Oath Taker

Kingdom of Runes, Book 1

By: Audrey Grey

Narrated by: Vanessa Moyen

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black, this first book in a dark and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

Light magic is forbidden.

Dark magic spells death.

Haven has both.

After the Prince of Penryth saved her from captivity, 17-year-old Haven Ashwood spends her days protecting the kind prince and her nights secretly fighting the monsters outside the castle walls.

When one of those monsters kidnaps Prince Bell, Haven must ally with Archeron Halfbane and his band of immortals to rescue her friend.

Her quest takes her deep into the domain of a warped and vicious queen where the rules are simple: break her curse or die.

Lost in a land of twisted magic and fabled creatures, Haven finds herself unprepared, not just for the feelings she develops for Archeron, but for the warring powers raging inside her.

Her rare and forbidden type of magic may be their only hope...but mixing light and dark comes with a steep price.

Haven’s soul.

Faced with impossible love, heartbreaking betrayals, and a queen intent on destroying the realm, only one thing remains certain.

Haven must shatter the curse or it will devour everything she loves.

©2017 Audrey Grey (P)2019 Audrey Grey

Critic reviews

"Readers will lose themselves in this darkly rich, enchanting world with devastating curses, cunning monsters, and a brave young heroine who will not bow to a vile queen." (Emily R. King, author of the Hundredth Queen series)

"A lyrical, sweeping fantasy that will take you on a beautiful adventure in a world where danger and romance lurk at every corner." (Olivia Wildenstein, USA Today best-selling author of A Pack of Blood and Lies)

"Grey challenges the best fantasy writers in the industry with Oath Taker, a romantic adventure you'll want to take again and again." (Casey L. Bond, award-winning author of the Frenzy series)

This book...

The cover of this book got me... I loved the bad assery of Havens look. So I cracked the book and started to read. AND I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!!! I mean I flew through this book and needed more!!!

If you love magical places, curses, mortals who fight for their places and yes.... Ahahaha smoldering gorgeous arrogant Sun Lords.... this is the book to read. You won’t regret it!!! Book two is out as well and again an amazing read. I picked up audible because I had to get more!!!

Amazing! Beautifully Told!

the story is magical and amazing! the Narration was able to bring the story alive and breath into it a different and fantastic new feel!

Excellent

Vanessa Moyen and Audrey Grey what an excellent combination! I loved the book! So disappointed that the second book is not in audio!!!! :( when will the audio book be released?

what a great book

this book was so great and all of the twists and the turns and stuff were unexpected in like a read a lot so that's usually hard to do and the wedding love triangle wasn't cliche and none of the guys are like annoyingly tough or like let me protect you kind of weird so that was unexpected ♥️

Interesting book

The story is not that bad it’s has an interesting plot but it can get confusing on the history of the world and the curse. If there were a little more info on the backstory of some things then it would be a bit easier to follow along but overall not bad!

Good Protag. world gave witcher vibes.

Gave me some serious Witcher vibs at first with how its world building is set and the interactions between the protag and other more brooding characters, honestly their banter made me face palm and laugh a few times. I really like the main character Haven, other characters are a bit effy and honestly I came to care more about her arch then her quest. Enjoying the journey and not much caring for why she was on it, and man the ending...well guess I gotta buy the next book.

recommended if you like sword and sorcery fantasy with some odd romantic tension in places, Haven is cool and look fiward to the next book.

Good enough story, distracting enough narrator

the story is good enough overall, but the narrator made it a little hard to enjoy. Her voice is nice to listen to, but the cadence made the story feel really jolty and repetitive (not much emotion- and it feels like there could be a lot of emotion in this story). The story ends up feeling more like a dramatic retelling of a court document than a full-blooded story. Again, a good calm voice, but also a little distracting with their cadence/pauses (each sentence -almost- had the same way of being said.)

how detailed the book was

I had a really hard time with the way the voice actor read the story to us, It just felt like she was reading a book and I had a really hard time staying focused on it and my mind would drift to other thoughts. A good story pulls me in to the universe. A good voice actor makes it feel real. this felt like a librarian reading me a book at a library and I am not a fan. I plan to give the book another shot reading it myself.

Great for fans of Sara J Maas

I was given an free audiobook for my fair and unbiased review.

First off - I love the cover art of this book. It’s beautifully done. I also love the narrator that they got to do the audiobook. She’s a perfect match for the story.

More importantly - this book is a SOLID match for those who liked the Throne of Glass series and ACOTAR series by Sara J Maas. I can definitely see heavy influence from both series within this story and the characters that it follows.

I feel like we could have gotten a little more history of the world and mythology that built it, but overall, I enjoyed the pieces of the world we saw.

The main character is very akin to both Aelin and Feyre in the way that she happens to have a rough past and winds up somehow being “the chosen one” (although I think it’s unfair to call it a trope because no one really I’m likes to read fantasy novels about the not chosen one). She is likable and determined.

The supporting characters - I enjoyed the Solis (I think that’s right, audiobook, remember?) women a lot more than any of the other characters. I can see two potential “major love interests” for our main character, outside of the best friend prince - who proves to be entirely useless throughout the book - and I’m not thrilled with the idea of either of them, really.


All in all, I think it’s a solid first book in the series and I look forward to seeing where it goes. I hope to see more history of the world, more character development in the supporting cast and maybe something to surprise me with the love interests!

Hopeful with the Sequels

I heard the sequels are well worth the wait and that you just have to get through the first book.

That being said I didn't dislike the first book. I think it took a minute to get into the adventure but it was fine. I could see the sequels getting better because the first book felt like it was entirely setting up all the relationships and plot.