I think I have just outgrown YA. This got great reviews and seemed well-written but I just couldn't get in to it.

I received a free e-galley from netgalley.com.

FURYBORN is a YA fantasy that does not disappoint! We begin by seeing the world through the eyes of a child, Simon, where he sees his father taking care of the evil queen who has just given birth. She uses the last of her energy to fight the angel Corien and send her newly born daughter away with Simon. Simon and his father are marques, and while he tries to follow the threads to where he wants to go while holding onto the infant, he loses her in his travels. The rest of the book is told in alternating points-of-view between Rielle (the queen who gave birth before she became such) and Eliana, an assassin for the corrupt empire approximately 1000 years later.

The reader bounces back and forth between the two in each chapter, which can sometimes be disorienting- like reading two books at the same time (especially when the chapter has a cliffhanger). We follow Rielle as she endures magical trials meant to test her restraint and abilities- and to find out whether she was the foretold Sun Queen who could save the world (the prophecy: "The angels will return and bring ruin to the world. You will know this time by the rise of two human Queens- one of blood, and one of light. One with the power to save the world. One with the power to destroy it. Two Queens will ride. They will carry the power of the Seven. They will carry your fate in their hands."). We follow Eliana as she journeys to save her mother who was taken by unknown forces and her brother, who she wishes to get out of the Empire's reach.

In this world, angels are often powerful but cruel beings who are at war with humans (although some are good). People have the powers of the elements that they can conjure (one power per person typically, e.g. power over water), and the abilities vary with the amount of power they have. Rielle has a power over all the elements (the seven possible abilities) and she has so much that she is barely able to control it. In Eliana's time, these powers are a thing of the past and seen as myths of the past.

Overall, it was a really fascinating book, and I definitely want to continue with the series- as soon as possible! I do wish we had spent more time with one of the two women, as I felt that it was a little difficult to get truly entrenched in their lives/loves. However, I still really enjoyed it overall!

This book is an AMAZING fantasy read that I could ever say it. Why I just read it now? Oh, GOD! I am so annoyed with myself. I get it why everyone loves this book because I do and I could not even say, how much I enjoy my read and how it put me on the edge of my seat. How could that be? Man, my heart. I need to collect every piece of my heart after reading.

It's really great. The writing was absolutely wonderful and I am so ready for the second book.

Rating: 5 Stars

3/5 stars
It had a very gripping start. I was hooked right away. The alternation between the timelines was interesting and it was not confusing. The author has potential because her writing style was keeping me engaged. Furthermore, the book’s highlight is its universe. It is well built, especially when it comes to magic. Rielle was my favorite of the two main characters. We didn’t spend enough time with the characters from each time lines for them to get dimensions. This aspect was obvious when romance was involved. There are just simply generic males while the females try to be badass. Despite the points lost at the character category, I am looking forward to reading the next book,

The danger of ambition is a theme at the heart of many a high fantasy novel. Even if one's ambition stems from the desire to do good, fantasy novels generally warn that political ambition often engenders a far more dangerous desire, a desire for power itself. And as French politician and philosopher deLemartine argued, "absolute power corrupts the best natures"; or, as English Lord Acton wrote, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great me are almost always bad men."


And if the striver in question happens to be of the female persuasion? Well, then the warnings grow even more pointed.
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Romancing Female Ambition: Claire Legrand's FURYBORN

The danger of ambition is a theme at the heart of many a high fantasy novel. Even if one's ambition stems from the desire to do good, fantasy novels generally warn that political ambition often engenders a far more dangerous desire, a desire for power itself. And as French politician and philosopher deLemartine argued, "absolute power corrupts the best natures"; or, as English Lord Acton wrote, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great me are almost always bad men."


And if the striver in question happens to be of the female persuasion? Well, then the warnings grow even more pointed. As Robin Romm notes in the Introduction to her essay collection Double Bind: Women on Ambition, "striving and achieving [have] to be approached delicately or you risk the negative judgment of others." Twenty-first century American women are socialized to be soft, feminine, but are simultaneously urged to "go for it," a paradox Romm describes as "the double bind of the gender, success paired eternally with scrutiny and retreat."

