The Eleven

by Paul Gaskill

If you were imprisoned and abused for half your childhood, how would you get revenge on the eleven who did it?

A Game of Thrones meets The Name of the Wind. This dark epic fantasy of revenge is a page turner from the very start.

   Keira has sworn to kill the men who 
 imprisoned and abused her as a child. 

                      REVENGE

          Rowan is an assassin who
      chooses a girl over his mission. 

                         LOVE

       Sirris is the first slave to ever
       escape the Drosaws, and the 
     first to ever encounter a Dragon. 

                  UNDERDOG

     Dess is a Kyte, and his powers
     are beyond anything his realm 
              has seen before. 

                     MAGIC

      The lives of four people will 
     change forever as they unite
     to bring the rulers of the land
                to their knees.

But will they change for the better?

"I LOVE the revenge! I LOVE the darkness! I just REALLY LOVE this book!"

"Okay. WOW. I loved it!"

"GREAT fantasy read!"

"This was RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!"

Paul Gaskill's step from young-adult fantasy to dark fantasy is genius. Mix the darkness and character variety of George R. R. Martin with the perspectives and storytelling of Patrick Rothfuss, and then sprinkle some of Stan Lee's superpowers on top. What's not to like?

Genres: Horror, Fantasy

Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Paul Gaskill is a fantasy author from the UK. He was born in August '91 and completed his education at John Port School in Derby, where he took a liking to Mathematics. Fast forward a number of years and Paul studied Mathematics at University, then became a Financial Adviser. Despite the career in numbers, Paul's secret love was letters, and his novels were created during the evenings when everything finance during the daytime had been forgotten.





"Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a Mathematician turned Author - I was never quite Albert Einstein, but I knew much more than the average person about numbers, equations and formulae. But if you'd asked me what a semi-colon was used for, I'd have shrugged at you. Now it seems to be the other way around.


"I had a fairly normal childhood. I loved football (I still do) and I used to be out until dusk or beyond kicking a bag of air around a field or on a street. If it wasn't football, then it was usually another sport of some kind. Unless it was sneakily searching for golf balls on the local 9-hole golf course with friends and selling the balls we'd found back to the golfers who had lost them in the first place. Mischievous, but entrepreneurial, at a young age.


"I've been very lucky to grow up with loving parents who have helped me become the person I am. They're both intelligent and driven, and it has laid the foundation for me to do what I enjoy doing, and that is to write.


"Without this beginning to sound like a CV, I am ambitious about, and inspired by, creative writing (and I can work well in a team as well as efficiently by myself). Fantasy appeals so much to me because it is about creating something that nobody else has seen before. Worlds, lands, races, laws, politics, character personalities; everything is of my own invention. In some ways it gives a sense of power, but also a sense of pride that I've built something to provide enjoyment to others."

Reviews

[Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

* I received a reader copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much Paul and once again sorry it took me so long! =)*

trigger warnings: child rape/rape, torture, incest, gore, descriptive/graphic violence, male dismemberment

It’s really rare for me to start a book review with trigger warnings, but in this particular case I made an exception because I was totally caught off guard when I read the book so I thought I’d give you a fair warning. I mean the blurb and summary of “The Eleven” already indicates that there is abuse in this book but the extent of it took me by surprise.

This said “The Eleven” was a really good book and if I’d have to place it in a genre I’d probably go for epic/dark fantasy and grimdark. Told from four different POVs we get a good insight into the lives of our protagonists and learn a lot about their past and present. I know different timelines aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and I’m usually very sceptical when I come across a book that features them but I’ve to say that this time around it worked perfectly. Paul did a great job at combining all those timelines and as a reader I only got the information I needed in order to be able to follow the plot.

I loved this because it gave the book some sort of mystery element and made me wonder what happened in the characters past that caused them to be the way they were now and even more important, to end up where they were. In some way it felt like reading a puzzle and you’re fitting one piece at a time. Another thing that is noteworthy is the fact that I enjoyed every POV and didn’t really prefer one over another. They were all interesting and kept the plot moving so I never felt like I’d like to read more of a certain character. Plus the magic system was intriguing.

”The life of plants is not the only life we can use.” Magister Mernig looked serious all of a sudden. “Any life is a possible source of magic, but only certain life is acceptable to use. You cannot , for example, use the life of the person next to you.”

