It was ok but not really my thing. Love fantasy’s but this one just didn’t do it for me . It is engaging however and has a good pace but just fell about short for me. Good historical parts.

Den of Spies by RR Jones is an entertaining read, though it doesn’t venture into particularly original territory. The characters are engaging and constantly on the move, with Jones capturing their actions in vivid detail. The historical fiction elements add a refreshing touch, providing a unique backdrop to the story. While the book is enjoyable, if you’ve been immersed in YA/NA fantasy and are looking for something more shocking or innovative, this one might not quite hit the mark.

I didn't realize that this is the 2nd book in a series. I did read through it, thought it was somewhat enjoyable, but not completely like the description made it out to be.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

More and more of our patrons are reading paranormal romance with extra spice. I wanted to read this book to see if it would be a good fit with our current readers. RR hit the ball out of the park. This book was sexy, dramatic, and kept me on my toes!

I struggled with this one. The premise was really intriguing, a spy academy, against the backdrop of Transylvania and the Ottoman Empire. Unfortunately, the part of the book I read didn’t match up to expectations, and I really struggled when reading it. The writer has some interesting ideas, but the book needed a lot more editing than it had. The POVs were confusing and even a short way in the writing got really repetitive. There was an interesting potential here that is, ultimately, let down by the execution.

I am not a huge fan of werewolves, vampires or any other mystical creature within novels. It was not to my liking and found it to be distasteful.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.
DNF at 11%
This book was interesting, but the world building made me feel like I was reading a text book. I would like to come back to it at some point though! I'm hoping when I get through that it will flow a lot easier.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This book was awesome!! I loved it! However, some of you may wanna check the trigger warnings. But this was so flipping good! I didn't want to put it down to go to bed and it made me lose sleep!! I have to read the rest of thos mesmerizing series!!! 5 stars!!!
I just reviewed DEN OF SPIES by RR JONES. #DENOFSPIESATransylvanianHistoricalFantasy #NetGalley
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Meinung:

Vielen Dank an Netgalley und die Autorin für das Rezensionsexemplar!

Erster Satz: For a few heartbeates, the silence is so deep it hurts, then the earth shakes like a muddy dog and the world goes crazy.

Das Cover finde ich richtig cool und hat mich auch erst auf das Buch aufmerksam gemacht. Es ist düster und das rot passt irgendwie zu Dracula-Geschichten.

Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist ausbaufähig. Gestelzte Dialoge und unnötig lange Beschreibungen machen das Lesen wirklich mühsam, dann passiert lange auch nichts und da hat der Schreibstil nicht geholfen. Das Buch ist in der dritten Person geschrieben, wobei die Perspektive immer wieder wechselt und sich auf einen anderen Charakter konzentriert.

Zu Beginn lernt man viele verschiedene Charaktere kennen, die irgendwann fast alle zusammen finden. Man begleitet sie auf ihren Reisen und wie sie lernen, verschiedene Missionen zu erfüllen.

Der Einstieg in das Buch ist mir schon wirklich schwer gefallen, da ich mit dem Schreibstil nicht klarkam und dann auch noch so viele Charaktere eingeführt werden. Irgendwann konnte ich diese dann auseinander halten, aber das hat die Geschichte selbst nicht besser gemacht.

Müsste ich die Hauptcharaktere benennen, würde ich sagen das sind Ali und Radu. Radu ist ein Sohn von Vlad Dracul und wird an den Hof des Sultans geschickt um dort zu spionieren und sich mit dessen Sohn anzufreunden. Radu mochte ich ganz gerne, da er den Krieg, der herrscht, als unsinnig anssieht und wirklich gute Ansätze hate, wie er all seinen Aufgaben gerecht werden kann. Zwar ist er eher ein Angsthase, aber wenn es drauf ankommt kann er sich auch verteidigen.

Ali ist ein Mädchen, das von ihrer Familie weggelaufen ist. Ich fand sie ganz gut, sie versucht alles um so gut wie die Jungs zu sein, nimmt alles klaglos hin und hat sich komplett ihrer Aufgabe verschrieben. Sie kann auch irgendwie zaubern, Gedanken lesen und sowas, aber das hat keinerlei Mehrwert für das Buch.

