I so wanted to love this book, and I did, at times, though not consistently and definitely not at the end.

My favorite part of this story was the charming of the beasts and the way they interacted with humans. Here, the author’s vision comes alive. The beasts absolutely made the story for me.

Initially, I loved Leena’s character. She’s independent, strong-willed, and intelligent. But then, by midway, she becomes the cliche weak-kneed female, so consumed with desire for a man that she can no longer think properly.

The story sags in the middle, with too much repetition and drama. This is a fairly long novel, and could easily have shed 50-75 pages to tighten up the pacing.

The “romance” is more of a melodramatic love story. The romance comes in the form of sex scenes toward the end. I found this part awkward, particularly with a certain word choice for the female anatomy.

I would’ve liked a lot more world-building. The setting is a huge part of this story, but I just didn’t see it.

And, finally, after nearly 400 pages, I reached the end and was left dangling. There is no closure, just major cliffhangers.

This series holds tremendous promise. Some tweaking would have easily made this a 5-star read for me.

What an amazing adventure. The author did a great job in crafting a story I couldn't put down until the very end. Overall, I loved the characters, the setting, and the storyline.

Um DNF for me.

There is such a thing as over detailing and I really can't stand it. Some things just don't call for it but this book had way too much over detailing at points it just made me want to stop. Lots of repeating of things that we already knew about, which clearly got annoying. The characters weren't grabing my attention and holding it. The whole enimies to lover things seemd to be almost overnight thats how fast it went.

I tried for a few days but I just couldn't push through it anymore. It just wasn't working for me.

Looovvvveeeeddddd this book so much. First of the map was amazing and I'm a suckered for a good book with map. Second of all the story and world building ..oh..my..god... I could gush for hours. Second of all the characters were well written. A few I loved and a few I loved to hate lol. The boom was immersive and a great read

I really loved this book. Pokemon is a huge part of my life so the fact that it was used as a comp made me so excited to read this book. And it was so fun! The world building was rich and unique and I adored all the beasts—learning about them was a lot of fun! I also loved the cast of characters. Leena was AMAZING and I loved her personality. Every time it was her point of view, I was on the edge of my seat. Her story broke my heart and I was rooting for her the entire time. I ad0re her strength and resilience despite all she's gone through.
Noc was okay but it was his group of friends that ws more interesting to me! Their varying personalities were a riot and I loved the interactions! I was okay with the romance, it wasn't my favorite thing, but they were cute! It happened too soon and got too deep for the first book in a series, but oh well. I still would recommend this one.

Unfortunately I did not manage to read this book at the time; and it is no longer a book I'd be interested in reading. Many thanks to the publisher for approving my request, and my apologies for being unable to provide a full review.

Oooooh, this book gave me AAALLL the Fantastic Beasts vibes! I loved the story and was hooked right away. I love that 2 different Narrators for Leena and Noc were the voice actors for this audiobook.

The adventure and the storyline were very clear and not muddled or anything. No unnecessary extra storyline were added and it was all just so easy to picture for me.

The writing style was great as well. The only thing that made me take off a star, is because it all felt a bit insta-love? I just love a slow burn and relationships to take longer to form. But that's the only thing that I would say. Will definitely continue this series; I can't wait!

"Kingdom of Exiles" was not a good read for me. It felt too disjointed for me to get really interested in it.

This one was a DNF for me. I will not be posting a review of it but thank you for sending. it just wasn't for me. Thank you again for the copy

Kingdom of Exiles is the first book in the Beast Charmers series written by Maxym M. Martineau. It had the perfect blend of fantasy, magic and hints and romance.

The book starts with Leana who is a beast charmer, exiled from her home world for a crime she didn't commit. Forcing to sell her precious beasts to survive in the brutal world she lives in. As times moves on she discovers she has a bounty on her head, after the staged assassination fails she forces one of the members to take her to the leader, Noc.

Noc, a man of many skills commands assassins through the city of Crour. He is a brutal man, shows far too little of emotion but once Leana makes an appearance something starts to stir in his chest. But Noc has other problems than romance and that is a curse, a curse that kills anyone he develops any sort of affection for.

Can Noc break the curse?
Can Leana go back to her old life proving that she didn't do the crime?

Read to find out.

I enjoyed this book. While the romance was ok, the world and the beasts were tons of fun. I found the world building to be the best part of the book and loved getting lost in it. The story was a bit long and there were parts I skimmed

Great books and wonderful story. This one a great story and loved reading it.
Would recommend for anyone that loves a good story and loves to read about awesome characters.

Did not finish. Could not get past the first five chapters. It felt unfinished and was not captivating

This fun fantasy adventure book is perfect for lovers of magic and animals. Leena is an up-and-coming trainer with a gift for magic animal training, but the breaks are few and far between when you're broke and struggling to pay the bills. Enter one assassin with Trouble as middle name and things get complicated...fast.

33. stars

I read this book 1.5 times.

I read it long ago and never got around to write the review so I just tried to reread it. I was hoping I could get interested again in the story and maybe finish the series.

It was a DNF the second time.

I guess I wasn't interested enough to fully reread. Nor I intend to finish the series.

It is a good book, just not for me. I guess I read too much urban fantasy and I've gotten picker.

It did help refresh my mind to write the review though.

I was excited about the magical beasts and the magical system built around it, but not very excited about much else. There wasn't much action in it and the romance was too dramatic so I got bored. .

The worldbuilding in this was excellent but so in depth I could not quite grasp it at times so I think this was a me thing and not a book thing.

This book was not lacking in action. The plot was well thought out and I would recommend this most of my friends.

I thought this book was... okay? I liked the heroine a lot and the worldbuilding had potential. The premise was really cool and I feel like I could have really gotten into the plot with the next installments. Honestly, I put off reading it once I heard that the series would be reworked and finished in YA format. I liked this book, it didn't blow my socks off, I, unfortunately, will not be finishing the series.

We DNF this book and will not be posting a review for it as we don't review books that are not fully read

Exiled Beast Charmer Leena is determined to clear her name accused of a crime she didn’t commit. Betrayed by love, she is forced to commit an actual crime, one that punishable by death, to survive - sell her magical beasts. Now she has a price on her head and assassins on her heels she makes their leader an offer he can’t refuse. Noc, plagued by a curse that kills everyone he loves, accepts her deal in hopes of finding a cure to remove the curse. With half-truths and secrets yet to be revealed, Leena and Noc venture out in search of beasts

What surprised me the most about this book was how much I enjoyed the characters. Not only the main characters, which by the way, were fantastic. Leena’s predicament of wanting to clear her name and Noc’s curse Oh man both were nail bitters that I could not wait to discover if and how they would resolve themselves out. It’s the secondaries, mainly Noc’s men, that caught me off guard. Sometimes those secondaries are just fillers to the story while other times they shine. In the case of Kost, Calem and Oz, they were little sparkling surprises that I can’t wait to read more about.

As for the story, I loved it. The world-building was perfectly paced, the slow build-up from being wary to eventual trust among the characters. And then there are the beasts. I can’t compare it to any other story out there because I have never read a book even close to what author Maxym M. Martineau has written. Magical, mystical – yes. But one with so many beasts that are magical that can bond? Never! It is truly a delightfully unique story. And that ending…whoa! A HEA with a doozy of a cliffhanger. What is going to happen to Noc I don’t know, but I can’t WAIT to find out!

Stars: 5

I received this book from Netgalley. I was not compensated for the book other than the entertainment it provided. All thoughts and opinions are my own.