I KILLED THE KING by Rebecca Mix and Andrea Hannah is a very creative take on a locked room mystery. The cast of characters is complex: Oak, personal guard to Costis, King of Avendell; Prince Kellam, heir to the throne; Melarie, a princess from Istellia and Kellam's betrothed; Clove, an empathetic beast handler; Vesryn, an assassin planning to murder King Costis; and Ellion, a failed healer turned necromancer; plus various court attendants, other royals, and the Gods themselves. The six young people build a bond as more and more bodies are discovered, magical powers are tested, and romantic feelings are expressed. Tension builds as they frantically race against the clock to ensure that a treaty is signed. Perhaps it was intentional, but I found the multiple points of view and traveling across the barrier between life and death added a great deal of confusion. I KILLED THE KING has so many twists and unexpected pivots that it could make a good movie or streaming series. One of Us is Lying by McManus is frequently recommended as a read-alike. The audiobook is narrated by Dan Bittner who does an excellent job. The audiobook deserves 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, and HarperAudio Children’s for this advanced copy of I Killed the King! 3 Stars

I was very interested in the title, cover, and description of this book! Like other reviews, I think this book had a lot of potential, and I am interested to see where the story goes, because there could be room for a sequel, but this title was missing a couple of things for me. It's specifically missing essential worldbuilding and focus.

With multiple character perspectives, I was still able to follow the story, which I commend the authors for. That being said, some segments went on too long and some were far too short. The character that we spent the least amount of time with was Clove. I felt that her parts could've been taken out and the story still would've gone the same. She was the least developed out of the group, and I wanted to spend more time with the other characters.

Finally, I think the story could've done with a bit more worldbuilding for readers to understand and appreciate the aspects of this magical world. Some of the magic that was performed was done "off screen" which was a little confusing and took away from my understanding of how magic works in this universe. Hopefully the next book will have a little bit more worldbuilding!

Really good idea with lots of potential but...

This doesn't read like YA. None of the characters have "teen" problems. I think teens will get bored with this book.

Even for an adult book, the characters were not dynamic. I really didn't have a vested interest in any of their storylines.

Too many plot twists. It cheapens all the ones that come after the first one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this one.

So as per usual, I both read and listened to chapters of this book. There is a single narrator and many POVs. The single narrator didn’t bother me because its third person narration so it works that it’s only one voice. BUT, I am not a fan of male narrators who do cringey female voices and that definitely happened a bit here.

I enjoyed the story quite a bit. There is a lot of information and as I mentioned, many POVs (possibly too many) but it was an intricately woven story and I would definitely continue the series.

As for what medium I’d continue in, I can’t say for sure. For continuity, I’d probably go for the audiobook but I wouldn’t say it’s better than the ebook.

This was my first book by either of these authors. I’d read more from them and I’d read the sequel to this book.

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