I really liked the idea of life being used to fuel magic and that it was so important to keep the balance. I know there are a lot of magic systems out there which are all about the balance of things, but in “The Eleven” it’s more than just a little tangible. I mean if someone in here used a plant in order to do magic the plant wilted away and died. So I guess the consequences of magic won’t get any more palpable than that, right? XD

Still, magic isn’t everything that’s tackled in this book and the revenge of Keira is quite something. What happened to that poor girl is unimaginable and it’s no surprise she ended up on a path to kill the twelve councilmen that tortured and abused her for years. The way she goes about it is very graphic though so yeah, that’s exactly where all those aforementioned trigger warnings come in. I’ve to admit some scenes were way too much for me and one scene in particular caused me to feel sick. This book is not for the faint-hearted so please tread carefully when you decide to pick it up. ;-)

All told, “The Eleven” was something different and one of those books I always liked to pick up again. I found myself rooting for all of the characters and especially Sirris and Dess were two super interesting POVs. Not to mention that we have dragons in here too! If you’re a fan of dark/epic fantasy and grimdark I’m sure you’ll most definitely enjoy “The Eleven”. Just make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before you pick it up. ;-)
__________________________

I didn't see this ending coming so kudos to Paul Gaskill for surprising me. XD
This was really good and I enjoyed it even though it was pretty heavy and gory at some points. I'll speak more about it in the trigger warnings and my review!

So for now it's: Full RTC soon! Stay tuned! ;-)
__________________________

I know I'm so very late with this but I'm finally, finally getting to it! XD
I'm very sorry for taking so long, Paul, but I promise I'll read it slowly and give it all my attention.

Also who doesn't want to read a book about an amazing heroine that figths back. This sounds like a great fantasy book and I'm so here for it.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A good dark tale of revenge. I did like the story, there is a lot of darkness in the book, and a thread of destiny as well. I would have given this book 3.5 stars, but I think it definitely deserved a round up rather then down.

Eleven man carried out monstrous acts on a young girl, breaking her physically and mentally. Now the woman seeks revenge. With the help of magical items, creatures, friends, fate and courage she will not be denied.

The book is a bit slow in parts, and the fights already seem to be decided before they have begun. One of my person preferences/prejudice is I am not a great fan of then and now stories. I do personally think the book would have been better just going in a straight timeline, and letting the different characters tell their story that way. I have to say the destiny them do help the book more then other then and now books so I do see what the author was thinking.

Now the stage is set for an even more dangerous war. I am interested to see what happens next.

[Michael]

The quality of the writing is very good and all you Grimdark fans out there will likely love this one.

I am afraid that the nature of the content caused me to DNF this one at 50%

Rape, torture and violence of a nature that was too much for me to cope with; culminating in male dismemberment at 50%.

I won't be giving it a rating as I failed to finish the book.

I may check out some other books by this author as they look more likely to suit my now sensitive disposition.

Thanks for reading.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleven men of power did the unthinkable to a young girl, but Keira survived, broken, filled with hatred and on a mission for revenge. Will it be as sweet as she hopes? Will it heal the divide within her? She has lived in the shadows, alone but that will soon change.

Rowan is on a mission to kill Keira, but his heart gets in the way. Joined by the escaped slave Sirris, a young dragon and Dess, whose magic is powerful, these four will join together in an unlikely alliance to change the darkness in their world. Can they make a difference for the good of the realm or will they start an avalanche that could destroy everything?

Not for the faint of heart, this dark tale is told in a graphically brutal way, stark and devoid of euphemisms, acts of violence are often painful to read. This is dark fantasy and Paul Gaskill has done a remarkable job creating an atmosphere that clearly weighs heavy on each of the characters in THE ELEVEN.

The revenge is graphic, brutal and I cannot say I didn’t agree with it, but the tale in between often slowed done just a little too much. One character was mentally split and that was her driving force, which made her story a tough one to handle at times, still, I did need to know how things ended and what the cost was to each character.

Told in sections about each character and with a timeline that embraced both past and present, Paul Gaskill did justice to explaining the events happening. Still, as I said, not for those who cannot handle the raw detail, because you will feel what these characters feel. Powerful, raw and gritty.

I received a complimentary copy from Paul Gaskill! This is my honest and voluntary review.

Publication Date: December 15, 2019
Publisher: Paul Gaskill
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Print Length: 445 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News, follow: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Bibliophilic Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come...

UPDATE:

Revenge isn’t the best medium to change the world but there are times when it’s the only option to create a revolution. The Eleven shows readers of a near-hopeless world ravaged with injustice and a woman’s fight to rid herself of the demons that dwell in it.

The author was kind enough to send me a free e-book copy of his book and in turn, I am volunteering an honest review. The Eleven is a dark tale of a world filled with so much violence but one that mirrors that of our own. Being one of my first forays into adult grimdark fantasy, the book allows me to immerse myself in a world filled with hopelessness wherein only the fittest and ruthless will survive. From the beginning of the book, readers are treated to an intense and graphic fight sequence with a ruthless protagonist and a mysterious story. While moving back and forth between the past and the present, multiple points of view at two timelines interconnect to form one cohesive tale of revenge and the fulfillment of justice. The first act is difficult to get through with the establishment of the world, plot, and characters but all of them are fascinating and interesting that when the second act comes, wherein the story starts to form, the pacing becomes quite fast. The third act arrives at an alarmingly fast pace that leaves many loose ends with only a few pages to go. Ultimately, the story comes through with a satisfying but slightly rushed resolution and a magnificent world that begs to be explored further. The novel’s magic systems need better exposition so that they are explained better and more thoroughly but they’re a delight to read and entertaining to imagine. The Kyte and Xakian magic systems draw from different mediums but with the same foundation in a unique but colorful depiction of racial differences. The Drosaws are quite an interesting race that deserve more exploration because they seem to be underdeveloped. The book paints a dark picture of a world filled with gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity that pushes the reader to understand the effect these issues have on society. Overall, The Eleven is a great read that fans of revenge plots, strong female leads, and magic systems will enjoy.

