I remember the hell of being a teen-the self-doubt, the insecurities and the moodiness. Telmé and Korin have been the established couple throughout the series and this is the story of how their relationship developed 27 years ago when they were 17 and 15, respectively. Unfortunately, that was not the case for me with In Despair which is due, in large part, to the age of the MCs for the majority of the book. Of Last Resort is my favorite because it melded the romance and the adventure together in such a way that had me flipping those pages in a frenzy. I feel like the romance has always been secondary to the action/adventure. As much of a wimp as I am, I’m a glutton for Ms. I read these stories for the fantasy adventure and the creatures that give me the heebeegeebees. Overall though I did enjoy the world of this story and getting to see how these two, whom we already know from previous books, got their start together. But it sort of erased the antagonism between the boys too quickly or at least in an awkward manner. The attack on the palace and people is awful and the recovery not easy.

As previously stated, his decisions aren't always planned well, but that's forgivable to his youth. The couple of years Telmé has on him, help to make him feel a little more ready to step into the big shoes he has to fill.

He has huge shoes to step into, but he's really still just a kid. I'm glad the book focused more on Telmé's story than Korin's if only because at only 15, Korin felt very young at times. He risks everything to become a Prince of the Blood when really he had no idea what he was doing. He was a scared kid, determined to be the man, the Prince, the Legion needed him to be. I felt for Telmé throughout the book though as it seemed like no matter what he did everyone was turning further and further against him. He was determined to help and work to save the people even if he didn't always go about it in the smartest most well thought out manner. But more than that they had the caring for their troubled nation and people. There were definitely times where I wanted to smack Telmé and Korin both upside the head. Circumstances really force them to grow up and grow up fast. Granted both of these guys are really just young boys when this story starts. The transition from the enemies to lovers wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. This isn't my favorite of the series, mostly because the romance aspects of it felt a little undersold.

Blood in the Water by Megan Derr