The Ever King: A Dark Fantasy Romance (The Ever Seas)

I was already a fan of LJ Andrews writing, and I have adored The Broken Kingdoms series, but this book is on another level of excellence. I was gripped from the start, invested in the characters and their relationships. The world-building is excellent, with no random dumps of overwhelming information. The plot twists kept me guessing and theorising all the way through and I cannot WAIT for March to see how the story unfolds because that cliffhanger has me dangling over the edge begging for more!Firstly, the characters, their development and growth in this book is just beautiful, it feels so natural and so well-written. Please read the content warnings because these kids are traumatised, there is darkness, there is anger, there is vengeance, but there is also the gooiest, softest caramel centre that I could drown in. Erik Bloodsinger is everything I never knew I wanted, he's a vicious and deadly king of an enemy kingdom, but he's also a scared, hurt, unloved little boy who has had his every weakness paraded in front of his people as a tool for vengeance. His growth through this book, through not only his relationship with Livia, but the revelations of his own past and hidden trauma is just beautiful, and so sad.I could wax on all day about their beautiful relationship, but really you should just read it for yourself.If you love morally grey, burn the world for her, hates everyone but her, fatedish mates, anxiety rep, nursing trope, and soooo much more you will love this book.While I have read the previous series set in the same world, The Ever is a whole new kingdom, so I was not familiar with the lands, cultures, hierarchy etc, and yet the world building was so well done, I never felt overwhelmed with information or that anything that was mentioned was unnecessarily wordy. If anything, you were given just enough information to make assumptions and predictions and then watch them slowly unfold throughout the story which I adore.All in all I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a fantasy, romance, with elements of spice and darkness because it is just an excellent book. I would recommend reading The Broken Kingdoms to get the full impact of LJ's writing, the way she weaves little hints throughout the stories and ties them all together so beautifully is definitely worth experiencing. This can be read as a standalone, without spoiling much of the Broken Kingdoms, but there are little nuggets of information that just enhance the story of The Ever.

4.25⭐️2.5 🌶️“𝑯𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”‘The Ever King’ by LJ Andrews marks the debut of her new "The Ever Seas" series. ‘Enemies-to-lovers’, pirates, and dual POV narratives are masterfully weaved together to bring us a spellbinding tale. "The Ever King" is set in the same world as Andrews’ original Broken Kingdom series. While I haven’t yet read its predecessor, this series easily stands on its own.A tale as old as time - a Serpent and a Songbird on differing sides of a war who fall in love and embark on saving a dying kingdom. What’s not to love?We follow Erik Bloodsinger, The Ever King, and Livia Ferus, an earth fae princess, and daughter of The Night King (from the original series). While the enemies-to-lovers trope had promise, I would argue this wasn’t a true enemies to lovers. With a hidden past and an instant longing for one another, they were never really enemies. Even still, their relationship is one of my favourites in the romantasy genre. Their constant push and pull kept me completely hooked!Andrews excels in world-building, providing a clear understanding of the world and characters without overwhelming the reader. The characters are richly developed, each with their own distinct personalities. The side characters were just as strong as our main characters, which is often missed in these books.I wish we had more bombastic pirate adventures, with much of the action occurring off-page or from Livia's perspective as a confined hostage. I felt a little underwhelmed half way through, missing the action of adventures at sea. However, Andrews did manage to pick the plot up again and by the end I was completely engrossed.Overall, "The Ever King" proved to be a really enjoyable read. I’ve already delved straight into its sequel and I’m already loving it. If you love romance filled with gorgeous pirates, a dash of spice and plots filled with betrayal and revenge, this is the book for you.“Taking a life is no small thing, but doing so to save your own does not make you a monster.”A tear fell onto her cheek. She let her head fall until her brow pressed against my chest. "What if I am?""Then you are the most beautiful monster I've ever seen."

Lo leí en un día. Es el segundo libro que he leído que la manera en que está escrito si se siente como cuento de hadas . Es precioso. En 395 páginas logra de todo, no tiene hoyos en la trama, tiene acción, romance, banter y spicy.10/10 ❤️‍🔥

This book is everything ACOTAR tried to be. It has several popular tropes: enemies to lovers, who did this to you, a bit of forced proximity, touch her and d!e.But its so much more than just smut.The world is rich and well thought-out, but never gets bogged down in the details of world building. The characters are complex and nuanced in a way I have not seen in other romantacy books.The fmc is the most likeable and relatable fmc I have ever read (I am a lifelong fantasy reader). She has a happy, loving, supportive family and extended family, which is rare in a fantasy protagonist. But it makes her the perfect foil to the mmc who had an extremely traumatic childhood.The author is a master at subtext and nuance, using elegantly concise language to convey deeply complex feelings and concepts without over-explaining.The relationship dynamic between the mc's is refreshing and unique in the world of romantacy, at least in my experience. I don't want to give too much away, but the way the characters act and react to each other as their relationship develops is so realistic and beautifully heartfelt and mature, I literally cannot stop thinking about it.The Ever King was a surprising masterpiece that I picked up on a whim from a booktok video expecting mediocre pirate smut. Instead I got one of the most beautiful and heartfelt love stories I've ever read.As for the smut, yes its there, and yes its very good, but it is all well worked into the story and never feels gratuitous or like it doesnt make sense. It feels like an essential part of the story.

Gods, I just couldn’t put this book down! The chemistry between the main characters was intoxicating, the plot was amazingly built (no filler chapters, amen). It’s hard to find such good books on kindle unlimited, so I highly recommend it to fantasy/romantasy fans. Bonus: morally grey main character + that touch of violence that keeps things interesting

Such a great book! 100% recommend. It's been a while since I read such a great story. It's unpredictable, complicated, and absolutely beautiful! The story is very well written. It nicely flows, and the characters are just brilliant!

Dieses Buch verdient mehr als fünf Sterne!Mein absolutes Highlight für dieses Jahr! Ich weiß gar nicht wieso ich solange damit gewartet habe…Alles, wirklich Alles hat mich überzeugt, die Welt mit den unterschiedlichen Völkern, die Magie, besonders von Bloodsinger. Die Charaktere sind tiefgründig und so authentisch, man möchte mehr erfahren. Und diese ganzen plottwist, 😨.Livia und Erik, die beiden sind so gut, die Kommunikation zwischen den beiden ist 👌„It was almost laughable how the man who robbed me from my home for a clear purpose of catching my father’s attention for drearier reasons, was the one who looked at me like a woman. Like he saw every fissure of weakness, every strength and imperfection, and wanted them anyway. Not because I was my father’s daughter. He wanted them because they were mine.“