The premise of the fourth son of the king becoming a hero and following a legend was a really good idea.

Unfortunately it was let down by the gratuitous sex and violence, which really added nothing to the story.

I received a copy of this for a fair and honest review. This novel mostly deals with Alex and his two friends Jess and Kyle. They have powers that come from a force called the Taint. It gives them all kind of abilities like healing faster, but it comes with a cost. It is said to drive them a little crazy. It is all beyond their control. It was a little slow to start but it gets into a good flow and did leave me with some unanswered questions, but that has been happening to me a lot as of late. I think I over think the story line. It is only the first book in this series.

I was super intrigued at the beginning of this story, but the writing significantly hindered my reading. The dialogue and the way information was given was very simplistic. The chapter titles were a three-word summary of what the chapter would be, which made the chapters dull and predictable. There was so much potential that unfortunately did not develop. I wanted to love this, but the writing and execution of the plot were not up to the standard of fantasy that I usually read.