That is what intrigued me about the first volume in Claire Legrande's YA fantasy novel, Furyborn: its portrayal of not one, but two deeply ambitious women. After an opening scene in which a queen gives birth and then gives up her baby to prevent her from falling into the hands of a malevolent angel, Furyborn forks into two separate strands, one set in the near past, the other a thousand years into the future. The first tells how the queen of the first scene, Rielle, came to be "allied with angels and helped them kill thousands of humans. This queen who had murdered her husband" (Kindle Loc 91). The second tells of a the rise of an assassin who is asked to become a rebel against the oppressive Empire, a woman whose questionable morals make her seem just as unfit for the role of savior as was/is Rielle.

Eighteen-year-old Rielle, only daughter of Lord Commander Dardenne, chief of the king's guards, chafes against the restricted life her father condemns her to after the uncontrolled power of her magic lead to the death of her mother. As she protests to her teacher, Tal, the Grand Magister of the Pyre, the head of those who bend fire to their magical will, "If Father had his way, I'd stay locked up for the rest of my life with my nose buried in a book or on my knees in prayer, whipping myself every time I had a stray angry thought" (Kindle Loc 380). Rielle wants more than a life stuck in a cloister: she wants to participate in the Boon Chase; she wants her childhood friend Audric, now Prince Audric the Lightbringer, the mot powerful sunspinner in centuries, to love her and not their friend Ludivine; most of all, she wants to show everyone just how powerful her magic is. For unlike every other elemental who had ever lived, Rielle needs no physical object to access her power, and her magic is not limited to one element. No, Rielle can control them all.


During an assassination attempt on Prince Audric, Rielle uses her powers to save her friend, despite her father's warnings never to reveal them. And Audric becomes convinced that his old friend is one of the Light Queen of prophecy, a human woman who will rescue them all from the angels who once oppressed humankind and who threaten again:

The Gate will fall. The angels will return and bring ruin to the world. You will know this time by the rise of two human Queens—one of blood, and one of light. One with power to save the world. One with the power to destroy it. Two Queens will rise. They will carry the power of the Seven. They will carry your fate in their hands. Two Queens will rise. (1649)

Rielle is not your usual fantasy heroine, not an empty placeholder for the reader nor a troubled, misunderstood, but deeply good at heart girl. No, as Prince Audric's mother recognizes, Rielle is "Cunning. Willful, and lovely. It's a volatile combination. It unnerves me" (3400). Rielle, with her naked ambition, is meant to unnerve the reader, too. Indeed, she unnerves herself: "Even while my mother burned, I was glad to feel the power simmering at my fingers... Even though you belong to Ludivine... I want you for my own. I want... I want. I crave. I hunger" (4285). Is she the Sun Queen, the one who will save humankind? Or is she the Blood Queen, who will destroy all?

If Rielle seems a questionable savior, what are we to make of the other heroine of Furyborn? We first meet assassin Eliana Ferracora as she helps round up a group of rebels, fighting against the Empire that rose in the ashes of Rielle's betrayal of humankind. Eighteen-year-old Eliana is tempted to let the rebel children of group go, but resists: "children couldn't keep their mouths shut. And if anyone ever found out that the Dread of Orline, Lord Arkelion's pet huntress, had let traitors run free..." (648). Instead, Eliana watches as the eldest boy is beheaded.


Eliana's partner and lover Harkan wishes she were different: "Harkan paused, that sad, tired look on his face that made her hackles rise because she knew he hoped it would change her, one of these days. Make her better. Make her good again. She lifted an eyebrow. Sorry, Harkan. Good girls don't live long" (643). Calculating, skilled, and deadly, Eliana focuses on the here and now, on keeping her mother and brother safe, and herself alive. Her ambition may be narrower than Rielle's, but it still burns bright. Though people in Eliana's time call Rielle the evil Blood Queen, it's difficult to believe that Eliana is more suited to the role of Sun Queen than is/was Rielle.

