It has been a while since I came across a powerfully imaginative and intense fantasy story, and Furyborn surely delivered. From the first chapter, I found myself captivated and desperate for answers to all the questions that came to mind as I wove through page after page. Legrand truly does an amazing job in this riveting novel and I was extremely grateful to have had the chance to enjoy this book.

This book was unexpected. I read it in one day because it needed to be read. I was surprised at all turns. A truly unique book, with stories within stories.
Must read.

after my reread:
The book still holds up. The ending is delicious and unexpected and I can’t wait for the movie.

Review *NON SPOILERY REVIEW*

What an epic introduction to this sure-to-be fantastic trilogy.

Words cannot explain my never-ending love for a strong, willful and all around bada** leading lady. Well, lucky for me, we get MULTIPLE leading ladies in this dual POV story about power, fate, and the often blurry line between the definition of good and evil.

The prologue starts off running, throwing us into the story via a very memorable and dramatic opening scene. The action rarely slows from there, as we follow two young women's trials and journeys to save themselves and those around them. This story is incredibly fast paced, with many excellently written action sequences. There were also a LOT of near scrapes with certain characters that I found perhaps a *tiny* bit repetitive toward the end. More than once, I found myself wishing the story would slow down for just a tiny bit to add in some extra exposition and background, but then again, there were quite a few very natural and helpful dialogues between a variety of characters that showed the reader hidden connections and explanations.

When all of the running and battling and escaping and rescuing did slow down for a sec, we got a few pretty steamy sequences, especially between a certain MC and her forbidden handsome prince love, that I was TOTALLY here for. There is no hazy, half disguised description of sexy times that leaves you wondering 'did they just...?' Oh, no. Not in this house. They DID. And it was fantastic.

Even with the sometimes overwhelming pace of this novel, I thoroughly enjoyed this creatively imagined magical world and the complex connections between all of the characters (especially the two MCs). Many of the characters were very compelling, including almost all of the side characters and the plot itself has such fantastic promise for the future. I will absolutely be back for the next installment in the Empirium Trilogy.

I'm quite impressed with this new fantasy novel! I was at first a bit hesitant to go into this book because I had recently finished reading another pretty dense fantasy novel and was unsure if I was in the mood for another intense fantasy. However, I am pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this one.

FURYBORN follows two girls, Eliana and Rielle, who each have their own powers and soon discover the lengths of their magic. What's interesting is that this novel is not only told between these two points of views, but it is also told with a difference of a time period of a century between these two characters. By the end of the novel, it was incredibly satisfying to tie all these timelines together, which I thought was done beautifully. My only reservation is that I was a bit confused in terms of who was who and what was really going on until the end of the novel when there was a bit more light shed on the whole plot.

I really enjoyed Eliana and Rielle as characters - they're both such powerful characters with immense magic, but it's interesting to see the dynamic of right and wrong, control and lack thereof in regards to their powers and the underlying supernatural threats in the coming future. While there were a variety of characters, it was not difficult to keep track of each of them and their importance to the world.

Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with FURYBORN, my first Legrand novel. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the series, which I am anxiously anticipating! If you enjoy magic, supernatural elements, strong female characters, amazing romances, and action-packed scenes, be sure to pick this one as soon as possible!

Thank you to Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think the last time I was this excited about a fantasy novel, I'd just heard about Queen of the Tearling. Actually, it's not all that surprising that I was immediately drawn to this book the way I was drawn to that one. Magic, conspiracy, rebellions This book is fantastic and both its main characters are engaging, feisty and unique strong female leads. I'd struggle to choose a favourite between the two. The POV switches from chapter to chapter, keeping you on your toes.

The worlds, a thousand years apart, are both so different and well thought out. Rielle's is a world full of magic, with seven different elements. Rielle's secret is that she controls them all and when she is found out, she must undergo seven trials to prove that she is not a threat to the kingdom and the rightful Sun Queen. The trials are brilliant and had my heart in my mouth the whole time. I was excited to see each trial and how Rielle would overcome them. She's stubborn and reckless but you definitely root for her!

