Furyborn

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.