Content Warning: Arranged Marriage, Abuse (physical and emotional), Graphic Violence (including torture), Cheating, Pregnancy almost leading to a forced Miscarriage

”A wedding is not about lust. It’s about partnership. Alliance. Faith and faithfulness.”

It’s so ironic that this book started out with such a strong sense of pure intentions and girlish hopes then turned out the way it did. I’m not sure what it is with tough books like this, but they completely draw me in. I’ll start out by saying that this book will not be for everyone, and will either be loved or hated for the topics it discusses. It is a hard read, and not the typical happy-go-lucky fantasy novel. Sometimes, a book is worthy of praise simply for the realness that it captures in its characters, and the trials they go through, comfortable or not. The characters here are real, raw, and rememberable.

World Building

The world in Reign the Earth is vast and diverse. No matter where the reader is taken, however, there is an aridness about the atmosphere, even if by the sea or in lusher regions. I believe the world itself aided in setting the tone of the entire book--the aridness it portrayed not only mirrored the relationship between Shalia and Calix, but also emphasized the harsh realities that were taking place on all fronts.

The religious system was an interesting one. The "god" position was shared by Calix, Galen, and Danae of the Bone Lands. Each sibling had their own role to play.

”My father said the Three-Faced God had told him that his three children were the God Made Human. That we would be the most powerful rulers the Bone Lands had ever seen.” She held out her hands in a triangle, pointing one of the ends at me. “With three faces, you can only ever see two, at the very most,” she told me. “The third will always be hidden. Calix, he is the face of truth and justice. Galen is the face of honor and strength. And I am the hidden face, the piece that separates honor and truth, and also binds them together always.”

While I’m not sure if it was supposed to reflect either positively or negatively (or if at all) on the Holy Trinity in the Bible, I personally feel that it stood apart from it. The fact that a man declared his children the god-made-flesh was a ploy for power. None of the three had actual powers, they were simply powerful in specific characteristics.

Pacing & Readability

The pacing of this book is consistently moderate and increases the closer it gets to the end. Due to the nature of its content, I could see how it could affect its overall readability, as the tone is dark and heavy at times. Personally, that aspect did not bring me pause and actually made me more eager to know what would happen next. The beautiful writing and description also made this read very enjoyable.

Point-Of-View & Characters

Shalia serves as the main character and protagonist, and the story is told from her perspective. Shalia's character is rather complex--so complex in fact, that it was aggravating at some periods. While she starts out with the mentality of a young girl, her maturity rapidly shows, as she learns through difficult situations how to handle herself, and to make the right decisions. In order to do so, Shalia's character goes through immense stages of change.

"You're a daughter of the desert, Shalia. You have always had the ability to pierce and sting."

The biggest struggle Shalia faces is standing up for herself. For the majority of the story, she seems rather passive, especially in regards to her husband's character. She does try to influence Calix by her meekness, but in the end, it simply isn't enough to turn his focus inward on the parts in himself that he needed to address.

"My hands rested over my stomach. I couldn't feel her in there yet, but I knew in that moment she would never be raised by Calix."

The biggest event which took place that changed Shalia's perspective and tactics was when she discovered that she was pregnant. During this time, Calix became more erratic and abusive towards her.

"I went from being a sister and a daughter to a wife, a guarded queen. I have little idea what my life will be like if I'm free from Calix, but I don't want to be something you protect. I won't teach my daughter that her only choice is to be sheltered by the men around her. I want to stand beside you...I want to learn to fight with you."

I think Shalia's character is an unusual one in YA today. Instead of being the "all guns blazing" superwoman trope, her meekness is what made her stand out to me. Her words and actions spoke louder than her physical capabilities. While she did have bouts of passiveness, she took action when necessary, and when she was able.

Calix is a piece of work. He is the manipulative and power-hungry antagonist, who thinks he is superior to all. I'm not sure if I can blame him entirely for his character, seeing how he was conditioned his entire life to believe himself to be above others. But it doesn't excuse his actions and reactions towards Shalia and the other people he torments.

"Your heart is soft, and that is good and right, wife. But mine cannot be. More important than love, than grief, more important than anything is power."

Discussing his relationship with Shalia in particular, he is one of the worst types of villains. He uses emotional manipulation to get what he wants and damages Shalia tremendously in doing so.

Galen, Calix's brother remains quite a mystery. While small chunks of his personality are revealed, I never got a good sense of him or is true nature. I wasn't a fan of the way his and Shalia's relationship played out in the end. (view spoiler) Despite that fact, I'd like to know more about him in the sequel(s) to come.

Danae, Calix's sister, also serves as a partial antagonist. While her character is the least-developed of the three siblings, she becomes an encourager to Shalia during though periods in her marriage to Calix. Without the sisterly love of Danae, I think Shalia really would have struggled.

There are many other characters throughout this book, but I thought these were the main ones to discuss in more detail.

