An engaging Feminist fantasy with a unique story tine. I liked Rielle's story more than Eliana's, probably because I found Eliana really hard to like at first. I liked the way that the author wove together the parts of both women's stories. This title will have great appeal to both teens and adults. Looking forward the the next book in the series.

My fantasy readers will love this. I'm buying multiple copies for my library and promoting with signs and read alikes.

The only decent thing about this was the prologue. Also, the worst smut I've ever read. And I read a Sarah J Maas book once. Boring, predictable, unlikable characters, the whole deal.

3.5

I received an ebook ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really solid YA fantasy book, but the ending went in a much different direction than I was expecting.

I was frustrated by some of the decisions that the characters made. The book never explained why they suddenly changed their mind about things. I found some elements and characters were introduced to advance the plot and then were never brought up again and things weren't resolved. There was a meaningful death pretty early on and one of the protagonists was upset briefly and then it wasn't mentioned except like once or twice randomly.

I found the sex scenes and one of the romantic pairings to be unnecessary to the plot.

I would have preferred to read this as a physical copy so that I could go back and check certain things with the timeline.

I found myself thinking about this book when I wasn't able to read it, which shows how invested I was in the story. The ending surprised me and I'm not sure I'm going to like the direction the story will go in, but I'm intrigued enough to carry on with book 2 whenever it's released.

This was the most hyped YA title this year (or at least one of them) and with all that hype, there are bound to be some disappointments. I normally don't like super hyped books, but in the last year, I've been enjoying them more, so I was pretty excited about this one. Sadly, I didn't love it at much as I had hoped. It seems to be one of those books you either love or hate, yet here I"m in the middle. While it had some things going for it, interesting plot, captivating style, impressive characters, yet it wasn't enough, and I found this story to be lacking. It felt less like a YA fantasy, and more like a NA romance at times, and others it was just a confused mess.

Two women. 1000s of years between them. One thing in common.

Rielle and Eliana live centuries apart, but they do have one thing in common: the ability to control all elements. Typically, folk can control just one, but Rielle and Eliana could boast mastery of them all – that is, if Eliana was aware she had powers. Rielle’s powers manifested at a young age and led to a great tragedy that her family did everything they could to cover up. However, once Rielle’s magical prowess comes to light, she finds herself at the mercy of the king and his magical trials to determine whether or not she’d use her power for good, or evil. Eliana, on the other hand, is pretty transparently evil. She’s an assassin for the crown in a kill-or-be-killed world. When an atypical assignment sees her switching sides to help the rebels, she ends up on the run. Both women find themselves caught up in a centuries long war, and they are the key to its outcome.

This ended up being a pretty fun read! The book starts off with a bang as we witness Rielle’s (probable) death. I really liked that storytelling device, as we now know where Rielle ends up but get to find out how she got there. Rielle’s story was definitely my favorite of the two – she’s a flawed but interesting character, there were magic trials involved, and there’s a Guinevere/Lancelot/Arthur style romantic dilemma (gender swapped). Romance in YA can be very hit or miss for me (let alone a love triangle), but I really liked this one. But my favorite part was probably the magic trials, we got to witness all of them (many times in books there’s a montage of sorts) and they were creative and sounded horrible but were ultimately really fun to read.

Eliana, unfortunately, was not quite as fun to read. She’s a really unlikable, one-dimensional character who is only looking out for herself and her brother. She consistently makes the worst decisions without talking to anyone about them. She lets people she ostensibly “loves” die with few qualms. Developments at the end (one of which you’ll see coming) make me think that she might be a bit more tolerable in the next book, but I definitely found myself racing through her chapters to spend more time with Rielle.
Normally, I’m not one for angels unless they are evil (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) or silly (Good Omens). I am happy to report that while there are angels in this book, they definitely (mostly) fit in the evil category, so I really enjoyed the rich, if not wholly original, worldbuilding. There’s also actual cursing in this book, which is something I think we need more of in YA – teenagers curse, y’all. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the book is sex-positive! There is a masturbation scene featuring a woman which is super rare in general fiction, regardless of the age.

