*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Thank you to NetGalley UK and the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC in exchange for a review.
3.5⭐️
My enjoyment of this book went back and forth! At times, I was gripped by the story and other times I lost interest completely, which meant it took me quite a long time to complete. Aspects of this book are very reminiscent of other well-known fantasy series, but I think it manages to be unique as well.
I would say the pacing definitely improves during the latter half of the book, maybe due to a wider cast of characters being introduced, and more complex dynamics like the beginning hints of the MMC's betrayal - which meant I definitely saw the *plot twist* of his betrayal coming (he gave me Tamsin from acotar vibes from early on, so I suspected there would be something sus about him in the end) but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Telium is an enjoyable, morally grey character. I enjoyed learning more and more about her. I found her sadness in her final moments with Malix (I have no idea if that is the correct spelling because I was listening to an audiobook, haha) to be really compelling - because even though she knew she was doing the right thing by killing him, she mourned the version of him she believed him to be. That moment was really bittersweet, I liked it a lot.
I didn't really enjoy the soulmates trope used. It was very much 'love at first sight' and made me completely cringe unfortunately. However, I did like Pax a lot, much more than Malix, from his initial introduction and suspected there was more to him despite Telium's wariness of him. So while I didn't enjoy the fact that he's ended up as her *soulmate*, because I dislike the trope, I am excited by the idea of seeing their relationship develop.
I thought that in general, the narrator did a wonderful job. I loved listening to her lyrical description, only enhanced by her gorgeous aussie accent! But I found the accent used for the Fae to be really off-putting.
tldr; morally grey assassin FMC, soulmates and an interesting fantasy world with a climatic twist in the third act!

The first book in The Soul Thief Trilogy introduces you to a new world of Fantasy Kingdom.
An amalgamation of diverse characters like faes, queens, humans and the ones possessed by Godly powers made it fascinating. As this was an audiobook I read, it is necessary to give a share of applause to the narrator cast as well. Each character was distinct and not once did I stop to ponder who is speaking which lines.

The plot(Alkorians) was good too but I can't say the same about the pacing of the book. It had a bit of sine wave progression, which made me fast-track a few portions, I don't know what would I do had this been a paperback 😂
Overall a good new series that's added to my Fantasy collection that has both straight and non-straight characters.

Thank you @netgalley @newdawnpub @bolindaaudio for the Audiobook ARC

Genre: #fantasy #lgbt
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️

Wow this was incredible! What a debut!!

It definitely took some time to get fully submerged into this but once I was in. I WAS IN.

The writing style is incredible, the storyline had me hooked throughout and the characters were amazing. The ending shocked me and definitely needing more!

If you like the books in the The Witcher series, you will definitely like this one.

Telium was raised to be a warrior/fighter/assassin since he was little, but then her queen goes mad and sends her most trusted protector to prison. When Telium fights her way out of prison, she meets one of the magical creatures of this world called thieves. Something helps Telium defeat the thief and ...
Years later, after she has taken control of the powers that reared its heads after escaping from prison, when a corner of her forest is left purely to her because no one dares to approach her, someone comes to her forest. A fairy, a soldier. He invites Telium to come with him to kill the Mad Fairy King, something Telium promised her queen once upon a time, and so she leaves her place of safety to face the world again.
When their quest finally reaches the final battle, the whole story takes a whole new direction. And such an end! The author herself admits that the readers have the right to be angry with her for such an ending, but this is the only ending she saw for the first book of his new trilogy.

As I already said at the beginning, this is a story in the style of The Witcher, only here there are much more fights on the pages of the book and they are much more graphic. There are grand feelings, excitement, extraordinary characters. The author has done a fantastic job with the world where everything happens, even writing a separate language for the fairies. I listened to this book and now I want to get it on paper :).

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.**

Narrated by Tanya Schneider ⭐⭐⭐
Story by Madeline Te Whiu ⭐⭐

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to listen to this. Unfortunately I could not get into this book. The characters, plot and pace just never grabbed me.

I absolutely adored this! Move over Celeana Sardothian, Telium Tenebris Kin is the new assassin on the block.

But on a serious note, Madeline Te Whiu really has made her own unique and interesting world, filled with a complex and fleshed out magic system, intriguing characters and a twisting, turning action packed plot. Honestly, the only down side to this is that the physical book is not available! Listening to is was great, and the narrator was fab, but there were certain parts where I just wanted an e-book or physical copy, to fully immerse myself in the story, tab quotes and highlight sections.
I did however feel that the ending felt a bit rushed and… abrupt? So much happened so quickly and then it ended on a sort of cliffhanger which all felt like a bit of a whirlwind and very sudden?

