The Armored Saint Review
Description: In a world where any act of magic could open a portal to hell, the Order insures that no wizard will live to summon devils, and will kill as many innocent people as they must to prevent that greater horror. After witnessing a horrendous slaughter, the village girl Heloise opposes the Order, and risks bringing their wrath down on herself, her family, and her village.
My Thoughts:
“Fear is a deadly thing, Heloise. It can drain a person of all their strength, make them weak before their enemies.” The Armored Saint is a grimmdark fantasy that hits hard and fast. Now i say fantasy in the loosest sense beacuse even though this takes place in a different world and has magic in it. It really follows heloise and the people of this village trying to survive. I found myself growing really attached to the characters and hoping they would make it through this cluster fuck. And when the bad things happened my heart cracked a little. I was hoping for more magic in this one. I think i may see more in the next two. But like i said this is a loose fantasy beacuse over all it's more of a character exploration. It contains lessons about facing fear and letting love win even when others want to destroy it. Honestly i wasn't expecting that. So i think if you are wanting to go into this book please know that. “That love is worth it. It is worth any hardship, it is worth illness. It is worth injury. It is worth isolation. It is even worth death. For life without love is only a shadow of life.” Myke Cole did an great job at setting the scene of the village and crafting the beginning of a world that i could easily seeing being turned into a larger book series with bigger books. I hope that happens *fingers crossed* He also did a good job at crafting characters. Our main character heloise made a lot of mistakes which got on my nerves a few times. I understand though if she didn't we wouldn't have the story we have. Heloise is a courageous young woman who believes in fighting for what is right and wants a life more than is expected of her. She also happened to be part of the LGBTQ+ community. I think myke cole did a good job. The other characters we got to know thorough heloise's pov. I liked most of them. Lastly i wanted to mention a few of the complaints i have with this book. I wish it was longer and i wish we knew and got to see more of this magic. I know if this book had been at least 350 pages i would of given it 5 out of 5 stars. If you decide to pick this book up let me know how you like it. :) Stars: ★★★★
