"... she wrapped her braid around her hand, reached up with a dagger, and sliced."
Nothing encapsulates the bad assery of Amarynn, the main character, as this line. Amarynn is an IMMORTAL soldier for the Kingdom of Karth. Thats right I said an IMMORTAL, and not a vampire type of IMMORTAL, this is a whole fresh take on immortality, and the world is built around this question of where, and why are people like Amarynn Immortal.
For me that was the BIG SELLING point. Im intrigued in her story. I want to know more about how she came to be, and we get glimpses throughout the book, not just through her perspective, but also The Prince's Jael, a Mage named Regealth, and a Deckhand named Sia.
Their stories collide in a very fascinating ways, and I enjoyed the instances where you would witness a scene from Amarynns perspective, then see it through another characters eyes. It really helped establish each individuals thoughts and emotions to get a different view of events happening through out the book.
Brandi has made amazing characters and a lived in world, however some parts of the story gave away a lot of what would happen later. And thats okay it doesnt change how cool things are, but it took away how much cooler they could have been.
For example this is part where Jael, the prince, meets someone for the first time who is working for "the enemy"
A pearl of odd, unnerving wisdom glinting in the small man's eyes led Jael to wonder whether his loyalties truly lay with Lors.
It was a small line but immediately makes the reader go, "sweet so this character is gonna be a good guy now and help in some way" which doesn't deflate the story in any way, but its also doesn't allow an "OMG THIS GUY IS ON OUR SIDE" moment either, it just makes it predictable. There are a few instances where this happens, and every time I felt just a little bummed I knew what was gonna happen.
I genuinely enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading and seeing where Amarynns story will lead to. And if I am to compare this book to another book series I have read I would say if you enjoy Tamora Pierce's The Lioness Quartet I feel this is in a similar vain of Bad Ass Woman Knightery, just add more gruesome gore and make Alanna Immortal. :)
That being said I give The Gate by Brandi Schonberg 4 Atranoch's out of 5!
*I received an ARC from the Author.