This book took me a little bit to get into but I am so glad that I did. The tale of mother and daughter 100s of years apart is awesome. The struggle with overwhelming power and humanity is telling and wonderful. Once you think how one feels you learn that it's not that way.

This story takes you through a magical world with 7 elements and angels. An unknown prophet and an emperor that reminds you of Darth Vader, complete with the army that seems to not think for themselves. A killer who tries to hide the pain from her kills. Trying to stay cold, for if she feels one way she fears the gates will open and she will be flooded and lost.

Just wonderful. It takes a moment to get into each story as this is a book that tells two tales in one. It is awesome. There are moments you will love and hate both of the main characters and that's ok. That's how it's supposed to be. I have to say there were a few things at the end that I didn't see coming at all and that was refreshing as it's tiring to nearly always guess what is coming next.

When this book comes out, it's a must-read. I think you will enjoy it. I must ask how long until the next one comes out?

4 stars

I really enjoyed this one.

I know I can always count on Claire Legrand to write something that isn't like the ordinary YA--whether it's a twisted Nutcracker retelling or a tale of queens across thousands of years.

This is different enough from your regular YA fantasy that it makes it compelling, but similar enough that it will attract a solid fanbase. There's lots of typical elements in it--magic powers, royalty, political intrigue, and assassins--but there's also that Legrand sort of twist to it that makes it interesting to me.

This book is very much dedicated to building the world and introducing the whole topic. When I look back at it, it feels almost as if it was introducing the whole idea of the queens and the angels invading and nothing big or extraordinary happened--although things did happen.

Rielle goes through a lot proving herself as worthy and although a sort of The Thousandth Floor sort of spoiler goes on at the very beginning where Rielle's whole ending is spoiled, you don't really understand the context until the end of the novel.

On the other hand, Eliana finds herself in a tricky situation and learns about herself along the way.

So both women have their own storylines in the book, but the major thing with the fight against the angels doesn't actually happen in this book! Which is cool because it is a series and stuff needs to happen for other stuff to happen, but I did feel like it took a very solid amount of time for the actual "Angels have invaded! Ahh!" part to happen.

Still, I enjoyed how Legrand worked with the two points of views and time periods and managed to connect everything together, and I definitely think she still has a lot in store for us.

What I wasn't a fan of was the structure. At the end of each chapter, it's usually something that is a cliffhanger or similar to one--so it cuts off right when Rielle is about to, say, go into battle, and switches a thousand years later to Eliana. And then Eliana's chapter gets cut off right as an alarm bell sounds. Stuff like that.

And while I understand that this can help build the suspense and hook the reader in, that doesn't mean it has to happen in every. single. chapter. Thankfully, it didn't feel like a cop-out on Legrand's part (like in Empress of a Thousand Skies where Belleza cut off at a cliffhanger and then resumed after the action ended) as we did get to finish the scene, but I did find it annoying when I was reading and kind of aggressive? on the author's part.

I wanted it to go a little more smoothly between chapters and this just made me all around tense, which isn't exactly how I wanted to read the book.

I still really enjoyed reading, more so than a lot of other fantasies which have managed to blur together for me, and it kept me engaged throughout the whole story with good pacing and (alright, I admit the cliffhanger thing did work, although I'm not too happy about it) the plot.

There's also diversity (besides just racial) as Eliana talks about her past lovers who have been of more than just the male gender. Do keep in mind that there is one somewhat explicit (still not SJM level explicit, but more than a fade to black) sex scene so it might be better for younger readers to take caution.

But overall, I think Furyborn is a very promising start to a new YA fantasy series and I hope that it keeps up this momentum with its future books, which I am looking forward to reading!

Unfortunately this wasn't a book for me. From the first scene in the book I was lost as to what was going on. I continued on hoping to get into the book but never did. I was forcing myself to keep reading. The characters weren't really interesting and the story had quite a few plot holes. It just wasn't my type of story.