Major Themes

⇒ Face-value vs. Reality

In the opening of this story, when Shalia is on her way to meet her husband for the first time, she inwardly hopes that he is attractive. Despite the vanity of the thought, she gets what she hopes for, only to realize that beauty on the outside doesn’t mean beauty exists within. It's a valuable theme to focus on as beauty is monotonized on in today's culture. It teaches everyone that beauty is better, and the internal parts of ourselves can be covered up and ignored if beauty is present externally.

⇒ Steadfastness

Represented specifically by Shalia, steadfastness is a key quality in her character. While she was seemingly passive at times when she could have stepped forward, I think she actually made the more difficult choice with not stopping what was going on (specifically with Calix). She tried so very hard and sacrificed everything to keep the peace between the clansmen and her husband’s people. However, it costs her. This is the ugly truth about sacrifice sometimes--it’s painful, and it doesn’t always end in the way we hope or envision. But it’s necessary in order to try and make a situation better for others. This was what made me appreciate Shalia’s character so much. Too often are characters met with “challenges” that aren’t really challenges. They have simple solutions and take little effort to overcome. Shalia's situation reflects what many people go through in real life, and I think she could be an encouraging figure to have in this genre.

⇒ Power

Power was a massive theme. It existed on multiple fronts; men over women (no matter the connection), leader over civilian, a people group over another. It is this desire for power on Calix's part that transforms him into a being capable of doing anything to another person in order to get what he wants.

”Ruling cannot be about emotion, my sweet. It has to be about power and control. Always.”
“True power does not force others to make themselves smaller,”I told him. Anger simmered in his eyes.
“No, wife. You’re wrong.”

This theme is represented well, as it shows how dangerous and degenerative seeking power can be.

⇒ Abuse

While it's not a nice topic to discuss, abuse is very real. Several forms of abuse are represented throughout Reign the Earth and show how terrible of a thing it is.

Overall Feelings

Things that I liked:

⇒ Shalia’s depth of character, especially her steadfastness.
⇒ The world building, and how well it reflected everything else developing throughout the story.
⇒ The use of elementals.

Things that I didn’t like:

⇒ Calix. Pure and simple. He was a "perfect" antagonist.
⇒ The pacing towards the middle slowed down a bit, but I didn’t notice it too much. The beginning and end made up for this deviation in my opinion.
⇒ I felt that the Trifectate needed a lot more explanation surrounding it. While the general idea was explained, I wanted to dig deeper into their role in society.
⇒ The fantasy element of this book takes a backseat to the main story. I would have liked to see more representation of the elementals throughout.

Due to the nature of this book, I would definitely caution young adult readers before picking it up. I personally believe this to be better suited for the New Adult genre, as the topics discussed don't really reflect that of the life of an average teen. Overall, I believe this book has a lot to offer the reader. It's real, it's emotionally charged, it's challenging, and it's beautifully written. I'm thoroughly looking forward to the next installment in this series.

Vulgarity: 26 words total (based on the eARC I read - this may differ from the published book.)
Sexual content: Moderate to a lot. While nothing is graphically explained, there are a lot of “bedroom scenes.” This also was an area where a lot of content could trigger some uncomfortable feelings for the reader.
Violence: Moderate to quite a bit. There are scenes of torture and some graphic material here and there.

My Rating: ★★★★★

So when I first started reading this book I guess you could say I had medium level expectations (if thats even a thing) the book started off intriguing and I liked the idea of having elemental magic and Shalia was a good strong lead character and all-- I guess I just felt the whole book was.... lacking. I was instantly intrigued by the idea of an arranged marriage (especially to a man who is so against magic) but calix ended up being rather cruel and he just annoyed me all the time! Every scene they mentioned Calix I had to try and hold in a huge sigh of frustration at the extreme annoyance he made me feel!! And then there was the whole thing with Calix’s brother (who I liked but thought lacked character depth) he was clearly the better choice and you couldn’t deny the chemistry between him and Shalia but I just felt their romance wasn’t going anywhere (at least not anywhere soon). This surprised me because I usually love slow burning romances and this one just left me disappointed!! Unfortunately I only got about 40% through this book before I lost interest and couldn’t continue it. Bottom line this books plot just wasn’t developed as much as I had hoped and while the characters held promise they ended up lacking depth. Overall a solid 2 star read!

So I have mixed feelings about this book. The writing was awesome. The world building was good. The characters were complex and I had favorites and NOT favorites. But overall it made me sad.
Shalia is a strong heroine who agrees to an arranged marriage to bring about peace between the desert and the bonelands. Hoping for love, instead she finds that she has married a cruel and capricious king who wants war and to destroy the Elementae. Shalia does everything she can to bring peace, but with her brothers involved in the resistance and her how elementae powers developing, everything is turning against her.

I adored Shalia’s family. Her siblings and parents, though not on every page, were in her heart and a part of her. I did love when her brothers and best friend made appearances. They were my favorite. The romance was okay. I found the villain terrifying and I never want to be anywhere near him. I am hoping for a bit more why from him in next book.

