Review: Live Like Legends by Kate Cornell

LIVE LIKE LEGENDS by KATE CORNELL

Series: Standalone

Publication date: June 1, 2020

Published by: Entangled Teen

Genre: YA fantasy, romance

 

SYNOPSIS

Princess Kalista has known her role from birth. She's spent her entire life preparing to be the socialite wife of a prince from a peaceful kingdom. But on her big day, she is shocked when she is instead forced to marry the warrior prince of a cursed land, who is as cold as the wintry kingdom he'll one day rule.

Carson has a throne no princess wants to share with him. An immortal beast ravages their land, and he’ll do anything to stop it, even marry a complete stranger on the day she was supposed to wed her betrothed. Let her hate him for it, but Kalista is his only hope for peace.

Kalista knows she’s just a pawn on the chessboard of politics, but now she’s expected to kill an unstoppable creature because of some legend about her bloodline that Carson believes as truth. He trains her how to fight, and when lessons in swordplay lead to lessons in love, her destiny puts more than just her life at risk.

How far is she willing to go to save the prince she never wanted…but can’t imagine living without? elf and all she loves to save him from the Empire's machinations and his own lethal birthright.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Cornell is a writer. She has written for BiZTV, Soundtrack Channel, Everything Internet Radio, and Grapevine Star Entertainment.

She is currently writing a novel. This statement is always true. At any given time, she is writing a novel. She has contributed to After Dark with Julian Clark, TMI Hollywood and Top Story! Weekly at iO West.

She is not married. She doesn’t have any children. And, even if she did, she doesn’t see how they would be relevant to the rest of her bio, anyway. Besides, it’s none of your business.

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REVIEW

Live Like Legends by Kate Cornell
My rating:  3 of 5 stars


Princess Kalista was groomed from birth to marry the princeling of Latak, a match that would end a century of war between their kingdoms. She prepared her entire life for the union by studying their culture and learning the language without complaint like a dutiful daughter. There's no resentment on her part over having no control over her own life, she accepts her fate for the good of the people. The book begins on her wedding day when she discovers that her groom and entire future has been switched without anyone bothering to inform her. In an instant, her lifetime identity as the peacemaker bride has changed to the savior bride. The royals of Estral believe she is the one person who is fated to kill the monster who slaughters their people. It's a tall order for someone who up to that point didn't even believe that monsters exist.

The trip to Estral with her new husband Carson has a suspenseful action scene that effectively pulls you into the story. The opening pages were a little bit awkward, as the internal dialogue of the heroine felt clunky. There were parts that were explained strangely or not at all, leading me to re-read passages to try to understand. Specifically, how Carson came to replace her arranged groom at the last minute. She walks in, sees him there, and it's unclear if he's broken in with armed men at her ceremony, has permission from her parents, or what. I'm just as much in the dark as her. At her first sight of him at the altar, she thinks, "Who is this?" Immediately after, this confusing paragraph:

There'd been a change, an occurrence, something strange uncovered in a faraway land. A prophesy, or something. Vague, but I fit the description and was disposable.

So...the doors open and she's clueless, she walks down the aisle and she has vague information on what happened? Then standing at the altar she also thinks this:

The man next to me was a prince too, yes, but he was next in line for the throne. I was going to be queen. All of a sudden, I mattered.

I'm sorry, but how does she know this? Do you see how this can be confusing? However, immediately after the ceremony, they depart on their journey to her new home and the wrinkles started to smooth out. One thing in particular that I found to be interesting and challenging for the romance was that Carson and Kalista were not able to verbally communicate with each other. She spoke several languages, but none of them were his native language. There was a monk companion assigned to her whose duty was to translate when necessary, but he did not translate substantial chunks of conversation. It was generally a few sentences at a time. Kalista used a lot of body language and single words to try to get her point across. This lasted for most of the book. Remember, she's having to study and learn a new language from the ground up, so realistically that's not going to happen overnight. It makes sense.

    The game of nobility was what I was trained in, what I’d practiced at. I was bred and raised to navigate, manipulate, and influence. Without language, I couldn’t do any of it. Without language, I couldn’t even say good night.

Kalista is not a romantic woman with expectations of true love with her husband. In fact, she resists falling in love or exposing her emotions to him. I think their inability to have long, deep conversations with each other hampered her ability to see him in a new light. But as a reader, we see signs of respect and concern for each other's well being grow. We know when she starts to fall before she's even aware of it or able to acknowledge her feelings.

Kalista had a strength of character that was admirable. She's plucked from everything she's ever known at home, dropped in an unfamiliar, dangerous environment where she can't communicate, and is expected to slay a monster that has virtually wiped out the royal family. She discovers that her monk translator, Emmett is what's called a Winnower. This is described as a special sect that "winnows out" those that commit the highest blasphemies. An assassin in the name of their God Aris, though this is pretty vaguely described as well. She eventually decides that Emmett must train her to be a winnower so she has the necessary skills to protect herself and fulfill the prophesy. This decision is agreed on with reservation, and they agree that it must be done in secret.

This plot point never really made sense to me, to be honest. Exactly what is so wrong about her learning the skills to do what the kingdom expects of her? Is she to kill a monster without any preparation beforehand? Her husband Carson gives every impression of being proud of her archery skills, and boasts that she is a worthy wife because of it. I don't know, for me it didn't quite add up.

There was a character with secret, corrupt intentions which admittedly I recognized immediately. In the end, there's a final showdown between Kalista, the monster, and this unnamed character. I really liked how the action played out and the conflicts were ultimately resolved. But the book could have used more consistent action to keep the story flowing faster through the middle. For a solid chunk, things seemed to just be routine. She would train, have brief attempts at talking to her husband, and study. Day starts over and repeats. I need a little bit more, but on the positive side I did appreciate the unique aspect of falling in love with your husband without being able to speak. To recognize what's inside their heart through their actions and warmth. I also loved both main characters and thought they were well developed.

In summary, although this wasn't the perfect YA fantasy for me, it was a decent read, especially for a debut. I enjoy the author's writing style quite a bit, and would like to read more from her in the future.

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