ARC Review: Furyborn by Claire Legrande

Title: Furyborn Series: Empirium #1 Written by: Claire Legrande Published: May 22, 2018 by Sourcebook Fire (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: 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.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

Unfortunately, it's black sheep time. I was really looking forward to this book. It sounded totally amazing, and like a total me book. Dark queens, elemental magic, written by an author whose previous books I loved, and great reviews. So when I was approved on Netgalley I couldn't wait to read it. However, I just didn't like it as much as I had thought.

I think my biggest problem with this book was the pacing. I just struggled to get through it. Now this is now uncommon for me when it comes to e-galleys lately so I can't really blame the book too much for this but I still feel like I just didn't jive with the pacing and structure of this book. It weighs in at well over 500 pages which is a bit long for a YA fantasy, but not out of control long. However, this is a 500 page book that felt like a 700 page book. It just took me so long to get through. I mean I fell a sleep last night and still hadn't finished the book and I was only at 98% if that tells you anything.

But I think the reason I was unable to get through this book was the structure. This book is written in alternating perspectives, Rielle and Eliana. This in and of itself isn't too out of the ordinary for fantasies, I mean I've read some with like ten perspective. However in this case it really just made it hard to get into the book. It was incredibly jarring every time it would change perspectives. I know the author was trying engage me by ending with a twist or a cliffhanger but it completely backfired. When we ended one characters perspective I didn't want to go back the other one, and then by the time we went back I couldn't remember what had happened. Instead of making me read further to find out what happened, it made me not want to keep going because I had lost all interest. I liked each perspective and it added a lot to the book but I just wish we had more time with the characters before switching. I would have enjoyed it so much more if there were fewer longer chapter.

But one thing I did like was the characters. I am always a fan of morally gray characters, especially if they are females. I love tough women who do things you wouldn't expect, especially if they are queens or assassins. We had both in this book. We also had women who are vulnerable and loving, which makes me love them even more because it's a great contrast to the kickass moments. All this to say that I really like Rielle and Eliana. I think I liked Eliana a little bit more but they were both complex and likable. The secondary characters were also really great. We had surprisingly devious characters and surprisingly supportive characters. I do wish that some of the character twists were less obvious. I mean there was one that completely shocked me but for the most part when a big reveal occured my first thought was "yeah, I knew that, was that a surprise?" But you know me and my mystery solving abilities so you know, that's normal for me.

The other thing that I liked about this book was the world. I am kind of a sucker for elemental magic and this book did it really well. It didn't overwhelm the reader with knowledge and information about performing magic, which still showing us the power of magic. But what I really loved about this book was that you got to see magic in its prime and many years later where people thought magic was a myth. It was a cool contrast for a book. You don't often see both sides in the world of a book and I enjoyed that.

There was a lot to like in this book, I just think that it wasn't for me. Especially right now as I'm just coming back from a book slump. I can see why so many people loved it, I just think for me it wasn't a great time or not a great fit. I am interested to see what happens next in the series but I'll probably listen to the audiobook in future books because it's narrated by Fiona Hardingham who I LOVE, so you know the audio is good.

I give Furyborn by Claire Legrand 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. It's not a bad book, I just didn't love it as much as I had hoped that I would. Maybe it wads the hype, maybe it was just a case of bad timing, maybe it was just not for me. Either way, if you like YA Fantasy especially those wityh elemental magic, maybe grab this from the library.