Eliana knows that any day now, she'll be recruited as a member of Invictus, a company of assassins that travels the world and carries out the Emperor's bidding. For she's not just skilled; she also seemed to have an ability no one else in her world has:

The problem was, she liked showing off. If she was going to be a freak with a miraculous body that no fall could kill, then she might as well ave fun with it. If she was busy having fun, then she didn't have time to wonder why her body could do what it did. And what it meant. (552)

But after her mother mysteriously disappears, The Wolf, a famed captain of the Red Crown rebels, bargains for Eliana's help in infiltrating the palace in exchange for his help in finding her missing parent. Coldly weighing both the costs and the benefits, Eliana agrees, looking out all the while for how to shimmy free of any acts, or any personal connections, not promoting her own safety or that of her mother and brother. She even accepts poor Harkan's self-sacrifice, leaving him behind in order to save herself and her brother.

One of the other rebel leaders tries to convince Eliana that "Revolutions mean nothing if their soldiers forget to care for the people they're fighting to save," but Eliana has more than her share of doubts (2609). Somehow familiar with the trajectory of the typical fantasy romance, she knows that she's supposed to be transformed by her time with the rebels, especially by her admiration for The Wolf, known to her now as Simon, a man who has endured much during his battles against the oppressive Empire. "People like us don't fight for our own hope... We fight for everyone else's," Simon nobly avers, but wily Eliana uses his own hope in her redemption to deceive him (2964).

At the end of this first installment, both Rielle's and Eliana's worlds are on the verge of war: Rielle's against the resurgent angels, Eliana's against the invading Undying Empire. Can either war be prevented? Will either young woman be Sun Queen? Or will both fall into the temptations of blood?

Or might the stark binaries of the prophecy be pushed aside, the opposition between sun and blood, self-focused ambition and other-directed empathy, shown to be equally necessary in order to defeat true evil?

I'm gnawing on my fingernails, waiting to see what the next two volumes in the trilogy have to say about women and ambition and power.

This book felt more adult than YA to me, but I loved it! The premise is so unique and the world felt epic in scale and intensely real at the same time.

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc from Netgalley and the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book Series: Book 1 of the Empirium Series

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: May 22, 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (suicide, language, child murder, attempted rape, sex, demons/angels, possession)

Publisher: Sourcefire Books

Pages: 501

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The stunningly original, must-read fantasy of 2018 follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire's heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

Review: Overall, I thought this was a pretty good high fantasy read. The world building was really well done, the character development for the main characters were amazing, and the plot was interesting. I really liked how the author used duel POVs to further the plot. The concept was really interesting, even if I figured out the twist after chapter 1.

However, the book is really clunky. There’s a LOT going on in the book and I don’t think the book really explains what all is going on well enough. The pacing is super slow as well. I feel that the book really could have done better if it had a prologue explaining some of the angel/demon stuff and possession stuff. I felt really confused by that aspect.

Verdict: As a high fantasy novel, I feel this is really good. But definitely should not be someone’s first high fantasy book.

Though this book was good & creative with interesting characters, what took me out of the story so much that I could barely enjoy it was the frequency that the POVs were changed.
This is told in 2 different timelines, with very little that actually connected the two of them & warranted them being one story. So the fact that the chapters were fairly short & the POV changed for every chapter made it so hard to stay invested in either of the storylines.
This could have been so much better as 2 separate books or with the POV not being broken up as frequently.
Also, I felt as if the world building could have been more present, because we have 2 different timelines where the world didn’t appear to have any differences at all.

Furyborn pulls you in right from the off, a dramatic birth, followed by an escape from an enraged angel.

