The Song of the Marked (Shadows and Crowns)

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But how can they save a world where nothing and no one is what they seem to be— including Cas herself?

Mercenary Casia Greythorne cares about two things: Completing whatever her latest job is, and earning enough coin to buy the expensive medicine that's keeping her mentor alive. The mythology within the country of Kethra was absolutely magnificent. There was a whole pagan set of gods and goddesses. I loved all the different "levels"(?), might not be the right word. Can I please have an encyclopedia of all the gods in this world? I want to learn more right now. So when the king himself offers her a job, she can't resist the massive reward he offers-even if it means working with Captain Elander, the arrogant, mysterious right-hand to that king. Elander is broody, smart, powerful and his sarcasm is immaculate. I can’t even. I am in love. I have a new book boyfriend. I'll give the author that, but the writing was dull and it felt very YA-ish, which caused both the characters and their dialogues to also read as YA.Overall, there isn't anything in particular that I strongly disliked about this book. I think it did everything well but it didn't have anything that stood out to me as being amazing. I recommend this if you're looking for a fantasy-romance series with a badass female main character. I'll definitely keep reading the rest of the series! I originally bought the Kindle version of The Song of the Marked but didn't even start it because I knew I would enjoy listening more. I am SOOOO glad I listened to it. The narrator was AWESOME! She is a very talented voice actor and had some great accents in her repertoire.

So when the king himself offers her a job, she can't resist the massive reward he offers - even if it means working with Captain Elander, the arrogant, mysterious right-hand to that king.Casia works as a mercenary with a group of outlaws thanks to their magic. Trouble stirs and they are caught by the guards of the King-Emperor Varen. The Song of the Marked is a book I could not put down because I was immediately drawn to the story and the characters.

Another thing to note is the great work of the narrator Jesse Vilinsky. I absolutely loved the way she narrated Elander’s voice. The world-building is impressively atmospheric and intricate. I'm aware that it takes place in the same universe as another prequel series and builds up on that, it could be why I felt a tad overwhelmed by it but it didn't cause much confusion for me. I also feel like I should mention that Gaither goes pretty heavy on info-dumping in the very first chapters. Add to it that their writing was overly descriptive, stiff and impossibly impersonal, and you'll get why I was in so much pain. So when the king commands her to investigate a strange plague devastating the empire, she can't resist the massive reward he offers - even if it does mean working with the arrogant and infuriating Captain Elander. Cas has several close friends she brings with her to the castle. I loved how close she was with Rhea and Zev. And then her sort of adoptive mother Asra. It was so precious. They were all so caring for each other and that is absolutely what I wanted more of.

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Mercenary Casia Greythorne cares about two things: completing her latest job and earning enough coin for the expensive medicine that's keeping her mentor alive.