This book has Fae, assassins, magic, royalty, revolution, throne of glass vibes, insta lust but SLOW BURN romance and a whole lot of action.

This is a great debut novel. All the way through I was expecting twists but each was not what I expected. There are two things I now want, the second book and for it to be published in the UK. It was great to listen to as an audiobook but about halfway through I started to want a physical copy as well. It looks set to be a great series especially for fans of Sarah J Maas.

This is a pacy, exciting story of a kick-ass half-mortal half-fae female assassin which if you enjoyed Kristin Cashore’s Graceling or Robin LaFever’s His Fair Assassins series, should be right up your street. Te Whiu writes with flair, although there was something about the protagonist’s lack of basic research that left me unconvinced, and the ending had me scratching my head, but that might just be down to it being a cliff-hanger on various levels. I listened on audio and the narrator did a great job, with lots of emotion without being over the top. A fab story if you’re looking for intrigue, twists, fighting and a butt-kicking female lead.

This was such a good listen - the premise of the story was such a good one and I was gripped very early on. I found the narration of this one engaging and before I knew it I was half way on - I became completely immersed in this fantasy world. The FMC gave me major Celaena Sardothien vibes and I absolutely loved her as a character. This plot took me through so many twists and turns and the ending has left me reeling! I feel like I can’t say too much because this is one of those where a small detail could reveal too much, but overall I absolutely loved this one - it was gripping, it was exciting, it was shocking and I absolutely need more from this world!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my audio copy.

The Assassin Thief heavily borrows from other popular fantasy series, but is still a good read. While the plot is intriguing, it does lack originality and falls a little short in comparison to its predecessors. It has a slower paced plot focusing on the slow burn between the two MC's, setting you up for the big event at the end. I feel it would benefit from the mid 50% being cut down to quicken the pace of the story and making the end event a the focus rather than the journey. It's clear the author intends this to be a series and develop the plot and relationships further.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy.

This was generally well written, and most of the book was well paced. I did feel the 2nd quarter was a little slow and some of the spicier parts felt a little forced rather than flowed well, they could of been left out. The general plot and the characters are diverse, detailed without being ott. I look forward to the next installment.

Thank you so much for letting listen to this audiobook. This was so much fun and came at the right time to me. I can't wait for the next one.

Telium, a powerful assassin who has been ousted by her beloved Queen and thrown in jail, escapes and after living in exile in the dark forest for many years, finds herself sought out by Mallux, a Fae warrior. He begs for her help in killing the mad Fae king, the very same king who was responsible for causing her Queen’s decent into insanity and who’s parting words to Telium were, “drive a stake through his heart”.

I really really wanted to love this book, and in some parts I did, however, there were too many fight scenes, some of which were too strung out and which became boring and predictable and not enough character development. I found it difficult to connect emotionally with the main characters, amongst the constant fighting and, as such, didn’t really care what happened to them.

I almost DNF’d several times and I’m so pleased I didn’t as the twists at the end were absolutely brilliant and definitely raised my rating of this book at the eleventh hour.

The narration by Tanya Schneider was excellent, she provided the right level of excitement, emotion and expression that was needed without overdoing it - a sometimes tricky balance to achieve.

I feel that this book is better suited as a teen/young adult book rather than adult fiction.

2⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Gracias a los audiolibros descubro autores y obras a los que quizá no daría una oportunidad si no fuera en este formato. En The Assassin Thief me he encontrado una fantasía bastante típica con algunos toques de romance y con un atractivo sistema mágico, todo ello envuelto en la narración de Tanya Schneider que insufla el libro de atractivo.


En esta obra seguiremos los pasos de Telium, una poderosa asesina desterrada del servicio de su reina durante mucho tiempo, que de repente se encontrará con las hadas, los peligros enemigos de su antiguo hogar. Pero parece que lo que le habían contado hasta entonces no corresponde exactamente con la realidad.

Madeline Te Whiu ha escogido para su narración seguir los pasos de Telium en todo momento, aderezando la historia con algunos flashbacks que nos ayudarán a situar el contexto de las acciones de la protagonista. Quizá lo más atractivo del libro sea el sistema mágico que utilizan los ladrones, capaces de apoderarse de la magia y de la fuerza vital de otros seres. Moralmente es algo reprochable, pero en ocasiones es la única manera de sobrevivir. Telium lucha por aplacar sus oscuros deseos, ya que durante un tiempo indeterminado cayó víctima de su influjo y desconoce qué hizo entonces.