The entwined dual stories were enticing. Starting with Rielle's rise to Blood Queen, from hiding her powers, to embracing them an becoming the long awaited hero of her people, and then ending on the brink of living long enough to become the villain.

At the same time we follow Elianna, The Dread of Orline, an assassin whose mother is taking along with many other women who aren't seen again. While tracking her mother Elianna encounters The Wolf, who promises to help her, for a price.

As the stories unfold we see how both womens lives entwine along with rebellion and a revenge driven angel from the past

It took some time for me to become engaged with this plot but once I did I was totally in! I can’t wait for book two!

A fast-pacing, heart-stopping, addictive read.

Angels, beloved creatures and monsters, magic, immersive, powerful women, and swoon-worthy romance and fantastical fantasy. This is a must-read.

The prologue of Furyborn was absolutely out of this world. It caught my attention instantly, and honestly, if the entire book would have matched that prologue, I have no doubt that this book would have been my favorite book of the year.

However, a lot of the book fell short.

There were tons of other parts of this book that I could compare to the level of the intensity of the prologue, but my issue was it wasn’t consistent throughout the novel; the pacing ended up being really weird for me because of it. One of the biggest issues with split point of views, in my opinion, is that one is inevitably better than the other. I forced myself through Eliana’s part as quickly as possible just so I could get back to Rielle later on. I don’t think this has to do with Legrand’s style of writing one way or another – after all, I loved Sawkill Girls so much, I cannot stop raving about it – but I think the story and the characters as a whole fell short.

However, that didn’t mean I didn’t still enjoy it! I want to know what happens, and I do think that there is a lot of room to grow in the future with the sequels as the story moves on, but I can’t say it was my favorite fantasy book ever. Especially because it has so many tropes we have already seen in the past.

And the issues with the tropes in the past is … I think they were more well-done than Furyborn. I would still recommend this book to all my fantasy friends because it is enjoyable, and I know my other friends enjoyed it a lot more than I did!

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

I like the idea of this book, but I was somewhat disappointed. By the time I finished, it felt almost like I was reading a different book than the one I started. No, that’s not quite true. More like the writing changed, as if the author cared less what she was writing after about the midway point. Or perhaps she gradually morphed into someone else as the book went on. I don’t know. Dialogue felt stiffer, forced rather then natural. Some events felt overly dramatic, while others just kind of passed by and left me wondering what exactly had happened. Either way, what started off as an interesting (albeit confusing) book fizzled out by the end.

Rielle (20 in the prologue, 18 for the rest of the book) began as a likable character. She tried to be a good person despite some really horrible events from her childhood that caused her to, essentially, lose both her parents (because of her mother's death, her father basically distanced himself from her). She's got this incredible power that she has been taught to hide and sort of be ashamed of. In addition, she's had to spend her life knowing that her two best friends (Audric and Ludivine) were betrothed to each other, even though she is in love with Audric. It's easy to root for her. Except for that prologue, which is the reason things are so confusing. Because of it, we know that within two years this good, struggling person somehow not only marries Audric but ends up killing him. (That isn't a spoiler--it is mentioned early in the prologue.) Although the events in the prologue don't happen by the end of the book, Rielle does change enough that she messes around with Audric behind Ludivine's back, uses her power to intimidate others, lies about how certain characters died, and keeps secrets from people she promises to not lie to. Yes, she is conflicted about many things (the angel Corien being one of them), but she actively chooses things that she knows she shouldn't. By the end of the book, I had a hard time liking her.

Audric and Ludivine aren't as vivid as Rielle, but I don't dislike them. Lu is kind of strange about the Audric/Rielle situation, but I suppose it makes more sense by the end of the book. My opinion of Audric was lowered by his decision to act on his feelings for Rielle even though he was betrothed to Ludivine. I will also say that it's hard to wish for Audric and Rielle to be together (even though they obviously get married) simply because the prologue tells us that she kills him.

