4 Stars
Publisher:
Date of publication: April 17th, 2018
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Pentavia
Be Careful What You Joust For – Book 1
Where you can find Be Careful What You Joust For: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Book synopsis (from Goodreads):
The fiercest knights in the realm are coming together to compete in the Joust for Arwin’s Lance, a tournament that will divide even the closest alliances. The winner alone will have the power to start or prevent a war from unfolding across the peaceful lands of Pentavia.
House Hornbolt, a prominent family that desires peace above all else, is hosting the tournament. The Hornbolt’s have always been strict followers of tradition. The firstborn son wears the armor of a knight. The second takes the priestly Oath of Arwin. And the daughters get married off to the most eligible suitors.
The eldest son is the favorite to win the tournament. But the rest of the Hornbolts aren’t as eager to follow the paths laid out for them. What if the second born wants to be a knight too? And what if the eldest daughter just gave her heart to a common thief?
Customs are meant to be broken. But that’s not all that threatens to shatter House Hornbolt, not when a secret deeper than the late king’s grave is unearthed right before the joust.
The fate of Pentavia hangs in the balance as war becomes imminent. And the scales are about to tip.
One wrong move and everything could fall to pieces.
My review:
I can’t even begin to describe how I felt when reading Be Careful What You Joust For. It was an emotional rollercoaster for me reading this book. One page I would be laughing at Terric’s horn dog lusting for Bella. Then the next page, I would be on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen to Bastian. I came to care for Selina, Oriana, Marcus, Garrion, Nesta, and Isolda.
I loved the medieval feel of this book. But what I liked also is that the author had shades of steampunk thrown in there. From the talk of airships to how Isolda dressed when going to manage her brothels, I ate it up. What I also liked about this book is that while it was set in a medieval type land, the kids did not talk like it. They talked like regular modern-day tween/teenagers. Awesome was used quite a bit. Again, it was refreshing because I hadn’t been expecting that.
Except for Selina and Nesta, each member of the Hornbolt family had their own individual plotlines. Isolda is trying to figure out who assassinated her father years ago. Marcus’s was about the tournament coming up and his preparation for it. Garrion was also about the tournament and keeping Isolda’s brother, Reavus, from ruining it. Oriana’s focuses on a love triangle that she finds herself in the middle of. Terric’s is his unhappiness with becoming a priest and his planning to run away to become a knight. All these storylines merge at the end of the book in a way that left me shocked.
The world building that Be Careful What You Joust For was insanely good. Each layer that was peeled back revealed another, more complex layer was revealed.
I am not going to lie and say that I loved every single character. I didn’t. But that is what I enjoyed the most about this book. The characters were all flawed in some way. I could relate to them and their struggles. I could also relate to the faults that they had that made me not like them.
The end of the book shocked me. I was blindsided by it. Actually, I got a little angry because what I had in my head wasn’t what I was reading. But having slept on it, I can say that I thought it was brilliant of the authors to end it the way they did. Not only did they not resolve any of the plotlines but new ones were started right before the book ended. It is safe to say that there will be a book 2 and I can’t wait to read it.
What I liked about Be Careful What You Joust For:
A) The medieval/steampunk feel of the book
B) The world building
C) The end of the book
What I disliked about Be Careful What You Joust For:
A) The end of the book
B) Terric (going with not liking every character).
C) Rixin (again going with not liking every character)
I would give Be Careful What You Joust For a rating of Young Teen. There is no sex or sexual situations. There is a couple of kissing scenes but nothing racy. There is no language. There is violence but it is not graphic. I would suggest that no one under the age of 13 read this book.
There are no triggers in Be Careful What You Joust For.
I would recommend Be Careful What You Joust For to family and friends. I would also reread this book and plan on reading book 2.
I would like to thank the publishers for allowing me to read and review Be Careful What You Joust For.
All opinions stated in this review of Be Careful What You Joust For are mine.
**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**