Furyborn is a pretty inventive YA fantasy with solid worldbuilding that makes good use of a semi-rarely used plot device. I think older teens, especially fans of Sarah J. Maas, will really like it! I know I enjoyed it. 3 stars.

The story was a great read from beginning to end. It started off a bit darker than I expected but the end was worth the wait.

After Queen Rielle betrayed her country, killed her husband and let murderous angels invade, she gives birth. Fearing for her daughter's life she entrusts her daughter of a young boy, Simon. A thousand years later, the world is still feeling the affects of her actions, although she's and the angels are considered more of a myth than fact. Eliana works as a bounty hunter, finding rebels against the empire that has risen and conquered the world since the death of Rielle, "The Blood Queen".

If you're somewhat involved in the Young Adult Fantasy community, you've probably heard of this book. Source Fire has done an amazing job of promotion through galley sites and places like GoodReads. It already has rave reviews and that always makes me excited to get my hands on it. This was one of those amazing situations I'm still getting used to as a reviewer where a book has been highly anticipated but I was still able to get an advanced copy so I can share my thoughts with all of you first. Of course, highly anticipated and promoted books always make me slightly nervous as well, fearing they're overhyped, but I can say with absolute confidence that this was not the case here.

The world created in Furyborn does in some way rely in traditional fantasy tropes. There is elemental magic and gods and prophecies, but I found Legrand's world unique and refreshing. The use of the magic and the angel creatures were the most fascinating to me. The ability to jump about a thousand years in time is also an interesting element of the world building in this book. I enjoyed seeing how the events of the past affected the events of the future for our characters.

Initially, I wasn't sure how I felt about the time jumping element as a story-telling technique however. I was always struggle to connect to one part of the story when a book is split into two. Inevitably, I end up caring about one section more than the other and wanting to skip through the one I don't care quite so much about. Plus, I was concerned about going backwards into Rielle's story about knowing so much about her from the opening of the book. I worried about the lack of suspense in regards to her storyline. However, the author does a great job of intertwining the two story-lines while making them unique and her focus in Rielle's backstory is more in piecing together the story of how she became who she was than her actual fate, which ended up being fascinating.

The best part of this book, without question, was the characters. Each one, from our two protagonists to the antagonistic angels, was complicated and compelling. Our leading ladies, Reille and Eliana really stole my heart. They were both simultaneously flawed and lovable. There were times I wanted to smack them and times I wanted to fall down on the floor crying with them. I felt the same way about secondary characters like Tal and Simon. They were fully fleshed out and real people in the course of this story and I can't wait to see how many of their stories continue in the series.


Furyborn is the first book in the Empirium series by Clair Legrand. This book is a beautifully written, addicting and gut-wrenching fantasy novel. You'll fall in love with this world and this characters almost instantly. There are a number of mature elements, such as sex, drinking and some brutal murders, so I recommend this book for older YA audiences. I can not wait to see where this series goes next!

They may have lived a thousand years apart, but two fierce women share more than just the power to save their worlds or to decimate humanity. Elemental magic, angelic forces, treachery and deceit abound in FURYBORN by Claire Legrand!

Witness both the light and the dark sides of humanity as one woman is forced to prove her magic can be controlled to gain the title of the Sun Queen. Has Rielle proven beyond a doubt her powers can be controlled or will she be forced to hide deadly truths? What secrets have been hidden for a millennia about the woman who has become a mere legend to many?

Eliana was born to fight, her cunning and strength make her a target for the evil Undying Empire. When her mother is taken in the night, she must join forces with a dark, rebel warrior or risk never seeing her again. Her journey will open her eyes to the reality of the world she lives in and it is far more brutal than she could have imagined. She will also discover that Rielle was no legend and they share a bond impossible to break and it includes the weight and the fate of the world on their shoulders.

Claire Legrand hasn’t just created an epic fantasy, she has blurred the lines between good and evil, right and wrong and filled these lines in with the bottled rage of her characters, temptation and the sacrifices that must be made at any given moment. Innocents will die, monsters will rise and at times, one will wonder who the true monsters really are!

High octane tension, fierce battles of both the physical and emotional kind sear across these pages like a wildfire out of control. If you are looking for strong, flawed, female characters, willing to run headlong into danger and the unknown and who are strong enough to go with their gut, this is a fabulous read to lose yourself in!