Mostly though this is not a happy book. I had to put it down and walk away because I had to take a break. This book takes on some heavy themes that don’t always make an appearance in YA fantasy and when they do, they get glossed over. Even in adult books they get a pretty shine and everything is okay in the end. At the finale of this story, everything is not fine. There is not huge cliffhanger (except my favorite character is missing.
), it could be the end of the story, which there totally has to be a sequel. But it felt very real to life.

This book is an honest-to-God story of genius. I LOVED this book and have so many feels and need the next one now that it’s forced me to write one entire run on sentence. Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. This book at times had me on the edge of my seat, screaming with joy, ecstatic with that fact that there is such a STRONG female lead, crying with practically everyone, and in absolute shock when it ended and I needed the next one.
Reign the Earth follows Shalia, a girl born and bred in the desert who marries only for peace for her family. Her husband is from a land that believes that the ruler (her husband) is just one face, or vessel incarnate, of the Three-Faced God that leads they’re culture. Shalia gives up everything she knows to make herself at home in this new country alone and with one deadly secret against her: she discovers that she is an Elementae. Elementae are people who have powers that can control the elements. Think Avatar, not the blue guys on a different planet, but like Avatar with Aang, Katara, and Zuko. Her husband, having grown up knowing that there was a vision given about him that an Elementae would be his ruin, has harbored a great hate and now a forced genocide of people with these powers. Throughout this book, you see the fear and hatred that Calix has of those that are different than him, and how that always turns to war. You see so many aspects of SO MANY different characters and I honestly thought I had everyone narrowed down to a side and then THERE WERE SO MANY PLOT TWISTS THAT I CRIED BECAUSE I WAS SO INCREDIBLY OVERWHELMED WITH ALL THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED.
Story wise, this book could have had some weak spots, but I found none. Character-wise, these characters have such strong personalities that you’re not sure who to trust at the beginning but you see their hearts at all times. Shalia is such a strong character. From the beginning of the book to the end, she wants peace, she wants to do what’s right, she truly cares about people and looks for the best in them, and she doesn’t want people to see her as weak. She’s the girl that I want my future daughters to read about. She is who she is, she knows where she comes from, she knows what is right in her heart, and she fights for it. Her family is wonderful and truly care about her and are so intricately family-minded.
The secondary characters also hold so much weight in this story. It’s not just about this girl with powers who is stranded by marrying for peace, but it’s also about all those that she comes into contact with. From Kata, her best friend that all along believes she holds this power to Danae, her husbands sister that is the hidden one, always following because she does as she’s told. From Calix, the husband who has such fear of losing his power that he’ll do anything to keep it, to Galen, the brother who has a heart hidden under his strength that he keeps hidden from his siblings in fear of looking weak. From Kairos, the brother that is present always, to Rian, who is present from afar. Literally all the characters had such a voice that it was hard to leave them at the end.
This book (and coming series) is one that I will continue to re-read and have on my shelf for a LONG time. I can’t wait for the next one to come and honestly, I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll read it again before that.

In Reign the Earth Shalia is forced to marry a man she's never met before for in an effort to bring peace to her people. Calix, Shalia's husband, exhibits an outer beauty that sharply contrasts with his brutal, black soul. I loved the earth magic, Shalia's strength and the fast-pace of Reign the Earth. I think this book will find fans amongst Sabba Tahir and SJ Maas' readers.

WHY DID I LISTEN TO REIGN THE EARTH BY AC GAUGHEN?
Reign The Earth by AC Gaughen was one of the newer audiobooks available to borrow via Hoopla. Also, it is one of the newer eARCs that I have to read and review. It kind of felt like a no brainer to grab it. Initially, this book caught my attention on Netgalley due to the author. I adored Scarlet. Although, I have not read further in the series — I will have to remedy that this year. Also, the jacket copy and the cover made Reign The Earth sound pretty awesome in all actuality.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
AC Gaughen’s Reign The Earth is the first in her new Elementae series. This book follows main character Shalia who grew up in the desert. Shalia loves her family and community. However, it is also wartorn. She decides to make a sacrifice and put an end to the fighting. Shalia does this by marrying Calix and becoming Queen of the Bonelands.

Alas, it does not go how Shalia wants it to go. Calix has a life mission to kill off people with powers known as the Elementae. He also is one abusive MF. He is the worst. Shalia finds friendship and comfort in his brother Galen. These feelings ignite something in her and as it turns out, Shalia has Elementae power over the earth. Meanwhile, there is a rebellion brewing against Calix. Things are about to get INTENSE.

HOW DID I LIKE REIGN THE EARTH?
Reign The Earth by AC Gaughen provides quite the exciting start to the new series. I am so eager for the next book! Shalia is such a wonderful character. She’s strong and you can tell that she truly cares about her people. I could relate to Shalia in a few ways, however, to describe would definitely be a spoiler. Then of course, there’s a pretty decent ship in this book and I am excited to see where the end game is going to lead us readers. Finally, the world building is 100% solid. I cannot wait to spend more time in this world Gaughen has created.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook is narrated by Soneela Nankani. Straight up, Nankani is a new to me narrator. I liked her voicing though. She does series quite well. She also puts emotion into her narration without sounding overwrought. I am HERE FOR THIS. The audiobook is 14 hours long which isn’t too bad when you listen to it at a sped up rate, which is something that I do. I know I will be continuing this series, but I am not sure if that will be via audio or print. Either way, it is a fantastic story.