Unlike Rielle, Eliana (18) was not someone I initially liked. Known as the Dread of Orline, she was a bounty hunter and was basically indestructible. She could get hurt, but it quickly healed. My issue with her is that she knowingly did things that were wrong and led to the deaths of many people, including children. Here and there it is implied that she feels remorse, or at least the beginnings of remorse, but she actively shuts it down. She manipulates people. She's had "many lovers"--she's 18! Accuse me of so-called slut shaming if you want, but I do not feel bad saying that it's wrong. Sex isn't like a handshake you give to everyone in a business meeting; it's not like candy you pass out at Halloween. I take issue with people who treat it as such (both men and women). Despite all that, she grew on me by the end. And I do mean the end--it took a while, and it was only after she began to change and actually care about anyone besides her mother, her brother, and herself. Am I her biggest fan? No. And I believe I could have liked her slightly more had the writing not gotten all strange, too.

Simon (26) was probably my favorite character, to be honest. He was the most interesting, anyway. It would be interesting to see inside his head. But as with everyone else, toward the end he got a bit odd and didn't seem much like himself.

I am interested to see how things get from the end of the book to the prologue, and then beyond that. However, I'm not entirely sure I'll continue the series. The first book was 500+ pages, and that's a lot to read just to satisfy my curiosity when I have a lot of other books that I'm far more interested in. I wish I could find good plot summaries for the 2nd and 3rd books when they come out.

Note: Some swearing, but quite a few f words (I lost count--6? 7?), all after the halfway point. A couple of sensual scenes and a sex scene (skip chapter 41 because that's all it is--there is nothing important that you'll miss, thankfully). Eliana has been with both men and women. I believe this was intended as a young adult book, but I cannot in good conscience put it in that category.

Parent's Perspective: Is this a book I'd ever recommend for my kids? No, regardless of age. I understand I cannot shield them forever from everything wrong with the world, but I also can choose not to direct them to the things we find objectionable. That means I'm typically not going to recommend a book with a lot of harsh language (the one exception I can think of is Sole Survivor) or sex scenes. Honestly, I wish those things were left out of books in general, not just for my kids but for me. What is the point of writing a graphic sex scene? Does it really add to the story? No, and there's no way anyone could convince me otherwise. Call me a prude if you like--whatever. I'm 35, I'm happily heading toward my 14th wedding anniversary, and I've got four kids, so it's not as if I'm embarrassed about that part of life. I just don't think it's necessary or good for it to be portrayed so casually and descriptively in books (or movies, etc.). Give me a good fade-to-black if you insist that the characters have sex.

Now that I've got that out of the way . . . It would be worth discussing open communication with loved ones and the importance of not keeping secrets, even if the truth hurts. Also important are using power wisely and responsibly, listening to your conscience rather than stifling it, and personal choice. Did Rielle have a choice in what she became, or does the author believe that a person is destined to be evil without any say in it?

4.5 Stars.

I received this eProof for free from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features kipnap, attempted murder, and experimentation on people.

Being the huge fantasy fan that I am, when I first heard of Furyborn by Claire Legrand, it sounded right up my street. Then, after reading Legrand's Sawkill Girls, which was bloody incredible, I was even more excited to read Furyborn. Though I put it off a while after reading a few negative reviews. I should have ignored them, though, because Furyborn is brilliant!

Rielle is the daughter of the King's Lord Commander, and as such, has grown up being friends with Prince Audric and Lady Ludivine, Audric's cousin. But she hides a secrets; in a world where people have the magic to control one of the elements - wind, water, fire, sun, earth, metal, and shadows - when holding their cast, Rielle can control all seven, with no cast. And accidentally killed her mother in a fire when she was five-years-old. Since, her father has sworn her to secrecy, forcing her into an education to control and push down her power for the safety of others. But when Audric is attacked by assassins during a horse race, she does all she can to try and save him, letting her magic loose - and almost killing everyone in the city at the same time. It's only the fact that there is a prophecy that there will be two queens who can control all the elements, the Blood Queen who will destroy, and the Sun Queen, who will save, that keeps her from execution. To prove she is the Sun Queen, she must make it through seven elemental trials, to prove she can control her powers, each one more dangerous than the last.