Eliana was tricky to love at first, a ruthless, unfeeling bounty hunter who will do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of her family. She wields knives and jumps from impossible heights and is known as the 'Dread of Orline.' A name earned, that's for sure. But when women disappear into the night and several events lead to Eliana's whole world changing, she changes too. Her character development in the sequel is something I'm looking forward to and how much she's going to grow as a character.

Definitely five stars. Claire Legrand has made it onto my list of must buy and I cannot wait for more books in this series. Full in-depth review lives on Novel Darlings at Wordpress.

Actual rating: 4.5.

I am flummoxed by the early "too long, couldn't get into it" reviews for this book. Yes, it's long, but my god -- the worldbuilding is unrestrained in its ambition, shit is happening all the damn time, it's dark as hell and, often, is fully of nasty surprises. I can't remember the last time I yelled "... THAT MOTHERFUCKER" (and delightful variations thereof) at a book once, let alone multiple times. By which I mean: it's exciting and gratifying in a delightfully shameless, pulpy way and, overall, pretty damn great. My only real complaint is that the sex scenes seemed a bit cliche and same-y, but I'm starting to realize I react that way to basically all sex scenes, so this could well be a 'it's not you, it's me situation.'

Anyone who digs fantasy stories driven by badass ladies who make their own decisions and don't bow before anyone should read the hell out of this book and get excited for the two more (!!!) that are coming.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC.

The following will be posted on my blog, Keep Reading Forward, on February 3rd, 8AM EST:

In Furyborn, two girls separated by a thousand years are more connected to each other than they know. One girl is suddenly cast into the trials to become the Sun Queen after learning of her mysterious powers while the other is just an everyday bounty hunter. In an adventure filled with magic, action, and everything else, everything will be pieced together as time moves on (sometimes literally).

I have to admit, the author knew exactly what she doing with this story. However, I do believe the beginning was lacking in progress. Through the alternate perspectives, the first couple chapters for Rielle and Eliana was bit slow. I felt like the first couple of characters were the ground work and trying to establish everything, and trying to see how everything worked together. Once that part of the story was done, it started to get better. 

Rielle's story was most interesting of the two. As Rielle's story started to move on and such, Eliana's story was still behind and felt constant. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed all the fight scenes Eliana had as they were written quite well. They were almost the best scenes I have ever scene, but there was no progress to them. Once there was a turn of events, Eliana's story finally jumped into gear and was worth reading for. 

I love it when stories have their unique magic system, I really do. When I heard that the magic in this world dealt with 7 elementals, I was beyond excited. I knew that I wanted to read this story to see how it all played out. I do have my thoughts on it and some critics as well. I have loved the use of the elemental magic throughout each of the trials. However, I really hoped there was more explanations on the magic and thought process during Rielle's scenes. It felt that sometimes her doings just came out of nowhere with just no explanations. 

Along with the magic system, my only other critic is that I wanted to see more history of the magic system and going into the mythology more. Each chapter had a brief excerpt of information from a historical source giving little information. Other than the little excerpts, there were brief parts where the history the elemental magic comes from and the figures involving so. When each elemental was explained, it followed the same format each time. As I kept seeing the magic's prayer, the person who was responsible for, and possibly what they did to be known, I wondered if I would earn anything knew. The mythology was good, but it not really the best. I hope this is certainly improved in the next book. 

Overall, the details in the story were really good. I do believe that, as I mentioned, the author knew exactly she was doing and planned everything down to the exact point. I saw room for improvements but I do know this is going to be a thrilling series. Legrand as a skill for writing really good fighting scenes, making them lifelike. I can definitely see why everyone is raving for this book when it comes out.

While I am a fan of the YA fantasy genre, I found this book incredibly difficult to get in to and as such, did not finish. From the very beginning the story was confusing and I was not invested enough in the characters or plot to try and plow through. There were several plot/character points that reminded me of other novels (the secret markings on the bodies=Cassandra Clare, for example) and that was enough to pull me out of the story. However, I feel that there are readers that would enjoy this, and I would recommend it to my students that enjoy the YA fantasy.

I loved this book. It was so hard to put down. Can't wait until the next one!

Sadly, try as I might, I was just not able to get into this book. I had heard so many good things about it, I guess my expectations were set a little too high. I think what set me off at a bad course was the opening and how it was basically something so far outside what the description was talking about I wasn't sure how to connect the two stories. It became a little clearer as I read on, but it really just didn't do well to draw me into the story since I felt like things already happened and I had to go back to the beginning to actually start the story. I sadly didn't last for much longer after that part.

