"The Division Ember's Quest" by Kevin M. Penelerick is an enthralling fantasy adventure that takes readers on a journey through a richly imagined world filled with magic, intrigue, and danger. Following the protagonist, Ember, readers are drawn into a quest to uncover the truth behind a mysterious division that threatens the balance of power in the land. Penelerick's storytelling is immersive, weaving together elements of action, suspense, and magic to create a compelling narrative that keeps readers eagerly turning the pages. With its dynamic characters and intricate world-building, "The Division Ember's Quest" is a captivating read that will leave fantasy enthusiasts eagerly anticipating the next installment in the series.

While I did enjoy the story of this book, the writing style made it very difficult for me to read. It was at times hard to follow the disjointed and choppy chapters jumping quickly from character to character. It all felt a bit too staccato for me personally. I would’ve loved a little more time to connect with and understand the character before jumping into the quest… I felt like the early world building was a bit incomplete. All in all, I felt like there was potential here, but the writing style just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this book and I read it quickly in one sitting. It was well written with a captivating storyline and well developed characters. It was a gripping read.

Un libro en donde la trama no avanza sino que retrocede.
Ember es el tipico personaje estereotipado de " soy la heroina" pero cada dos segundos estoy llorando. DIOS que personaje mas molesto. Tampoco se ve crecimiento ni nada por el estilo.
El mundo tendria muchisimo mas sentido si tan solo lo explicaran.
Hay saltos en el tiempo que no tienen sentido, cuentan una historia desde la perspectiva de un personaje x que no tiene nada que ver y *marea*

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

To summarize: Whoa!!! I can't wait for the next book in the series. If this was Book 1, I am waiting to see how the author is going to top this one up! :)

This was mesmerizing, enchanting, held my attention throughout. Finished it in two straight sittings .. it was that good!

I loved how enough time was given to build the world and the characters. Lovely!

Thank you Netgalley and the author for the e-book, and for the opportunity to read it in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I had forgotten how YA books just drag you into the story and make you not want to put the book down. I really liked the story, even though in the beginning you get a bit confused, you just have to keep on reading. The characters are lovely, would have liked a bit more of a backstory to some but not a big deal. The writing was good, for young readers it's perfect but, I would put the pronunciation guide before the first chapter or just at the end. It's easier that way. Fast-paced, great story, good writing, and a very nice plot, it's an easy 4 star read for me.

I'd totally recommend this book for kids or teens between 13-16 years old, a great way to get into reading.

Provided by Netgalley!
DNFD at around 60%

I think this book is aimed at the younger ya audience as this book generally didn’t have any themes that were inappropriate for children.

I thought the book had sooooo much potential but as the story went on i thought it was quite bland and boring. I felt like the book was kind of dragged on.

The characters could definitely use some more backstory and all the action in this book felt very childish?

I didn’t think the book was bad but i usually read upper ya books so this was just simply not enough for me.

I think this book would be perfect for 9-12 year old if they want a simple and fairly quick read but definitely not as good for upper ya audience.

Before/when The Division: Ember's Quest, it is important to note that this is Book One. If you are expecting a resolution - don't! This book will give you no resolution - only a cliff hanger. On the good side, it will leave you want ing more. Ember's Quest will appeal to Middle Graders and above - anyone with their feet firmly in the YA fantasy pool. The characters are interesting, although some of the lesser characters could have been fleshed out a little more - especially the brothers. Ethan and Evan There is little detail about their role/place in Ember's life before the quest, but for those who love acton packed adventure - this is non-stop action. If you have to stop reading, you will be dying to get back to it - so much so, that I had to read it all in one sitting! It is immersive and interesting with the people of Division under threat from the eternal war of the elementals. Can't wait to read more!

A good start to a potentially epic adventure series. I liked the layout with the book organized into 9 parts with each part having several short chapters in each. Penelerick also provides a map at the beginning which you will need with the travels of Ember and the lore within the story. The Lore is incredibly well done. I enjoyed the imagination and world-building of this universe. However, I do wish that the characters had more emotional growth but this may happen in further books.

*I received a copy of The Division: Ember's Quest in consideration of an honest review*

Ember is the princess of one of three kingdoms in the Division. Her father becomes sick and sends her on a quest to retrieve a cure. She's to go alone and tell no one because a trailer is in their midst. He must have been truly delirious to think a child who never set foot outside the kingdom, and has little to no combat training could survive, let alone complete the quest.

Immediately after being told to tell no one, she tells two people who then tell more so she's not great at following directions. I found I couldn't really connect with Ember because she seemed a bit simple. She has no combat skills, not all that intelligent, and doesn't contribute a lot to the story. There was a lot of focus on her hair color and her knitting prowess, neither of which were useful in the fight scenes.

The action scenes themselves were really well written with just the right amount of description. They were easy to follow and didn't drag out like some tend to do. The chapters were fairly short which made for a good pace in the latter half of the book, though the beginning seemed to drag.

There isn't really much chemistry between Ember and Madera, the attractive prisoner she saved early in her journey. I stress attractive because that's all he has going for him. He's either lashing out or sobbing whenever he's mentioned. Which, you would think, would invoke Ember's "legendary temper" but she just coddles him. Her temper only truly comes out in the last few chapters of the book and her response is uncalled for.