Paul Gaskill is kind enough to entrust me with a copy of his book which is cringy because of the themes but necessary because of its story. Paul Gaskill’s writing style is graphic in terms of certain scenes and landscapes but they satisfyingly paint a perfect picture of a grim world. Gaskill shines with his fight scenes but I feel like they could expound more on the intricacies of the battle sequences and less on the descriptions of settings. Although I enjoy the writing style, I feel like more focus should be placed on the plot drivers instead of the scenery which can be accomplished with subtle expositions and referencing. Still, the feat of writing from four different voices and two points in time for each perspective is quite a confusing endeavor but Gaskill does wonderfully in that the revelations of the story bear heavier impacts on the reader. Gaskill’s books deserve a wider reach because its readers are in for a rollercoaster of a ride.

The characters are just some of the fascinating aspects of this great book, each filled with great individual stories and backgrounds. The main protagonist of this book is Keira who’s a feisty character who runs on revenge together with Courage. Keira is a complex character made to appear like a static one who’s hell-bent on vengeance. The struggles she undergoes represents many of the issues women are often victimized for -- gender discrimination, harassment, rape, and abuse. To add, her development might be a little skewed but she proves that women are just as ruthless and driven as the men they’re often compared to in the misinterpretation that women are inferior. Last for Keira, I feel like, for most of the book, she relies too much on Courage as an emotional crutch. As for Dess, he’s a character whose development is probably the best of the book from young and naive to mature and resilient. Dess’ progress is amazing and the back and forth between the present and past add to the reading experience. Rowan’s perspective paints quite the picture of the male psyche about feeling too crafty despite being a little too obvious. Rowan is probably my least favorite character of the book but Sirris makes up for that with his growth and adventure. Being a slave, he represents all the oppressed who’ve overcome the odds and make it out on the opposite end of the spectrum. All four characters’ interactions aren’t unique but are executed very well that their paths cross at just the right moment to create an explosive scene. The character work for this book is great and I’m excited to read more books from Paul Gaskill not just for the story but for the colorful characters.

Probably one of the least impressive parts of the book is the cover because it appears a little to vague as to what the story is about. Without giving insult to the fantasy genre, this book’s cover doesn’t look a bit like a fantasy book and I wish the cover makes the story stand out with its uniqueness. To add, I feel like the typography feels more like a high fantasy type of story rather than an epic grimdark fantasy. As for the summary, it gives a sneak peek at what’s in store for the story with a tinge of mystery and intrigue in a concise manner. All in all, the cover is bad but the summary makes up with its subtlety to an otherwise unnoticeable novel.

The Eleven is an intense rollercoaster who keeps on giving and I cannot wait to partake into another Paul Gaskill saga. His books deserve more reach because they’re good reads that people should gobble up and enjoy.

[David Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this very adult fantasy told in the POV's of Keira, a young woman, held captive and sexually abused from the age of eleven, having escaped her captors with revenge as her guide. Rowan, an assassin sent to kill Keira. Sirris, a Glub escaping enslavement who winds up in the dragon's realm, and then Dess, a tree Kyte in search of a better life. This well written story is grand in it's scope and detail while at the same time rich in its character development. This fantasy comes complete with murder, magic and a lovable dragon. This one's not for the feint of heart as there are triggers of sexual violence, rape, mutilation and sex throughout this sprawling undertaking. I found myself captivated by the world building and cinematic nature of this book and was invested from the get go. If you enjoy a good fantasy story that may be a little rough around the edges I recommend giving this one a go.

