I loved this book. It was so hard to put down. Can't wait until the next one!

Sadly, try as I might, I was just not able to get into this book. I had heard so many good things about it, I guess my expectations were set a little too high. I think what set me off at a bad course was the opening and how it was basically something so far outside what the description was talking about I wasn't sure how to connect the two stories. It became a little clearer as I read on, but it really just didn't do well to draw me into the story since I felt like things already happened and I had to go back to the beginning to actually start the story. I sadly didn't last for much longer after that part.

This book (and the series) revolves around a prophecy that says there’s going to be two queens, the blood queen and the sun queen. Each of these queens will have all seven elemental powers (wind, fire, earth, air, metal, sun, and shadow). It also says the blood queen is essentially a bad omen, the signal of the destruction of the world as everyone knows it, and the sun queen is essentially good, a sign of protection. But this prophecy like most prophecies does not account for the humanity embodied within these queens--how their desperation to survive and their passion for other people will affect their seemingly inescapable futures.

Prophecies do not understand humanity, but you know who does understand it? Legrand. Her characters are not only believable, fully fledged people but also so very human. They aren’t archetypes but people that do some good things and some bad things, proving that the world and the people in it are far more complex than is easily understood or controlled. This aspect of the book, along with a no-pause plot, makes this book an incredibly enjoyable and heartening read. Great for fans of Six of Crows or anyone who enjoys fantasy with complex characters.

Furyborn is a young adult fantasy novel that follows two women a 1000 years apart. I’m not a fan of young adult fantasy, however this premise peaked my interest. I find that young adult fantasy novels aren’t as well developed as their adult fantasy counterparts. Yet, Furyborn stands out as one of the better young adult fantasy novels on the market for multiple reasons, however it does still fall prey to the common young adult fantasy issues.

What makes Furyborn stand out is the complex plot and subtle sexual tension that runs underneath the surface of the entire novel. Furyborn is almost two separate novels in one. As the reader progresses through the story, small hints and references are made that connect both timelines. Furyborn is complex in its storytelling by weaving two very different stories into one connected narrative in ways the reader will not see coming. The subtle sexual tension running through the novel is fantastic. It’s much more mature than what is portrayed in most young adult novels without being overly graphic or crude.

The biggest issue I had with Furyborn was the magic system. The magic system is based in elemental magic. This may seem like a straightforward magic system since it’s almost self-explanatory, however Legrand takes little to now time to explain the intricacies of how the magic works or how to use it. A large part of one of the story lines is the magical trials that test the main character’s abilities. These trials demonstrated to the reader how competent the main character is, however failed to showcase how the power is used or its limitations.

Furyborn focuses on Rielle and Eliana. Rielle is exposed as being able to control each force of elemental magic, so she’s required to endure magical trials to prove her allegiance to the country. Eliana is a bounty hunter working for the Undying Empire after it conquered her kingdom. After her mother vanishes, she’s thrust into a new life and discovers the true horrors of the world around her.

Without giving away too much information about the plot, all I’ll say is that a lot of the world building and bigger picture story telling happens with Rielle’s story line and I found it fascinating. I enjoyed a lot about the happenings around Rielle, but didn’t much enjoy Rielle as a character. I found her to be annoying and naïve despite her upbringing. The best part of Rielle’s story has to do with Legrand’s choice in revealing Rielle’s future in the prologue. The reader then gets to experience what led her to make the choices she made and their eventual consequences.

Eliana is described as a ruthless killer doing what needs to be done for the empire to survive. Her existence revolves around survival. However, she has a weakness when it comes to her family, her mother and brother. Unfortunately, her relationships with them are underdeveloped despite them being a catalyst for her plot.

Overall, Furyborn is an interesting introduction to a fantasy world packed with action and intrigue. I loved that it was more mature than most young adult fantasy novels and I’m excited to see where the story goes.
If you’re a fan of adult fantasy, then Furyborn may not be for you. You may find it underdeveloped.

I loved this book! Claire Legrand is one of my favorite MG authors and I was so excited to read her YA novel. I love the dual points of view and the dual timelines that intersect. I thought it was a bold choice to set them in different time periods and it was very well done. I love how strong the female characters are too! I can't wait for the sequel to come out!!

Furyborn has great potential - the plot is engaging, and the writing style is fairly epic. It's the characters that make, or in this case break, the story.
First, to clarify. This story is told from the perspective of 2 main characters. I loved one, and was incredibly bored by the other. And the supporting cast were such dynamic characters, I wanted more of them.

- Enjoyed -
Rielle - amazing character development. I could be sympathetic, understand her suffering. Her power didn't separate her from her human feelings.

