The Affiliate by K.A. Linde | BOOK REVIEW

The Affiliate by K.A. Linde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Affiliate (Kindle) 

The Affiliate (Paperback)

On the day of her Presenting, in front of the entire Byern Court, seventeen-year-old Cyrene Strohm's lifelong plans come to fruition when she's chosen for one of the most prestigious positions in her homeland—an Affiliate to the Queen.

Or so she thinks.

When Cyrene receives a mysterious letter and an unreadable book, she finds nothing is as it seems. Thrust into a world of dangerous political intrigue and deadly magic, Cyrene's position only grows more treacherous when she finds herself drawn to the one man she can never have...

King Edric himself.

Cyrene must decide if love is truly worth the price of freedom.

My Thoughts

"She has this pull. When I'm with her, the throne slips away and I'm just a man with a beautiful woman."

From the moment I started this book, I was drawn to it. The Affiliate is a book which has multiple layers that need to peeled very carefully. The book has a very interesting storyline, unlike any I've read.

K.A. Linde doesn't just delivers a romance story in a fantastical world. Nope. What she presents is so much more than I had anticipated. It is a story that keeps you on your toes with all the mysteries, twists and suspense.

The book starts with a flashback to when the King was dying and leaving an age old story that was believed to be just that. A bedtime story. Fast forward to the present day, it starts with Cyrene getting ready for her Presenting, where the King would assign her a duty as a First, Second or Third Class citizen in the Kingdom.

Before the ceremony every person standing for the Presenting day receives a letter. When Cyrene reads her letter, it sparks a want within her to decipher what it means. What she doesn't realize is that the letter holds the key to her real identity.

Cyrene for her Presenting comes dressed in a bold red gown which leaves the King stunned as red- a bold daring color- is not what one wears in the Kingdom. Moving further, Cyrene has been bestowed with the greatest honor -the Queen's Affiliate.

And what's our heroine if she doesn't have the two most handsome men in the room vying for her attention?
Why of course! King Edric and Prince Kael!
And when Cyrene has the King attracted to her, the Queen is bound to make her life difficult.

From the moment she has become an Affiliate, everything that she knew was completely changing, as simple as the mundane things. Cyrene had to face multiple hurdles and none of them easy. It left her questioning her life. Her future. Herself. Everything.

The characters, the magic, the known, the unknown, the threats and darkness that just looms around the whole plot! I couldn't help but fall in love with all the aspects of the book! All of these had me flipping the pages like mad, wanting to find out what happened next.

What I absolutely loved about the book is the vivid images that conjured in my head while trying to imagine what the author was trying to portray. From the character's attire to the locations and setting and the time period left me in awe.

Another thing that caught my eye was the character's name. They are so unique and very very deceiving.
What I gathered and what my personal observation, and I could be very wrong, is that every character and their attribute is very deceiving. You cannot take anything at face value and like mentioned before, there are so many layers to this novel that needs to be peeled very carefully to get to the heart of it.

What's important to keep in mind is that this is the first book in the series and it lays a foundation for the rest to come, so it will take a little time to catch up to everything, including the pronunciation of the of the names.

The story that Ms. Linde delivered and the way she ended has me wanting the second book. This book was a really great start to what could turn out to be one of the most amazing YA Fantasy I've come across.