(Rotten Sweet Things) These Cruel Watchers - Queen of the Hidden Ones: Book One by JD McKelvin is an absolutely sumptuous, blinding epic that combines historical fiction and high fantasy seamlessly

Princess Lyudmyla is a famous harrier seemingly without a care in the world outside of her royal pasttimes, but this is all thrust into turmoil when a battle to rule commences, within the court and from enemies outside, all parties under the gaze of the watcher, the mysterious eye that appeared in the sun 3 centuries past.

There is so much to this book that I took my time with it and I am glad that I did, it is utterly thrilling! It flows like a torrent and it's so full that it challenges the reader to keep pace and for that reason, it is utterly gripping and highly compelling. Full of characters a reader can engage with and a storyline that keeps weaving and darting, this is a an epic read and I am looking forward to more!

Thank you to Netgalley, The Write Path Publishing LLC and the author JD McKelvin for this phenomenal ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I liked the historical element and its clear the author put a lot of effort into building this story. It was vivid and unique, it really drew me in.

DNFed at Chapter 8. The historical premise of this book was of interest to me, but unfortunately I found it difficult to get into the story. This is partially due to formatting issues - the top and bottom sentence of every page was cut off, and I was unable to adjust it. Completely understand that this is an ARC but it did make following the story more challenging.

I wasn't able to get into the story at all. I pushed my way through, which isn't a good sign while reading should be something you enjoy, and hoped for the moment the book turned for the better but it didn't for me.

I love historical novels anyway, so when I saw this available on NetGalley, I thought this would be right up my street. I was also intrigued by the fact that this centred around the Kyivan Rus! It's clear that a lot of research went into this story and I felt that I learnt something from it. This was a quick and rollicking read.

So, when I first saw this book available on Netgalley, I was initially intrigued. I'm always down for a retelling, set in Europe during the late Middle Ages/early Rennaissance, that includes folklore woven throughout. But, as I tried to read the story, I was finding that I just wasn't into the story. Like, as I progressed, I just couldn't get into it. So, unfortunately, this will have to be another book that I'll have to set aside unfinished. There may come a time where I might pick it up again to finished, but it might be a while before I do.

I liked this book. I think the concept was good and the writing is well crafted. The descriptions of characters and the world around them is vivid and helped me get into the world of the story.