Rielle has a huge secret, that with the help of her father, she has tried to keep hidden. When Prince Audric's life is threatened, she'll do anything to save the man she loves, even reveal her secret.

A thousand years later, Eliana has her own secret. One that is to her advantage considering she works as an assassin for hire. Eliana only knows of Rielle from the stories/legends her young brother Remy collects. Mostly she dismisses them as one would dismiss fairy tales. When a job goes wrong and she is forced to switch alliances, Eliana finds herself reconsidering the validity of these tales.

This story spans a thousand years and is alternately told from Rielle's and Eliana's perspective. Other than their unusual powers, there appears to be little to link the two women. One a queen and the other a paid assassin, what could they have in common other than a love for their country.

Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me. I couldn't identify with either young woman. They remained strangers to me. I didn't feel as though I had learned any of the intimate things that a friend or confident would know. I didn't really care about either of them. I struggled to finish the final chapters even though they were exciting and contained dramatic plot developments.

spoiler: the biggest detractor of the book was the inclusion of angels. They are a type of character I don't enjoy and prefer not to read about. If the author had included some other race of being it would have increased my enjoyment.

This was a absolute page turner that had a good mythos and world and complex characters. I can't wait for the next one to come out so I can find out more about the story.

Characters: Rielle seemed very fleshed and felt like, to me, the most developed of all the characters. Her satellite characters seemed to fall flat most of the time since we don’t have much actual interaction with them to understand their personality traits, just what Rielle tells us of them. At least until the very end. Eliana, however, I didn’t understand her thought process- It seemed to jump erratically. One minute she is a bad ass and trying to manipulate people, the next minute she is scared. Neither her genetics or her upbringing would show that she would have a cowardly personality. Her surrounding characters also felt a little one dimensional to me.

Plot: I much preferred Rielle’s story line to that of Eliana’s. there were a few disconnects, ie why the Archon hates her so much and then his subsequent flip to being kind to her. Also how the trials are supposed to test her loyalty. Call me crazy, but I don’t think that purposely trying to kill someone makes them more loyal to you. If anything, maybe they are the reason she turned out this way. Eliana’s scattered personality also contributed to her reputation feeling unwarranted to me. She was supposed to be this amazing bounty hunter, The Dread of Orline, but it seemed like 50% of the time she was getting beat up by someone, or knocked out. If she really is that amazing, I would have liked to actually see it.

World: Eh. You have to go through over half the book before you find out what the other saints are except for about four of them. They kept talking about the seven, but didn’t expand on them. The magic system, elementals, was pretty cool. But, where the heck did all the refugees come from? I understand that there is an Emperor that is trying to conquer everything. But she has yet to mention a contiguous country that has not fallen to the emperor, so I am not sure how all these people got displaced from their homes recently. They do not talk about any major battles that have occurred that would force people from their homeland, and yet they are wandering around sick and supposedly hurt.

Overall, the writing was very easy to read, aside from the plot holes. I would give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

I was lucky and received an ARC of Furyborn from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m a little late on posting this, but here it goes.

I’ve previously read Claire Legrand’s Winterspell. I didn’t exactly love it, but I didn’t hate it either. When I first heard about Furyborn I knew I had to read it. With Furyborn Legrand was playing with all of the tropes that I love, things that have appeared over and over in my own writing. The premise was interesting and it hit me with a massive wave of nostalgia. This was the type of story that would have kept younger me up all hours of the night reading. That feeling is a high that I’ve been chasing for what feels like years. Despite my previous reading experience I went into this book with high expectations.

Before I say anything, understand that Furyborn is a massive undertaking. I have nothing but respect for Legrand for trying to tell this story. This novel has to serve as an introduction to the trilogy and set up two very different and complicated worlds. These worlds have to different enough to stand out from one another but similar enough that you can believe that they fall in the same timeline. Events that happen in the past (the Rielle timeline) have a ripple effect to the future timeline (Eliana’s timeline, set 1,020 years later).Not only that, this alternating timelines per chapter has to be able to work for the rest of the novels in the series. Legrand manages to not play all of her cards, leaving room for the past timeline to develop without spoiling the surprises in the future timeline and vice versa. It’s dizzying.