Alle anderen Charaktere, wie Ion, Vlad oder Lena kommen auch viel vor, aber bei ihnen hatte ich nicht das Gefühl, dass sie wirklich Hauptcharaktere sind, außerdem wirkten sie, bis auf Vlad, sehr austauschbar.

Ich habe richtig viele Probleme mit dem Buch, angefangen damit, dass es zwar als Fantasy angepriesen wird, das aber nicht wirklich stimmt. Es gibt einen Drachen, einen Werwolf und eine Hexe in dem Buch, aber das wars auch schon. Man hätte das aber auch weglassen können, da das absolut nichts zur gesamten Story beiträgt und unnötig war. Allgemein ist das Marketing falsch, es hat nicht mal annähernd irgendwas mit GoT gemeinsam und auch Hunger Games ist ziemlich übertrieben. Am Anfang müssen ein paar Jungs Aufgaben bestehen, damit sie als Spione auserwählt werden, wer das nicht schafft geht nach Hause, aber es ist kein Wettbewerb auf Leben und Tod und war nach einem Viertel des Buches vorbei. Also das finde ich ziemlich übertrieben und falsch.

Weiters war es einfach langweilig. Ich habe keine Ahnung, was der Sinn des Buches sein soll, denn es gab keinen Höhepunkt und das Ende war jetzt auch nicht spannend. Ein paar gute Kapitel waren dabei, die mir auch wirklich gefallen haben, aber der Großteil war fad und es war viel zu lang. Auch wird nicht viel spioniert, es geht mehr um den Krieg und wie sie den führen und was sie da nicht alles machen. Dann noch ein paar Machtspiele innerhalb eines Landes und schon haben wir das Buch.

Worldbuilding war ebenfalls keines vorhanden. Es ist historical fanatasy, obwohl ich es eher unter historical fiction einordnen würde, aber trotzdem habe ich null Ahnung, wer jetzt wo ist, wie die Welt aufgebaut ist, die Hintergründe zu den Charakteren, da gibts einfach keine Info. Ebenso war es komisch, dass Ali von zu Hause wegläuft. Das ist in einem Kapitel abgehandelt, es wird nie wieder erwähnt, aber so ganz verstanden hab ich es nicht.

Ich war dann froh, als es vorbei war, denn es wurde nicht besser bis zum Ende. Es blieb langweilig und es gab zu viel Bla Bla über Krieg und Territorien, das interessiert niemanden, wenn man ein gutes Fantasybuch lesen will, was das hier eindeutig nicht ist. Einzig die Kapitel von Vlad haben die zweite Hälfte des Buches erträglich gemacht, weil er wenigstens etwas Interessantes gemacht hat.

Fazit:

Ich bin maßlos enttäuscht von dem Buch. Erwartet habe ich mir Fantasy und bekommen habe ich einen historischen Roman, der zudem noch super langweilig war. Ich war froh, als ich fertig war, die paar guten Kapitel können den Rest einfach nicht besser machen. Das ist ganz klar keine Empfehlung.

Thank you NetGalley for this ebook copy of Den of Spies, in exchange for an honest review.

Great, easy read - kept my attention, loved the diversity of the cast of characters. However, there is a LOT of world building, and I found myself needing to go back a few pages/chapters to remember who was whom, and what country was which.

"Den of Spies" by RR Jones intricately blends fantasy and history as a werewolf, dragon, and witch enter Spy Academy, facing cutthroat trials. The narrative weaves magic into a real-world Ottoman court, where survival is uncertain. Inspired by Romania's national hero, the story explores teamwork and survival against a historical backdrop, posing whether the protagonists can outsmart the sultan's might. RR Jones skillfully combines courage, unsettling magic, and historical intrigue, creating an epic adventure for readers who enjoy a unique fusion of genres.

I really enjoyed this book was completely hooked from the first page and couldn't put it down definitely recommend

I have to admit I kind of struggle to write a review for this book, because I did enjoy some parts of it while reading but it didn't really meet all my expectations I got from the blurb.
There is little fantasy in this book, besides the fact that there are creatures and some witchcraft, but it's more of historical fiction than actual fantasy to me. It was also hard to keep track of the amount of characters that were important and introduced in the book. It also was a bit chaotic when it comes to writing and the plot and it was hard for me to get a proper overview.
The cover is gorgeos, though! Really love that.