This book (and the series) revolves around a prophecy that says there’s going to be two queens, the blood queen and the sun queen. Each of these queens will have all seven elemental powers (wind, fire, earth, air, metal, sun, and shadow). It also says the blood queen is essentially a bad omen, the signal of the destruction of the world as everyone knows it, and the sun queen is essentially good, a sign of protection. But this prophecy like most prophecies does not account for the humanity embodied within these queens--how their desperation to survive and their passion for other people will affect their seemingly inescapable futures.

Prophecies do not understand humanity, but you know who does understand it? Legrand. Her characters are not only believable, fully fledged people but also so very human. They aren’t archetypes but people that do some good things and some bad things, proving that the world and the people in it are far more complex than is easily understood or controlled. This aspect of the book, along with a no-pause plot, makes this book an incredibly enjoyable and heartening read. Great for fans of Six of Crows or anyone who enjoys fantasy with complex characters.

Furyborn is a young adult fantasy novel that follows two women a 1000 years apart. I’m not a fan of young adult fantasy, however this premise peaked my interest. I find that young adult fantasy novels aren’t as well developed as their adult fantasy counterparts. Yet, Furyborn stands out as one of the better young adult fantasy novels on the market for multiple reasons, however it does still fall prey to the common young adult fantasy issues.

What makes Furyborn stand out is the complex plot and subtle sexual tension that runs underneath the surface of the entire novel. Furyborn is almost two separate novels in one. As the reader progresses through the story, small hints and references are made that connect both timelines. Furyborn is complex in its storytelling by weaving two very different stories into one connected narrative in ways the reader will not see coming. The subtle sexual tension running through the novel is fantastic. It’s much more mature than what is portrayed in most young adult novels without being overly graphic or crude.

The biggest issue I had with Furyborn was the magic system. The magic system is based in elemental magic. This may seem like a straightforward magic system since it’s almost self-explanatory, however Legrand takes little to now time to explain the intricacies of how the magic works or how to use it. A large part of one of the story lines is the magical trials that test the main character’s abilities. These trials demonstrated to the reader how competent the main character is, however failed to showcase how the power is used or its limitations.

Furyborn focuses on Rielle and Eliana. Rielle is exposed as being able to control each force of elemental magic, so she’s required to endure magical trials to prove her allegiance to the country. Eliana is a bounty hunter working for the Undying Empire after it conquered her kingdom. After her mother vanishes, she’s thrust into a new life and discovers the true horrors of the world around her.

Without giving away too much information about the plot, all I’ll say is that a lot of the world building and bigger picture story telling happens with Rielle’s story line and I found it fascinating. I enjoyed a lot about the happenings around Rielle, but didn’t much enjoy Rielle as a character. I found her to be annoying and naïve despite her upbringing. The best part of Rielle’s story has to do with Legrand’s choice in revealing Rielle’s future in the prologue. The reader then gets to experience what led her to make the choices she made and their eventual consequences.

Eliana is described as a ruthless killer doing what needs to be done for the empire to survive. Her existence revolves around survival. However, she has a weakness when it comes to her family, her mother and brother. Unfortunately, her relationships with them are underdeveloped despite them being a catalyst for her plot.

Overall, Furyborn is an interesting introduction to a fantasy world packed with action and intrigue. I loved that it was more mature than most young adult fantasy novels and I’m excited to see where the story goes.
If you’re a fan of adult fantasy, then Furyborn may not be for you. You may find it underdeveloped.

I loved this book! Claire Legrand is one of my favorite MG authors and I was so excited to read her YA novel. I love the dual points of view and the dual timelines that intersect. I thought it was a bold choice to set them in different time periods and it was very well done. I love how strong the female characters are too! I can't wait for the sequel to come out!!

Furyborn has great potential - the plot is engaging, and the writing style is fairly epic. It's the characters that make, or in this case break, the story.
First, to clarify. This story is told from the perspective of 2 main characters. I loved one, and was incredibly bored by the other. And the supporting cast were such dynamic characters, I wanted more of them.