The two main characters of Furyborn are Rielle and Eliana. Rielle is the daughter of the General and has grown up in close quarters with the Crown Prince and his betrothed. She also harbours a secret: her magical gift is extraordinary. Unlike everyone else she has mastery over more than one element of magic and she doesn’t need an object to help her channel her power. She has kept her powers secret until the Prince is attacked and she instinctively blows her cover to rescue him. The Crown and the Church then force her to undergo challenges to prove her control over her abilities and loyalty to the Crown.

Rielle is ambitious and slowly comes into her own over the novel. Her repression of her powers have affected all aspects of her life. She feels the need to not only prove herself to the world, but for vengeance against those that have wronged her. Rielle’s story is tragic in this sense because the reader knows that her actions will eventually bring about the end of her world. No matter how hard she is fighting against the darker sides of her personality to be a good person she will ultimately fail. Only time will tell how much of her monstrous legend is truth versus exaggerated by hundreds of years of it being retold.

Then there is Eliana, right from the start she is introduced as a morally grey character. She’s a bounty hunter for the Empire, tracking down rebels and turning them over to the authorities. Legrand makes it clear that Eliana isn’t exactly loyal to the Empire, she only is looking out for her family, her actions do make her complicit and she lives with the guilt. I found Eliana’s character the most interesting but her narrative felt a little forced. Her story starts when she is approached by the rebel leader Wolf. He offers to help her find her missing mother if she helps him rescue a Princess. Which she does. As an inciting incident goes I don’t understand why Eliana accepts with no offer. One does not just decide to work with their greatest rival. I understand it gets the plot moving but wouldn’t it make more sense for her to go to the Empire? Which she does later and at that point it feels kind of forced.

I can’t decide which timeline and story I like more. Rielle’s is full of magic with a heavy religious presence. The multiple temples in her city representing specific Saints and the magical abilities that they wield. Then there is Eliana’s timeline centuries in the future where magic no longer exists and the world has been conquered by the Undying Empire. Eliana’s world reminded me of the vibe of the Dishonoured game series which felt like a nice change from the usual fantasy setting. I love seeing a fantasy world taken past the usual medieval world into a Renaissance-like era. Eliana’s world had a more gritty lived in feel. The majority of the people seem to have accepted their fate as a conquered nation. I’m a sucker for stories where the villain has already won and the heroes have to fight that extra mile. Yet I was still interested in Rielle’s world and wanted to know more about the way the religious orders were structured and how that affected the rule of the country and the daily lives of the people.

With Furyborn you get the best of both worlds: the standard fantasy novel with an idealized world and then an inversion of it. Knowing the future adds a level of tragedy to Rielle’s story but that also makes the reader root for Eliana’s success more.

This novel is not perfect. Besides the awkward iciniting incident for Eliana’s story, sometimes the pacing is off. Every once in a while the story would drag for ten to twenty pages while groundwork would be laid. Rielle’s trials also slow the plot right down. It felt like Legrand spent more time describing Rielle’s trial outfits than actually describing her experiences in the trials. Yet, my overall interest kept me coming back for more. I wanted to see how the story would end and that got me through the slower bits.

Furyborn left me with a lot of questions I desperately want answers for. How did the country of Celdaria lose to the Empire? How was the Empire formed? What happened during the first angel war? What does the Empire do to make the adatrox so alien? SO MANY QUESTIONS.

Furyborn was a bit of a hot mess, but in the best way possible. Legrand loves this story and it really shows. Because Legrand is passionate, it’s easy for the reader to be as well. This series shows a lot of promise and if it only delivers on half of it, it will be worth it. There’s a lot more than I want to talk to about but that involves some serious spoilers, so look forward to that after this book releases next month. if you love fantasy battles on a cosmic scale, then you have to pick this one up.