Every page is necessary, every word critical and every scene part of the journey into fabulous reading.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Sourcebooks Fire!

Trilogy: The Empirium - Book 1
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire (May 22, 2018)
Publication Date: May 22, 2018
Genre: Dark Epic Fantasy | Older YA
Print Length: 516 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews, Giveaways, Fabulous Book News: http://tometender.blogspot.com

My gosh where to even begin. Legrand weaves a stunning tale full of dark magic and twists and turns! And I loved every moment of it! The plot was juicy, the characters swoon worthy, and the world building a perfect amount of description without being boring! Let’s dig into things.

The premise of this book is what drew me in. A blood queen and a sun queen, but who is who? And they fight angels? Yes. Please. They will each have seven powers and mastery over the elements. Fire, Water, Air, Sun, Shadow, Earth, Metal. Told from two points of view, I find it interesting we begin at the end of Rielle’s story. It almost makes it more intense that way because you have no idea how she got to the mental state she was in. So each time you read her point of view, you technically already know what happens to her. Now, Eliana’s story takes place 1000 years after Rielle’s and we start at the beginning with hers. But there is a ton of mysteries going on around her and in her blood that the reader doesn’t know about until three quarters of the way in. I never really liked Rielle, I thought she was way too proud and kind of stupid to not trust in her closest allies and friends. I’m not sure that you are supposed to like her though. But Eliana, I loved. She was a total B.A. but deep down had shame and guilt for the things she had done. She had depth and personality that Rielle didn’t have. I’d also like to mention my two favorite side characters, Navi and Zhara! I want their backstories!

Now, there was only one tiny complaint I had. Some of the writing was a little repetitive. For example, the phrase, “cheeks flamed” was used a lot. I feel as though the author could have come up with something else for feeling embarrassed. There were a few other phrases that were used repeatedly so that’s why I knocked a half star.

My take away: I thought this was really well done. It kept my attention, and I even dreamed about it. I know that’s a good read when that happens! I highly recommend to any one who likes a kick a** heroine taking names and kicking butt.

Thanks again to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I have been highly anticipating this book for months. I was so ecstatic to read this book especially before it's release day. Furyborn is the first book in a new YA Fantasy trilogy about two queens a thousand years apart. This was a wonderful first book to start off the series and it has excellent world building. I can't wait to read more of Claire Legrand's work.
Both queens play a part in an ancient prophecy foretelling of a Sun Queen and Blood Queen. One is destined to save the world while the other is to bring its doom. Rielle is just a teenager when assassins ambush the crown prince, her best friend and love of her life. She unleashes her power to save him, which exposes her ability to wield all seven kinds of elemental magic. King Bastien and his advisors decide to have her partake in seven trials to prove her ability to test for the legendary Sun Queen that has been foretold to them. During this time, she starts hearing a voice in her head. Angels are believed to be trapped from their world by a powerful gate but it was not a lasting solution. Angels become extremely interested in Rielle and her abilities. One in particular who has been speaking to her is Corien. He wants to use her abilities to resurrect and free him. Now, Queen Rielle is just thought of as a fairy tale to Eliana. Eliana became a bounty hunter to stay alive after the Undying Kingdom conquered her kingdom. She is believed to be untouchable and heals incredibly fast. After her mother vanishes without a trace, Eliana will team up with a famous rebel leader to find her. Throughout their journey Eliana learns more about herself and her abilities. She begins to learn who is behind the evilness of the Undying Empire. Both queens connect in a mysterious way and you will learn that not everything is how it seems.

(Link will go live 5/4/18)

I'm pretty sure "Furyborn" wins the competition for most hyped book this spring. Everywhere I look there are lists including it as most looked forward to, rave reviews, or options to get your hands on it early. So props to the marketing team for getting this one out there. However, as has become a bit of a habit for me with much-hyped books, I had some mixed feelings on this one. Mixed though! I did enjoy this more than "The Cruel Prince" which was my last big letdown from the hype machine.

