Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Tournament of Losers
AUTHOR: Megan Derr
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 229 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 10, 2016
BLURB:
All Rath wants is a quiet, peaceful life. Unfortunately, his father brings him too much trouble—and too many debts to pay—for that to ever be possible. When the local crime lord drags Rath out of bed and tells him he has three days to pay his father’s latest debt, Rath doesn’t know what to do. There’s no way to come up with so much money in so little time.
Then a friend poses an idea just ridiculous enough to work: enter the Tournament of Losers, where every seventy-five years, peasants compete for the chance to marry into the noble and royal houses. All competitors are given a stipend to live on for the duration of the tournament—funds enough to cover his father’s debt.
All he has to do is win the first few rounds, collect his stipend, and then it’s back to trying to live a quiet life…
REVIEW:
Every 75 years, a tournament is held that allows lower class citizens to compete for the right to marry into one of the noble families. It’s a child’s dream, really, and Rath is far too old to wish for something so ridiculous. When his father pulls yet another stunt that lands him in hot water, however, Rath finds himself forced to pay up in cash, or pay with his life. With no other choice, he enters the tournament just hoping for the funds to clear away his father’s debt before his deadline is up but what he ends up getting is so much more than he ever could’ve imagined.
I really dithered over reading this one, though I’m not sure why; I usually love Megan Derr’s books yet I found myself strangely hesitant about starting her latest offering. I am SO glad I picked it up anyway because I just loved it! Rath is content with his lot in life; he may not have much but he usually has enough to get by just fine. A lifetime cleaning up his father’s messes have taken its toll, however, and this latest stunt has him facing practically impossible odds. I liked Rath quite a bit. His is a kind of Cinderella story in some ways and I loved seeing him get what he deserved in the end. Instead of a traditional fairytale, the book deals with a series of trials designed to whittle down the masses so that only ‘the worthy’ get to marry into the nobility. I found this interesting and entertaining; even more so to watch Rath as he determinedly made his way through. The entire book was great, and while the beginning is a little slow with the set up, the rest of the story made up for it.
There aren’t any on screen sex scenes but really, you don’t need it with this one. I liked watching the progression of the relationship between Rath and Tress and it was just as satisfying to me as a book with more on screen sexy times. The best part of the book to me was the ending but its best read, not revealed. If you’re a fan of fantasy, Megan Derr, trials and/or rags to riches stories, I’d give this one a shot; I did and I really, really liked it!
RATING:
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