I think Rielle is supposed to be the villain, but I liked her story far more than Eliana's. The emotions were more tense, and the action felt more life threatening.

The male supporting cast - Audric, Corien, Remy, Simon. Great guys. They interacted so well with the female leads & I wanted more from each of them.

Magic contest - the contest kept the story full of action. The book itself, the prologue, might give away the ending. But you're still on the edge of your seat.

Time traveling - I'm super confused with how the time traveling thing worked for the marques. Why are the two Queens a thousand years apart? And how are some characters still alive???
The confusion was a good confusion, because it made me want to read more.

Split Perspectives - I really enjoyed how the story went back and forth between Rielle and Eliana. It worked out super well in the story telling. It can be hard to write this way without messing with your reader's heads. But thankfully, I wasn't confused.

- Not so great -

Eliana - she just didn't grab me! She's too cold, too brutal. Almost one dimensional in her ferocity. I know strong women are amazing - and there's really great strong characters out there. Aelin, Katniss, Hermione.

But cold-blooded killers are hard to read about. Hard to connect to emotionally. Eliana claims she's killing to save her family's life, but why in the world does she have to actually kill? Why did she even start working for the Empire?

Her relationships felt incredibly selfish too, as though she was using everyone. And that made me as a reader feel used.

Eliana + Simon - Um, no. Just no. STOP now.

New Adult Scenes - repeat after me, sex scenes are for NA books. YA shouldn't have sex scenes. Did you repeat after me?

I don't mind sexual tension. Or references to relationships. Or kissing. Or even slight adult elements

But an adult sex scene SHOULD NOT be in a YA book. Just no! YA is suitable for age 13+

That's the definition of YA??? Why are we putting sex scenes in YA???

To authors - all an explicit sex scene does is lose readers. I wasn't allowed to read stuff like that (I still avoid it) You take away a whole book from an audience by adding it in.

You can have romance, and love, and amazing chemistry without explicit sex! Please, please, just don't do it.

The prologue - Ok, the prologue is action packed. Very action packed.
But I felt like it gave away too much? We know what happens to Audric and Rielle, and even Simon.

I don't want that information! I'm upset I even know! It's like being spoiled, but not because the author intentionally did it? Really weird.

Weird questions - Now, this is rather random, but I have several unanswered questions after reading this book.

What do Rielle and Eliana look like? I know they have dark hair, they look like each other, Eliana looks like her father.

But that's not a physical description? Or at least enough for me to picture them???

Come to think of it, I can't tell you what any character really looks like. Except for Simon's scars, and some guy's white hair.

And is Eliana bisexual? A vague reference to a female lover at one point, and nothing more. Does she just use people? Diversity is great, but not when it's written this way.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a fast-paced and interesting read. But it was not engaging or emotional. It's hard to be invested in Eliana, or even care about the sequel. I was completely weary with Eliana's story by the time the book ended.
I would only read the sequel to hear more from Rielle.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

To future readers: STICK WITH IT. At the start of the book I found myself bored and a little bit overwhelmed with all the names, places, and titles included. It was too much of an infodump in the first 10% to 20%. As the book progressed, my feelings went from I'm-Quitting-This-One to Four-Stars-Where's-The-Sequel. Persevere, my fellow bookworms!

You know how a lot of YA new releases are including comparisons to Game of Thrones in their blurbs? This one actually felt like it deserved that comparison. Eliana is a hired assassin who has has to evolve into ruthlessness in order to survive in the Empire. Rielle is a court lady with secret powers in love with the prince, and the prince is betrothed to his cousin (see, incest, just like Game of Thrones! haha) who is also Rielle's bff . Both Eliana and Rielle are strong protagonists and I enjoyed the dual POV between them. I repeat, I enjoyed the dual POV - this is rare for me! It's even rarer to have dual POVs crossing centuries in a book actually <i>work</i> and tie seamlessly together. Legrand accomplishes this.

Throughout the book there is intrigue, action, power dynamics and politics at play (again, like Game of Thrones), and even SEX (again, like Game of Thrones). SEX in caps lock because it's nice to have a fantasy-genre book actually include sexual elements instead of tiptoeing around it. Because of this, I'm not sure it should be shelved as YA though?

Why not five stars? Because of the slow start. Also because I need some more explanation/logistics about the angels and how the plot features a wormhole in time. I'm hoping I will get that and more in the second book!

Sincere thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC!

I really, really wanted to read this one. It sounded so cool from the blurb! Unfortunately, I came across reviews mentioning explicit content, and the fact that the MC is bisexual. Being a conservative Christian reader, I choose not to fill my head with these kinds of things, so I won't be reading this one after all.

I really enjoyed this book.