Most of the things I enjoyed in this story were also directly tied to aspects that I did not. Unlike other books, the problems I had with this story weren't connected as much to the actual characterizations we're given or the overall story. Both were mostly strong. But there are writing choices throughout the story that frankly sabotaged the good efforts made elsewhere.

For example, to start out. Both Rielle and Eliana are strong enough characters on their own. They live in very different worlds, and while some of their struggles are similar (trying to find their place in the world & hiding/fighting against perceptions that might set others against them and those they love), they are distinct in their own right. They each have a unique voice, always an important element in shared POV books. I personally found myself a bit more drawn to Eliana. Her story has a bit more mystery (for reasons we'll discuss later), and as a character, I enjoyed her more morally grey worldview. However, I didn't dislike Rielle either.

The other side of this coin, though, is the fact that both of these characters feel cut off at the knees by the alternating POVs. It's not even a complicated problem: each POV is simply too short. The reader is being constantly bounced back and forth between each girl's story, that one can never really settle into either character or plotline. This results in me kind of just not caring, when all is said and done. Readers need a chance to settle into a character, to really come into their world and understand their motivations and challenges. But when we're constantly bounced back and forth between two very different stories every few pages, there is never a chance to really get that moment where you become invested. It was a fine read, but it was just that, a read. I never felt like I was really in this world. I was always just reading about it.

This problem extends to the world-building. There's a lot that needs to happen on this front for a story that is going to try to present two very different worlds, thousands of years apart. The author essentially has to do twice the world-building to successfully pull it off. But, again, because of the quick switches between one character and the other, I never felt like I had a clear understanding of either of these worlds. There are angels in one? But the details are foggy. The other world has a empire that is set on taking over the world, but why and how? These details are all interesting on their own, but it ultimately felt like the author had bit off more than she could chew. Or, at the very least, more than could be reasonably fit in one novel that also has a lot of other things going on.

The action was fun. There is no denying that this book moves, and it was this that got me through some of the failings in my full connection to either character or the world itself. What's more, I enjoyed that the action was very different between each girl's storylines. Rielle's ongoing magical trials were exciting and fast-moving. Whereas Eliana's were caught up in politics and the violent nature of what the world has become under this ambitious empire. But, again, this same fast-moving action was also part of the reason the world-building and character development felt stunted. There simply weren't enough pages to fit in all of this action while also developing two fully-realized characters and two fully expanded worlds.

I did also have one major criticism of this book. I read a good article recently that questioned whether a prologue is ever necessary for a book. The author of the essay mentioned that very talented authors could pull them off (like J.K. Rowling and her prologue in the first Harry Potter book), but even then, did you need them? This book serves as a perfect example where, for me, the prologue actively damaged my perception of the story right off the bat. It's not long, but in even those few pages, the author managed to spoil almost every single reveal that was to come throughout the rest of the book. I already new the secrets that plagued some of our characters, thus making their confusion and ultimate surprise incredibly uninteresting to read about.

Further, I feel like this prologue was meant to inspire curiosity about how one character ended up where she did. But instead, I felt spoiled for her entire plot and thus her chapters held very little interest. There was no real threat behind any of the things she confronted because I knew where she ended up. If I hadn't already been losing interest in characters because of the quick jumps back and forth due to the POV switches, this prologue alone did enough to pretty much kill off my interest and curiosity in at least one of these two.

All of that said, there book is still a fairly strong outing in a new fantasy world. There isn't a lack of action or story, and the characters are interesting on their own. The problems I had were all down to stylistic choices (too short of chapters between switches, an uneven balance between action and world-building, and an unnecessary and ultimately harmful prologue). I'll probably still stick around to read the next books in the series, however.

Lush, intricate, and filled with elemental magic, Furyborn is a gorgeous and rich fantasy that spans millennia.

Alternating between the points of view of two central women: Rielle, the notorious Sun Queen, and Eliana, a current-day bounty hunter, the past and the present slowly merge into one fascinating and high-stakes tale. The entire premise is built around a prophecy that’s foretold within Rielle’s time -- “two queens will rise, one with the power to save the world, one with the power to destroy it”. As if that’s not fascinating enough, the prophecy is directly tied to the battle between humans and angels, the very same one that almost destroyed the world and killed thousands of humans in the process. The wall between the humans and angels has been built, but after so many centuries, the wall is failing and the angels would love nothing more than to finish what they started and gain control of everything.