I really enjoyed the setting and backdrop of this - especially in tandem with the spy academy aspect. It was a very slow burn which I actually enjoyed in this case.. A lot of information was given at once, which could be a bit hard to follow, and some of the characters felt too modern for the context. I'm looking forward to see the direction the series goes in.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this books.

The description and cover(!) immediately made me want to read this book. However, the description did not end up to be a true reflection of the book. In my opinion, there is very little fantasy in this book (besides the three little spies, a werewolf and some witchery) and reads much more like a true historical retelling. To me, that is not a bad thing.

The chapters are short and we are introduced to a whole array of characters and their back stories, which can be hard to keep track of if you are not familiar with this part of history.

In all, the book reads like a prequel and is very slow burn.

The prose of historical context and details are beautifully done, which is why I am surprised at the use of modern language by the characters, some of them even going so far as to use modern slang and slurs.

This is not a light read and I would caution a reader who struggles with brutality and death.

Overall, I am intrigued enough to see what happens in the next installment.

Honestly, I was expecting this to be some silly fantasy romance which sole purpose is to be entertaining and doesn't require much brain power to understand. And it was that but also surprisingly good and well-built. As a first installment, it really felt like a big intro to this series which can be off-putting for some, and not gonna lie, I was bored for a good chunk of it but it was worth it by the end and I'd be curious to se where this series goes. The world was especially interesting as it's heavily based on historical events in the Romanian and Ottoman Empire areas so it's borderline on historical fantasy and I really enjoy those type of books. The characters were all fine but I didn't get really attached to any of them but again, it's only the first installment so that's probably why. Overall, a solid 3.5 stars.

Den of Spies had such an interesting concept, I was very happy to get a chance to read this story. I love any story that has to do with Transylvania, and I was excited to see where this story was going to go.

That being said, it was very hard to understand what was going on. We're introduced to many characters and backstories early on, that it's hard keeping everything in order. I really wanted to like this story, but it felt a little flat for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. Unfortunately i did decide to DNF this book after reaching 35% and realising that i wasn't the intended audience for this book.

I loved the description of the book, it sounded so intriguing with the different supernatural beings and trials that sounded similar to The Hunger Games. Also the setting for the book taking place in a spy academy sounded like it would be a lot of fun, like there would be a lot of character development, high stakes and intrigue. Another aspect of the book i was looking forward to was learning more about the Ottoman empire and Transylvania, yet that didn't really happen in the percentage of the book that i did read.

My biggest struggle with this book was how confusing it was. The pacing felt incredibly slow, we were given huge amounts of backstory and detail on 6+ characters lives, which didn't particularly have any baring on what i thought the story would be based on the blurb. It left me very confused and wondering when the spy academy aspect and the different trials would actually happen. Another aspect that really confused me and ultimately led to me DNFing the book was how confusing it was to be constantly switching between multiple characters POVs. There was no indication of who was narrating so you were left having to figure it out or wait until their name was mentioned. Having to keep track of 6+ characters stories was also confusing and i found myself forgetting names and getting details mixed up very easily.

Perhaps i just read this ARC at the wrong time and that is why i struggled so much, but there are definitely aspects of the book i enjoyed too. I loved how detailed the world building and scene setting was, and there was definitely a lot of thought put into each characters behaviour, mannerisms, and relationships.

I do think that readers who enjoy multiple POVs and complex, detail oriented world building would really enjoy this book and find themselves immersed in a really carefully crafted world.

Den of Spies is a historical fantasy novel.

It was a bit slow to begin with however the story picks up half way through. The first half felt like a long introduction to the world with lots of characters and information being thrown at you with little time to take it in.

The story is interesting and good introduction to the series. I think some work could be done to make it flow a bit better and have a better pace.

Overall I did enjoy the book and would consider reading the next one.

I recommend reading the triggers for this book as there are scenes of violence that may be quite upsetting.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing me with this arc.