[Ross Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

* I received an advance reader copy from the author and netgalley in exchange for an honest review *
Quite simply: this is a fantastic book.
The characters involved are all well-crafted and unique. They have their own back-stories that we learn over time, appreciating who they are, what they have been through and why they are how they are.
The main character is Keira, a human who spent a large part of her late childhood imprisoned, tortured and raped by the upper echelons of the government. She escapes and seeks revenge on her abusers, but needs Courage to achieve this. We first meet her as she begins her attack on the first such abuser.
She teams up with Rowan, an assassin, though the circumstances of their meeting don't become clear until later, and travels to a magical realm to track down more of her tormentors. The details of Rowan's current assignment are somewhat mysterious and only revealed later.
They eventually meet Dess, who we have started to get to know, an elf-like magical scholar who has had his own issues in adolescence and is seeking revenge on the people involved in the murder of the love of his life.
And finally we have Sirris, a funny little slave creature who seeks escape from his life of misery, abuse and servitude.
Those back-stories are gradually woven together over the course of the book in a very ambitious, and flawlessly executed, series of split timelines. Fans of Mark Lawrence's knack for splitting a story into separate timelines will love the way Gaskill has done this and more here. We have the "present" story, told from a number of different viewpoints and places, as well as each of the main characters' backstories. Over time we learn to understand how people met, what tensions there are (or could be lurking under the surface) and what each is trying to achieve. These interactions, conflicts and tensions are masterfully written and revealed.
The action throughout the book is fairly gruesome and gritty, and some of the sexual scenes of torture and rape are a little hard to take. Rather than being gratuitous on the whole though they do serve to give the reader a better appreciation for the terrors the characters have been through.
Over the course of the book we see Keira ticking the names off her list of the eleven, albeit out of sync due to the split timelines.
This really was a wonderful book that got me out of something of a slump, keeping me engaged and guessing the next revelation all the way through.
I sincerely hope Gaskill writes the hinted at follow-up book, as there certainly is scope for it in the world he has masterfully created and the cast of (surviving) characters.

[K.C. Nicola]

A complementary, digitized copy of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the work in any way.

[Paul Gaskill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t want to sound big-headed here, but this book is definitely an eleven out of ten. I thoroughly recommend it!

[Becci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved a free copy of the e book in exchange for an honest review.

***
Trigger warnings: rape, child rape, incest, torture.

This would have been a 4 star book for me without the graphic content. I tend to avoid books with this kind of content in so please bear this in mind when reading this review.

Unfortunately these references, whilst short, were spread out in the book so I can't even tell you which bits to skip. I started to avoid reading before bed as no one wants these things to pop up in their dreams!!
I personally would cut a few of these out or blur them alot. We all know what rape is.
***

Ignoring the graphic content:

This was a very fast paced, imaginative and ambitious fantasy novel.

The world building was amazing, vivid, diverse and unique. There are five lands mentioned in this book, including dragon lands, with their four armed ice vs fire dragon ladies and kyte lands, an elf like race, split by Tree, Fire or water.

The writing is very direct and non nonsense. the complete opposite of the over fluffy purple prose and was very easy to read. Although there were a few sections that seemed to recap and repeat what had already happened which weren't necessary.
Additionally the authors vocab was estremely impressive, I was glad I had the ebook as I had to look up the meaning of a lot of words! (one small gripe is that the word Whore is overused, you can just refer to them as women after the first time. Constantly calling them whores felt very uncomfortable and degrading, the men weren't called rapists over and over again)

I would have liked more of Keiras back story, why she was taken but it sounds like a sequel is planned so I'm sure this will be covered.

The format is multiple POV and split timelines. This may sound confusing but it was actually very easy to follow and I think it helped to keep up the pace of this book.

Overall a very promising and interesting read excluding the context mentioned above.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For fans of Game of Thrones, then I definitely recommend that you get your hands on a copy of this book!

What a rollercoaster of a book this was!

I will start off by noting the trigger warnings of rape, sexual abuse, paedophilia with strong language and violence. 


What I liked...

Sometimes I find multiple POV very difficult to follow, so when I saw that there were four different characters, alarm bells did start ringing. Fortunately, they were all very easy to follow and flowed really well. Obviously, I had to have a favourite and this was Keria. I felt that she was the primary character in the story and so she was a very complex character. So this made her more interesting to read.

I enjoyed the movement between past and present for each character. It made me feel more a part of the characters that I was reading.

DRAGONS! Who doesn't love dragons!?


What I didn't like...

The rape scenes were just way too much for me. We were frequently reminded of what had happened to Keria as a child. It felt like it was more for shock value rather than moving the narrative forward. I think I would have prefered if it had been written in more of a subtlely way as opposed to being so direct. My skin was CRAWLING.

There was a tad too much repetition in some parts of the story which was slightly annoying. This I felt could have been cut out the story altogether and may have slightly decreased the length of the book. 

Gaskill has created a truly exceptional magical world, and you can see the love and devotion that has been poured into the story. Unfortunately, I have to rate this book as 3.5 out of 5 for my dislikes above BUT I feel that Gaskill has a brilliant future ahead of him as a fantasy author.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captures your attention

I was asked to leave an honest review in exchange for a free copy 😊

The first thing I'm going to say is, in my opinion, there should be trigger warnings for this story in the synopsis and at the beginning of the book as there are parts within this book with very detailed descriptions of gruesome acts that readers my find disturbing. I say this because I was one of those readers and while having an idea of the abuse one of our characters went through I didn't expect it to be described in that much detail, yes I understand that it is necessary for the plot of the story but a little warning before deciding to read it would have been appreciated.

Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this read 😊 I personally love multiple POV and reading the recollections of our four MCs past and how they have come to be as they are in the present. I think it gives the story that little bit of extra depth to it. I feel the plot is very well laid out and the attention to detail is unmistakable. Yes we experience encounters with species we already know about and possibly have read about before but I enjoyed learning about the introduction of new species that, I personally, haven't met before. The world/character building was very well done and nothing was left unturned. There were parts of the book that I felt went a little slow but this didn't go on for very long. The story was well balanced and beautifully written 😊

[Jehona · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley... and I wish I hadn't because this book is worse than anything I have ever read.

I don't mind violence in a good story, but when this book has violence it is for the sake of violence and nothing else. It actually doesn't have violence when it would be appropriate. It is very far from giving the reader the satisfaction of good revenge. Sounds more like the synopsis of a bad rape fantasy porn film. With prepubescent children. Some of the things described wouldn't even be physically possible, so rape fantasy hentai might be more accurate.

The worldbuilding is patchy. It seems original at first, but once you start to think about the descriptions it becomes clear that he has just renamed the races we usually find in fantasy books. The magic is only loosely defined so it can be used whenever it can help the plot. But the magic is probably the only OK thing in this book.

The story is quite pointless. It feels more like the author started to write several distinctive stories and then decided to mash them all together.

The characters are absurd. It's like the author is unable to put himself in their place and ask himself how would he act. They rarely actually think. They are shallow and unnatural. And he needs a great amount of luck to see them through. In any realistic setting, they would have been dead as soon as they were introduced.

[Steff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the revenge! I love the darkness! I just really love this book!

[Becca Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. Contains many adult themes

[Aizlynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is for readers 18+. It contains a lot of gore, attempted sexual assault, sexual assault, and talk of rape, though no "on screen" rape.
This book is quite the ride. The amount of crap that the characters are put through is immense. The narrative jumps back and forth between characters and timelines. That can be somewhat confusing. Warning: there is no HEA in this story. While I appreciate how it ended, I feel like I need a light, fluffy romance or something to cleanse my palate.

[Nikki Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review, but this in no way influences my opinion about this book.

Firstly, this book should have had multiple trigger warnings. I went into this book with no idea of the content and though I am not really fazed by all that much in books, this could be extremely triggering. Trigger warnings for sexual assault, rape, anxiety, depression, graphic violence. While I understand that this is a grimdark fantasy, I believe that there should be trigger warnings in the beginning of the book so every reader sees it.

This book primarily follows Kiera’s perspective as she traverses the four realm to enact her revenge on the eleven men that abused her for years. Additionally, there are three other main characters, Sirris, Dess, and Rowan, whose lives come to intersect with Kiera’s. One aspect of the book that was difficult for me to keep up with was the multiple POVs. While there are only four POVs, each of those has a past and a present. However, I eventually realized “the past” didn’t mean the same time in the past, but rather just sometime in the past that was different for each character. I didn’t fully figure that out when the timeline started to piece together towards the end.

Because of this back and forth, it took me a long time to invest in any of the characters. This is clearly a plot-driven story, which is great, but I’m definitely more drawn to character-driven stories. The characters, in my opinion, were not fully developed as much as they could have been and this resulted in a feeling of apathy towards them, especially in the beginning. I believe this lack of connection I had with the characters were part of the reason that it took me so long to get through it. It took me a whole month to read the first half, but then I flew through the second half in two days.

While the first half took me a while to get through, once I hit the 50%-60% mark, I was hooked! I finally started to care about the characters and the suspense really kicked up, which is why I flew though it so quickly. I also really enjoyed the relationships that the character’s had with one another. Aside from Rowan, who I never really liked, I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters that developed in the second half. It took a long time for them to come together, but once they did, I really enjoyed it!

My favourite part of this book was the world-building! It was very well done and I had a vivid image of the world throughout the book! The concept of the four realms were very interesting and I wish that we had gotten to spend a little more time in each to further see what it is like, particularly the Kyte Realm outside of Horook, it was very well done and was the best part of the book, in my opinion.

While this is a grimdark fantasy, I feel like at times, it went overboard. One might say that the book is supposed to be gory because of that, but I don’t understand what it added to the story. I believe that every scene in the novel should accomplish something, whatever it is. I understand how showing Kiera graphically killing one of her rapists once or twice can help to develop her, but I don’t know why at times, it had to be as graphic as it did. I think that the book would have been just as good, if not better, without the frequent and extreme violence and gore.

