I had hoped for more of a story. This one dragged about and nothing held my interest. I had hoped it had more of a bit of adventure, maybe some exploration of new lands, but no. And the characters just weren't engaging me. The cover and book description caught my eye, but the story ultimately didn't. I skimmed and gave up. Sorry. I'm sure there will be readers out there who will enjoy this tale, just not me.

I thought I would have enjoyed this book more than I did. It was an ok story and did manage to read until i reached the last page.

The slightly plodding tale of a very fortunate young man not overly burdened with a conscience and a remarkably able at win patrons where ever he goes. The plot is quite intriguing. There’s not as much action as I thought there would be, but there are more characters and themes woven together than I expected. That was very well done.
It reminded me of Blackmore’s <i>Lorna Doone</i>, or Wyss’s <i>Swiss Family Robinson</i>. Parts of it gripped me and I didn’t want to put it down, then parts of it bored me. The style is a bit more modern, but not much. There were a couple of times when modern devices crept in and spoiled the historic feel, but only two or three times as I recall.
It was entirely the hero telling his story and at times it reads like a journal. The minutest detail and most trivial actions are described for every scene.
It was very delicately done. There wasn’t even any mild swearing. I found that very refreshing. I can’t say the same for the morals. That could be summed up in be nice to people and grasp the moment. The hero acted in his best interest despite his actions legality. Oh, there was some hand-wringing over his actions contradicting his religion, but not enough to deter him from carrying on.
Unfortunately, and perhaps it was mostly because I had an ARC, at times the writing was hard to follow especially during conversations. It would switch from narrative voice “he said…I said”, to passive voice “I was told”, and right back. Both styles used in a conversation between two people.
I received a free ARC from NetGalley and Matador. No review was required.