- Enjoyed -
Rielle - amazing character development. I could be sympathetic, understand her suffering. Her power didn't separate her from her human feelings.

I think Rielle is supposed to be the villain, but I liked her story far more than Eliana's. The emotions were more tense, and the action felt more life threatening.

The male supporting cast - Audric, Corien, Remy, Simon. Great guys. They interacted so well with the female leads & I wanted more from each of them.

Magic contest - the contest kept the story full of action. The book itself, the prologue, might give away the ending. But you're still on the edge of your seat.

Time traveling - I'm super confused with how the time traveling thing worked for the marques. Why are the two Queens a thousand years apart? And how are some characters still alive???
The confusion was a good confusion, because it made me want to read more.

Split Perspectives - I really enjoyed how the story went back and forth between Rielle and Eliana. It worked out super well in the story telling. It can be hard to write this way without messing with your reader's heads. But thankfully, I wasn't confused.

- Not so great -

Eliana - she just didn't grab me! She's too cold, too brutal. Almost one dimensional in her ferocity. I know strong women are amazing - and there's really great strong characters out there. Aelin, Katniss, Hermione.

But cold-blooded killers are hard to read about. Hard to connect to emotionally. Eliana claims she's killing to save her family's life, but why in the world does she have to actually kill? Why did she even start working for the Empire?

Her relationships felt incredibly selfish too, as though she was using everyone. And that made me as a reader feel used.

Eliana + Simon - Um, no. Just no. STOP now.

New Adult Scenes - repeat after me, sex scenes are for NA books. YA shouldn't have sex scenes. Did you repeat after me?

I don't mind sexual tension. Or references to relationships. Or kissing. Or even slight adult elements

But an adult sex scene SHOULD NOT be in a YA book. Just no! YA is suitable for age 13+

That's the definition of YA??? Why are we putting sex scenes in YA???

To authors - all an explicit sex scene does is lose readers. I wasn't allowed to read stuff like that (I still avoid it) You take away a whole book from an audience by adding it in.

You can have romance, and love, and amazing chemistry without explicit sex! Please, please, just don't do it.

The prologue - Ok, the prologue is action packed. Very action packed.
But I felt like it gave away too much? We know what happens to Audric and Rielle, and even Simon.

I don't want that information! I'm upset I even know! It's like being spoiled, but not because the author intentionally did it? Really weird.

Weird questions - Now, this is rather random, but I have several unanswered questions after reading this book.

What do Rielle and Eliana look like? I know they have dark hair, they look like each other, Eliana looks like her father.

But that's not a physical description? Or at least enough for me to picture them???

Come to think of it, I can't tell you what any character really looks like. Except for Simon's scars, and some guy's white hair.

And is Eliana bisexual? A vague reference to a female lover at one point, and nothing more. Does she just use people? Diversity is great, but not when it's written this way.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a fast-paced and interesting read. But it was not engaging or emotional. It's hard to be invested in Eliana, or even care about the sequel. I was completely weary with Eliana's story by the time the book ended.
I would only read the sequel to hear more from Rielle.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

To future readers: STICK WITH IT. At the start of the book I found myself bored and a little bit overwhelmed with all the names, places, and titles included. It was too much of an infodump in the first 10% to 20%. As the book progressed, my feelings went from I'm-Quitting-This-One to Four-Stars-Where's-The-Sequel. Persevere, my fellow bookworms!

You know how a lot of YA new releases are including comparisons to Game of Thrones in their blurbs? This one actually felt like it deserved that comparison. Eliana is a hired assassin who has has to evolve into ruthlessness in order to survive in the Empire. Rielle is a court lady with secret powers in love with the prince, and the prince is betrothed to his cousin (see, incest, just like Game of Thrones! haha) who is also Rielle's bff . Both Eliana and Rielle are strong protagonists and I enjoyed the dual POV between them. I repeat, I enjoyed the dual POV - this is rare for me! It's even rarer to have dual POVs crossing centuries in a book actually <i>work</i> and tie seamlessly together. Legrand accomplishes this.

Throughout the book there is intrigue, action, power dynamics and politics at play (again, like Game of Thrones), and even SEX (again, like Game of Thrones). SEX in caps lock because it's nice to have a fantasy-genre book actually include sexual elements instead of tiptoeing around it. Because of this, I'm not sure it should be shelved as YA though?