A thousand years later, Eliana is the Dread of Orline, a masked bounty hunter who brings in or kills those she is ordered to by the Undying Empire - namely, rebels and those trying to escape the Empire's harsh rule. She's good at it, something she takes pride in, but she tries not to think about it too much; if she cared, she couldn't do it, and this is the only way she and her family can survive. But when her mother goes missing, like many other women and girls have. A rebel captain, Wolf, demands her help, but she only agrees in exchange for his help in finding her mother, and getting her, her mother, and her brother Remy to safety in the free country of Astavar. But while helping Wolf, she discovers what she thought she knew about the Empire's tyranny is nothing compared to the lengths the Emperor will go - and she might be the only one who can stop him.

Mate, Furborn was incredible! I did wonder if I would be captivated by two stories set a thousand years apart, but oh my god, I was! The story is told in alternating chapters from Rielle and Eliana's points of view. Each chapter is fairly short, and almost all end on their own cliff hanger, and so I was always desperate to read more. There was only short while for a few chapters towards the beginning where I was more interested in Eliana's story than Rielle's, but Rielle's soon picked up, and I needed to know what was going to happen to both of them!

The changes that have happened over the span of a thousand years leaves Eliana's world almost unrecognisable as Rielle's world. There are no more Kings and Queens, no more magic - just the Emperor and his tyrannical rule. They're also set on different continents, so they could have been completely different stories. Everyone knows of the legendary Queen Rielle in Eliana's time, but the world is so different, she seems no more than a legend. But the prophecy is of two queens, and who is which? I have to say, I wish we didn't have the prologue. The prologue is one big huge spoiler. It tells us how one character's story ends - and therefore, who they are - and massively hints about the story of the other, to the point where I was 99% sure about something major, that really, I would have preferred to have discovered over the course of the story as a whole. But even though I knew a hell of a lot more than I wanted to, I was still completely captivated by the story, desperate to know what led to that ending for one girl, and what this would mean for the other.

I loved both Rielle and Eliana. They are both hugely flawed characters, and in a lot of ways, they're not good people. Rielle makes choices and keeps secrets that had me shouting at her not to. Eliana has killed innocents, and led children to their death, for an Emperor who wants to rule all. But they're both human. Rielle has kept the secret of her powers ever since she was five, and been pretty much hated by her father ever since. Now she is not only allowed to use her powers freely, to their full extent, she enjoys it. Despite the fact that people are scared of her and what she could do. She's desperate to prove that she can control her power, that she won't hurt anyone, that she is their Sun Queen and will keep them safe - to have them love her, when there's been such a lack of love from her father. Even though she could die in the trials. Even though she could hurt people if she makes one mistake. And this is her motivation behind some of the choices she makes. And the secrets she keeps... well, I can't really comment without spoiling it, but mate, I wanted to shake her! And while I wasn't so interested in the trials themselves (there are so many fantasy novels with trials in, I'm kind of past this trope now), I was completely invested in what those trials led to in her story. She's not just taking part in trials, there's so much else going on.

Eliana is a badass. She has been taught from a young age how to be a bounty hunter by her mother, and her mother taught her well. She's not known as the Dread of Orline for nothing. She is deadly with her knives, and no-one can best her. Under the Emperor's rule, this she must do to keep her family safe. Any feelings she has about what she does - about the people she captures and sends to those who work for the Emperor, knowing their fate - she pushes down, like her mother taught. If she feels, she can't do her job. If she can't do her job, she can't keep her family safe. She's made herself hard and cocky, to protect her mind and her heart from what she has to do. But when her mother disappears, all bets are off. When her latest mark, Wolf, a rebel captain she has been commanded to capture, tells her he can help her find her mother in exchange for her help, it's not something she can refuse. And with the added promise of getting her family safely to Astavar, where they will be out of the Emperor's reach, Eliana joins the rebels. But she cares neither for the rebels nor the Empire, only her family, and she will do what she thinks right for the sake of them, only.

