Furyborn
Published: May 22nd, 2018
Book Length: 512 Pages
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Buy the Book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Kobo
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Disclaimer: I was given an e-copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
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.
This simple, yet elegant cover caught my attention right away, though the synopsis is what really pulled me in. I love how subtle the inferences to the two queens are on this cover. The Queen of Light and the Queen of Blood. The dark cover choice for this was great, making the golden corners and white lettering stand out. I could only see this as an e-book but I could imagine how stunning this book cover is in person.
“The emperium lies within ever living thing, and every living thing is of the empirium. Its power connects not only flesh and bone, root to earth, stars to sky, but also road to road, city to city. Moment to moment.”
This story switches between the stories of two women from two different times. Each chapter alternates between the point of view of Eliana and Rielle as they experience similar events. Each chapter is labeled with the name of the character whose POV it is from. In some stories it becomes unclear, Claire avoided any possible confusion here.
This method of story telling allows the reader to compare and contrast how these characters approach and deal with the problems thrown at them. They each harbor incredible power and admirable self-confidence. I loved seeing how differently each Rielle and Eliana approached each situation. Though these women are what the story primarily focuses on, I find that it brings so many more well-developed characters to our attention as well.
“Dread,’ he murmered, his breath caressing her cheek, “is only a feeling, easily squashed. But wolves, me dear, have teeth.”
There is romance between characters, but I was relieved to discover that it is not a major driving factor of the story. The story is driven by the trials Rielle is facing and the lengths to which Eliana goes to find her mother. I really enjoy these types of books. Romance is nice to see between characters, and often most times inevitable, but it should not take over the story unless it is a romance novel.
The book does present many action-packed scenes, but it took me a bit to get into initially. I felt that the beginning was slow. It did pick up and keep a fast pace through the rest of the story though! I was pulled into the story, invested in the characters and their perils. Some of the plot twists were predictable, I was hoping for more shocking twists…ones I would never see coming. At times the story can become confusing. There were often so many different things going on that details could be confusing. This might be cleared up by rereading the book. This is the reason I am rating it four books.
I enjoyed so many parts of this book, but I do not want to give anything away. I just know that I personally dislike spoilers about books I might read, so I try to avoid them in my reviews. I can say that I really enjoyed this book and if you enjoy fantasy novels packed with action, you might as well. This is the first book in the series and from my understanding, there will be 2 more. I do look forward to them! I just need to know what happens next.
“By the moon, by the moon. That’s where you’ll find me. By the moon, by the moon. We’ll hold hands, just you and me. We’ll pray to the stars and ask them to set us free. By the moon, by the moon. That’s where you’ll find me.”
Have you read this novel? Does it sound like something you would enjoy? Let me know what you think below.