Its is the tale of 2 Queens, prophecised to be the Queen of the Sun and the Queen of the Blood, one intended to save the world, the other to destroy it.

The book is told from 2 perspectives, over 2 different time periods, over a thousand years apart. We have Rielle, a young girl with very powerful magic, who is in love with her best friend Audric a price of the realm who is promised to marry his cousin Lu and then we have Eliana who is a thief and murderer who is just doing her best to take care of her family, but she does this on the blood of others. Eliana also has magic and we have to determine which girl is which and how it is all going to play out. To be honest i had figured it out during the opening pages but i enjoyed the book anyway.

Despite the back storys i much preferred Rielle as a character, i liked her interaction with the Angels and how she tries so hard to help her friends and others she cares about. Eliana will stab anyone in the back to further her own goals and she is a less likeable character. However i enjoyed her interactions with the wraith and her complicated relationship with Simon.

I would very happily read book 2.

This series keeps getting better. What seemed an overdone and ill-handled plot in the first book was made much more complicated, intriguing and fun this go around. Well-done!

Omg! This book was absolutely amazing! I loved this book soo much! I will definitely be buying the next one!
It leaves you wanting more from the first chapter. Furyborn has everything an amazing books needs magical powers, a sassy assassin, adventure and romance with some humor! 😍

I kind of got a Scorpio Races kind of vibe at the beginning with a horse race and all the excitement. There was a lot going on in this book with the two different timelines. One chapter you are following Eliana as she tries to save her mother, the next chapter you are in the world of Queen Rielle who is battling to save her people. Sometimes this kind of switching point of views can get really confusing and bog the story down for me.

This was a long read, that had many twist and turns in the story. I wish it was two different books told about the same story, but other than that (Which is personal preference) It was a good read.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

This was a satisfying fantasy book. There was excellent world-building, the characters were great, and the author expertly weaved the story. The one thing I didn't like about it was that sometimes it seemed like it was trying to be too epic. Even so, I really enjoyed it and will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

The problem with receiving an ARC is that when the story latches onto your being it is impossibly difficult to have patience for book two. I will not include spoilers. However, I will tell you that I am simultaneously relieved and thrilled to have a new world, a fantastical adventure, and characters that even after 500+ pages I am still desperate to know more about.

Loved this unique fantasy! Can't wait to get a final copy and read it again. This was a page turner and was action packed from the beginning. Loved it and can't wait for the sequel.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.

Y'all... Y'ALL..... This book was incredible. Such a fresh, new fantasy story that I highly recommend if you, like me, LOVE fantasy novels. I will say that although this is toted as YA, it is borderline NA as there is some on page sex, but! I absolutely LOVED it. It was over 500 pages and I finished it in about 3 hours of total reading time because it hooked me right away. It was pretty much perfect.

I loved the intensity of this one. It never really slowed down: From the initial scene to the final page you were completely captivated. I did find the beginning scenes to be a little confusing. I thought Eliana's chapters at the beginning were better written and could be understood easier than Rielle's. But it definitely got easier to read Rielle's after the first 10%. The description of the elemental magic in those first chapters was a little difficult to follow and comprehend, but the trials made it easier.

I absolutely LOVED the magic system and the intricate details to it that Legrand put in. I think it was really well done and explained, but there is still so much more to see in the future novels! Especially since the opening scene took place two years after where the book started for Rielle so we have a lot of catching up to do. I wasn't confused at all by the time differences but it was really linear and didn't jump around too much so that was helpful.

I will say though that there is some obviousness to the story itself. You can immediately guess a lot of the plot points but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of them. I liked seeing how the two stories wove together and think there is a lot of room to continue that in the future. I was surprised by some elements which was nice to have considering I felt as though I had a lot of it figured out. But there are still some shocking moments in there even if you can guess about some things.

One thing I absolutely LOVED about this one was that Eliana was bisexual but it wasn't like a Plot Point. She offhandedly mentions that she has slept with guys and girls and I was astonished and amazed and so in love. Even though the majority of the focus was on men in her life, it was nice to see that there was more to her than that. I would like to see a relationship between her and Navi in book two but that might just be wishful thinking on my part.

Overall: The beginning was a little confusing but once I got into the rhythm of it I couldn’t put it down. It’s over 500 pages but doesn’t feel like it at all. It never slows down - it grabs a hold of you and doesn’t let go even after you’ve read the final page. This is what is needed in the fantasy genre right now.

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. This book. So far my 2018 read list, though only two books deep, has thoroughly impressed me. BUT THIS ONE ESPECIALLY!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who’ve read even just a few of my other reviews, you know that I generally like to add my favorite quotes from the book. Sometimes I find that even in a book with AMAZING writing, I will become so caught up in the story that I get to the end only to realize that I have highlighted nothing. That was the case here and it bummed me out super hard…guess I’ll just have to re-read it again soon to come up with some. 