One thing that I noticed and actively disliked about this book was Courage. Essentially, due to Kiera’s trauma, an “alter-ego” emerges from her, talks to her, and at times, takes over her body. This was weird to me from the beginning because it sounds like Dissociative Identity Disorder or Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder. In a dissociative disorder, a child experiences overwhelming trauma and because they can neither fight nor “flight”, their mind dissociates and creates an altered state of personality, or an alter, which is exactly what Courage felt like to me. Even the description of Courage takes over Keira’s body describes what DID is like.

“[Courage] emerged at the forefront of Keira’s mind and took total control of her host’s body.”

This whole portrayal of someone who seems to have a lesser form of DID, perhaps, but how it’s never explicitly addressed just seems off-putting to me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, especially the second half when it started to pick up! I would definitely not recommend it to anybody sensitive to violence or sexual assault in books, as it gets very graphic at points. But if you’re not sensitive to that, I’d recommend this, especially if you like plot-driven stories. Thank you so much to the author for sending me a free copy!

[Amber ☁️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eleven is an epic adult fantasy which follows 4 main character’s stories, which eventually intertwine with one another. There are dragons, multiple intricate magic systems and 4 different realms, amongst many other well thought out magical elements.

The first thing that caught my attention was the descriptive, sophisticated prose. The interesting vocabulary was engaging and worked perfectly in building the fantasy world. Each scene felt carefully constructed to immerse the reader, and at times I felt the real world being totally blocked out of my mind.

More often than not, when books have multiple perspectives, I find myself favouring some character’s chapters, and getting bored with others, which was absolutely not the case with this novel. I found each character’s story as interesting as the next, whether that be in the present or past tense. Personally, I didn’t get confused at all with the timeline as I thought each separate event was distinguishable from the others, though I can see how following multiple characters over multiple time periods could become confusing for some readers.

I thought the multiple magic systems were incredibly well thought out and explained, whilst also being completely original. I have read fantasy books in the past where the magic systems don’t seem to follow any sort of pattern or rules, but these systems were clever and believable. The fact that there were multiple realms and cities blew me away; The universe created is vast and epic, but the world building was so strong that I never felt overwhelmed.

I loved how the character’s stories intertwined in the past and present, and I appreciated how things that were a mystery were masterfully explained further down the line. The ending was exciting and unpredictable and I felt like I couldn’t read it quick enough, I was so desperate for it to be resolved.

For the most part, this is a fast paced book, though I will admit that there were some slightly slower parts. That being said, I flew through this book in only 3 days, despite the high page count.

Finally, I will say that some parts are EXTREMELY graphic and hard to stomach, so if you are sensitive to gore, this will definitely not be for you. I did find a few scenes to be overly detailed to the point that it was uncomfortable to read, but I can see that it was intended to have that effect.
Trigger Warnings for sexual assault, torture, murder, captivity, depression, DID.

Overall I enjoyed being in the expansive world of The Eleven, and the ending hinted that there are more to come, which I will be keeping a keen eye out for.

Thank you to Netgalley and Paul Gaskill for sending me an E-arc. All opinions are entirely my own.

[Linda Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very intricate story and reading in short snippets just did not work well for me. This is a book where I had to cut myself off from the rest of the world...turned off the TV and put my phone on vibrate for a bit to just immerse myself into this book. I was well rewarded and you will be as well. Trust me.

There are four main characters, one female and three male and all are very different. I am one who has to connect to the main characters early on to enjoy the story and this author made it so easy.

Keira has psychological issues caused by her imprisonment and being physically, sexually and psychologically abused as a child. She is fueled by revenge. Rowan is an assassin who chose love over his mission. Not a healthy choice. Sirris always seems to land on his feet regardless of the odds. He’s the underdog for whom everyone cheers. Dess is a Tree Kyte, which is considered lower than low; but he has magic, the likes of which no one has ever seen and what everyone wants.

The story is told by flipping amongst these four, giving snippets of their past and updates on the present. This was a little choppy for me at first, till about the third go around when I found the rhythmic flow. Once I was in sync with the story, it flowed much like a river with rapids, pools and some meandering. You will need a bookmark, though, as there are no chapter numbers. Each chapter is titled with a character’s name with either past or present.

There are so many secrets amongst these characters...and it’s these secrets that bind all of these characters together until the time is right for all to be revealed. I made attempts to guess; but sadly I’m not much of a fortune teller or soothsayer. I admit, I did not see this ending coming. I literally gasped with my mouth in the “O” position and my eyes were as big as saucers.

This is an adult fantasy book. There is no room for debate here. There is gore, sexual violence, sex and violence with more gore all of which contributes to character and story development. Just so you know, I did not feel it was arbitrarily thrown in purely for shock value. Every morsel and every instance of violence had a purpose. And there’s a dragon... That, in of itself, is a plus.

I do so love reading a truly good adult fantasy once in awhile and this is one of those books.
It is a bit on the dark side; but there is a light. Paul Gaskill doesn’t have to shock readers to capture them. He does so with his writing.

