DAUGHTER OF EXILE by Isabel Glass

I do like fantasy and I felt like trying an author I’ve never read before. Isabel Glass’ Daughter of Exile is one of those romantic fantasy that you read to get a little more than sword fighting.

Although the story was interesting, I had a hard time getting interested by the characters. Angarred, the main character, is a young woman of noble descent who lived a life of isolation surrounded by her father’s plots and accomplices. She does know nothing of the manipulations of the court until her father is being assassinated and she decides to seek justice with King Tezue. She meets a very troubled magician, Mathewar, and falls for him. They help each other to seek revenge for both their families. Above that, they uncover a plot that spreads through three realms and join with other magicians, courtiers and King Tezue’s daughter, the seemingly crazy Rodarren.

The story is full of great ideas but it took me a while to actually get interested by its characters. They are not easy to warm up to. Besides, Angarred seems to be like a selfish, spoiled girl from the start and that made it harder for me to get interested in her story. I warmed up much more to her companion Mathewar, a more deeply interesting character. His secrets and his troubled personality made him more compelling.

In the end, this is not a bad book and is worth reading but it’s definitely not the best romantic fantasy I’ve ever read.