REVIEW: The Beginning of Everything by Kristen Ashley

The Beginning of Everything by Kristen Ashley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description: 

From the unparalleled imagination of New York Times best-selling author Kristen Ashley comes an enchanting new audio-first fantasy romance series that will sweep you away!

Once upon a time, in a parallel universe, there existed the continent of Triton. The land was filled with beauty, but it was also splintered by war. Out of the chaos grew a conspiracy to reawaken the Beast, a fearsome creature who wrought only tragedy and devastation. The only way to stop him was to fulfill an ancient prophecy: Triton’s four strongest warriors must wed its four most powerful witches, binding all nations together and finally bringing peace to the land.

This is the story of their unions: the quiet maiden Silence and the savage king Mars. The cold warrior Cassius and the fiery witch Elena. The steadfast soldier True and the banished beauty Farah. And the pirate king Aramus and the mysterious queen Ha-Lah. Their unions will not be easy, but each couple must succeed, for the fate of their world is at stake....

*this is a review for the ebook version*

I struggled for a bit with how many stars to give this one, which hurt because usually Kristen Ashley is an auto 5 star for me. Ultimately, I decided 3.5 / 4. The bones of the story are good. I’m intrigued and want more. There were some parts I didn’t like and felt added nothing to the story, but the good outweighed the negative.

With this series, I had to read a lot of other reviews before I decided if I wanted to give it a try. I’d heard lots about it and wanted make sure there were no hard limits for me. I do agree with some of the reviews. She’s pushing honey type scenes in her books now and it’s unnecessary. Because of this, there were a couple chapters I skimmed because it was the bad guys pov and there were some random povs I didn’t care about. Plus it was basically just sex. Mmf and not with our main couples. I did try to skim thoroughly though in case any info pertinent to the story was revealed.

But the main characters chapters were really good and I’m definitely intrigued enough to read book 2. I didn’t want the end to be the end. 👀

I thought this series would be one book per couple since there’s 4 books and 4 couples. But they’re all in the first book and they all get a POV. Each chapter is a new POV. Initially, I found this a little confusing. I’m definitely glad I read the ebook rather than listening to the audio. I think the audio version would be way more confusing and hard to follow, so I don’t see myself ever going the audio route with this series. Once I got the main couples down, it got easier to follow and remember (mostly lol) who’s who. I actually enjoyed getting each mc’s POV. Hopefully that feeling continues in the next book 😬😳.

There’s a whole lot happening with a whole lotta people, so there’s not really a way to recap. There’s a lot I’m still intrigued to learn about each character and their backgrounds. And with the way this one ended, I’m really glad all the books are out so I can go ahead and start book 2. I normally hate cliffhanger / to be continued endings.

Anyway… overall I enjoyed the book. I like the characters and the different lands they come from sound interesting. We got a quick check in type scene with Frey and his now adult son which I loved and hope to see more of in the next installment. Lots of sex, not with our main couples so kind of pointless. One hero comes from a land where monogamy isn’t the norm so that is sure to create drama and if it doesn’t go the way I hope I’ll be pissed. We shall see.