Review of A King Amongst Us

[Christell Lindeque]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A King Amongst Us" by A.D. Lewis.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Fantasy fans will enjoy A.D. Lewis's A King Among Us with a twist of horror. Titus, a young boy of seven, had his home raided by the king, and he was sold into slavery. The years passed, and when the king no longer took an interest in him, he was sent to The Gauntlet to die for show. Titus can't stop thinking about the king and how he should pay for everything he's put him through, including being the reason his loved ones died. What happens to Titus now? Will he be able to avenge himself and take the life of the king? Or will his fate lie in The Gauntlet?

The author alludes to the sexual exploitation of boys without directly confirming it. It's possible that this will upset some readers, but I don't think it will because the explanation was so vague. The violence and sexual content are implied rather than explicitly described.

I found it refreshing that, despite the book's subject matter, the author avoided giving too many graphic descriptions of its disturbing events and left it to the reader's imagination. The book also included a fantasy element that caught me off guard.

After all that Titus has been through, I found it unsettling that he seemed so willing to believe Aurelia's assurances and promises. He should have been more defiant towards her. In my opinion, Aurelia's personality didn't line up with that of a person in charge of a brothel. Neither the plot nor the characters were given enough time to fully develop.

The characters' reactions left something to be desired, and they weren't fleshed out enough for me to give this more than 3 out of 5 stars. The novel's twists kept me interested, but the conclusion left me with mixed feelings. It's hard to say whether I enjoyed it or not. I also deducted a point because it wasn't properly edited and contained numerous typos.

If you enjoy historical horror stories that also contain elements of fantasy, you will enjoy this book.

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A King Amongst Us
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[NetMassimo]

This seems like a novel with potential that needs more editing to fully develop this mix of elements from different genres. Thank you for your great review!

[Sia_young]

How much would you rate this book for sexual content on the scale of 0-5? I'm honestly confused between 3 and 4. (I follow the OBC sexual content rating scale.)