Thanks to The Write Reads and Faber Books. The book was gifted to allow me to take part in the blog tour with my honest review
Who will be the next heiress? Let the Veritaz trials commence.
The bestselling Rebel of the Sands author is back with a glittering fantasy thriller duology, featuring a family obsessed with money, power, fame – and magic.
At sixteen, Honora ‘Nora’ Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in Gamanix; her family controls all the money – and all the magic – in the entire country. But when her mother is found murdered in an alley, the family throne and fortune are up for grabs, which means Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the deadly Veritaz trials to determine the rightful inheritor.
But there’s a surprise rival in the form of Ottoline, aka Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt, who was left with nuns as a baby. Thrown into the Veritaz, she is suddenly surrounded by a hostile family she never knew she had.
But as the Holtzfalls wage their battles of privilege, something bigger and more sinister bubbles beneath the surface, and revolution is in the air.
Incredible tests, impossible choices, and deadly odds await both girls. But there can only be one winner.
The Notorious Virtues is a book I just HAD to read! The cover is literally amazing and the blurb. Well, read it and see what you think!
A magical mix of folklore, fantasy, and magic that gripped me immediately! The world building was beyond fault, and the characters all an eclectic mix. There are several characters that I could have easily done a Veritaz Trial with and enjoyed watching them lose!
Nora Holtzfall is heir apparent until the day her mother is killed in a robbery. This begins a chain of events, which means she has to compete with her cousins in several Veritaz Trials to become, once again, the Heir.
I lost myself in this book. The characters all feel real. Nora herself, at first impressions comes across as a spoilt overprivileged young woman. As the story develops, we see a different side to her, and I was so invested in her. She is so confident at the start of the trials, then Lotte, her illegitimate cousin, appears. That knocks the wind out of her sails, so to speak.
I liked the fact it was told from multiple perspectives as well. I enjoy getting to know the characters this way. The pages sped by for me, and I was swiftly at the end. This made me sad to leave the characters and the place, too. The twists made this such a ‘one more chapter’ read for me. I now really hope the next book is published before I start getting withdrawal symptoms! It’s definitely a belter of a book!!
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 