This may end up being my 2018 favorite. This is my first book by A.C. Gaughen but I did just recently purchase her Scarlet series with the gorgeous new covers. After reading Reign the Earth, I know I will definitely be diving into those soon.

characters
These characters are on point! Shalia has grown up in a loving and caring family. The story starts out with Shalia preparing for her wedding day. In order to help broker peace between the desert and the City, Shalia is marring King Calix. The Desert’s custom is for the groom to unveil the bride at the wedding. Stating that this should create some divine connection between the two. As Shalia walks down the aisle, she anticipates meeting her groom for the first time but when her veil is removed and the first man she sees is not her husband, she wonders what this may mean for her marriage.

Calix is a cruel king. He has a hate so strong that the thinks everyone deserves to be punished. Calix is not a likable character. He really isn’t even a character that makes a good villain. He is just very cruel. Shalia ends up being in quite the complicated situation. Her husband is controlling and an abuser. No matter what Shalia goes through she is still strong and doesn’t allow herself to be torn down.

One of my favorite quotes in the book is said by Shalia herself and I think it is so well said.

“My honor has nothing to do with what man is married to me, or touching me, or loves me. I will not be broken or diminished or belittled by the choices of men around me.”

Total Girl Power Right?!

world building
The world building for Reign the Earth is absolutely amazing. Gaughen did a great job helping the reader visualize everything. I didn’t have a map to look at but I could perfectly envision one in my head. I felt like I knew exactly what path the characters were taking when they would travel.

nitty-gritty
This book definitely touches on many sensitive topics but I think Gaughen handled them all extremely. This book is rough and deals with the nitty-gritty. I really wish authors were more brave to touch on these hard subjects. I mean this stuff happens in the real world. Nowadays, I feel like these subjects are avoided so much. I understand that some people need to have their feelings spared but then you just shouldn’t read the book. People like me, who have had “Tough Subject” things happen to them, would like to see this brought more to the light.

to a.c. gaughen…i applaud you! thank you for putting yourself out there. thank you for writing this book. i absolutely love it and it definitely meant a lot to me.

This book came out January 30th, and I was approved for this arc a week or so before it came out. The premise of the book intrigued me, so when I started this arc I was extremely interested in the first few chapters that I went and bought the physical copy to read! I have very high hopes for this book, and because I have not finished it yet my rating is skewed towards how I felt about those first chapters.

Reign the Earth is one of those books that took me by surprise. It dealt with heavier topics, such as physical and emotional abuse and pregnancy, that you don’t usually see in YA fantasy. This did make it difficult to read at times. However, if you can handle the darker themes, this book is definitely well worth the read.

The writing in Reign the Earth was gorgeous. The world itself was absolutely fascinating and the political intrigue was brilliantly developed. Also, the Elementae were so interesting, I can't wait to find out more about them. The plot definitely kept me intrigued the entire way through plus there were some unexpected twists at various points. There was also enough detail that it was very easy to envision the world and the characters. While Reign the Earth wasn't the story I was expecting, it turned out to be even better.

Shalia was my favorite part of the book, she was such a strong, courageous woman. Additionally, the author does an excellent job of showing that there is more than one type of courage. I ultimately kept reading Reign the Earth because I loved Shalia's journey and her growth. Most of the other characters were well developed. In particular, I adored the strong bonds between Shalia and her family, particularly her brothers. The relationship between Calix and Shalia was handled well, although it was heart-breaking at times. In particular, I liked that Gaughen didn't glorify the abuse and didn't have Shalia fall for her abuser.

I would recommend Reign the Earth if you're okay with the darker themes. Part of what makes it a hard read is that Gaughen captures some of the evils of our world so perfectly in this fantasy setting. However, she also captures the hope and the strength necessary to fight against those evils. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel and seeing what happens next in Shalia’s journey.

To my surprise, this book was so much better than I anticipated. I was expecting yet another book chock full of YA fantasy cliches, complete with the stereotypical pretty cover and all, but ended up getting so much more.

At times, this story was gritty and dark, where emotional and physical domestic violence, torture, and genocide were all present. Let this serve as a trigger warning - some scenes dealing with the above issues are intense and very emotional. For me, these dark situations, while sad and emotional, really helped draw me into the story. However, I know that it won’t be for everyone, so please read with caution.

The emotional intensity of the story made this book an amazing read. When an author can really draw you into the world and have you connect and care for the characters, that’s literary talent. For the first time in a long time, I cared for what happened to the characters, and I couldn’t put this book down. The characters were dynamic, and I really liked both Shalia and Kairos. Shalia has an incredible inner strength, and when I think of strong female characters, I think of characters like her - the world and/or people push her down continuously, but she gets back up everytime. The strength to persevere was endearing to me, and her resiliency made her a main character that I really liked and respected.