GOOD POINTS
- Two very distinct but related worlds in the two different timelines
- Interesting magical system and technological developments
- Good balance between the action, adventure and romance
- Story kept me interesting and wanting to come back
- Distinct character voices

NEGATIVE POINTS
- Eliana's story feels a little forced in the beginning
- The trail system felt like it weighed the book down, specifically the paragraph long focus on Rielle's outfits
- Pacing can be off at times
- Some of the explanation in the later half was unclear, had to read a few times.

NUMBER RATING
PLOT - 7
CHARACTERS - 7
SETTING - 9
WRITING STYLE - 7
ENJOYABILITY - 8
AVERAGE TOTAL: 7.6

TL;DR SUMMARY
Furyborn is a solid introduction to the Empirium trilogy.. It feels like Claire Legrand took everything she has loved in previous stories and threw it at a wall to see what stuck, and it worked. Furyborn creates an interesting world filled with complicated characters that keep you coming back for more. If you love grandiose fantasy series then this one should be on your radar.

Posted to Death of the Author Reviews April 15

I received an e-galley of Furyborn from the publisher through netgalley. That did not alter my review.

5/5 Stars
Furyborn is told in alternating point of views between Rielle and Eliana. Eliana's timeline is over 1000 years after Rielle's timeline. At first I thought this may get annoying or confusing, but each chapter is headed with the character it's following. They also are very obviously different. And each chapter ended with a minor cliffhanger so I'd have to read TWO more chapters to continue (and because I never stop mid chapter). That definitely kept me reading and kept my interest!

As for the characters, I didn't really connect with Rielle as much as I would have liked, I connected way more with Eliana and preferred her chapters. I did like the supporting characters in Rielle's chapters quite a bit though which helped a lot.

The magic in the world was really interesting, but I feel like Rielle's magic was explained more than anybody else's and I would love to learn more about what makes the way she can use hers so special. It was kind of explained here and there but not fully.

I really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to continuing the series!

I would give this title more of a 2.5 stars but rounded up because the beginning was super strong. The opening of this book was amazing and riveting, couldn't wait to read more. Then the middle chunk of this book was lacking in so many things, from interest, to plot, it just bogged me down. I didn't connect much to either character, although I liked Rielle better, just because she was complex. Just had a hard time staying interested in the whole story. It started strong, and didn't deliver what I was hoping. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

*I was given a copy of this book by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review*

Furyborn is the first book in a new young adult fantasy trilogy by Claire Legrand and will be published on May 22nd, 2108. It is told from the perspective of two characters, Rielle and Eliana. Eliana's portion is told 1,020 years earlier than Rielle's portion, yet the perspective switches back and forth between the two characters for every chapter. The magic system in this book is elemental and is based on seven elements; sun, air, fire, shadow, water, metal, and earth. The main plot point revolves around a gate that was made to keep angels from coming to earth and destroying humanity. There is prophecy that states, "The Gate will fall, The angels will return and bring ruin to the world. You will know this time by the rise of two human Queens-one of blood, and one of light. One with the power of the Seven. They will carry your fate in their hands. Two Queens will rise." The story takes off from that point beginning with the knowledge that Rielle is the Blood Queen.

I had trouble getting used to the dual perspective, especially since there's a difference of 1,020 years between the two characters. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that whatever happened in Rielle's chapters had already happened a thousand years in the past . It would've been an easier read if all of Rielle's chapters were part 1 and all of Eliana's chapters were part 2. Or if Rielle's chapters were their own book separate from Eliana's chapters. Or if the time gap between the two people was less. There were many ways to fix this.

My other major gripe with this book was the fact that there were so many conflicts and plot points in this book, that it felt a little overwhelming. There's angels, and magic, and rebellion against an oppressive government, and each character's own personal conflicts, and the whole prophecy thing, and a whole lot more. In my opinion, there was too much going on and the different plot points were not cohesive all together, even though individually they would be great.