With so many details and intricacies contained in both characters’ narratives, I had zero clue how, when, or why these two characters would come together, or even if their stories would connect in any concrete way. Through the course of the story, Legrand weaves in so many threads, and even when some of them seemed inconsequential, do not be fooled. Every detail, even the smallest of small, plays a part in this sweeping fantasy, and Legrand deftly and meticulously ties each and every one into a reveal that I certainly didn’t see coming. At all. But of course, don’t expect easy answers and clear-cut explanations, as I have a feeling that while certain things and relationships seem a little murky for the time being, future books in this trilogy will bring a little more clarity with each installment.

The pacing in Furyborn isn’t particularly speedy, and I’m certainly glad for that. As I stated before, this book is a very detail-oriented book and each and every detail, big and small, plays a part and had the pacing been quick, I’d have been lost for certain. Although that’s not to say the entire book is slow-going, as there’s quite a number of fights and trials, and certainly plenty of violence and backstabbing, which made my dark heart happy.

Bottom line — Furyborn is definitely going to be a series that makes it to my favorites shelf. With its super-interesting and magical storyline, strong female characters and equally strong friendships, a hint of romance and some positive bi representation, it’s a book that’s got a little something for every fantasy lover. I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment in this trilogy and seeing how the characters advance after such life-changing revelations.

This book is amazing! It will definitely be one of my favorites of 2018, maybe THE favorite of 2018. Probably one of my favorites ever. I can foresee the Empirium trilogy becoming another Throne of Glass or Cinder (in terms of popularity).

This was an intriguing story told in alternating points of view. Instead of having two sections in the book, the book goes back and forward in time to tell the story of Rielle and Eliana. I liked Eliana immediately, the jury is still out for Rielle. The other characters in the Eliana chapters were likeable, specially Simon, Hob, Zahra, and Remy.. I found the Eliana chapters much more engaging than the Rielle chapters.
Not much in terms of world building so I had a hard time imagining the environs and where places were relative to each other. Didn't really understand the prophecy of the Blood Queen and the Sun Queen aside from they have the power to control the seven elements. There are explanations in the end but wish they had found their way in the story-telling also.
There were some holes in the story that I hope will be explained in the next book.
Four stars because I liked the story but found the alternating storylines to be a little off putting, especially since I had a really hard time getting into the Rielle storyline and wished that I could skip them to read the Eliana storyline. But at the same time it was an interesting change to having two sections to the story. Wished the author will intertwine the story at some point to show some parallels between Rielle and Eliana so that having to alternating chapters would make sense.
Will definitely read the next book in the series.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a little hard for me to understand at the beginning due to it changing characters every chapter but I got it took only a couple chapters for me to get it. I loved how action packed the two stories were. I’m very anxious to see what happens to Rielle and Eliana next!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of Furyborn.

This novel is the beginning of a new teen fantasy trilogy. It is a dual perspective story told through the eyes of two female characters separated by over a thousand years. Rielle, in 998, is royal adjacent - she was raised alongside the crown prince and his betrothed and kept her powers hidden from most everyone until the prince is under attack. Eliana is in 2018, but not the actual modern day, and is a store-brand version of Celaena Sardothien - she is a "fearsome assassin" with a deep sadness about her kills and believes herself infallible. But! There is a prophecy - the population is expecting two Queens to arise, one of blood and one of sun that will destroy the world by alliance with the angels/save the world by beating the angels back.