The romance was a bit lackluster for my tastes, but I blame Sarah J. Maas and Ilona Andrews for their slowburning romances that make all other romances fall short. There was very little dialogue exchanged between Shalia and Galen and that lack of connection made their relationship boring to me as it started to develop. Their feelings for one another seemed more a way to drive the plot and conflict between Shalia and Calix than anything. Overall, the romance was okay and I didn’t hate it, but I also wasn’t really invested either.

My one issue is with the fantasy elements. The magic system was simple and one that’s been seen a lot, not to mention a bit cliche. The main conflict of a ruler wanting to rid the world of magic-users is also not unique, and in the end, the magic and overall conflict took a back seat to the dark and emotional intensity of the story. Hopefully the next book will bring some life to the fantasy elements of the story and really have it play a main role in the plot.

Overall, while not perfect, I really enjoyed this read. The emotional intensity really drew me in, and I’m hoping that continues to be the case in the future. I’m excited for the next book holds.

I've been waiting on this book for years! A.C. Gaughen wrote the fantastic historical fiction YA series about Will Scarlet, Robin Hood, and Marian, and since then I've been a fan. I started this book without reading any blurbs and had no clue what it was about.
I thought the heart of this book is wonderful. Shalia is a strong girl from the desert who sacrifices her own happiness for the safety of her family and her people by entering into marriage alliance with Calix, the King of the Bone Lands who hates the desert clans and the Elementae, people who have the unique ability to control earth, air, fire and water. In her marriage, she hopes to find love and peace but also faces the reality that this marriage is a sort of death. In fact, members in her family and in her tribe have been murdered by Bone Lands soldiers. The Bone Lands are ruled by the Trifectate, the Three-Faced God made human. Calix is the head of the Trifectate, supposed to embody the most senior of the Three-Faced God, the head of truth and justice. His younger brother Galen is his commander, the face of honor and strength, and Danae, his sister, is the hidden face of the god, binding the two, she says. As Shalia comes to know her new family, she also learns what Calix hopes from their marriage, using her to secure an heir to his throne and thus ensure his rule from being threatened by his nobles.
As Shalia attempts to walk between two very fine lines, one of loyalty to her husband and loyalty to her family, and they both conflict heavily as Shalia's eldest brother Rian is a leader in the Resistance and fighting to subvert Calix's penchant for torture and mayhem of those he deems a threat, namely rebellious desert people and the Elementae. Having expected obedience, Calix does not forgive his wife her conflict of interest but expects to her betray any information that will help him. As Shalia realizes her situation, she embraces her role towards the people and inspires with her kindness. She takes strength from her successes, which she will desperately need when the conflict between blood and marriage erupts into all out war. Fans of YA authors Ahdieh, Maas, and Tahir will probably be addicted to this series starter.

(Links below will be live on Thursday, Feb 8.)

Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen

First in The Elementae series

ALL THE STARS

“Show them what the heart of the desert truly is.”
Shalia is a daughter of the desert. She has always felt at home under the vast skies and living a nomadic life with her brood of brothers, sister, and parents. She is also used to her best friend, Kata, an Elementae who can wield water coming in out of her life as she embarks on a mission to restore the Elementae to their full power. As Kata returns, Shalia finds herself being uprooted from the desert as she is forced to marry the king of the Trifectate, Calix. Calix’s family abhor the Elementae and will stop at nothing to exterminate them from the world. Kata is convinced Shalia has the same power within her that she does, but to have it would be dangerous and will put her life on the line. I almost didn’t read this book. I almost passed up on reading one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. I saw this book on Goodreads and overlooked it because I was getting tired of seeing the typical desert plot, but this is SO MUCH MORE than just the desert with magic. Gaughen establishes an intense world that revolves around a Three-Faced God and this in turn, is the basis for Calix ruling the Trifectate. His brother and sister represent the other faces of the god and have roles to fulfill. This world is complex and mature. It tackles religion, death, an abusive marriage, genocide, war, rebellion, sex, greed, corruption, and it is all interwoven with a simple, but refreshing magic system. I’M OBSESSED. I think this book reads very much like the Old Testament in the drama department (if you read Genesis, then you should because it is crazy). It’s even more captivating that there is a religious system introduced that heavily decrees all rules the kingdom has enacted. For instance, unless the Three-Faced God decrees that women can work at the mills, then they cannot work at the mills. (This is a chapter in the novel and I loved that and it’s so awesome to see Shalia reign as queen.) I’ve never read Gaughen before, but I will go and read her other trilogy because I loved her writing style, characterization, and worldbuilding. Did I mention I’m obsessed? GO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!



Whimsical Writing Scale: 5

“True power does not force others to make themselves smaller,” I told him (Calix).

