When I first heard about this book, I really wanted to get my hands on it. I thought that it sounded fantastic and that cover was amazing. Once I read the prologue, I thought that I was going to love this book so much, because it started off so interestingly. Then we got to the first chapter and I liked Rielle a lot. Then the next chapter was Eliana and she was alright and so the book goes, switching back and forth. My biggest problem with this book was that I didn't understand the point of having these characters spread so far across time and sharing their story every other chapter. Maybe if it had been a part one with Rielle and then the second part Eliana, then I might have enjoyed it more than I did. The writing for this book is amazing, I do have to give the author credit for that. I just wasn't such a big fan in the layout of the book. I'm hesitant in the thought that this is going to be more books and how they might be the same in the sense that it will continue the back and forth. Usually I find that Im not a huge fan in switching points of views, but since this was written in third person, I didn't think I would mind too much. It didn't bother me so much as the time difference bothered me. That and I wasn't a huge fan of Eliana to begin with either.

I'm giving this book a solid 4.5 stars but rounding up hoping that the publisher will gift me with the sequel when it come out! :)
This story tells the story of Rielle and Eliana-both strong women. One is a kick ass fighter and the other has incredible magical abilities. Magic is pulled from the "empirium" which is the life force of all living and non-living elements in the world. One story is told from the past and one from the present. What I liked about this book was that the author plays with who is the "good" character and who is the "evil" one. I could kind of see that traditional definitions of both were not in play here.
I deducted half a star because I couldn't follow what Eliana's opinion of Simon was. One minute she seemed really drawn to him and the next she seemed to belligerently not care what happened to him. I need to know if he's the romantic interest! lol
Can't wait to read the next book in the series. Thanks for NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Well, this was rather…underwhelming. This book has received so much hype, so I was excited to be approved for an eARC. But alas… This didn’t at all meet my expectations. Not saying it was bad, but rather… Well, read my review below and maybe you’ll see.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing a free, digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

First off, let’s talk about that cover. It’s so gorgeous! And if you’ve been following the YA book community, you might have heard of this book. I believe even FairyLoot included a physical ARC of it in each of their boxes a few months ago. I mean, talk about a hyped book! And honestly, I really thought I would love it, and yes, there are parts I really liked but then… There weren’t, lol.

Diving into the prologue, I thought this was going to be another “redemption story” for one of the main characters. This thinking led me to forever have a bad taste about that same character throughout the rest of the book. However, I’m glad to report it’s not necessarily like that, though… Maybe some of the blame for what happens can fall on her, in some way. But I will say I absolutely love how the characters are tied together, not just in the “two women, one thousand years apart” thing.

If you like morally gray character, try this book. I liked Eliana more than Rielle. I find myself liking all of the characters really. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure I would, and I’m left trying to figure out if Rielle was mostly just a pawn, and why she didn’t forever push aside the thoughts in her head. She walked a thin line–between the power she knew she had and what she could obtain with them and the love she had for her friends. As for Eliana, I knew were her story was going the instant a certain someone reappeared in her life. I liked that and Eliana herself. I guess the next step is to see if and how Eliana struggles with this legacy.

There was a lot of info-dumping in the beginning chapters. The world is vast and grand and so much has happened in the thousand years between Rielle and Eliana, and I imagine there’s much the author wants to explore in the later books. I’m really interested to see how exactly the two similar yet different worlds of these two protagonists came to be. That might be the only thing that makes me want to continue reading this series. Other than that… Eh, I could skip it. *shrugs*

I feel bad that I got this ARC when they were giving it away to the first 500 netgalley members who clicked the link. I got caught up in the hype surrounding the book, and didn't really take the time to think to myself, hey, you don't really like high fantasy, don't click! I did give the book a try, and I think people who love high fantasy, are going to absolutely love this. I'd recommend it to fans of Throne of Glass and Game of Thrones.

Pros:

+ Diverse protags
+ Interesting worldbuilding
+ Badass magic system
+ Complex relationships
+ Gooooorgeous cover! lookatit!!

Cons:

- Rielle’s chapters (the other MC) are decidedly Not My Thing
- I really couldn’t tell you my favorite character
- Hypersexualized (which I will go into)
- Loooong, very loooong

Furyborn is exactly the book everybody (right now) wants to read. We’ve got so many hits on the trendy topics it’s basically a diverse YA fantasy free-for-all. It’s well-written and has an interesting (though I heistate to call it unique) set-up. Basically, it’s a gussied-up Throne of Glass. If you’re into that.

The only bad thing is for me, being able to say a book is “like Throne of Glass” is basically an insult of the highest order.
Now don’t run away screaming! I know, I’m in the minority. And I don’t necessarily mean to apply it to this book as an insult. More to the effect of “promiscuous and overly-confident crown-sanctioned assassin who fails at every damn turn stars as our lead and we are supposed to basically just bow down because though there’s no evidence to suggest she can count to twenty with her shoes on much less be a competent assassin, SHE’S TOTALLY A BADASS AND SHE’S GOING TO TELL YOU SO OVER AND OVER AND OVER”.

I kid! She can count to twenty with her shoes on.

I guess I should explain.

Furyborn stars two leading ladies separated by a thousand-year gap, Rielle and Eliana. Rielle is a prophesied queen-angel-destroyer-gifted-with-all-elements... thing. Eliana is an empire knife-for-hire who is otherwise known as... [loud sigh] The Dread of Orline.

As Rielle’s story is more of an origin story (how she became queen, murdered her husband, and screwed up the country--don’t worry, we learn this all in the prologue), most of the action is central to Eliana. When she is forced into making a deal with rebel assassin Simon, aka the Wolf, to find her presumed-kidnapped mother, her world will be turned upside down.

Like any YA fantasy, there’s romance and swashbuckling action and probably some yucky almost-rape scenes or something. Totally normal stuff for teens. Which I should probably say: if you’ve got young teens who are avid readers, maybe wait on giving this one to them. I honestly felt like this was meant to be an adult book with the amount of sexual mentions (All Eliana does the first third of the book is her not-boyfriend) and on-page sex scenes and wet dreams and mind rape and almost-rape scenes and seductions-for-info and prostitution for any number of reasons. And as both the MCs are bisexual, it felt a little bit like hyper-sexualization for that sake. It was trying to get brownie points for sex positivity while also being nasty while also writing into the Promiscuous Bi trope (maybe not intentionally, but I noticed it) and it just turned me off completely (no pun intended).

If none of that bothers you, or if you just disagree with me, that's fine. If you're looking for interesting worldbuilding in your fantasy, you may enjoy this one.

A free copy was provided by the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for honest review. Thank you!

Everyone, I am hereby predicting that Furyborn is going to be the next big thing! Because it is so, so good and totally lives up to the hype. It's a dark fantasy novel that is feminist, diverse, and so gripping that it keeps you turning pages. Oh, and it makes me wish I could draw, because the character descriptions are just MADE for fan art!

This is a dual-perspective book that follows the stories of two young women, Rielle and Eliana, who are coming of age in different time periods, but hold the fate of the world in their hands. Both women are complex, powerful, and not clearly good or evil. They refuse to be constrained by society or the people around them, are often violent, but also love deeply and fiercely. I adored both of these women. There are great side characters who are richly drawn and relationships that are beautifully portrayed. Some of the side characters create important nuance, showing that compassion and gentleness can be a strength rather than a weakness. We get positive female friendships without jealousy, a very touching brother-sister relationship, and some pretty steamy love interests.

Which makes this a good time to note that while it is marketed as YA, this book feels much more adult in content and should probably be read by mature teenagers. There is some explicit sexual content and contains some trigger warnings for violence, death of children and parents, torture, and non-graphic sexual abuse. So yes, this is definitely a darker book. But, it still feels hopeful. It is, in some ways, about what it means to retain your humanity in the midst of pain and violence, and to believe in a better future even in the face of great darkness.

The world-building in Furyborn is really great, and I just wanted more. We learn a great deal from Rielle about the culture and religion of her people, which is fascinating. Eliana lives a long time in the future and from her, we get to see hints of the history that has transpired since Rielle. The mythology is rich and has me itching for a more expansive understanding. A key component to the story is that humans have long been at war with powerful "angels". We learn a little bit about them, but I can't wait to find out more in future books. The magic system is an elemental one, but I do wish we had more fully fleshed out rules about how it works. We know that the "empirium" is what makes up everything, and somehow magic users tap into it. Rielle is even able to see the empirium, which is unusual.

There is a lot of adventure and intrigue, which I loved. The chapters alternated between perspectives and they were often on the shorter side, which kept me reading longer. Rielle's chapters were often punctuated by a series of magical trials and they were all really well-written and depicted vividly. Eliana travels to a few different locations which added great flavor to the book, and hints at the variety of cultures we might encounter later in the series.

Finally, I want to mention a bit about why I say this book is feminist and diverse. Obviously, you have two powerful women as protagonists, but it goes beyond that. I mentioned the positive female friendships as well, but there were also little things that struck me as interesting. For instance, there are male sex workers depicted in the book rather than just female. There is also some casual LGBTQ representation. For instance, Eliana is bisexual, two male side characters are married, and there is a harem that includes both men and women. I also liked the fact that we see Rielle and Eliana dressed up on occasion, with Rielle even being a total badass fighting with magic while wearing beautiful costumes. I always appreciate representation of women who can fight, lead, and also be feminine when they want to be.

This is much longer than my typical reviews, but it's just such a great book and I had a lot to say! Seriously, go pick it up when it comes out! It's probably going to make my top books of the year. I did receive an e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I did not have high expectations for this book, and I think this was part of the reason I enjoyed it so much. It was straight forward and alternated between the dueling perspectives of Rielle and Eliana. Eliana's storyline was my favorite of the two but I enjoyed both perspectives. This book was a great light read and I am excited to see where the author takes the series in the sequel

The back and forth narration of Rielle and Eliena was not satisfying because the format made it difficult to read continuously without skipping every other chapter. However, the world building was strong and the characters interesting. This would appeal to ya fantasy fans.

I couldn't get into this book. I'm sorry. I need to stop requesting fantasy. NetGalley just made it enticing, so I couldn't help myself.

3.5 stars - This new adult fantasy was action-packed and entertaining, but left me with mixed feelings.

When the book began, I found myself constantly comparing many elements to other well-loved fantasy books. As the story began to develop I realized it truly is just some of the best fantasy components compiled into one story.

In terms of the characters, they were (for the most part) well rounded and morally gray which helped them feel super authentic. The two main characters blended together at times and I completely understand why the author chose to write them that way. However, I didn't like constantly switching between their POV's due to the different time eras they each lived in. I often found myself struggling to keep track of all the political figures that were constantly brought up in each time period which was frustrating.

After the first quarter of this book, it held my interest enough to want to know how it ended. There were several twists woven in at different points in the story and while they weren't surprising, they were still entertaining. Unfortunately, the ending was a complete let down. I spent 512 pages wanting to learn what events changed certain character's ethics and wasn't rewarded with any solid answer.

Even though Furyborn wasn't the biggest hit with me, this series will definitely be popular with others. I've actually already recommended this to my husband who reads much less critically than me. I'll continue to read this series as it's released but I just hope the author gives us more answers sooner rather than later.

Thank you to Sourcebook and Bookish.com for this ARC that arrived in the mail today!! Can't wait to read this one on this dreary, cold day. Here I go...

Summary: A certain prophecy foretells the emergence of two powerful queens: a Sun Queen, who is meant to protect her people, and a Blood Queen, who is meant to destroy. And, so, we meet our two fiercely independent protagonists: Rielle and Eliana who are living are living in two separate worlds, centuries apart, yet they're more connected than they'll ever know. In Rielle's time, she is standing trial after losing control of her powers while rescuing the love of her life, Audric. The people believe that she might be the Sun Queen but it is important for her to be tested in seven different trials in order to prove that she can control her powers for the good. Eliana, better known as the Dread of Orline, is a highly-skilled, invincible killer who finds herself entangled in the mysterious vanishings of women in her city. Little do both women know, they are about to embark on an adventure that's going to change both of their lives and reveal things about themselves that they never knew existed.

Opinion: The latest trend in explosive "book ones" of trilogies continues with this one! I cannot wait to read the second book and neither will you.

First of all, I love the structure of this book. Each chapter alternates between Rielle and Eliana's perspective which naturally makes the reader finish more chapters since each chapter tends to end in a cliffhanger and you just. want. to. read. more. Every. single. time. Plus, this structure helps highlight the connection between Rielle and Eliana, which is hinted at the get-go, but I wasn't entirely sure how it'd come together. Also, each chapter title includes an excerpt or quote that serves to foreshadow a future occurrence or reveal a character trait that is important to our understanding of a character.

The very first chapter of the story starts in an intense moment when you're already assuming a thing or two about Rielle and you'll find yourself referring back to that very first chapter as you learn more about Rielle and Eliana's backstory. At the same time, I am a big fan of books and movies that start me off in the middle of an intense scene and then flashes back to show us how the characters ended up in that position.

Out of the two women, Eliana is my favorite. Lately I've been reading NUMEROUS books that feature strong women protagonists and I really find myself loving the ones that are feisty, badass, assassins. Perhaps my subconscious is trying to tell me something! Ha. Either way, Eliana will make you laugh, you'll admire her, and you'll also want to smack her a few times (she's just SO stubborn and doesn't seem to learn from her mistakes). Her love for her brother, Remy, warms my heart and it'll warm yours too.

Being book one of a trilogy, be prepared for a few slow moments. I do find them necessary, though, because the entire series needs to be setup.

My only drawback would be the inclusion of highly sexual scenes throughout the story--especially the one with Rielle and Audric. Unfortunately, I won't be able to put this book in my junior high classroom because these parts are just too much for my students and that's disappointing because, if those scenes were removed, the book would be a perfect read for my students. This is definitely a book appropriate for mature high school students so be forewarned!

Along these lines, I'm at a loss with Tal and Corien. So what are exactly Tal's feelings for Rielle? And Corien for Rielle? for Eliana? So confused.

This has an absolutely amazing premise:
"When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined."

Super right?! I have so many positives about the book, but the negative I'm going to steal from another blogger, because they said it perfectly!lol So with that know there is mature content.

"For those of you thinking this is a YA book, like many YA books this is a little on the mature end. Include two poorly written, slightly erotic scenes including masturbation and sexual intercourse. I say poorly written because imagine a lot of: “oh yes”‘s and “name”‘s with some movements and, as my buddy read friend, “earth shattering penis”. If you’re going to put it in the book, at least make it good. Am I right?"

I received this eARC book through NetGalley. This is the first time reading a book by this author, I really enjoyed this story in all its characters and world building. In the first couple of chapters it took me a bit to understand that the chapters kept going from past to present and so forth, but after comprehending that, I completely fell in love with this story and the characters. I did not want to put this book down. I enjoyed this magical journey/adventure along with its angst and drama filled chapters. My favorite characters were Eliana and Simon. I am so ready for book 2 to see where this story takes me and wha happens next for these characters.

Furyborn is the story of two strong young women. Rielle who also has the power over fire which she is training to control and Eliana, whose story takes place 1000 years later, Eliana is a bounty hunter who has the ability to quickly heal from most injury, a secret she fights fiercely to keep hidden.
The way the story begins made it difficult to me to initially get into the story, It felt like I was starting a book in a series already started, like I should have been familiar with the characters and the situation. The story is told from the point of view of either Rielle or Eliana in alternating chapters. Apparently, thousands of years ago the angels were cast out and sealed behind "the gate" for what was supposed to be eternity but some have been escaping. It has been prophesied that a Sun Queen will come to lead the final battle and that there would also be a second queen the Blood Queen.
For just a little bit I kept trying to figure out how these two characters were going to tie together until there was an "A-HA" moment when a name is mentioned and then everything fell into place and it really started to work for me. I ended up really loving the story line which was wonderfully descriptive and extremely original. I understand why I kept seeing such rave reviews! I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

One of the most gorgeous, enthralling books we've ever read. Bravo!

This book is the first in the series, and after the first one book, I don't know where it is ultimately headed. The two chief characters are queens, if one will believe the usual interpretation of prophecy, and one is a queen of light, the other of blood. Both must face evil, both are strong women who have to deal with their rage, and although one is determined by the Church to be the Sun Queen (the queen of light), there arise strong doubts as to whether this can be the case. The two Queens are separated by vast amounts of time but their stories are converging. I think we will have to wait for the rest of the series to find out what that prophecy was really supposed to mean.

Welcome to the emperium! A world of complex magic, divided loyalties and elementals (who manipulate air, fire, water and even shadow), and a queen.

Rielle, maturing in the over-protective shadow of her powerful father is unique: she can manipulate all elements. When she learns of the prophesy of queens ruling the empirium, she sets out to prove she is the Sun Queen by overcoming harrowing trials and in doing so, risking her life.

Now, a thousand years later, welcome to the Empire! A world where all magic has been banished and the glorious stories of the Sun Queen lay in dusty fairytale books. Here lives Eliana, a self told “freak”, unbreakable and using that gift as a mercenary.

When Eliana decides to challenge the forces that be, she joins the rebellian and witnesses the true horrors of the Empire.

Despite the distance of time, these two strong female heroines each battle forces separate and in a cool twist, together.

Kick-butt female characters, magic, evil, and true human emotion make this fantasy a stand out in the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley who sent me this in exchange for an honest review.

Claire Legrand is an author that I’ve heard so much about in the book world but her works always get pushed aside for that bright and shiny new release. Sadly, up until now, I’ve never felt much of a priority for her works.
Furyborn changed that. I feel like the marketing for this book is top notch because I’ve been seeing this EVERYWHERE from booktubers to bloggers to Instagram posts. It has really pushed me towards reading it so A+.

And now I’m kind of sad I haven’t been following Legrand all along.

The beginning of the novel was fantastic. Right from the get-go we’re met with a gripping scene that throws the reader into the story. I read quite a bit of adult high fantasy so I’m always a little bit weary of overly hyped young adult fantasy but this one very much holds its own even when compared to the more “adult” novels.
I will say that there were quite a few “blushworthy” scenes so from a librarian standpoint I would be aware of that for potential challenges that may come along. That being said, these girls don’t shy away from their sexuality or expressing it which I believe is important for young people to see, especially in this day and age.

The characters were a bit hit or miss for me. The two main girls I wanted to love and for the most part I did but the pacing made it hard to fully connect with them until closer to the end. At points I felt like the “strong female character” was pushed a little too hard which made them seem a little too cookie-cutter compared to other female protagonists in the genre.

Overall, I’m super intrigued as to where this story is going and I’m excited to receive my finished copy once the release date rolls around. I did like it enough to pre-order it and I would definitely recommend it to some of our library’s older teen patrons! Claire Legrand is definitely an author to keep an eye on.

Two young women living a thousand years apart struggle to understand their place in the world and an ancient prophecy that could change the world as they know it--for worse and for better. Rielle has powers unlike anyone else in the world-- powers the likes of which haven't been seen, even in the time of the Saints. When she's discovered, she is forced to face a series of seven trials, testing her affinity for each form of elemental magic, to determine if she is the prophesied Sun Queen, destined to save them all, or the Blood Queen who will bring their doom. Long after the downfall of Queen Rielle, whose actions lead to the end of magic and the rise of the Empire, Eliana is a bounty hunter just trying to get by in a world that would just as soon see her dead. But she had an important role to play, too, and when her mother is kidnapped and she is caught up in a mission with the rebels she has long hunted, she begins to realize the world is not exactly as it seems to be.

This is exactly the kind of fantasy I want to read. High-stakes adventure and interesting magic, a smattering of creatures and a dash of romance, strong friendships and family ties, ancient prophecies and complex, morally ambiguous characters on the path of either redemption or downfall. I really liked the premise of these two parallel (and interconnected) stories playing outside by side, a thousand years apart. It did, at times, fall prey to that common issue of split-narrative books where one or the other would become less interesting, and I would be disappointed to see the POV switch. But for the most part I really enjoyed seeing both stories and perspectives, and by the end was really engaged with both. And, interestingly, my favorite POV / storyline had actually switched by about halfway through the book.

I think this has a lot of potential as a fantasy series and is a really great introduction to this world that Legrand is building. It's definitely a story of epic proportions (if the magic and fantasy and thousand-year time jump didn't clue you in) and even though we're told very early on how some of it ends, I still can't wait to see exactly how events play out to get us there-- especially because I have a suspicion that nothing is quite as straightforward as it seems. A thoroughly fun read that I stayed up too late to finish. I'd definitely recommend it for YA and fantasy fans.

3+ stars

What to Expect: A mother and a daughter are separated by a millennium and both hunted by the same angel who wants to consume them. In the first of the trilogy, they each become unlikely queens. As they do so, their respective kingdom around them unravels. A wild ride with strong women and lots of magic.

Review: 

It isn’t the epic classic it purports to be but it is a lot of fun.

What you may not like: Despite the care taken to build this world and keep action moving quickly, there were several aspects of this story too easily resolved: a critical person whose ‘turning’ could have been used to much greater degree, several occasions of someone turning from enemy to friend or love interest, critical plot points whose tension could-have-should-have been more deeply explored were served up as if this turning point was easy-peasy. This also made it difficult to invest in the characters; I found that even though I enjoyed the ride, I didn’t leave the book pining to see them again.

What you will love: A rich and vivid magical world where strong, powerful women take center stage. And what a center stage it is - so much danger, so much adventure. These women both had so much on the line. Also? Great friendships.