From other reviews I've read, it seems that everyone can agree that the first chapter is very well done, and piques the reader's curiousity - however, it writes a lot of cheques that the rest of the book can't cash. Rielle's story goes too far back in time from that opening and the reader is forced to trudge through the 7 trials she's given - infuriating, because you can extrapolate what happens from the opening. The trials make no sense as far as testing her mastery of the elements or determining which queen she is. It seems as though the trials are just devised spur of the moment, like the ruling class were surprised that prophecy day came. The prophet needed to take an extra second and create the test to recognize these chosen ones.
Eliana ends up on a quest with one of her targets when he bests her. This target was her "one last job" before taking her earnings and getting out of her oppressed country. She is headstrong and can't seem to find 3 seconds to listen to what is actually going on, beyond her narrow understanding of the world.
There are obviously other side characters in the story, but the narrative focuses so intensely on the motivations of Rielle and Eliana that the others have the character depth of a drying puddle. Why is (blank) acting that way? Hell if I know, but if I had to guess, for reasons? That is about the level of development we're dealing with.
The book alternates one (short!) chapter each between the two characters and most chapters end on a cliffhanger. The action is relentless, but the back and forth structure of the story feels like you're in a a short attention span tornado. The world building is completely absent, likely due to the chapter structure. We know there's magic, but not really how it is used on the day to day; we know there are angels and the humans hate them, but not why; we know the empire is on a relentless conquering spree, but it is a barely touched upon plot point.
There is a glut of teen fantasy on the market, and for that reason I am hard pressed to think of a situation where recommending this book would make sense and yield an enjoyable reading experience for the recipient of my recommendation.

2.5 stars

*

Furyborn has an incredible opening scene that is action-packed and introduces the story really well. It is a good set up to the series, with developed characters and interesting world-building. The premise is intriguing and the execution is well done for the most part, yet the novel lacks a certain charm that keeps you connected to the story.

Claire Legrand’s novel shows potential. The writing is good and easy to get into, and the pace is steady throughout most of the novel. There are quite a few twists and turns, as well as action filled chapters and some romance, and the magic system is really interesting. For some reason, the story just doesn’t work for me.

I struggled with this. I couldn’t connect to the characters or the plot. It wasn’t anything about the writing. Personally, this just didn’t work for me. The prologue is the one thing I absolutely loved in this novel. It is beautifully crafted and totally leaves you wanting to know more. But as the plot develops, it just… falls apart a little bit, at least for me.

Both main characters, Rielle and Eliana, have really distinct voices, but I found difficult to connect to them. The different timelines contribute to that issue, since the change from one character to the other happens rather quickly. At times, this very much feel like two books in one, so the pacing and story start to feel a little bogged down, which is made even worse because the book is already so long.

It’s a bit interesting to see how Rielle becomes the person we see in the opening scene, but there are no surprises during her journey. We all know the outcome already, so that takes away a little bit of the impact from the trials she goes through. So her chapters end up being a lot of world-building development, romance, and pretty much nothing else.

In the end, Furyborn is just not my kind of book. The characters are well developed, the writing is good, and the world-building is interesting, but I personally couldn’t connect to the plot. I still recommend it to Fantasy fans who enjoy strong female characters and are looking for something fresh in the genre.

I think I might have liked this book more if it was the first or at least one of the first fantasy novels I ever read. That’s not the case, though. At this point in life I have quite high expectations for this specific genre & here? They were not met.

We start off with a prologue already in the middle of some exciting action & that would be a good thing. A great thing, in fact, if not for all the info dumping going on in the background. Listen, I have a whole book ahead of me, there's no need to acquaint me with every single made-up word & aspect of this brand new world across the first ten pages. Especially when it's not just characters using terms that are familiar to them, but actual history & geography & anthology lessons. I don't like being treated as a kid when I read and that's exactly what I got here; the author makes you follow her by hand & explains every single thing you come across. It's boring!! Just let me figure some stuff on my own!!

I could deal with that (maybe) if at least the writing was mesmerizing. I probably wouldn't even notice that then… But again, that's not the case. It's hard to say anything about the author's style apart from it's mediocre. I don't remember seeing one (!!) quotable line across those over 500 pages! How is that even possible?? How do you make a book with such a cool premise so bland & then expect me to care about your world & characters???

Sadly, that’s not the end of my complaining about the writing itself. Another thing is the constant telling over showing. Come on, it's 2018, we all know the importance of actually letting your characters discover things instead of other people describing those things. Also speaking of descriptions… Don't wanna sound like a white male author from the ‘50s, but were All Those Adjectives really necessary? My biggest issue with the way Furyborn is written, though, was the constant use of an internal monolog (in italic, of course) to express character's thoughts & motives. That's just such lazy writing!!

Honestly all of this made me basically sure this is a debut, so imagine my surprise when I realized that no, in fact Claire has quite a handful of books under her belt.

I feel like it's important to mention how much sexual content there is here, especially since this is advertised as young adult literature. Let’s start with some context. The couple I’m talking about here basically grew up together and it wouldn’t be too much of a reach to see them as siblings. I’m not sure anymore if they have an age gap though… So in the third chapter we get a 13 years old girl - one of the two pov characters - “admiring” a boy’s body & lowkey fantasising about having sex with him. A few years later in the plot we are actually “treated” to an explicit sex scenes between them. And it’s not even well written. I mean honest to god, thirteen years old girls on ao3 write better sex scenes… The other pov girl character is basically just as open & talkative about her sexual prowess, if not more - mentions sex at least once every chapter. Technically there’s nothing wrong with it and I think this was the author's way to show us that those girls are mature & badass but all it did for me was leave a bad taste in my mouth.

This also connects very tightly to my other point. Which is: I was recommended this book as one having bi rep. But we get all those love declarations & dreams of the future & literal sex scenes between boys and girls and yet, I’m honestly not sure which character was supposed to be bisexual. I mean, if you put so much effort into building up het romances, you really have no excuse not to be just as explicit with same-sex ones.

I was mostly excited about Furyborn because of the blurb, obviously. I was specifically interested in the connection between Rielle and Eliana. It was said to be “shocking” & “determine the fate of their world”. And yet, having read the book, I can tell you with very clear conscience that this connection is the most boring and uninnovative solution to a mystery I saw in years. Actually the whole plot is very much underwhelming & makes you feel like you just wasted time. I will definitely not bother reading the next instalment.

I want to start by stating that this book has the grandest prologue ever. I was instantly and easily transported into a world, imaginatively and vividly described. A wrold so complex, I almost consider this as a high fantasy. The magic featuring elementals and angels and even a bit of science, as there were some kind of experiments in the book, were fascinating. Though there are still some aspects of the magic and the world in general that are still not crystal clear to me, I’m trusting book 2 will clear everything else. I liked it that magic’s involvement in the politics in this book was huge and not only the cliched who’s to be king and who’s to kick out of the throne. Though something like that happened, revenge is more likely the reason of it. This novel is dark, filled with intrigues and secrets but beautiful and most importantly, magical.

It started strong and never dulled until the end. Fast-paced and highly entertaining as it’s filled with actions and each page seemed written to entice the reader to keep reading. The writing was really good, almost lyrical. I love what the author did alternating POVs between Elliana and Rielle, it was well crafted. Some books commit the mistake of using multi-POVs and ended up creating the characters’ voice identical, it’s so hard to say who’s who. In here, however, Legrand did it well. Though the chapters are so short and the change of POV was almost abrupt, it wasn’t hard to identify who’s speaking.

Finally, the characters. Though I mentioned in my first update how much this book screams badassness and girl power because of its two MCs, I didn’t find myself really drawn to either of them. Elliana and Rielle are definitely complex characters who, when they were first introduced, are obviously in need of serious character development. They’re both too arrogant and too self-assured because of what they can do. I found Elliana as confusing and confused. She couldn’t seem to decide who and what she’s gonna be as a character; dark, anti-hero MC or the heroine type. At some point I found myself wishing she choose one and the stick to it. And Rielle I found her parts a little boring than Elliana’s. And though I love Audric, her love interest, Rielle grew on me coz she’s all Audric-this and Audric -that. But with all the things I said about these two, I didn’t really dislike them, they’re simply not my favorite.

My favorite? all the side characters: Audric, Ludivine, Navi, Remy and Simon. Oh Simon. I love him so much. And I won’t tell much about them. You guys have to read the book if you want to meet them and you would love meeting these characters. Well them and the VILLAIN, Corien. He’s one of a kind and intrigues me so much. I want to know him more and spend time with him more in the next books in this series.

Do I recommend this book? BIG YES!!! Though you must be aware of trigger Warning such as violence, abuse, even child abuse, sexual content, animal cruelty, torture, death of a parent/loved one.