The main female character is Shalia. At first, I wasn’t a fan. She started out by whining about how she couldn’t be an Elementae to her best friend. Hello, if my bestie had magical powers, then I ‘d want them to. Alas, she is far from whiny. She is strong, resilient, and steadfast. She wants women to work for their mills, she doesn’t want to spend her life being protected, and she is inclusive and doesn’t bat an eye when her sister-in-law confesses she’s a lesbian. I loved her. She was everything I want my heroines to be. She represents the woman I want my children to look up to. My heart wept for in this novel towards the end. This novel gets gritty and dark. It tackles topics that may be off-putting to many readers and I would consider Shalia’s journey to be one for the mature reader. In case you do want to know possible trigger warnings, I will have them in this spoiler tag. (view spoiler)


Kick-Butt Heroine: 5

“I want to learn to fight with you. I won’t accept you as a protector. But I will accept you as something else. Something greater. Because with whatever scraps of my heart are left, I love you too, Galen.”

The main male character is Galen. Y’ALL, the moment he lifted her veil I knew. I wasn’t disappointed by this subtle romance. Galen is the Commander of the Trifectate guards and is Calix’s brother. He is a sweetheart and I love him so much. I don’t want to spoil anything, so that’s all I say because I don’t want to slip, but OMG be still my beating heart.



Swoon Worthy Scale: 5

“War is never so simple as a single person’s greed.”

The Villain- Calix is no joke. People rant about Tamlin, but they haven’t met the Anti-Christ, Calix. This man is absolutely horrible. I would equate him to Hitler. He is obsessed with eradicating a race he thinks poses a threat to him because of a prophecy and he experiments on them in inhumane ways. For example, he created something that drains the blood from Elementae and transports it into something else. Absolutely disgusting. Also, he’s abusive not only to his wife, but to everyone around him. He has got to go.


Villain Scale: 5

“When there is a rebellion, no party comes out unscathed. The whole country bears a scar so deep that no one in that generation comes out the victor, not truly.”

I loved, loved the characters in this book. There’s Kata, Shalia’s best friend, and I can’t wait to see more of their relationship dynamic in the sequel. Kailos and Rian, two of Shalia’s brothers who are at the center of this story. Kailos has a hawk that protects the family and keeps them in constant contact. He’s so sweet, loyal, and calculating in the best of ways. Rian is a part of the Resistance and this poses a huge threat to Shalia’s life, but once we got to meet him I loved him. Shalia’s guards are also my favorite and my heart is breaking over them. Danae is Shalia’s sister-in-law and I feel so sorry for her, but I’m going to need her to get it together before she does something to make me hate her.


Character Scale: 5

Everyone should read this book because it’s AMAZING. I love it so much and it is one of the darkest novels in the YA genre I’ve come across. I think it leads more towards NA, but I don’t care. It’s wonderful and regardless of its genre, you all need to read it because you want be disappointed.


Plotastic Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: It’s not a favorite, but it is growing on me.

Thank you, Netgalley and Bloomsbury, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Seriously, thank you. I almost missed reading one of my all-time favorite novels.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to connect to the story and have since placed the book down after reading to about 10%. It could very well be that I wasn't in the right frame of mind to get into a story such as this when I picked it up, and as such I do not put any blame on the story or its characters for my disconnect. I'll place it aside for now and plan to pick it back up to try it again soon. I was really pulled in by the blurb and cover, and I hope on the next try I can fully immerse myself in this world.

It's been a week since I finished this book and I'm finally writing my review for it. I've thought about it off and on trying to decide exactly what I wanted to say about it. There are aspects that I really liked and enjoyed and others that I struggled with a little bit. When I finished with the book, I read the author's notes and that definitely added more to my opinion of the book. I love hearing how a book comes about and the struggle sometimes, the motivation, the reason why. That definitely pulled on me for this book. It definitely made me want to rate it higher because of the strength behind it. I also loved this author's previous series, Scarlet, about Robin Hood. Loved it! So when I saw she had another book coming out, I was pretty excited. I've been watching to see what she would come out with next and how it would compare to the writing and creativity of Scarlet. It was definitely a different genre and context than the previous series but I was still intrigued by it. So I requested a copy from NetGalley and dove right in.

The author has some pretty serious health concerns right now and one of them is her eyesight. She wrote about her struggle with almost losing it, having to stay facedown for several months after surgery in hopes of saving it and trying to write and finish the book as well as several other health concerns associated with it all. I loved reading about her push forward, her determination to not give up and to keep fighting back. She called it her fight song. I can definitely see how a lot of her "fight" was put into this book. How the main character doesn't back down in something she believes even if it puts her whole life in danger. Anyway, if you get the chance I definitely recommend reading her notes and the story behind everything, very interesting and motivational.

We've got a good line up of characters...Shalia, Kata, Calix, Galen, Danae, Kairos, Rian, Adria, Theron, Zeph and several others. Those are just some of the more central characters for this part of the story. It is the beginning of a series so we are left waiting. Not at a huge cliffhanger but definitely left with several answers to questions that have been built up. I'm interested to see how many more books will be in this series, will she do three like with Scarlet or just two? Guess I will just have to be patient to find out. I think with everything that I will continue watching for and reading the rest of the books when they come out.

