Having read the two previous books in this series, this was a very satisfying conclusion. Lynn has grown so much over the course of the series. The stew you this book is not the characterization but in its world-building. The world-building is very beautiful and realistic. This fantasy is perfect for Tamora Pierce, Juliet Marillier, and Marion Zimmerman Bradley because it puts strong female characters at the center of the story!

Im really excited about this story! I hope more people read it. I absolutely loved the way this was written, the characters, the plot and the intricateness of it. I really enjoyed this!

i really enjoyed reading this book, i'm a little sad that I didn't read the first two books in the series. It was really well written and had great characters.

I found the author to be a little wordy and overly descriptive in places. I didn't really enjoy the book too much.

A prophesied apocalypse. People ousted from power trying to find their way. Legends. Schemes of vengeance. Palpable grief. A villain Queen. This is the world I stepped into with The Poet King.

There is always a price to magic. One the poets understand. The White Queen and the Shadow King however, will fight for power again. For either of them to win would mean the end to the world as they know it. The Poet King, self proclaimed, aims to be the answer to everything with his rise to power. Throughout it all I felt calls to the tales of King Arthur and Merlin.

I woefully made the mistake of not realizing this was the epic conclusion to a trilogy when I requested this read. I dove in anyway with high hopes. Now I feel a strong urge to go back to the beginning to see how it all started so I can piece together how it all wrapped up. That being said, even though I didn’t come into this read having finished the prior two books, I was still able to catch up. I knew who the characters were and understood the magic of the poets. That’s impressive for jumping into the last book. I can only imagine how much more will be added when I read the series from the start, especially since I have the first book now patiently waiting for me to read.

I liked the title and had not read by this author so I thought I would give it a try. I did not quite like it as much as I wanted to like it though. I didn't notice until later that it was the third in the series and so was not familiar with the story so far and the characters. Sometimes not reading what has come before in a series really leaves without enough to go on about the whole story. For me this was the case. The writing was decent enough but overall didn't really get into this book.

Even if I loved the world building and the characters the plot felt a bit disjointed and it didn't keep my attention.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

So, I thought it sounded neat and requested it before I realized my mistake and that it was the third of a series. I went into it open minded- I figured I'd decline to review if it was too much a barrier of entry. Even without prior knowledge it did a good job of introducing characters and old plots, and I found it fairly easy to follow. Even better: I found it engaging and engrossing.

The book is about the fall out of the Poet King Elissan Diar's coup, the lead up to his coronation, and, of course, a prophesied magical apocalypse intrinsically connected to his reign.But who it focuses on is the interesting part. It didn't matter that I wasn't familiar with the politics or people at first, because the story is told from the points of view of those who were ousted form power trying to adjust to their new lives and losses. Particularly of interest was the Lady Rianna Alterra, wife of a traitor who is stripped of her social rank and made to be the Poet King's servant, quietly planning her vengeance as she catches the king's attention.

Perhaps most importantly -Poets have recently gone in universe from more traditional bards to tapping into the magic they have only historically been said to possess. The magic is interesting and lives up to the source of its name: The Otherworld. Such is where Elissan's, and the other Poet characters's, power comes from. It is also where the biggest threat of the story comes from. There's an almost fae-like element to it, that I really enjoyed. There's a particular sequence where a character goes to an enchanted castle to retrieve an object they are not told what it is, and if they fail will die after three days. It reminded me of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

The Poet King is clearly inspired by the power of stories and song, of truth, and loss, and most importantly of making mistakes and forgiving people for their mistakes. Of finding your place in the world, when your world falls apart. It's often very emotional visceral, even brutal at times. It's not sparing in how it interrogates the internal worlds of its characters, and I found it intriguing. The imagery and writing are beautiful and intense, the tension of the first third of the book was truly incredible.

But sometimes the pacing is a bit odd, with all the overlapping points-of view, and there can be a sameness to the characters. It seems like almost the entire cast suffers from unrequited love, the rest have been betrayed by their spouses. Everyone is suffering from grief all surrounding many of the same events and people which, while realistic, doesn't actually offer much to the story when almost every POV character is on the same side and feels the same way about their lost friends, teachers, and loved ones. These feel tangible and thoughtful, but also at times redundant. The high drama of their tragedy will entertain many, but put off some with the unrelenting misery most of the characters suffer for most of the story.

If you've read the first two, I can't imagine not loving it. It manages to snag my interest and keep my hooked, all while being clear enough that I had a good grasp on everything without having read two books. I'll probably go buy the first two and read them now!

I think this book has the ability to really be an excellent read for someone.... but not for me. I wasn't invested in the characters and I really felt like this book dragged and I couldn't get into it.

The most positive thing I can say about this book, and the trilogy as a whole, is that it's not predictable. But it is frequently frustrating, and ultimately unsatisfying.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the cover art, that is initially what drew me into this story. When I first got this arc, I had no idea it was the third in a series, so I immediately went back and read the other stories. I enjoyed them for the most part but some of the tropes felt very overdone.

One thing I dislike about this story is I felt the women in the story were very under represented. They were nearly silenced. Let's get those lady voices back!

I didn't realize The Poet King by Llana C. Myer is the third book in a series. So I will not be continuing to read this book.

The premise is amazing - a land where royalty are given titles such as poet kings and queens. The title hooked me right away. However, the worldbuilding felt minimalistic and basic. The characters arecopycats from World of Warcraft and there was nothing to set them apart from medieval fiction stereotypes. The characters read too powerfully and superhuman that it was impossible to relate to them. Of course, if you're the type of reader that doesn't need to relate to characters, then you will likely enjoy this book.

The few female characters were barely present. I struggled to remember their names because they were infrequently featured. The villain queen was well-written, I'll give her that. She was properly scary. She gave me goosebumps and I looked forward to her scenes.

This was a wonderful concept and the premise was amazing, but the plot was loosely constructed. There were too many alliances and feuds to keep track of. This is a small detail, but I disliked having a character named Marlen who was the magical court guy. Um, sound familiar? He is exactly like Merlin from the King Arthur legends! If this book had drawn less from the King Arthur stories, I would have enjoyed it much more. The evil queen felt like Morgana trying to corrupt Arthur and all the soldiers were similar to knights of the round table. I wanted more descriptions of the magic and the beauty of the lands. I hope more edits are made before this book is published.