I'm only rating this so harshly because it's classes as a young adult novel. I truly believe it would be much better for middle grade. They're more forgiving of simple characters and when things don't quite add up. I believe the age range that would enjoy this book is nine to thirteen.

*As a courtesy, I don't publish any reviews I feel may have a negative impact on book sales*

A good start to a potentially epic adventure series.

Ember, Princess of the Kingdom of Raneban is living a typical "princess" life until calamity strikes and she must set out on an adventure to save her father...and potentially her world. </p>

I was excited to start this book when I received it as an eARC from NetGalley. Magic - female protagonist - a "strange, but familiar white cat" - all up my alley. The author has provide a familiar but interesting premise to this coming-of-age story where the protagonist needs to save their world / kingdom, but does not know who to trust or where to go.

I enjoyed the imagination and world-building of this universe. The 3-kingdoms, the warring elementals, and other characters in this novel lend themselves to a great world. I did find that the pacing moved quickly in this book that I found myself losing track of a few of the characters and needing to scroll back to see who or what was happening.

I also enjoyed the characters and was provided with a great ensemble of personalities that were adventuring together. I loved the fact that Ember is constantly walking around knitting projects as she journeys. I am always listening to audiobooks / knitting / crochet / etc as I do tasks. I don't remember ever having a character just do something so practically relatable in a fantasy novel.

On the downside, I did find the writing style of this novel a struggle to read. The pacing sometimes felt rushed and I would have to take myself out of the story to reread sections that I did not understand the first time. I also wanted the characters to have more emotional growth throughout the story, but as there is plans for a series I hope that this will happen as the story continues.

Conclusion

This book was solidly in the middle for me. The world building and plot were great, and there is a great starting cast of characters that have a lot of potential. The struggle to get fully immersed into the story and the writing style made it a little less enjoyable for me. I believe it is a good start to series that has the potential to grow.

I ended up having to DNF this book because of the writing style. The descriptions were long but choppy, and everything felt repetitive. The characters were confusing and I couldn't quite understand their motivations. I love reading about new magic systems, but it was hard to look past the writing and focus on the worldbuilding.

Ember is the rightful heir to the throne. And when the king was poisoned, she was tasked by her father to go to the Valley of Voo and find the cure to this illness. This is Ember's quest.
The book started pretty rough, lots of characters were introduced in succession that sometimes I forgot who's who. As the story progressed, I came to enjoy the story and the magic system. However, there were times I had to put the book down because of the writing style. For example, the character was pacing around the room, and it was described as "her migration across the room having gone unnoticed". I didn't like how some women were represented in this book; even the main character said to herself that "she's only a girl", that she can't do the quest without a knight in shining armor. There are many possible ways to show the character's weakness, but being a woman is not a weakness. Furthermore, *trigger warning* there was sexual assault (attempted rape) in this book. According to this book, it seems that when a man saves a woman from distress, she owes him so much that the savior can do whatever he wants to her. It would've been great if this scene was removed from the story, it is unnecessary in my opinion. The book has a potential to be 5 star read but because of the things I've mentioned about the writing, it sank to 3 stars.
Let's talk about the magic and the plot. These things, I enjoyed the most. Elementals, shapeshifters, and earth mage? I adore these things. The plot was done so well even though the first half of the book was bland, the second half was absolutely rewarding. Sometimes, it gets a bit repetitive where each chapter literally starts either at dawn, noon, or dusk, just describing how the sun shines/sun sets/or moon shines. It doesn't bother me but I just noticed it halfway through the book. The worldbuilding was good, and I can think of some inspirations from it. I really enjoyed following the journey of Ember because every once in a while, I get to meet new creatures, as simple as insects flying around, or dead animals lying on the ground.
In summary, the book is awesome if you won't count the writing style (which put me off so bad). I'm really looking forward for the sequel because the ending of this book somewhat hyped me up.

I had high hopes for this book going in and while it did what it was supposed to felt underwhelmed by the events.

I love the mystery and the map of the world and I want to learn more about how the magic system of the creatures works and why they are so desperate to brake the barrier.

The characters felt underdeveloped all with 1 or 2 personality traits such as Ember being stubborn with a raging temper, which wasn’t presented in a way that made it seem like a main trait of hers. The books writing seemed very advance at times however the dialogue seemed somewhat stiff. The events moved very quickly however unsatisfactorily. *minor spoilers* It wasn’t wrapped up as to what happened to Katerra and just ended 2/3 through the book with no more mention.

Overall it was an okay read and I’m hoping the next books help bring it up and close off the loose ends.

The Division book 1 was a fun read. It checked all the boxes for a good YA book. It was a fast read but not rushed. I like that the author put pronunciations in the story instead of a glossary in the back. I was not a fan of the immediate animosity between two of the male characters, it felt forced and was not needed in the book. It could have been easily cut as it did not move the story along. I did enjoy the ending, it was done in such a way that I wanted to immediately read more. Over all, I quite enjoyed this book.