Review of Valoria
Posted: 27 Aug 2021, 03:42
[Following is a volunteer review of "Valoria" by Tayma Tameem.]
What comes to your mind when you think of royals? Is it crowns, castles and regalia? Is it wealth, affluence and privileges? It is true that these come with the package but this book presents a story about royalties that proves that there is more to being a monarch than these entitlements. Valoria: Heirdom by Tayma Tameem tells the story of royal members who were saddled with the responsibility of keeping their kingdoms in peace and in one piece. Valoria and Intellectus are two different kingdoms out of the three in Al Kunooz. They both share a common dark memory of wars, unrest, deaths and loss of loved ones. There is also an underlying fear of what the future holds for the royals and their respective kingdoms. The two kingdoms decide to come into a treaty that would make them stronger by intermarrying.
All their lives, smart Princess Zeina of Valoria and capable Prince Zain have had the mind-set of responsibility and duty to the kingdom ingrained in them. They both understand that their kingdom’s needs come before their own needs. When Zeina finally meets her betrothed, Prince Adam of Intellectus, she completely accepts that though she can barely stand him, the wedding is inevitable because it’s her duty to her kingdom. Zeina braces up to enter into a prospective loveless marriage. Nature seems to have been more lenient with Zain who on the other hand could not wait to marry his betrothed, Princess Amber of Intellectus.
Zeina had always been an instinctive one. As the dates for the weddings drew closer, she felt a lot of unease. For the life of her, she could not understand why the dates for the weddings were brought three years closer than the original dates. And why was she getting evil vibes from her soon-to-be mother in-law, Queen Najma of Intellectus? Zeina definitely knew something was wrong somewhere. So, the million-dollar question: who was really behind that unease?
Valoria: Heirdom is the first book in its series. It presents an interplay of love and feud, loyalty and betrayal, authority and vulnerability, all wrapped up in a monarchical system that commands duty and responsibilities. The writer did a good job of presenting the story in an interesting and engaging way. I particularly like that the book is written from different point of views of the characters. My favourite character is Zeina. I love her smart mind and the witty and sarcastic comments that she usually makes in her mind.
The use of similar names for characters of the same family was a cute thing to do, but I must also point out that it affected the flow ability of my reading. I also think that the story could have been shorter. There were many repetitions of thoughts that seemed to make the book unnecessarily plenteous. However, the book is very interesting and professionally edited. On these bases, I give Valoria: Heirdom a rating of 4 out of 4 stars and I recommend it to teenagers and adults who are up for an interesting read, especially those that are not repelled by monarchical systems.
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Valoria
View: on Bookshelves
What comes to your mind when you think of royals? Is it crowns, castles and regalia? Is it wealth, affluence and privileges? It is true that these come with the package but this book presents a story about royalties that proves that there is more to being a monarch than these entitlements. Valoria: Heirdom by Tayma Tameem tells the story of royal members who were saddled with the responsibility of keeping their kingdoms in peace and in one piece. Valoria and Intellectus are two different kingdoms out of the three in Al Kunooz. They both share a common dark memory of wars, unrest, deaths and loss of loved ones. There is also an underlying fear of what the future holds for the royals and their respective kingdoms. The two kingdoms decide to come into a treaty that would make them stronger by intermarrying.
All their lives, smart Princess Zeina of Valoria and capable Prince Zain have had the mind-set of responsibility and duty to the kingdom ingrained in them. They both understand that their kingdom’s needs come before their own needs. When Zeina finally meets her betrothed, Prince Adam of Intellectus, she completely accepts that though she can barely stand him, the wedding is inevitable because it’s her duty to her kingdom. Zeina braces up to enter into a prospective loveless marriage. Nature seems to have been more lenient with Zain who on the other hand could not wait to marry his betrothed, Princess Amber of Intellectus.
Zeina had always been an instinctive one. As the dates for the weddings drew closer, she felt a lot of unease. For the life of her, she could not understand why the dates for the weddings were brought three years closer than the original dates. And why was she getting evil vibes from her soon-to-be mother in-law, Queen Najma of Intellectus? Zeina definitely knew something was wrong somewhere. So, the million-dollar question: who was really behind that unease?
Valoria: Heirdom is the first book in its series. It presents an interplay of love and feud, loyalty and betrayal, authority and vulnerability, all wrapped up in a monarchical system that commands duty and responsibilities. The writer did a good job of presenting the story in an interesting and engaging way. I particularly like that the book is written from different point of views of the characters. My favourite character is Zeina. I love her smart mind and the witty and sarcastic comments that she usually makes in her mind.
The use of similar names for characters of the same family was a cute thing to do, but I must also point out that it affected the flow ability of my reading. I also think that the story could have been shorter. There were many repetitions of thoughts that seemed to make the book unnecessarily plenteous. However, the book is very interesting and professionally edited. On these bases, I give Valoria: Heirdom a rating of 4 out of 4 stars and I recommend it to teenagers and adults who are up for an interesting read, especially those that are not repelled by monarchical systems.
******
Valoria
View: on Bookshelves