Court of Fives by Kate Elliott

When a scheming lord tears Jess's family apart, she must rely on her unlikely friendship with Kal, a high-ranking Patron boy, and her skill at Fives, an intricate, multi-level athletic competition that offers a chance for glory, to protect her Commoner mother and mixed-race sisters and save her father's reputation.

Really great start to a trilogy. I loved the world and the characters!

Full review to come closer to release date.

I had a hard time getting into this book, but once I got though the first 2 chapters it really picked up. There is a lot of death and sadness. I am left in pins and needles ready for the follow up book.

I enjoyed this book so much. I couldn't put it down wanting to know what was going to happen. Romance wasn't as developed early on as it probably should have been–they kind of rushed together faster than seemed normal. But the ending seemed like it fit perfectly.

4-4.5 stars.

This was a really enjoyable book, but during some of it I was confused with the history of the Patrons and Commoners. The story follows Jes, a “mule”, whose father is a Patron and mother is a Commoner. I liked Jes a lot, she wasn't flawless as a character. Kal was interesting too. I believe he is the love interest, but that will be seen in the next book I suppose! I also like that there was a little girl on girl love with Amaya and Denya. Hopefully that is something that is touched upon in the next book as well.