given to her to let it out.
“I took care of the spears next as they tried to run away to call for help. They should never have; they would never know the rush of ink-black pleasure in my veins as I hunted them, sliced through their knee tendons to cripple them before I ripped their warm throats. A young cohort with good legs almost made it to the door. Almost. Someone should have warned him that the demon Silverlegs ran up walls too.”
I loved the way Silverlegs came together. I was certain I knew exactly where it was heading only to have all of my expectations blown out of the water. I feel like this is a book where I have to be really careful what I say as I don’t want to spoil anyone else’s reading experience. Hence the super vague review. I don’t even want to mention the supporting cast to much. The setting of this book means that women are treated very badly, they are considered the very bottom of the social ladder. It is set in a mercenary camp, during a war, it is as violent as you can get. Our main characters arc is covered in blood. There is nothing light and fluffy about it. And these are all of the reasons I loved it. The author didn’t pull any punches, their was no pussy footing around the brutal realitlies, she laid it all out there for you to see. My poor heart! I cannot wait for book 2.
Get your very own copy – Amazon
I received an e-arc via NetGalley in exchange for review.
Title – Silverlegs part 1- Seeds of Rage
Author – Camilla Monk
Released – 27th August 2019
Publisher – Self-published
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