What I liked with this novel was the use of magic and how the people who have that magic, the Elementae, can control certain elements. The world building was interesting and fun to read about. There are the desert people (which is Shalia's family/tribe-they are nomadic) and then there is the island people (most people who are Elementae came from there, although some didn't), and then there is the ruling court (can't remember what they're called and their land is called). There are three siblings who are the reincarnate of the great God. Calix, Galen and Danae are the three siblings. Calix is the king and great ruler, Galen is the brother who is the general and Danae is the sister, the invisible/hidden one. In the fashion of not trying to give away too much and spoiling anything I'm only going to give a few vague bits of info for you. Calix wants to form an alliance with the Desert people, they have been at war for a long time. Shalia is the one chosen to marry and become Queen, uniting the people and bringing an end to war. She has watched family members suffer and die and doesn't want to lose anymore so she agrees and knows that she can be strong and marry to protect her people and many others.

There are many customs and beliefs going into her marriage that were interesting and will come into play further into the book. All is not as it appears and all these characters will have to be made of some pretty stern stuff to survive. Who is on who's side? Can you figure it out? I thought I did, there were a couple surprises that I discovered at the end, some good, some not so good. I liked the coming together of groups for the greater good, trying to help and save and protect.

Ok, now for the nitty gritty, or what I didn't like so much, or struggled with. Most of it has to do with my own personal opinions and I think that there will be plenty of readers who don't feel this way. So take it as that, my thoughts and opinions, and read the book for yourself to have your own thoughts and opinions. But I wanted to put these out there for parents who are wondering if they should their children read them and age. This book is geared towards 14 years and up, or grade 9 and up. Honestly I would say it should be geared to a little bit older age group than that. There's a lot of stuff in here that some kids (a good amount) aren't mentally ready to deal with, or should have to try to assimilate and deal with. I think that a few more years of maturity would go a long way for the content. I think I'm pretty mature for my age (lol) and seeing these aspects aren't healthy for young minds, especially if they can't see that it's not good. I'll explain better than that in a minute. So for those wondering if you should allow your youth to read this keep reading, read it yourself and then decide.

For those of you who don't want swearing in your literature, this one had some mild swearing scattered throughout, not a lot, a handful of words really. And then there were some words that were made up to go along with this world that I would consider swear words. So language is one aspect to think about when deciding about this book.

Next, relationships. Relationships are hard and sticky sometimes in real life so to want to let me teens and younger kids read about abusive relationships isn't really something I want to promote. I want to teach them about good, strong, healthy relationships and how to create those. This book, even with the not so good relationships, does have healthy relationships and strengths. The author is definitely showing what type of relationship is not healthy and she doesn't glamorize those relationships at all which is good. I'm going to put that aspect of my review under a spoiler for those who don't want to read about it.

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Shalia marries someone she doesn't know, someone who believes himself to be the great God reborn. So when she marries there are some scenes between herself and her husband. They aren't graphic and fade out before sex but it does lead up to sex between the couple. Calix flaunts his previous experiences with other women in front of Shalia so she knows that she isn't his first or only woman to have had sex with. He treats her like an object and one for his use. He is abusive to her, not necessarily sexually abusive but he does beat her one or two times and is mentally and emotionally abusive. There is a point in the story where she has connected emotionally with another character and they kiss, have a pretty intense make out moment which is leading to sex but then something happens regarding her magic and he realizes she is Elementae and nothing further progresses in that moment. So with her relationship with her husband pretty unstable and rocky and building feelings towards another person, definitely not the best relationship examples throughout the book.

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I think this book could be considered pretty mild in comparision to several other books geared towards this age group but one I would recommend reading before your youth if you screen your children's books and want to be aware of what they are reading. If you don't want to screen then I would say definitely have them pass this one until they are older, or altogether. I do think it will be a very popular book and one that fantasy and magic lovers will enjoy a lot. I read it and was turning the pages to find out what happens. Those aspects I mentioned above definitely weren't my favorite but I'm also not a teenager trying to navigate life and what is normal/not normal, and my brain is a little bit more developed and mature. I won't be letting my teenagers read this one though, but I would steer them towards the author's Scarlet books. Hopefully that helps if you're wondering about this book. There were definitely aspects that I would have rated higher than a 3 and some aspects I would have rated lower than a three so altogether I stuck with 3 stars for my rating.

Content: Some sexual content (see my spoiler tag), torture of some characters, magic elements, death. Not squeaky clean for sure but still a cleanish read. I would recommend for mature readers.

I received a copy from the publisher, Bloomsbury USA children's, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

I loved and didn't love this story at the same time. Gosh the writing is beautiful and heartfelt and I was hurting for these characters so much!. I really liked what she created in this world and how Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire were all a huge part of the story. And how the people who have the powers to control these elements were using them for good.
It is gruesome in some parts and Calix is definitely a monster. But Galen and Shalia and their closeness was drawn out so well and so beautifully.
These characters are amazing and the settings are just magnificent. I can't wait to read more. I assume there will be more in this series to come.