My last two issues with this book were Eliana and the twists. Eliana was such an annoying character, but that's more of a personal issue than an actual fault with the writing. The twists, however, were very predictable. There was no major revelation or plot twist that really blew my socks off. It was just a very average YA fantasy book, in my opinion.

Furyborn tales the story of two Queens, one who will doom the world and another who will save it.
Rebellious Lady Rielle lives in a world of people who can control the elements, but she does not know the force of her powers until she sneaks away from her father. Despair leads to trials and Lady Rielle must come to terms that she may just be the star of the prophecies of her world. The book alternates between the story of Rielle as well as the other mentioned in the prophecy. But right and wrong, good and evil are not as clearcut as the stories of the world would have you believe.
I love this book. It was exciting and kept me turning pages. I just wanted to know what would happen next to Rielle and what really happens in her life. I deducted one star because the second story was not as engaging or the character as likable until about the last three chapters of the book. I usually justed wanted to get back to Rielle's story as it was the most engaging and kept me on my toes.
That being said, I am ready for the next book and to see what happens to the two heroines.

3.5 stars

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

I received this book in the end of December when it already had a huge hype about it, it still has to this day, so I went into the story with high expectation. I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t love the story as much as others but there is a reason for it.

I didn’t know how rate this book because it basically two stories woven into one book, as the two POVs play out a thousand year apart and tell the tale of two different girls. And honestly I loved one of those point of views and I would give that one 5 stars in a heartbeat, while I kinda hated the other one and I would barley give it a 3 stars so that’s how the 3.5 rating happened. But let’s start at the beginning.

The writing is phenomenal, not overly flowery, but colorful, vivid and really engaging. The story sucked me in with the first chapter. It is a long book but it wasn’t a hardship to read at all.
The first chapter, which is basically a prologue kinda thing, is the little gems that connect the two POVs, however in my opinion at the same time it tells to much about the Rielle’s story. But it is necessary because other than this there is only an invisible thread connecting the two sides of the book.
As for the world building, the map at the beginning of the book was a huge help because the details of the world come into play really late considering their importance. For probably 20% of the book I had no freaking idea what was going on with a world so complex, where the plot builds so heavily on the workings of the society it can be a huge problem or as it was for me an irritating obstacle to fully immerse myself into story. However after thing regarding the world started to clear out and became more put together you could see the creative genius behind it. I loved every little detail of it and how they connected into an intricate and rich creation, especially with the cool elemental magic. Although I found it a bit strange that there weren’t definite indicators when it came to the world between the two times, I mean in a 1000 years not much changed technologically and such and that was just a bit unbelievable for me.

Before I get to the individual POVs I need to mention one more thing that bothered me. I understand that the author wanted to lead the two storyline parallel that’s why the alternating but the changes between them, was abrupt and almost always in the middle of some action or important even that it interrupted the flow of the plot in a bad way. Because of this the whole book felt bit like it’s stilted.

Rielle’s story

I didn’t like her POV, but mostly because of her character. After the ‘prologue’ where she already painted a bad picture about herself I still went into the story giving her the benefit of the doubt, feeling that there must be some good reason behind her actions. Unfortunately, her personality quickly soured my mood. And while the idea of a flawed heroine has a lot of potential but for me Rielle’s is just one that rubs me the wrong way, she is so arrogant, manipulative, conniving and shallow in a way, her sole focus is getting what she wants no matter who she prowls over for it. I got that she felt restricted and that was the fault of her father and teachers but the way she wanted everybody to love her and bow down to the all mighty and powerful Rielle was just annoying. She loved the spectacle around her, rejoiced because of it and ignored the obvious warning signals and clues in favor of her wants and needs. The best way I could describe her is a young child trapped in the body of a goddess who if doesn’t get her throws a world shattering temper tantrum. I tried to look for some redeeming qualities in her but didn’t find any.

“They will love me. All of them will.”