Have you read Furyborn? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!e

ARC Review: Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Title: Winterspell Author: Claire Legrand Published: September 30, 2014 by Simon & Schuster Amazon Goodreads Synopsis:Darkly romantic and entirely enchanting, this reimagining of The Nutcracker from Claire Legrand brims with magic, love, and intrigue. New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer (Cinder) says “this is not your grandmother’s Nutcracker tale.” After her mother is brutally murdered, seventeen-year-old Clara Stole is determined to find out what happened to her. Her father, a powerful man with little integrity, is a notorious New York City gang lord in the syndicate-turned-empire called Concordia. And he isn’t much help. But there is something even darker than Concordia’s corruption brewing under the surface of the city, something full of vengeance and magic, like the stories Clara’s godfather used to tell her when she was a little girl. Then her father is abducted and her little sister’s life is threatened, and Clara accidentally frees Nicholas from a statue that has been his prison for years. Nicholas is the rightful prince of Cane, a wintry kingdom that exists beyond the city Clara has known her whole life. When Nicholas and Clara journey together to Cane to retrieve her father, Clara encounters Anise, the queen of the faeries, who has ousted the royal family in favor of her own totalitarian, anti-human regime. Clara finds that this new world is not as foreign as she feared, but time is running out for her family, and there is only so much magic can do...

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the published via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion***

"Dark and richly romantic" is the perfect way to explain this book. It combines this creepy and beautiful world with dubious characters, and a plot full of intrigue and action to create an engaging and enjoyable story that is perfect for fantasy fans.

I think my favorite thing about this book is the dubious nature of the characters and situations. Everyone in this book, except our main character Clara made me wonder at one point or another if they were good or bad. Clara however, I instantly loved. She is tough and intelligent but kind and cares so much for others. She's slightly reckless and slightly rash but completely charming and the kind of multidimensional strong female protagonist that is so enjoyable to root for. The secondary characters aren't so easy root for. In fact throughout most of the book I wasn't entirely sure who I trusted and who's side I was on. My opinion of the characters changed along with Clara's. As we learned more about a person or spent more time with them my opinion of them would change completely or I would want to trust them but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Everyone was the perfect combination of empathetic and abhorrent, making them the kinds of characters that I always love.

But I can't talk about the characters without talking about the romance in Winterspell, because this, is the kind of romance that I love. It was the perfect combination of insta-attraction and slow burning love. We all know that in the Nutcracker our heroine falls for a doll come to life. In Winterspell this is the case. When our male lead, Nicholas, was a doll Clara felt an unexplained attraction to him including the urge to touch him and talk to him. Then when he comes to life she is struck by how attractive he is and feels that draw again. However she is not declaring her love right away and circumstances don't make it that easy. Even when we think our ship has sailed it doesn't go according to plan. When it comes down to it the romance was just delightful and I completely adore this ship!

Then there was the genius world of this book. Yesterday I read a post on The Midnight Garden with Claire as part of the Winterspell blog tour. She talked about the Nutcracker ballet and its influence on her. I am not intimately familiar with the Nutcracker story but it always struck me as a combination between creepy and beautiful. This is how Claire explained it and it is obvious when reading Winterspell. Both the tone and world of Winterspell create this contradiction. While reading the book I was struck by the uneasy felt I felt by the beauty and ominous nature of the writing. Nothing explains this more than the world of Cane. It is a "fairy wonderland" with a beautiful fairy queen where magic is possible but it turns those tropes completely out the window. Things in Cane are much darker than the glitter and magic would lead you to believe. It is a world of oppression and fear. Where the sweet nature of people seems creepy and unrealistic. It all creates this air of mystery and distrust where there should be trust.

This contradictory nature of the world and tone lead to an interesting and engaging plot. The story combined magic and mystery in a perfect blend with just enough action and adventure to keep me reading. I loved Clara's struggle to find her father and help the people of Cane at the same time. She had a great "Hero's Journey" throughout the book as she learned more about magic and herself. The pacing however was a little problematic. This is a world within a world kind of fantasy story and there are two concurrent and unrelated conflicts within both worlds for our hero. There is an attempt to combine them in the beginning but at the end it is as if there are two separate climaxes and they both seemed a little rushed. After tons of rising action I would have preferred see a more aggressive climax, perhaps even one that tied the two conflicts together.

I give Winterspell by Claire Legrand 9 out of 10 stars

Winterspell is a entertaining and engaging world within a world YA fantasy with complex and dubious characters, a world feel of ominous contradictions, and a mysterious plot full of magic and action. Fans of creative retellings like The Lunar Chronicles and YA fantasies like The Grisha trilogy and Throne of Glass will enjoy this Fantasy standalone.

Have you read Winterspell? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!