The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan

1.5 Stars out of 5. Throughout Part One, I was hooked. I was hoping Maxim and Lennix would reunite and rekindle that spark. Part Two was slow, but I appreciated the detail that went into telling both of their stories. Lennix with the Native American history, and Maxim with his families inheritance and multimillion dollar oil company. I was sold. I was on the edge of seat, and could not turn the pages faster. The incident in Antarctica was extremely intense, and I loved every bit of it. However, I started to get a feeling of "snobby" from Lennix when she found out she had been lied to. Yes, that was hurtful. Yes, she felt betrayed. But the way that she talked to Maxim, if that were me I would never talk to Lennix again. I would say oh well, I tried. But he is a better person than I am. In Part Three is where I really started to dislike the book. It seemed like the book was written solely for political reasons, as it turned its focus from oil companies and Native Americans to other political motives. To say I was confused would be an understatement. It did not seem to fit with Lennix's true passions. And the way she would talk to employees, even if she was terminating them for violating a portion of the contract, who talks to another human being like that? She is very abrasive and rude to people, and I honestly would not want anything to do with a person like that. Not because of her beliefs, but because of how she treats people. It's one thing to cut someone off, it's another to be entirely disrespectful. An example of this is when she is asked to speak on a talk show, and the host says, "You're doing great girls," and Lennix responds with, "We're not you're girls. We're your guests, and thanks for having us." It was a simple thank you for being here sentiment before another person came on set, and she shot off at him and for why? What did he do? Give her a media outlet to speak about her campaign and that is how she speaks to the host (as 1 example) while the camera is still rolling? Kimba, Lennix's friend maintains a much more professional standpoint and I appreciate her bringing balance to the narrative. It got to a point where I ended up skimming pages, for nearly almost 120 pages. It was a repeating comment, "He lied to me," "I can never forgive him," "She doesn't matter because she will never love me," "I'm going to make my family work with her so she has to be around me." These exact phrases were uttered nearly every other page for almost 50 pages. It was a lot to keep reading the same thing. At some point either move on, or forgive him. But throwing it in his face constantly when you say you hate him, and when people ask about him you say you don't know him is not fair. I also think it is incredibly hypocritical that she says she hates Maxim's family, and because he did not disclose his last name originally to her, that is why she is so furious with him... but then she takes on Maxim's brothers political campaign. If you hated the family so much, why would you even want to entertain the idea of representing them? I did like the book at first, but not so much toward the end. I really began to lose interest in Part Three because of she would treat people, and because of the hypocrisy.