“I want……I want. I need. I crave.”

And don’t even get me started on the whole romance in it, that was just as equally bad as the rest of her character.
So there were things that I liked about her side as well. While the plot wasn’t overly complex or dynamic, it was more about the royal machinations, secrets and intrigue, it was a bit tedious for me, I found the descriptions of the trials quite enjoyable, colorful and imaginative.

Eliana’s story:

While neither of the heroines is easily or instantly likeable, they are both conflicting characters. I loved every minute of Eliana‘s part. She is just as flawed her counterpart but she is honest about it and I loved that. At first glance she is a hard ass, an aggressive, blood thirsty and somewhat cruel but after getting to know her better it turns out that she is just an angry and afraid girl who is willing to sacrifice everybody and everything to survive and save her family. She is the perfect representation of the most humane reaction. Every time her emotions come up she runs and tries to drown them she is a bit of a coward that way but she also goes through quite a character development along the way.
Her storyline is starts out a bit slower and has a completely different atmosphere and dynamism I still loved it more. For me it has more of an appeal, it was more interesting and complex. I also found the supporting characters diverse in personality and especially adored the rapport between Eliana and Simon which in my hopes later on going to turn into something more.

Furyborn follows the stories of two women in different periods of time and how their stories connect to form an ancient prophecy about the fate of their world. I loved this book. I think stories like this that bounce between characters from different time periods are always so fascinating to read for me, The pacing was really intense too. Every time I reached the end of a chapter, I had to keep going to find out what would happen next, especially because each chapter alternated between stories. I was so attached to what was going on both with Rielle and with Eliana so I wanted to know more from both of them. I really love that we start with the day that Rielle gives birth and sends her daughter away to protect her and then we go back with her story and watch some of the progression of how she ended up at that point. I'm glad that Eliana learned the truth of where she came from and was relatively accepting of the truth rather than having that be a long drawn out plot point because she is going to have a lot to deal with in whatever comes next for her story. I can't wait to read the next one and see what happens next!

Received an ARC from the publisher for an honest review.

The first book in a fresh, young adult trilogy follows a time slip point of view of two characters, one in the past and one in the present. In a unique fantasy novel, two strong independent women must find out who they are and how they got into a complicated world around them.
Perfect for readers of Victoria Aveyard and Sarah J Maas, Furyborn weaves magic and romance in both connecting storylines. While some connections were predictable, the way the author presented them and tied them together were remarkably brilliant.
There are hints of adult theming that may turn off readers but they are so nondescriptive that they do not detract from the storyline.

Two young women linked by blood and fated to change their world. Both face impossible trials and impossible choices.

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

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

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

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

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley (though I have also purchased/preordered my own copy). All opinions are my own.

A missing princess. A fierce female assassin. A world stripped of its magic with an evil emperor and possessed soldiers. Sound a little familiar?

But even with all its similarities, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an enjoyable read. The story switches POV from Rielle, who discovers that her unique powers means she’s one of two prophesied queens: the Sun Queen or the Blood Queen. Flash forward to years and years later, and we meet Eliana – famed assassin – who finds herself on a mission that challenges her entire way of thinking.

I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but the prologue was actually my favorite part of the book. It sets up the rest of the story SO well and creates a high level of tension and mystery that kept me reading. Without it, I don’t think I would have been so invested in the story.

All in all, I enjoyed Rielle’s chapters much more (mainly because Eliana’s just felt so familiar). Rielle also felt much more balanced as a character although both are strong, badass women. Eliana just felt a little like she was trying too hard – waffling back and forth between cruel and compassionate like a rubber band.

The world building also needed a little more work. In itself, the premise is intriguing. Sorcerer’s who can control different elements is nothing really new, but they’re also at war with the angels (a force that’s usually portrayed as good). Why are they at war? Not really sure. It’s one of the many things that needed a bit more explanation (maybe instead of one of the multiple fight scenes).