The relationships in this book! Eliana's relationship with her younger brother, Remy, is just so gorgeous. He's ten-years-old, and he's adorable. And it's so surprising that he has such strong morals, given what his sister does. It is very clear to him what is right and what is wrong, and he hates Eliana's job, and wants her to stop, but she can't. He's a little bit of a dreamer, in that he has hope and believes things can get better, where Eliana is more of the opinion that they should make the best of the crap their in, and keep them safe. But he's so smart, too! And Eliana would die for him.

The relationship between Rielle, Audric and Ludivine was also beautiful. They are such good friends, especially Audric and Ludivine, who stick by Rielle's side no matter what - which I sometimes had difficulty with considering Rielle's secrets. But they are so fiercely loyal and stand up for her and support her whenever they can. God, I loved them! There's only the complication that Rielle is in love with Audric, where Audric and Ludivine are betrothed, arranged by parents. This is hard for Rielle, which again, is the reason for some of her idiocy, but I really felt for her. And as a group, the three are just wonderful! I loved them!

This book is also hugely diverse! There's no mention of races, but everyone's skin colour is mentioned - no white default! King Bastien has dark skin, Queen Genoveve has pale skin, so Audric is darker than his mother, but lighter than his father. Harkan, Eliana's best friend and lover, has dark skin, and Navi, a princess of Astavar who was spying on the Empire, that Eliana and the Wolf rescue, has brown skin. Rielle has pale skin, as does Eliana and Wolf. There's also no mention of sexuality, but Eliana has had female and male lovers, and Rille mentions having sexy dreams of men and women.

The ending of Furyborn is just incredible, because you realise, despite everything that has happened over the course of the book - and it's a lot - it's only now that the story is really beginning, for both Rielle and Eliana. We haven't yet reached the end we saw for one of the characters at the beginning. There's so much more ahead for both of them, and I absolutely cannot wait! Furyborn was so exciting and completely gripping, and has definitely reaffirmed to me that Legrand is an author to watch. I cannot wait for the sequel, Kingsbane!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley for the eProof.

I started reading this to my wife. We both like it at first, then grew bored as it devolved into a lesbian crush-fest. Thanks Netgalley for the copy.

This is a very action packed story with a lot of potential. I think part of the hype of this book was the push for an LGBT friendly romance when there really wasn't any of that as far as I could tell. Perhaps a little misrepresented but still a great read overall.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable―until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire's heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world―and of each other.

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I really loved the element time plays in this story. There are two queens, both with unparalleled powers foretold by prophecies. I love dual perspectives. I love alternating timelines. I love prophecies so what happened? This book had all the things I enjoy but I struggled to connect to the characters. To really care about what they were going through.

I also really enjoyed the history of this world, I didn't love the characters but I loved learning more about their angel wars and prophecies. I also loved the trials though I never really feared for the main characters. Sometimes characters are built up so much you know they won't be harmed and it takes some of that heart racing fear and anticipation away. It can still be an interesting scene ... just not one that makes you *feel* anything.

I didn't hate it but I don't think I would reread it.

Note: This is categorized as a Netgalley Review. I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

I’m giving this a very generous 3/5, but it’s more of a 2.5, if I’m being honest. I wanted to like this one, but I had such an incredibly hard time connecting to these characters. I’m all for a good YA Fantasy and this had the bones, but missed the point of connection that is so critical to a book’s success.

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TW: violence, battles, blood, fantasy violence

Furyborn follows the story of two women. Rielle Dardenne, who holds unspeakable power in her hands, the ability to control the Empirium, a magical force that holds the elements. When her powers are revealed, she is forced to prove herself as the Sun Queen, as the one who will use her powers for good, and not the Sun Queen’s counterpart, the Blood Queen.

