I am so excited to get to be a part of the blog tour for These War-Torn Hands by Emily Hayse, the first book in the Knights of Tin and Lead series! These War-Torn Hands is a YA Western fantasy that’s also an Arthurian retelling! Curious now? Here’s the full blurb:
“They say this land is bound, cursed since the beginning of the world. And it’ll be freed one day by a man with war-torn hands.”
Rosamund Lacey has crossed a continent to marry Archer Scott because she believes he is a man set apart—a man with a destiny. But Alexander Mortimer, Outlaw King of the western territory, believes in only one kind of destiny: winner takes all.
Determined to reign supreme, Mortimer kidnaps the governor’s bride and wreaks havoc on the land around Glory Mesa. But when Archer refuses to choose between the woman he loves and the land he has sworn to protect, he is forced into a show down that may cost more than his life.
These War-Torn Hands is awesome–but I’m getting ahead of myself! I’ll get to my review soon.
These War-Torn Hands released on June 22! Here are all of the links:
And here’s a little about Emily and where to find her online to connect with her!
EMILY HAYSE is the award-winning author of four books, a lover of log cabins, strong coffee, and the smell of old books. Her writing is fueled by good characters and a lifelong passion for storytelling. When she is not busy turning words into worlds, she can often be found baking, singing, or caring for one of the many dogs and horses in her life. She lives with her family in Michigan.
All right! Time for my review of These War-Torn Hands. But where to start?
This story was amazing!
I’ll start with the characters. All of them were fabulous and well-developed. These War-Torn Hands has several POV characters, but Hayse did a fabulous job of giving each character a distinct voice and personality that having so many POV characters isn’t confusing.
I think my favorite character might have been Jesse Thatcher, but all of them were great. I love all of them.
And Doctor Sikes. Sikes was the perfect Merlin character. And that one scene with Sikes was awesome (you’ll know which one once you’ve read the book).
Before I end up fangirling over each of the characters, I’ll stop myself and move onto the plot!
Hayse did a great job with the plot. I was gripped by the plot and had to know what was going to happen. And Hayse balanced the subplots and the main plot excellently.
The worldbuilding was so fun. The story essentially takes place in a frontier, desert territory, and I could picture everything clearly.
And there are dragons.
Hayse writes non-magical fantasy, which means that her books take place in a fantasy setting, but there isn’t a magic system. And that means that we get dragons in this Western fantasy.
Yes, the dragons didn’t do too much with the plot. But it was still such a fun worldbuilding aspect.
The ending was also done super well. It tied up the plot of These War-Torn Hands but left me needing the next book The Beautiful Ones. I have to know what happens next to these characters!
Content warning: non-graphic, moderate violence; light romance; four kisses
If you want to follow along with the rest of the blog tour for These War-Torn Hands, or if you want to catch up on some of the blog stops, you can find the tour schedule here!
Happy reading!
Hailey Huntington 