Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

Court of Fives by Kate Elliott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this female author, protagonist fantasy series as part of #yearofya book chat to be held 1/30 at 8PM EST, come join the discussion! I must admit, I could not put this book down and I have to really thank bloggers, The Book Smugglers for their consistent discussion of Kate Elliott's series and oh did it fit perfectly with my chat this month, I am only SO sorry it took me this long to read- I can't wait to read the other books in the series too. I confess the world Jes and her family come from was horrible- all about social classes and since her father and mother never married- while her father was commanding armies in wars, Jes's mom was home (beautiful and kind) raising 4 girls and as the story begins her mother is pregnant with another and since she has not born a boy and no marriage...what happens when her father's patron dies (murdered by poison)is AWFUL for Jes and her family!!! Her Dad (must) make a decision that rocks Jes, her mom and sisters' worlds!!! Since their father was never home and there was no marriage (which was a bad thing) the girls were never allowed to go anywhere and it was a big secret that Jes competed behind a mask with the Court of Fives. On the day her father is honored due to his exploits in the war, Jes must slip out to compete and when she must throw her win (she can never take off that mask) an evil Lord finds her and makes her life hell because she is the best around in Court of Fives and he will have her (what is his final reason?). I could not put this book down, the writing, world building and characters as well as the political intrigue were all so well done but I ached for Jes and the threat of sending her to the mines by the evil lord. I loved her friendship with Kal, too. But she was plucky, kept looking at everything like it was the Court of Fives games, would not admit defeat and as a result I cannot wait to read, The Poisoned Blade, 2nd in the series!

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