One thousand years later, Eliana Ferracora is a bounty hunter, struggling to put meals on the table. Stories are told of the Blood Queen Rielle, and how she brought doom to the country. When Eliana’s mother goes missing, snatched by an organization that is stealing women across the city, Eliana is determined to find her. Joined by a band of rebels, she soon discovers that the empire is far more dangerous than she believed.

Told side-by-side, a thousand years apart, the worlds of Rielle and Eliana shockingly collide.

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Here is what I struggled with in this novel—the plot is good, but the characters are impossible to connect with. The book opens with a bang. You’ve got kidnapping, murder, a chase, fires, earthquakes, and a love triangle in the first 50 pages. It’s amazing. The Rielle chapters tend to be action-packed, whereas the Eliana chapters are more emotional, though still with plenty of action.

What makes that so tricky is that Rielle is clearly supposed to be a sympathetic character, but her chapters are so full of action that we get very little emotion from her. The emotional moments she does have don’t seem very fleshed out. Readers aren’t given space to sympathize with her or form an emotional attachment–an attachment that is crucial for the ending of the book to work. We get access to more emotions with Eliana’s journey, yes, but Eliana is written as a deeply complicated character. This made it hard to pin her down and get an established enough base with her to feel emotionally connected.

A contributing factor to this issue is the lack of world building in the beginning of the novel. You are sort of thrown in without a good understanding of where you are. The print book does feature a map, which my advanced copy did not have, so I think that was definitely an issue for me personally. So bear that in mind.

This was an ambitious book and the synopsis is so engaging, but the ending was easy to guess from the very beginning (and I never guess things, guys), and ultimately I had to force myself to finish it. This is the first book in a trilogy and the ending clearly sets up events for a second book. I would like to know how the overarching plot resolves itself in the other books, but I’m not sure if I want to put in the labor for another chunkster of a book (Furyborn clocked in at 512 pages!).

If you really like fantasy, I would suggest giving this one a go. But, if you’re like me and fantasy isn’t your go-to, I would skip it.

I DNFd this book. There was so much hype around it. However I just couldn’t get into it. Nothing wrong with it just not for me.

When I heard about Furyborn I was interested but I wasn’t sure I wanted to start another fantasy trilogy. It appeared to have all the elements I want in a fantasy read, but I’m in the middle of so many series it gave me pause. Then people started talking about it and really amping it up. And then I got my hands on a copy and I was done for. Furyborn was everything I needed and more.

Furyborn is the story of Rielle and Eliana, two women on a path in two different worlds. For years Rielle has hidden who she was from her world, hidden the fact that she can control all 7 types of powers. When she uses her powers to save her best friend and future King, Rielle finds herself participating in trials to find out just who she is. Eliana, on the other hand, is doing everything and anything she can to protect her brother and find her mother and finds herself waged in a war that is centuries old. She is hiding an important part of herself from the world for fear of how it will be used and who it could hurt. Both women are on separate journeys, but connected in ways they couldn't imagine. In the end one of these women will save the world and one will doom it.

It is really hard for me to put into words what I loved about this story. The world building was fantastic and I got a really clean picture of what I think Rielle and Eliana's worlds were like. I also loved the narrative and how it was told from beginning to end. And can we talk about the supporting cast of characters? From Audric, Ludivine, and Corien to Remy,  Navi, and my FAVORITE, Simon. All of these characters really made both Rielle and Eliana who they are and gave them the drive they have. But honestly, I think the dual POVs of Rielle and Eliana really helped me fall as hard for this book as I did. Really getting to know their fears and desires and inner thoughts made me understand their motivations and how they got to the places they were in their lives. 

From the moment I opened Furyborn I was hooked. The opening chapter gave so much yet so little away I needed to know more immediately. I felt like I got to know some of these characters in the first few pages and I was itching for more. I can’t say it enough, get your hands on this book and start this fantastic trilogy!