Blurb:
When Thom Anteros is arrested after breaking into the Building of Historical Records, he demands to be taken before the King. A laughable demand for anyone else, Thom’s request is granted and the King spares his life. Yet what’s to become of him is left in the hands of the one person Thom truly fears – Mickey Taenia, the King’s Hangman.
Infuriated by Thom’s refusal to reveal the whereabouts of Nate and Catherine, the Hangman sends Thom to one of the worst places in the Kingdom – the slave markets of Muntenia. It is there that Thom is bought for the Red Arena: a barbaric, gladiator-type competition where the children of convicts and other unlucky souls are forced to fight to the death.
Twenty wins is release. One loss is death.
With the help of Charles Thoreau, a fellow captive, Thom begins not only to survive, but to thrive. A master of words becomes a master of death, and Thom’s prowess in the arena frightens even him.
But death isn’t the only thing haunting Thom. As the days go by, he dreams of his brother, and the promise he cannot forget.
I will return.
My Review:
The third book in “The Outlands Pentalogy” is “A Promise of Return” by Rebecca Crunden reveals the story of Thomas. As I had guessed, this book was from Thom’s point of view who was the younger brother of Nate and complement of Catherine aka Kitty.
First of all, I loved the execution of different characters pov in the different book in the series. I felt so much connected to all the three main characters because I know what were their thoughts and what others thought about them. This made me understand the characters even more and I think this is the main positive point in this series.
Since the first book, I wanted to know more about Thom because his character was displayed only from the view of Nate and Kitty. I was so much familiar with how much Nate loved his brother Thom. In this book, it was so great to know how much Thom had cared for Nate even from his childhood. Their brotherhood was something that I adored from the beginning.
At first, I felt like the story was a bit dragging because it didn’t resume from where it was left in the second book. Later on, I got to know about Thom, his change in character and how much the cruel Kingdom with its wicked rules has taken the good inside him. The world-building was great than the previous books which literally means the author was exposing the cruelty of the Kingdom of Cutta to the fullest.
I did miss Nate and Kitty in this book as there was only a little part of them. But it was balanced by the new character Charles. He was more like Nate so I liked him. I wish to see more of Charles and Thom in the next book. I love this book as much as the preceding books in the series.
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5
*Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy of the book. I was compensated for the time and effort required to read and review the book, but my opinions remain honest and unaffected.*
Deepireads 