Furyborn by Claire Legrand
Published 22nd May 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire
Star Rating - ****
Goodreads Challenge - 18/75
I received and eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
Follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.
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.
As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.
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.
As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.
My Thoughts
So I'm sure there's lots of people who, like me, went a bit mad at requesting titles on NetGalley thinking they won't get approved and then, all of a sudden, you have lots of eARCs to read and no time to read them. Well that was the story of my blogging life a few months ago and now I'm trying to make an effort to work my way through my backlog, starting with Furyborn.
To begin I found the story to be a bit confusing. The Prologue really drew me in and I was intrigued to know more but the main POVs then jumped to two different time periods and I was finding it a bit difficult to follow what was going on. However, I kept going and I'm glad I did as I quickly found myself drawn into the story and wanting to know what was going to happen next. The story is told through two different perspectives and I know duel POV stories can be off putting to some but I quite enjoy them. I liked seeing how the two stories became entwined with each other. My favorite POV was Rielle's I loved following her in the trials, this sort of storyline really appeals to me. The writing was fast paced and action packed and I really found myself saying just one more chapter. It did not feel like I was reading a 500 page book.
I enjoyed the characters too. As the two main characters, Rielle and Eliana definitely had their flaws but there was also something likable about them both. Both characters are independent and fearsome in their own way and you get to see them both grow into themselves over the course of the book and I can't wait to see what becomes of them in the next installment. I also quite enjoyed the romance between Rielle and Audric, although I know this does have quite a split opinion amongst other reviewers. I was really rooting for them and the sex scenes didn't bother me. They demonstrated consensual sex and to me that's important. I wasn't a massive fan of Eliana's romance though. It was quite predictable and it seemed to be lacking in development. That being said it didn't bother me that much.
Overall I really enjoyed this one. It's been a while since I got stuck in to a really good YA fantasy story, especially one that's part of a series. I will definitely be picking up the next installment as soon as I can.
To begin I found the story to be a bit confusing. The Prologue really drew me in and I was intrigued to know more but the main POVs then jumped to two different time periods and I was finding it a bit difficult to follow what was going on. However, I kept going and I'm glad I did as I quickly found myself drawn into the story and wanting to know what was going to happen next. The story is told through two different perspectives and I know duel POV stories can be off putting to some but I quite enjoy them. I liked seeing how the two stories became entwined with each other. My favorite POV was Rielle's I loved following her in the trials, this sort of storyline really appeals to me. The writing was fast paced and action packed and I really found myself saying just one more chapter. It did not feel like I was reading a 500 page book.
I enjoyed the characters too. As the two main characters, Rielle and Eliana definitely had their flaws but there was also something likable about them both. Both characters are independent and fearsome in their own way and you get to see them both grow into themselves over the course of the book and I can't wait to see what becomes of them in the next installment. I also quite enjoyed the romance between Rielle and Audric, although I know this does have quite a split opinion amongst other reviewers. I was really rooting for them and the sex scenes didn't bother me. They demonstrated consensual sex and to me that's important. I wasn't a massive fan of Eliana's romance though. It was quite predictable and it seemed to be lacking in development. That being said it didn't bother me that much.
Overall I really enjoyed this one. It's been a while since I got stuck in to a really good YA fantasy story, especially one that's part of a series. I will definitely be picking up the next installment as soon as I can.
Overall Rating
Great review.
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