The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker

Publication: June 14th 2016 by: Little Brown BYR

Series: The Witch Hunter #2

Genres: YA, Historical Fantasy, Paranormal

Format: eARC Source: Publisher via Netgalley

My Rating: 4 Stars 

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“I think, in time, you’ll either be my greatest mistake or my greatest victory.”

Former witch hunter Elizabeth Grey is hiding within the magically protected village of Harrow, evading the price put on her head by Lord Blackwell, the usurper king of Anglia. Their last encounter left Blackwell ruined, but his thirst for power grows stronger every day. He’s readying for a war against those who would resist his rule–namely Elizabeth and the witches and wizards she now calls her allies.

Having lost her stigma, a magical source of protection and healing, Elizabeth’s strength is tested both physically and emotionally. War always means sacrifice, and as the lines between good and evil blur once more, Elizabeth must decide just how far she’ll go to save those she loves.

 

Review

The King Slayer is an action packed sequel to The Witch Hunter. It is better than book one, and a perfect end to this duology. It was good to get back with Elizabeth after what happened in the first book. Her life is different in Harrow, but the Kingdom is not forgotten. More importantly, the king and his minions haven’t forgotten. War is coming and witches & wizards cannot be left unchecked and alive, so they are hunted. Elizabeth escaped her sentence, and that makes the hunt even more charged.

In this finale, Elizabeth has grown a lot, but she doesn’t have her stigma anymore so she’s a little defenseless. She trained hard to be a supporting cause to the brewing war, which ultimately she is the face of. It’s a little maddening for her to be among people she used to hunt & kill, so the witches and wizards of Harrow are very wary of her. Still, she was all about doing her part for her new friends and what’s right. In the first book she learned the truth about her witch hunting tasks, so she is all for the helping of her newly found family. Blackwell is the ultimate villain in this awesome world Boecker has created. So, yeah, I love all the action here because it makes the story seem completely plausible.

John changes the most in this book. I loved how sweet he was in the first book. He’s still got that soft side, but he is not acting like himself. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read it, but he has something that was once Elizabeth’s and it seems that it has changed him a lot. His personality shifts ever so often, and Elizabeth can’t help but notice. The reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is because I feel that there was no resolution to the “RAPE”. That was soooooo not how I expected that to go. I don’t like Malcolm, and no amount of his “woe is me” personality will change my mind. I’m not sure why the author tried to redeem him; especially to a female reader. You just can’t go there.

Overall, lots of action and great characters to love in this finale. Blackwell made an awesome villain, and I wish there was a third book to read. I guess I’ll just settle for the novellas. I recommend this to fantasy lovers, or just witch lovers in general. It’s not a perfect duology, but I did enjoy it. I think this is a good end for this world and these characters.

 

Also in this series: The Witch Hunter