[Leona the avid dash user · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I am not a fantasy reader hence I didn't quite get into the story at first. Also, I am not an expert in reading dark fantasy.

The story was told in multiple POV that was split between past and present. Paul writes both Keira's suffering and her journey of revenge with the help of friends and magical creatures with a keen eyes. It started off with how Keira killed her first target (out of eleven) and made the very first revenge in the first chapter. It was very clear from the beginning that the story would resolve around revenge and violence. The writing is pretty good but I have to say that there are fair amount of chronicles where you would find it disturbing and gut-wrenching. A sample from the excerpt on p.366:
"You began to unclothe me and I fought
at first. I screamed until my throat was raw. But when I realised
that my anguish was helping you to find pleasure, I found my
silence, much like you have now. And then you tied me down
to the uncomfortable metal bedframe. Before then, nothing had
been inside my tiny body, I was young, naïve and innocent.
But after you tied me down, you pushed yourselves inside me
like I was a harlot from the whore house."

This book is relentlessly vengeful and "gloomily" written. As cited above, some of the most disturbing scene were told in a frank tone. The author, Paul Gaskill spares us no mercy when revealing the pain and abuse inflicted upon Keira. He details on her suffers with explicit specificity and writes about some of the most abominable acts of cruelty I have ever read which made me shake, at time. Like our fellow friends here, I skipped some of the pages
when I saw the "key words" in relation to rape, sexual violence and abuse. Hence, I believe that my review did not serve this book much justice, you have to read this book yourself. I highly recommend this book to those who love Games of Thrones but please take note that this is not a YA read. (As a plus point, I did enjoy the element of magical creatures here)

I received a free copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Ida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars

Trigger warning: rape, gore, violence, torture.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

We follow the POV of four different characters in this dark fantasy read, Kiera, Rowan, Sirris and Dess. All four characters have very different backgrounds and different motivations, all overlaping in interesting ways. One of the main themes of the book is revenge, and while it is a book that definitely needs some trigger warnings because of the many sensitive topics it touches upon, I thought the revenge parts helped tremendously. Knowing that characters were seeking out the justice they felt they deserved and weren't victims anymore, helped me to get through the tough parts.

The writing is very straight forward and made the book very easy to read. It was simple yet filled with a diverse vocabulary, and there were particularly some parts that were really well-written. The tone of the dialogues was often harsh and harsh words were frequently used too, so I don't think it would be for everyone. The jumps in "now" and "then" were a bit hard to keep track off at times since we were following several POVs in different realms, so you have to pay close attention and remember the story lines well in order to follow the story.

My favourite part of the book was definitely the world building! I was very impressed by the diverse realms and how unique they were. It was obvious that a lot of thought had been put into the world building - everything from the realms, to the humans and creatures and their stories. I really appreciated how well thought out it was and the brilliant imagination behind it. It had humans, dragons, magicians, trolls and everything in between all introduced in a very natural way. The world was quite unlike anything I've stumbled upon before and it was described so vividly, that the world started to feel familiar quickly. I'd be very curious to read more about the world and the realms as they were so well-developed and hold so much potential for further stories.

[Shauna (library_of_your_dreams) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book received for free via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a grimdark adult fantasy. There are frequent mentions of sexual assault as well as violence.

The plot in this is revenge driven. One of our main characters is looking for revenge and will do anything to get it. This caused some of the plot to be predictable, but there were other variables at play which freshened up the story.

I really liked the unique species and world-building in this novel. There were a couple species I was familiar with, humans and dragons, and some new species as well. My favourite among them were the Kytes, who had magic and reminded me of elves. The different species helped to make the world unique and gave the novel a really nice fantasy vibe. They also contributed to well planned world-building. The different species had their own realms and mostly stuck to themselves, but it was effective in terms of world-building. There was never any point where I was confused about how the different species lived and interacted with each other.

Another thing I liked was the multiple points of view. There was also scenes set in the past and others set in the present. Both of these things helped to smooth out the storytelling and explained both the world and characters relationships with each other.

Something I didn’t enjoy about the novel was the frequent in depth description. I didn’t feel like the amount of description was needed and it was a bit of a turn off for me. While it was important to understand what certain characters had gone through/done, I felt like less could have been more in this case.

I would recommend this novel to adult readers who like grimdark fantasy with good world-building and have no problems reading about scenes that include in depth descriptions of sexual assault and violence.

