Title: Kinslayer by Jay Kristoff
Series: Book 2 in the Lotus War series
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Steampunk
Details: 432 pages, To be released September 17th 2013
Source of Kinslayer: Blog Tour with Book Nerd Tours
Source of Stormdancer: Bought

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A SHATTERED EMPIRE
The mad Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY
Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM
Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.
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Dear future readers of Kinslayer, Be prepared to have your heart ripped out and stomped on. I recommend to have ice cream near by at all times while reading Kinslayer...lots of ice cream, enough to drown your sorrows/feels in...or preferably alcohol. (If you are of legal age ladies and gents, if not, stick with the ice cream)  yaaholic does not in anyway shape or form condone underage drinking(:

Okay so in all honesty going into the Lotus War series, I was pretty worried...and maybe a tad intimidated (okay okay you got me I was all sorts of intimidated by this series). Why was I intimidated you may ask? Well from what I had heard from other reviews was that it was a super awesome series, but had alot of characters..and places...and could get confusing..and was a heavy fantasy series. This scared me because going into Lotus War series I was afraid it was maybe going to be too heavy of a series for me, and I would get lost while reading it..and then in turn feel maybe slightly like a dummy for not being able to follow the series while other book bloggers I knew could.

I am happy to report to you that I was able to follow both Stormdancer and Kinslayer (woohooo chest bump), and they were epic, and awesome just like everyone else said they were. (Seriously thank you to Kara from Great Immaginations, and multiple lovely people over at Cuddlebuggery for bringing this series to my attention first) Jay Kristoff is a writing genius! This is a series that if you really commit to it, will make you feel things you didn't even know a book could make you feel all at once (wow..that sounds almost sexual..but it's not..or is it...no it's not)

So lets talk about the magnificent thing that is Jay Kristoff's writing, it was perfect...well nearly perfect, but I shall get to that later. Right now I would much like to ramble about the awesomeness of his writing. This series is a Japanese, Fantasy, Steampunk series (Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds) With all of that awesome being put into one series, I was worried going into it that picturing what Jay was writing may be difficult if not done VERY well on his end. I was relieved when I started reading Stormdancer and was not only able to picture everything that was happening, but able to picture it insanely clear. While reading Stormdancer and Kinslayer you feel as if you are there with the characters watching everything play out in super high definition.(which is sometimes beautiful, horrifying, or heart wrenching) Jay has an amazing way of being very descriptive, but never crossing the line of being too descriptive.

Now if I were to have any complaints about Kinslayer (which I don' have many and this series is still epic enough to get 5 stars) is that at times while reading Kinslayer I felt the story didn't flow as nicely as it could have. Sometimes I felt it was jumping around a little bit too much, and not doing it as smoothly as I would have liked, keep in mind this is just how I felt while reading it. That would be my only bigger complaint on Kinslayer if I were to have any, and even that I did get over. (hence the 5 stars that it still received) Also now this is not a complaint of mine at all, but as a warning to other people I feel I should mention it, this is not a series you can skim through. So if you are a skimmer, you need to stay away. If you skim at all, I can guarantee you will end up very very lost. This is a series that needs your complete attention. There are alot of characters in this series, and places. This is a heavy fantasy, not a light one! If you don't skim through them though I do believe you will be fine and will be able to keep up with everything.

If I were to have a favorite out of Stormdancer, or Kinslayer. I would have to easily give my vote to Kinslayer. So if you have read Stromdancer, and are not sure about picking up Kinslayer...let me just say that you must pick it up. YOU. MUST. (you can't tell but I am giving you the most evil look right now! You must continue forward! Don't be a quitter!) While Kinslayer was mega heart wrenching, I found myself enjoying it so much more due to the so many more emotions you feel while reading Kinslayer. I also felt that even though Stromdancer was amazing, that Jay's writing did get even better in Kinslayer. I am hoping that with that being said, that book 3 will be the best out of the three novels. Yukiko I connected with alot more in Kinslayer than I did Stormdancer, don't get me wrong, I liked her in Stormdancer, but I really connected with her in Kinslayer. We are also introduced to some new characters in Kinslayer that I think readers will like the addition of to the story, I especially found myself liking Hana. I think she is a character any reader will fall for.

So overall, the Lotus War series is turning out to be pretty epic. If you have yet to pick up the series, and are someone that enjoys fantasy, or if you are someone that wants to give fantasy a try, then I think this is a series you should pick up. If you have read Stromdancer, and loved it, then I can easily tell you, you will not at all be disappointed in Kinslayer because Jay DELIVERS in Kinslayer. Kinslayer was even better than Stormdancer, so if you are someone that maybe didn't like Stormdancer, then I would still recommend you to give Kinslayer a shot. Seriously this series is awesome. Highly recommend.

Side note- Can I just mention how freakin bad ass these covers are?! Seriously some of the best covers I have ever seen!

Super side note- holy mothor of pearl this review is way longer than I wanted it to be.

Check out Stormdancer, book 1 in the Lotus Ware series:


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Jay Kristoff is a Perth-born, Melbourne-based author. His first trilogy, THE LOTUS WAR, was purchased in the three-way auction by US publishing houses in 2011. He is as surprised about it as you are. The first installment, STORMDANCER, is set to be published in September 2012 in the US, UK and Australia. Jay is 6’7, has approximately 13870 days to live and does not believe in happy endings.



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