ARC Review: The Oathbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch

Title: The Oathbreaker's Shadow (The Knots Duology #1)
Author: Amy McCulloch
Publication: June 6th 2013 by Random House Children's Publishers (UK)
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

Fifteen-year-old Raim lives in a world where you tie a knot for every promise that you make. Break that promise and you are scarred for life, and cast out into the desert.

Raim has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long as he can remember. No one knows where it came from, and which promise of his it symbolises, but he barely thinks about it at all—not since becoming the most promising young fighter ever to train for the elite Yun guard. But on the most important day of his life, when he binds his life to his best friend (and future king) Khareh, the string bursts into flames and sears a dark mark into his skin.

Scarred now as an oath-breaker, Raim has two options: run, or be killed.

A gripping YA action-adventure fantasy, the first part of a planned duology.

-- My Rating --

3/5 Oscars: Liked It

-- My Thoughts --

   I didn't know what to expect while reading this book. I guess I dove into it blind. And it took me by surprise. A superior level of imagery.
     Raim is 15-years-old and going to be a Yun Guard. But all that changes when the knot that has mysteriously been on his wrist for as long as he can remember, suddenly burns away when he binds his life to his best friend and the future prince, Khareh.
     This book is high fantasy and it has been a long while since i have read one like it. It had high levels of imagery and a whole new world to discover. I applaud the author for taking such an approach and making sure that even though the world was three-dimensional and complex, it was never hard to understand.
     Then, there are the characters. I think the only thing that irked me a little bit was Raim himself. He made some very dump decisions and he had such a blind loyalty to his best friend. It bordered on the edge of being irrational. The other characters were not likable either. I couldn't find one that I actually liked.
     There is a bit of romance but it does not take the center stage and I was happy with that. I liked the moments when the two love interests were together but I liked the action-packed moments more. There is also the way Raim acted which was definitely NOT the way a 15 year old boy acts. And the feelings he had were not for a boy his age.
     The ending was definitely very interesting. I liked it a lot. The beginning of this book was too slow for me and it took me a LOT of time to get into it and get interested. But it got better towards the end and I am patiently waiting for the second book!