The basis for this story is a prophecy that has been told about a coming Blood Queen and Sun Queen. We learn right away in a crazy prologue that one of the main characters, Rielle, is the Blood Queen while her daughter will be the Sun Queen. You don’t see this super often in books but starting the book off knowing that Rielle’s fate was going to be along with still having 100 different questions about how things went to shit so fast had me on the edge of my seat for the entire book. So yes, like I said, we find out right away what role each has/will play and we also see the young princess being taken away to a safe place by a young boy named Simon while Rielle dies in her attempt to buy them enough time to escape *end scene*.

The rest of the book is told from the perspectives of Rielle, pre-Blood Queen and of her daughter Eliana (who we find out actually was thrown into the future a few hundred years during her jump with Simon as a baby). After an ambush on the prince, Rielle exposes the immense power that she and her father have tried to keep hidden the first half of her life and is then required to go through a series of trials to prove she is in control and could fit the role of Sun Queen as the prophecy has predicted (see I told you it’s interesting knowing ahead of time that that WON’T be how things play out…). Hundreds of years after the fact we follow her daughter, Eliana, who is basically a hired assassin for the Empire and knows nothing of her royal heritage. She may or may not eventually join up with some rebels and she may or may not end up finding a certain time traveling man again.

I don’t want to spoil anything else, just know that the book is chock-full of adventure, gruesome death, a dash of romance in both times, AND A LOT OF MAGIC AND SUSPENSE. I personally enjoyed reading about Eliana’s journey more because I was interested to see why the world ended up becoming how it was between her mother’s death and the present. I also wasn’t a huge fan of just how powerful Rielle was and the attitude that ensued because of that power. Though I was a HUGE fan of the forbidden romance between Rielle and a certain prince. Yum. I need to know how he dies though (not a spoiler, in the prologue). There also a great cast of supporting characters, LOVED Remy and Lu and basically everyone else that was introduced. Hated the villain with a passion, though I’ve seen some people liken him the Darkling—he seemed way slimier than that to me, *shrugs*.

The only warning I will give is that there is no major blow up at the end of this book so don’t be expecting one—which I was fine with. As I said, the entire book was so fast paced and intense, I was glad that the ending more or less was a gradual set up for more bat-shit craziness to ensue in the next book. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

The stories in this book take place thousands of years apart, so it's important to keep track of whose story you are reading. Unfortunately, I didn't find this story to be a compelling read. I was very lost at the beginning of the story; later world-building filled in some of my gaps, but not enough for me to stay invested. The story itself can be very confusing at times, particularly with the use of the term "angel" for the supernatural god/king/being that appears near the beginning.

There is a reader for this book, but it isn't me, and it isn't my patrons, either.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: fantasy violence
Overall Rating: 3/5 stars

Read-Alikes: One Thousand Nights, Seraphina,

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purposes of review.

🗡 FuryBorn by Claire Legrand ⚔️ It’s the first book in The Empirium Trilogy. This one is definitely a page turner. The story builds up in each chapter ending in a mini cliff hanger. While the narration changing back and forth between the two main characters, Rielle and Eliana doesn’t ruin the story at all because both of them are equally gripping.
One chapter tells the story of the past and one about the present day. Makes you fit the pieces together while reading it.
The story revolves around a prophecy about the Blood and the Sun Queen. Everyone in their kingdom has the power to possess one element but Rielle can control them all. After accidentally exposing her powers. The court makes her go through 7 trials. One for each element she has the power over to determine if she’s the Sun Queen, their saviour or the blood queen who’ll destroy them all. 🥀🌹Fans of Sarah J Maas are going to love this one!🥀🌹 I loved the Middle Eastern names used in it 😁 and thank you @netgalley for ARC. It’s going to hit the shelves on May 22nd! (Will repost then) Don’t know how long I’ll have to wait for the second book😕

Two queens will rise--one of blood and one of light. The former will have the power to destroy the world, and the latter will save it. Rielle and Eliana are the two fabled queens, both showing incredible skills as they come to realise they are connected through this prophecy, even though they are a thousand years apart.

Rielle is discovered to have immense power and is forced to undergo seven dangerous trials to prove her status as the Sun Queen--the one with the power to save the world.

A thousand years later, Eliana is the whispered Dread of her city, serving the emperor and crushing rebels faithfully. However, Eliana is forced to join the rebels and discover the truth about herself.

Told in alternating narratives, Furyborn is an exciting and fun new series that will keep you on the edge of your seat. There is plenty of non-stop action and twists to have you finishing this book swiftly. The rest of the series can't come soon enough.