[Lareesa Wrightson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. here Goes!
This book is not for the faint hearted. I feel like there should have been a few trigger warnings. Abuse, rape, torture, incest. While these topics were insinuated mostly, when they were touched on, they got very detailed and I had a few cringe worthy moments 😳😖. In saying that it didn’t stop me from reading and enjoying the story. The story follows 4 perspectives and 4 different journeys. Keira, Rowan, Dess and Sirris. They each had different stories that alternated between past and present. I found this a little hard to keep up with at first because other than Keira and Rowan, one perspective didn’t seem to have anything to do with the other but as the book went on and all stories started to have small links it got easier. Keira’s journey was the backbone of the story. I felt a lot of the emotions Keira went through and connected with her character the most, however the chapters from the other characters gave a nice reprieve from some of the gruesome things that came when reading Keira’s perspective. It was action packed and had me on the edge of my seat a lot during all perspectives and I loved that. I was introduced to characters I have never read about in the fantasy world so it was nice to have a change from the normal characters I’d read about in the past. The writing was very good and very detailed and the author painted a really good picture of the world and all its realms. I really enjoyed the ending and I got a sequel feel, I don’t think he is done writing about this and would be interested to see where he would take it. If you can get past the gore in this book it’s a great read, Magic, dragons, revenge, action. What more could you want.

[Astrid Hellström · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book from the author in exchange for an honest review and here it comes without spoilers.

At the beginning of the book, it becomes clear that the writing is excellent. I enjoyed the grown-up feeling of the story: The harsh background of the characters and the honest way things were described.

At some point in the setup (first quarter), I had problems with the multiple characters and with the new names and cultures, but I did not give up and continued reading. It was rewarded and I suggest to continue reading even if the beginning might feel difficult. It was hard to keep it together with the past and present and multiple characters, but the story is worth it, trust me!

There were slower parts where nothing significant occurred or it felt so, but in the end all of those scenes were wrapped together. I am actually quite surprised how fast the last half of the book went as the first half seemed to be everlasting 😂

The characters were more or less interesting. The only thing that bothered me was the black and white dimension: The bad guys were really bad guys? Only the good guys had dimensions, motives that we’re grey and not totally white. And some of the characters even gave surprises which is always a good thing in a book. My favorite character was Sirris and his bravery and wisdom.

I gave this book four stars out of five ⭐⭐⭐⭐
It was excellent read 👍

[Echo's Journey Through Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are completely my own.

Okay wow I loved it!

This grabbed me right away from the first chapter. A lot happened from the beginning and I loved that. Even when this had four different point of views and jumped between the past and the present, the story was still very easy to follow in my opinion. And it definitely kept me intrigued and I just wanted to read it all the time.

I loved the writing. Everything was written vividly that I could really imagine it all in my mind. Also this had dragons and magic, who doesn't love dragons and magic, right?

The plot was really good, it was very revenge driven, and I happen to love that. Loved the word-building and the character arc. Each of the four characters were written so well and they were all different so they were easy to separate. With having both the past and the present, you could really see the character development in all of them. Nearing the end, I really cared about the characters and wanted only good things for them.

This was definitely a darker fantasy, and something I haven't read much but I loved it. It was done so well, it made me feel a lot and it kept me on the edge of my seat!

Trigger warning: abuse, rape, torture and other graphic content.


"But dreams are dreams and reality is unfortunately very different."

[Sanjana Das · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting and Thrilling!

In the beginning, the description of a brutal murder and abuses that were meted out to a girl in her early teens, was heartbreaking. She decided that she will seek revenge from the eleven men who did her wrong by killing them one by one.
There are four protagonists in this book and each of them narrate their past and we see their present being narrated. The writing is good and the description is detailed, which increases the reader's interest. The author has beautifully placed all characters and scenes so that they make a clear and complete picture for the readers. In the end however, it was a tad sad for me because not all the characters had a happy ending. Yet, overall it was a great read. It took me a long time to finish the book but it was worth the effort.
I highly recommend this book if you are a fantasy lover. This is strictly for readers of 18 years and above.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In all honesty it took me a while to get into the book. I felt like it’s just started out kind of slow and I wanted to know how all the characters were connected to each other in the beginning. Once I started to figure out how everything was connected The more I got into it and couldn’t wait to see what happened. The ending did leave it open for another book and I am very interested to see how it turns out

[michellea_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Trigger warnings: for 18+

This fantasy novel about political intrigues is fascinating. Written from the POV of multiple characters, this book is suspenseful and the characters are flawed but likable. What I like about this book are the characters having different aims and agendas, you'll just have to keep turning those pages. The amount of details in the story is also captivating; they make a compelling world, rich in history and tradition.

What I didn't like about the book: it contains rape, sexual assault, and gore.. it's just way too much for me. But the story is quite a roller coaster ride plus girl power by Keira.

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely a different route than I normally take. It is indeed very dark but I can get down with a good revenge story and this definitely does not disappoint. Kind of a I spit on your grave vibe.....in more aspects than one. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

[Mary Bly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fantasy read!

I was given a frew copy of the book through a Goodreads giveaway and enjoyed it immensely. The characters were all engaging and the way that their stories were intertwined made for a great read.