Las hadas utilizarán sus poderes para conspirar contra el rey loco que las gobierna, y gran parte del libro se dedica a narrar el viaje hacia territorio feérico con este objetivo en mente. Aunque el trayecto en sí está salpicado de escenas de acción, el ritmo de la historia se resiente durante el desplazamiento, que ocupa la mayor parte de la novela. Los poderes a veces son un poco deus ex machina, pero al ser la primera entrega de una serie tiene algo de sentido que no conozcamos a fondo la intrahistoria. También la tensión sexual va in crescendo, con diversas interrupciones inoportunas como todo buen romance que se precie.

Me ha resultado un tanto chocante que para referirse a las hadas se utilicen los términos male y female, desterrando man y woman por ser referidos a humanos. No sé si es la solución más elegante, la verdad.

En la última parte de la novela sí que se irá despejando la niebla que obnubilaba a Telium sobre las verdaderas intenciones de todos los implicados, dejando el camino expedito para las continuaciones que tendrá la saga.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Assasins Blade was a truly enjoyable fantasy read. The audiobook narrator was great at bringing the characters and story to life.

I really enjoyed this debut from Madeline Te Whui! The narrator was fantastic.. she has such a soothing voice, and I loved her accent! The story started off a little slow, but once it got going it was filled with action, magic, romance, and betrayal! The magic system and world building was unique and interesting. I thought the main character Telium was well written. She is a morally grey character with dark powers, yet she strives to do good with them. I had an inkling about a couple of the secrets and twists, but I definitely did not anticipate the full extent of the plot twist! The ending turned out pretty satisfying, but I cannot wait to see what happens next in this series!

I enjoyed this audiobook for the most part. It's an interesting enough story. I think that at times perhaps the narrator's voice was a bit too sweet sounding for some of the darker topics discussed but otherwise it was fine. I wasn't in love with the narration though. It could take away from the story a bit for me at times. I think that the world building was really well done by the author but the middle of the story started to drag a bit and I did get a bit restless. The relationship between the MMC and the FMC seemed a bit forced and lacklustre at times but perhaps that will get stronger in futures books? Overall, I would definitely suggest this to someone who may be looking for a new fantasy book that has interesting yet easy to follow world building. I don't know that I would necessarily recommend the audiobook though j7ust because I don't think the narration really does the book justice.

Overall, I enjoyed this audiobook and the narrator Tanya Schneider gave it an added almost dreamlike quality. The world building was good and Telium with her dark gifts as a strong female lead character. It was perhaps a little overlong during the midsection of the novel where the narrative felt a little slow, but the ending was unexpected and I’ll be interested to see where the second book takes us. Many thanks to NetGalley, and the publisher for the audio ARC of this novel in return for an honest review

This is a fantasy story of betrayal, its effect and consequences. Of finding strength to overcome. There is a strong female lead character, which I liked. But for me the story was a little slow, and the tension didn’t really build up until near the end. Thank you to New Dawn Publishers and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

DNF at 20%

I’m really sad I couldn’t get into this book because the premise was cool, but it just wasn’t for me. While there is a short prologue, the first proper chapter opens with a high action scene, and this unfortunately fell into the trap of leaning too hard on the fighting and tension as a way to draw in the reader, without having the character work to back it up. In short, why should I care that Telium is in this situation? (I am an especially character-driven reader, so YMMV). I kept listening in the hopes that I would start to invest in her, but I just didn’t.

I found the prose to be noticeably effortful - what started with me thinking ‘oh nice adverb’ or ‘interesting word choice’ quickly devolved into a sense of belaboured construction which felt neither well-edited nor like it was the author’s natural voice. Another little thing that nonetheless bothered me was the fact that Telium was thinking of the fae dude as ‘a male,’ prior to the conversation they have where she has to be told that ‘man’ refers to a human whereas a fae is ‘male.’ If she didn’t know that, why was her interiority already using that language? And in between these moments when something specific about the writing caught my notice, I found my attention drifting and I’d have to rewind to listen again (and inevitably drifting again).

I listened to the audiobook, and Tanya Schneider did a nice job of bringing the flat characters and prose to life, though it wasn’t enough of a reason for me to keep going.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.