Furyborn

The world building here is done quite well. We are given a good idea about the belief system of the people and the various saints who are worshipped. I loved the way their statues and temples are described. Every chapter also starts with a little snippet from their history books (or archives) which expands the mythology more than what happens in the story.

The book alternates between two POVs in different timelines and almost every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, which was an interesting way to keep me hooked and why I finished this in a single sitting. There are also several parallels between the two timelines because they are essentially a journey of discovering themselves for both Rielle and Eliana.

Rielle may come across as selfish and naive at times but it is probably not unexpected considering her emotionally abusive father and a very sheltered life. The seven elemental trials which she has to go through before being declared the Sun Queen are very thrillingly written and I was always looking forward to read about the next one. Eliana is a bounty hunter who doesn't let the deaths of her victims affect her because all she wants is the survival of her family. I expected that her world view would change as the book progresses but she seemed to go back and forth in her motivations every couple of chapters which didn't really endear me to her. I also guessed the truth of her heritage pretty early on, so it was quite a wait for her to get to know the truth.

My main problem with the book is that even though the plot kept me engaged, I was pretty indifferent to both the MCs. I didn't feel upset when they were in danger or got excited at their accomplishments. I really liked the side characters much more. Ludivine, Audric and Rielle share a beautiful friendship and I could definitely feel the love they had for each other. That's why I'm pretty interested to know how their story ends in disaster. Eliana's brother Remy is the cutest little one and his character relflects the openness, curiosity and unconditional love of an innocent child. He is also a great lover of stories (and loves buying books without telling anyone... kinda like me) and I'm very excited to get to know him better. Navi also has potential to be a great friend and suppoprt to Eliana and it would be fun to see their relationship explored. I'm very intrigued by Simon and I really want to know more about his backstory.

My average rating for this book is because despite the extensive world building, the MCs were kinda underwhelming. The prologue is also very intense and I felt that the remaining book didn't match up to it. I also expected Rielle's story to lead up to the events in the prologue but the ending of the book seemed like a halfway point which left me disappointed. Overall, I loved the world of Avitas and it's prophecy of magical Queens and I definitely want to know what happens next.

I'd seen several glowing reviews of this book, but I was always put off by descriptions of events that happened millennia apart from each other “intersecting” and affecting each other. Like, no. The past can affect the future, but the future can't change the past. That appears, however, to just be a problem in the synopsis of the book and not the book itself. At least in this, the opening volume of the trilogy, the future does not change the past. The book alternates between the two women, Rielle in the past and Eliana in the future. Each chapter flips back and forth. I was much more intrigued by Rielle's chapters, but that could be because there was a lot more magic in Rielle's time.

The magic system is really interesting! I love that through Rielle's trials we learn so much about the magic system, each school and guiding saint and prayers. It's really fleshed out and I enjoyed that.

The “shocking connections” aren't shocking, they're predictable. But the book was no less fantastic for it. I really think the synopsis is where the problems lie. The first couple chapters pretty much reveal all the surprises the description hints at, and the book details how we got to that point. (Mostly, anyway!) It was great, don't get me wrong, but the description of the book feels a little misleading.

The GLBT content in the book is only about two sentences, but it was a surprise and made me grin.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy to discover the rest of Rielle's story and what Eliana is going to do about it.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

This book was unique I will give it that. But the timeline was hard to follow at first and it was almost always very abrupt switches between the two characters of Rielle and Eliana. I definitely enjoyed Eliana's story more, however I can see how the past and Rielle's story was important (to an extent). That being said after thinking about it some, this book literally had nothing happen. Sure there was some action and figuring things out but it was all setup and information dumping. Overall, this book just was not for me and I do not think I will be continuing because I just did not connect enough with the characters to truly care what happens next.