One last thing… This book is being hyped up as a fantasy with bi-representation. I honestly don’t understand why. There were maybe two passing comments, and if I hadn’t been looking, I would have missed them.

Overall, it was an enjoyable but average read. If it wasn’t for the prologue, I would have ranked it lower, and it’s the one thing that has me holding out for book 2.

I'm going to be buying a physical copy of this book when it's released, because the online version was tough to get through...but not because it wasn't interesting. This book hooks you from the first page and doesn't let go. However, reading a dual perspective novel in e-book format is a little tough to say the least, and I like to go back and re-read because I have a tendency to run the stories together. This was an issue I had while reading this book. That said, the story of Queen Rielle and Eliana was amazing. It's a story of power, magic, romance, angels, assassins, and a prophecy that will alter their worlds forever. Claire Legrand has written a beautiful fantasy novel, with beautiful characters and doesn't shy away from the darkness within each character. The women in this story are kick-ass, and fight for what they believe, even if it means losing those that they love. They make some heavy sacrifices and I can honestly say that the character development in this is serious. There will be times that you want to scream at them, there will be times you want to protect them from the world, but honestly, Rielle and Eliana will make you love them. I really loved reading through, despite having a hard time with the dual perspectives. I cannot wait to get my hands on a paper copy. However, I feel that this book is definitely more of a New Adult title, rather than for teens. It is definitely in line with Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Aveyard.

4.5 stars! I really enjoyed this book.
Even though we were thrown into 3 different time periods within the prologue and first 2 chapters, which was a little disorienting, I was hooked from the very beginning. There were so many things I desperately wanted to know from the first page about what happened in the thousand years between Rielle and Eliana's stories, as well as their current stories.
At first, I really disliked Eliana. I just wanted her to become who I hoped she would become and she just kept being a little jerk. But that's who she was and I'm glad her personality wasn't easily swayed now that I've finished the book. I was much more invested in Rielle's story at the beginning. It was much more exciting to me. There were so many things we already knew that Eliana didn't (who Simon was, that Rielle is the blood queen and that she dies) that Rielle's story pulled me in so much more because we were finding out how all those things happened.
About halfway through I got more invested in Eliana's story because she started to turn herself around and the things happening in that story were more exciting. I found all the trials Rielle went through a little repetitive, even though they were important. Then, about 3/4 of the way through, I got pulled right back into Rielle's story because of certain things we had found out in Eliana's story that started to bring everything together.
I loved the relationship between Rielle, Audric and Ludevine. I also loved the relationship between Eliana and Remy and then the forming relationship between Eliana and Navi. They were all so believable.
The only things that knocked this down half a star for me were that at the beginning, it was hard for me to remember what happened in which story and to switch between a thousand years every chapter. I would be thinking some small detail happened in one story, but it happened in the other. It was helpful that the stories only intertwined a small amount and that there was an entire different cast of characters in each story. It just took me a while to get my brain in the habit of switching POVs I think.
The other thing was that there were quotes or excerpts at the beginning of every chapter and I felt like it was something important or something that foreshadowed something in the coming chapter, but I could never remember it long enough to figure out if it did or not. I still am not sure if the beginning part of every chapter was important, or if it was just another thing to link the stories together, or show a different perspective.
Something I really liked was that not all the questions I had at the beginning of the book were answered. I thought that everything would be resolved in this book and there would be a whole new set of problems in the second book, because that's how a lot of books are. Literally nothing got resolved in the book and only a few questions got answered, but it didn't feel unfinished. It had a satisfying ending with questions leading into more questions for the second book. Speaking of the second book, is it out yet?

This book was brilliant, and it hit like a sucker-punch to the chest. It was evocative and painfully REAL, and gut-wrenchingly sad but so so good! I devoured this book and read it in a day.

If you like epic fantasy reads- this book is for you. In fact, if you like to read- this book is for you! I highly recommend! Two thumbs up!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book. I will happily recommend it to all who ask for a great read.