ALC Book Review: Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros

April 28, 2023April 21, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 512 pages
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Publisher: Entangled
Release Date: May 2nd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ALC.

HOLY DRAGON.

This book owns me. I am devastated. I will not recover. I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH.

Brief audio notes interlude: Love the narrator!! Would have loved a little more Teddy Hamilton (but maybe that’s coming in book two??) Any who, it was a fantastic listen and highly recommend that option!

BACK TO THE BOOK.

I don’t even know where to begin because I have been an incomprehensible mess since finishing. Flailing around about how incredible this book was. I LOVED the FMC, Violet. The way she exhibited strength outside the standard “muscles and weapons” nature was great. I thought she was clever and full of heart and just an all around get main character.

AND THE ROMANCE? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? A beautiful enemies to lovers slow burn that will have you absolutely BEGGING for more. I loved the build and the chemistry. Watching the sparks fly and ignite. There were some scenes towards the end that put me in an chokehold and this is why FANTASY ROMANCE IS THE BEST.

The plot is intriguing and opened up a whole can of worms that I can’t wait to see explored in the sequel. I enjoyed all of the betrayals, reveals, announcements, politicking and more. It was seamless and deserves all the hype it’s been given because it is WORTH IT.

DON’T MISS OUT.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: 2-3 open door
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: war themes, loss of loved ones, loss of life, physical and magical altercations, weapons violence, bullying

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ARC Book Review: Flamefall (The Aurelian Cycle #2) by Rosaria Munda

March 18, 2021January 29, 2021 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Author: Rosaria Munda
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date: March 23rd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Revolutionary flames ignite around Annie, Lee, and a brand new POV character in the second book of the Fireborne trilogy.

After fleeing the revolution and settling into the craggy cliffs of New Pythos, the Dragonlords are eager to punish their usurpers–and reclaim their city. Their first order of business was destroying the Callipolan food supply. Now they’re coming for the Dragonriders.

Annie is Callipolis’s new Firstrider, and while her goal has always been to protect the people, being the government’s enforcer has turned her into public enemy number one.

Lee struggles to find his place after killing kin to prove himself to a leader who betrayed him. He can support Annie and the other Guardians . . . or join the radicals who look to topple the new regime.

Griff, a lowborn dragonrider who serves New Pythos, knows he has no future. And now that Julia, the Firstrider who had protected him, is dead, he is called on to sacrifice everything for the lords that oppress his people–or to forge a new path with the Callipolan Firstrider seeking his help.

With famine tearing Callipolis apart and the Pythians determined to take back what they lost, it will be up to Annie, Lee, and Griff to decide what to fight for–and who to love.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own!

GREAT MIDDLE BOOK.

We all know that sometimes a middle book doesn’t have the same fire as the first. I thought this was a great second book! SO MUCH happened.

This is a high action book. Everywhere I turned there were dragon attacks, a whole lot of fire, backstabbing and betrayals. It was plenty to keep track of and I enjoyed the challenge. I really like the addition of Griff into the story. He was able to provide insight from the other side of the war. I loved his romance sub-plot and how Griff continued to strive for a better solution for his situation and of those he loved.

Getting more of Annie and Lee was the best. I love this push and pull relationship. It doesn’t feel contrived, there’s a lot both characters have to work through. Pain, grief and anger. Lee and Annie had to look within themselves and had wonderful character progression. The tidbits of romance only make me want more and what’s hopefully a long awaited happy ever after!

A high action book filled with tough conversations and reveals. I would definitely lean this towards a darker YA book. There’s war, high loss of lives, and some really twisted individuals. I looooove all of the dragons and this might be one of my top series involving them. I can’t wait for the finale and to know where all of this leads!

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses
Violence: murder, mass loss of lives, mass burnings, physical, creature attacks; fairly violent nature throughout the book

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Book Review: Fireborne (The Aurelian Cycle #1) by Rosaria Munda

February 1, 2021September 7, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 448 pages
Author: Rosaria Munda
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books
Release Date: October 15th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Game of Thrones meets Red Rising in a debut young adult fantasy that’s full of rivalry, romance… and dragons.

Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone—even the lowborn—a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.

Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more different. Annie’s lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee’s aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.

But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.

With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he’s come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.

From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you’ve chosen.

WHY THE LOVE TRIANGLE.

Ugh.

I’ll get this out of the way first. There’s a bit of a love triangle woven in. I don’t like it.

Anywho, the rest of the story? GOOD. I liked it! I want to read book two. Interesting story line with an exiled prince that nobody knows about. Working his way up the ranks, deciding where he wants to be. All good things that made me love Lee. I also really liked Annie. She’s a sweetheart who can also lay it down when needed. They are the real ship here and I demand them to be together.

Oh hey, also, DRAGONS. I loooove dragon books. I was looking for a bit more from the dragons, but they are definitely in this story a lot. They have an interesting history too, and I like the way they were woven in.

There’s plenty of action, and some slower spots too. It really read as young adult fantasy. Which can be positive or negative depending on how you feel about about the genre. I still enjoy it even if some things bug me. I found this easy to get into and the background and world information to simple to grasp. The character stories were intense and made me angry and upset for them.

I’m curious where this will continue because there’s definitely pieces at work.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy
Language: little light
Romance: kisses
Violence: dragon fire, murder, physical altercations, dragon fights
Content warnings: losing loved ones

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Book Review: Talon the Black (The Dragonwall Saga #1) by Melissa Mitchell

April 2, 2020January 30, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy romance
Length: 715 pages
Author: Melissa Mitchell
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 28th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What would you do if a dragon fell from the sky? Claire Evans is a small-towner from Indiana faced with this exact situation. When a dragon crash-lands in her corn field, she goes gallivanting off to find it.

This incident triggers a chain of events that sweep our heroine into a complicated plot to destroy a kingdom. At the heart of it is a powerful sorcerer whose only desire is to bring about a past long forgotten, a past that favors those of magical blood and condemns those who are not worthy, a past that would result in the annihilation of peace and the deaths of many.

Claire finds herself thrust into an old fashioned world liken to those she’s grown up reading about, one of fantasy and intrigue. There, she soon realizes that a lifetime of books hardly prepared her. She must face difficulties never before confronted, and in so doing, discover secrets about herself. All the while, there is one obstacle that ultimately stands in her way: The King of Dragonwall. And she needs him on her side if she is to succeed. Will such a thing be possible?

The King of Dragonwall is not like those before him. Troubled and temperamental, he is scarred by more than the events that shaped him. Worst of all, he is mateless. With no queen and no heir, his subjects are demanding he abandon tradition and marry into nobility. But with the rising threats upon his borders, goblin unrest to the east, and talk of an even darker terror to the north, he will soon have far greater problems than that of finding a wife.

Modern meets medieval in this first installment of The Dragonwall Saga, which is full of magical creatures and adventure. In addition, there are a variety of interesting characters, and even a dose of romance.

THE BONES WERE GOOD.

I read this because my sister had recommend it to me, and I love her dearly, but this wasn’t my favorite. Let me give you a quote that accurately describes my experience.

“Where was her plot? What was her purpose? Which path was she supposed to follow?”

I MEAN SAME GIRL. The MAIN CHARACTER, Claire said this. And that is the epitome of this story. Take out about 300 pages (no really, this massive thing is 700ish) and THEN we would’ve had a pretty decent book. The plot jumped allllll over the place. Random character POV chapters, with their own lines that I couldn’t bother to pay attention too. Claire herself was on some kind of adventure. Did I know exactly what that was? Not really. Save the land, be the “chosen one,” the typical stuff was all I gathered.

I was hoping for more romance as well. Nothing crazy, but our two love interests meeting after 350 pages? Not quite what I had in mind. There were some relationships between other characters on the side, but since I knew next to nothing about them I was confused as to why they even liked each other.

Y’all are clearly seeing my issues here. What I gathered from the book is that the bones of the story were good. I could see vaguely how this could honestly be a good book. I mean, there’s DRAGONS everywhere. That was a big reason I picked it up in the first place. I’m holding off on the second book right now, but you never know. I might pick it back up.

Overall audience notes: