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.

WOW!!! That’s how you start a book! This story took off like a rocket and pulled me in at hyper speed.
As the ancient prophecy foretold, Furyborn tells the tale the Sun Queen and the Blood Queen; one will bring down the gates preventing sinister angels from destroying all of mankind and the other will save them all.
This saga features two main characters, over 1,000 years apart, each struggling to control their own immense power of elemental magic which could save or destroy the world. I equally relished and anguished over alternating character voices from chapter to chapter as their stories unfolded.
This book features strong woman characters in an intense and dangerous world brimming with magic, war, intrigue, dark villainy, prophecy and romance.
It was a wild ride. I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to its continuation eagerly.

WOW. Furyborn drew me immediately into a story that spans one thousand years in a world where angels do not have humanity's best interests at heart and prophesy is coming true.

Furyborn is set in the mythical world of Aritas and is told from two points of view in an alternating narrative:
--Rielle is a queen of years past in a time where magic was rare. Those that could wield used castings and could only control one element... Rielle needs nothing but her anger to wield all seven. When she is forced to make her abilities known to save someone else, she undergoes trials to prove herself.
--Eliana is a bounty hunter in Ventera 1,000 yeqars later, serving the Undying Empire to protect her family. She has a unique ability that no one but her brother knows about. Magic isn't a thing anymore, and she lives in a world where the legends of Rielle are looked upon as myth rather than history. When she gets an assignment for the Empire, things get a lot more complicated.
--(Okay three POVs if you count 8 year old Simon in the opening chapter)--Simon is a marque, the product of an angel and human. Marques have special abilities but must live in secret.

"Two Queens will rise.
One of blood. One of light.”

I really love narratives that begin with "the end;" where something happens and then it flashes back in time so you can trace the events to led to that moment. When done well this is an incredibly powerful tool, and it is executed nicely here but left me wanting for more. This is a fast-paced and action filled tale that builds its own mythos and puts a spin on the "angelic nature" of angels. I had a tough time putting it down, even though I got a bit lost in some of the action scenes! Nearly every chapter ended with a cliffhanger (ugh!), and while I found myself annoyed at times with the shifting perspectives I did not find it necessarily difficult to follow.

The worldbuilding on the surface is incredibly interesting: religious, political, magical and social components are all alluded to as the story progresses; however, I do feel that a lot of the worldbuilding was sacrificed for action-packed fight scenes (which I started skimming about halfway through). Plot developments were easy to guess but not in a way that felt annoyingly cliche and obvious, and overall I was ravenous to piece more together. Unfortunately I am a bit disappointed that two important historical things never are explained, and that gap lessened my reading experience for me. If I am being honest with myself, it's likely because I was invested in the romance between Audric and Rielle... and I wanted more answers there. 💘💘💘 It is worth noting that there are a couple of tasteful sex scenes, which I personally don't associate with YA, but consent is well depicted here and I think that is sososo important.

Because the book starts with the end (and a new beginning), as the reader you know where the story is going. You know which MC is which queen in the first pages of the book but the mystery is in the journey they take to get there. There is still so much story to tell here and I look forward to learning more about what happened with Rielle in those 2 years, as well as what happens in the future for Eliana.

Cashes in well on fantasy trends in YA, with some dashes of dystopia. Would recommend for slightly older teens.

Fans of YA fantasy should enjoy Furyborn. It's a fast paced fantasy that keeps the reader on their toes throughout. Legrand's opening scene draws the reader in right away as we witness an intense birth and escape scene that really grabs the reader's attention and keeps them engaged chapter after chapter.

While the whole thing works well, personally, I'm not sure that this is my favorite YA Fantasy - it employs all the usual elements, dual narrative, the special character who has the abilities she shouldn't have, unknown pasts, etc. The concept is pretty similar to other titles in the genre, obviously with it's own spin. I enjoyed this enough to read the sequel - and while it's well done, I'm thinking that this is the type of book that will need a cohesive series to really shine.

I hardly know where to begin to review "Furyborn". It is epic, and certainly destined to be a classic YA fantasy. It pulled me in immediately and I enjoyed every minute of it.

The story alternates between two main characters, Eliana and Rielle, living hundreds of years apart yet somehow bound together by fate. These are two strong female characters. They are independent, strong-minded, and each is blessed (or cursed) with unique gifts.

The world building is pretty fantastic, and the story zips along with never a dull moment. I couldn't decide which characters to love or hate, as they were all so fully developed with different facets to their personalities.

I can't wait to buy this for our library, to recommend it to students--and to read the next book in the series!

i received an ARC through netgalley.

it's really strange to read an entire book, one that's action-packed and fast-paced, and not care about any of the characters. legrand creates an exciting, dangerous world that doesn't always make sense but certainly holds a lot of potential, and i'm sure it'll be expanded upon in the next two installments.

furyborn follows rielle and eliana, two young women over 1,000 years apart. one is the destined queen and the other an assassin, notorious for her bodycount. both must save their people from the threat of war and of angels. and while it's clear that legrand loves these women, it was really hard for me to feel the same. they were never quite real enough for me, both resting too comfortably in the realm of "i'm the savior so i can do anything".

and listen. we need to discuss the bisexual "representation" because it doesn't exist okay. y'all can fight with me on it but one statement about having sex with a chick doesn't make you bi and eliana doesn't once talk about/refer to another woman romantically or sexually again for the rest of the novel. so if any of you, like me, came into this hoping for something more than that, you are sadly mistaken.

the mythology that legrand creates is interesting, too, though confusing. the way the book jumps timelines often makes it hard to keep things straight, especially since the magic has changed so drastically in the 1,000 years or whatever. there's magic and angels and these half-breed magic things and none of it is expanded upon enough for everything to be clear. it leaves the reader in the dark and a little muddled, but if you just accept it, it's easy to kind of... skim over.

but all in all, this book has a lot of action. there's always something happening, and it's pretty exciting. the action is engaging. there's romance, a little smut, and plenty of angst. all in all, it should create an ideal novel, but it falls flat somewhere in the character development side. the only characters that aren't completely one-dimensional are eliana, rielle, and simon? but? don't quote me on that last one.

anyway! i'd recommend this book to people, certainly, especially if you're looking for something quick and interesting; if you give the book too much thought it falls apart, so don't go in looking for something deep that makes perfect sense. just save yourself the trouble.

A in-depth fantasy novel showing strong female characters, whose lives are a 1,000 years apart, but history connects them....and their life trials. First in a trilogy, so expect a cliffhanger ending.

This book was great, and hard to put down! We have two queens one is wicked, the other one is blessed. The story goes back and forth between these two queens, past and present. Bits of information given and we have to figure out how they fit into the story. I can't wait for the next book!

I stopped reading at the 25% point. I didn’t like either of the leads, and I didn't feel that any of the themes were new or fun.