I adored the worldbuilding that brought elemental magic centerstage--I haven't read a magic system this well developed since Avatar: The Last Airbender. There were some deep themes and hard emotions in this book, as Shalia marries Calix--a king bent on the destruction of magic and everyone she was trying to save with this marriage. Gaughen's writing was both brilliant and dark, fitting the voice of this story perfectly. I think the scope of the story will appeal to those who love Chima's sprawling Seven Realms series and the worldbuilding of Cora Carmack's Stormhearts.

The first thing I would like to point out about Reign the Earth is that it is around 450 pages. And that is fine and all, but it really needed to be a bit more enticing and thrilling than what it actually was. It honestly did not help that the night I started this book, I had a dream that completely blew the actual book out of the water.

The plot of the story was decent enough, and to be fair I did end up connecting with the characters by the end of it. Basically, the main character Shalia marries the prince of another kingdom in order to make peace between the two sides. Obviously, this doesn't go smoothly as her brother is the leader of the resistance. Furthermore, she develops the very power that her husband is fighting against. This leads to a bunch of trouble, and Shalia trying to hide her very strong elemental powers AND her secret feelings for her husband's brother. So there's that.

Though there is a lot of conflict within the book, there isn't much that actually happens. As queen, Shalia tours the country, gets to know her husband and the kingdom (also, content warning is needed for abuse), and tries to figure out where her powers fit into all of this. And for 450 pages, it's just…not worth it.

And this really might be my only gripe with the whole book, it just…wasn't interesting enough for me to feel like I wasn't trudging through this book.

The characters and the romance was again, interesting enough, but not enough to make me love this book. Maybe if there was a bit more action than there was, I would have been more excited? Who knows.

Overall, I really do not have much to say because this just ended up being a "meh" book. Not something I hated, but not something I loved either. Just right in the middle. It's just not worth reading 450 pages of.

It might sound silly, but the first thing that struck me about this book is the fact that Shalia approached her arranged marriage with the attitude that she would try to fall in love with her husband and have a good life with him even though the match wasn’t driven by love. I liked that the story didn’t set up with the more typical approach where she’d be chafing under the arranged marriage and looking to escape it from the beginning.

Shalia and her family drew me into the story with their customs and love and loyalty to each other. One of my favorite characters was Shalia’s brother Kai with his hawk. I loved the way he both protected her and respected her.

I read Reign the Earth a few weeks past the birth of my daughter, so I haven’t been getting very much sleep—and when I do sleep, it’s usually just an hour or two at most. So when I say I found it hard to put this book down, and a couple of times even stayed up to keep on reading, that’s pretty serious! Already, I’m anxious for the sequel, even though I’m sure it won’t be out for a while.

If you liked The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi, you will probably like Reign the Earth with its clash of kingdoms, rich relationships and magical elements.

First of all, let me thank Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the chance to read and review this book pre-release. As always, these thoughts are my own. This review is almost spoiler-free; no main plot points are revealed. Proceed at your own risk!

I give this story 4 stars.

Synopsis:

Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for peace. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bonelands.

But she soon learns that her husband, Calix, is motivated only by his desire to exterminate the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. Even more unsettling are Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother, which unleash a power over the earth she never knew she possessed—a power that could get her killed. As rumors of a rebellion against Calix spread, Shalia must choose between the last chance for peace and her own future as an Elementae.

This intense, richly drawn high-fantasy by the author of Scarlet will hold readers spellbound.

“Another fantasy romance in the vein of books by Sabaa Tahir, Renee Ahdieh. . . . Shalia matures from a frightened girl in a foreign land to a woman unwilling to allow her destiny or desires to be controlled by the men around her.” – School Library Journal
Desert scene

First of all, let me say that this is not a light-hearted, easy-going fantasy novel. It contains some serious topics, ones that can be very difficult, including physical and emotional abuse. That’s the only reason why I gave this book a cautious 4 stars– it was well done, but it was tough, and you should know that going in.

Pros Pros:
I do like to start with the pros, so let’s do this thing. I liked that this book, despite its heavy themes, didn’t drag too much. It was snappy, without a lot of embellishment, but still easy to understand and read.

It jumped right into the story without a lot of preamble, which was nice, too. There wasn’t an infodump for a first chapter, which was nice.

But…
I felt like maybe it wasn’t the first book in the series. There were a lot of characters and themes introduced right away, a lot of deep desert customs (which were serious worldbuilding wins) but I got lost almost immediately and wondered if maybe I had missed book one where all this got introduced.

Character Pros:
Shalia is a great heroine. She’s kind, sweet, powerful, and outspoken. She’s kindhearted, and basically a desert Hufflepuff. I like her, I like that she’s the main character, and I like her goodness. That seems just a little offset by…

Character Woes:
… the fact she falls in love with her brother in law. Basically right after she gets married to her husband. Whoops.

Worldbuilding Pros:
The different cultures between the desert nomads and the Trifectate people are fantastic. I like the differences and how they cause confusion. I liked that the desert felt real and wind-swept and massive, but the city and that entire culture felt a little more restricted. I’d like to see some development in that area in book two.

Have you read this story? Do you plan to? Please drop me a note and let me know!