Why not five stars? Because of the slow start. Also because I need some more explanation/logistics about the angels and how the plot features a wormhole in time. I'm hoping I will get that and more in the second book!

Sincere thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC!

I really, really wanted to read this one. It sounded so cool from the blurb! Unfortunately, I came across reviews mentioning explicit content, and the fact that the MC is bisexual. Being a conservative Christian reader, I choose not to fill my head with these kinds of things, so I won't be reading this one after all.

I really enjoyed this book.

Its is the tale of 2 Queens, prophecised to be the Queen of the Sun and the Queen of the Blood, one intended to save the world, the other to destroy it.

The book is told from 2 perspectives, over 2 different time periods, over a thousand years apart. We have Rielle, a young girl with very powerful magic, who is in love with her best friend Audric a price of the realm who is promised to marry his cousin Lu and then we have Eliana who is a thief and murderer who is just doing her best to take care of her family, but she does this on the blood of others. Eliana also has magic and we have to determine which girl is which and how it is all going to play out. To be honest i had figured it out during the opening pages but i enjoyed the book anyway.

Despite the back storys i much preferred Rielle as a character, i liked her interaction with the Angels and how she tries so hard to help her friends and others she cares about. Eliana will stab anyone in the back to further her own goals and she is a less likeable character. However i enjoyed her interactions with the wraith and her complicated relationship with Simon.

I would very happily read book 2.

This series keeps getting better. What seemed an overdone and ill-handled plot in the first book was made much more complicated, intriguing and fun this go around. Well-done!

Author Claire Legrand’s novel FURYBORN is a fantastical novel featuring alluring, tenacious characters and an unforgettable heart-stopping story.

Furyborn is brimming with strong, fiery female characters that will have you cheering even as they do some dangerous and at times despicable things. I was so taken with the blurb I could not wait to read this novel. The idea of a story essentially taking place during two different lifetimes was intriguing, add in the fantasy, romance and action elements and I was hooked. I was not disappointed. Furyborn is enrapturing from page one. It’s impossible to miss the life or death tension within the first few scenes. I could feel my heart beating wildly as one OMG thing after another happened until my mind exploded with understanding of what was going to happen next.

At first, I was afraid that Legrand’s use of a nonlinear narrative would become confusing as I tried to discover how the two plots would sync up and remember the many characters that came with them. Thankfully, Legrand is quite skillful with her pen. In Furyborn, she creates such unique, memorable characters and plotlines it is easy to keep track of everything. The worldbuilding within Furyborn is without a doubt one of the most skilled I’ve read. The imagery and plot make it easy to imagine yourself in the line of fire with the characters.

As a reader you always know going into one of these stories there is a good chance you’re going to find your heart breaking in some manner before it’s over. In Furyborn, the chances of this happening are double since we are dealing with two heroines. Rielle and Eliana are fiercely independent women with a passionate need to protect the people they love. They have lives and ideals of their own, but they are thrown into the middle of a long-foretold prophecy within their kingdoms. As this prophecy begins to take over their lives they are forced to discover what they are truly made of. Following them both on their trail of self-discovery is intense and marvelous. I love the fact that these women are not purely good or evil which is the conclusion other characters would like to draw about them. Both Rielle and Eliana have many rich layers of personality, conscience and desires that drive them in fascinating ways. The men in their lives are equally dashing and entrancing.

I did not want Furyborn to end and when it did I was left with a desperate need to discover what would happen next. I will be counting down the days until the next novel in the Empirium trilogy releases. I must know what happens to the characters that I’ve become insanely attached to!

Furyborn is a phenomenally haunting novel that will leave you breathless and extremely satisfied. The remarkable drama, intense action sequences and the bewitching fantasy make Furyborn a Joyfully Recommended Read.

**Furyborn is classified as a young adult novel but due to the age of the main characters, violence and sexual situations I consider it a New Adult.

Scheduled for April 1st, 2018 on Joyfully Reviewed

Omg! This book was absolutely amazing! I loved this book soo much! I will definitely be buying the next one!
It leaves you wanting more from the first chapter. Furyborn has everything an amazing books needs magical powers, a sassy assassin, adventure and romance with some humor! 😍