I received this novel as an advance copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I went for this novel because I saw a ton of people talking about how amazing it was. As a fantasy lover, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read this book. When I saw it posted on Edelweiss, I decided to request it. WHAT A GREAT CHOICE ON MY PART!
Summary (Goodreads): 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.
Review: This was such a great novel and I literally could not pull away from it.
When I first started reading this novel, I was intrigued but not completely engrossed in the story. It starts off a bit slowly, and I was wondering when it would pick up speed. And then it did. And it was AWESOME!
I loved that the story was told from the alternating perspectives of two strong female characters. These ladies are not your average protagonists; they had a good blend of positive and negative characteristics. I don’t really enjoy novels where the author creates the “almost-perfect” protagonist because it doesn’t allow me to connect with them; with this book, not only was I able to connect with the characters, I was also able to view them as real human beings that I might encounter in my everyday life (sans all the magical elements, of course).
I also really enjoyed the writing style. The beginning of each chapter was a quote from a letter or document or book, and it’s actually important to read it because it gives clues as to the importance or significance of the events that are about to unfold in that chapter. I also loved that every chapter ended on a cliffhanger. It made me want to rush right into the next one!
Surprisingly enough, I thought the romance in this novel was handled really well. For both of the protagonists, the love interest made sense and there was a great buildup. I literally never give positive comments about romance in a story, but I must admit that this one was quite well done!
Overall, I had a fantastic experience with this book. It had great pacing, 2 awesome storylines, and 2 fierce female protagonists! Check this book out for your next fantasy read! I’m giving this a 5/5 stars!
Happy reading ~
Beautiful review…still not sure about the 📖 book :))
If you like fantasy novels that feature strong females that have a lot of power, then you will like this book!
Ok thank u 👋😁 something to think about…
Awesome review! This makes me even more eager to pick up my copy! I am the same way when it comes to MC’s. I prefer a flawed character rather than perfect! I also am excited to hear that the chapters end in cliffhangers! Those are always my favorite!
I hope you like it! I don’t like hyping books too much in case I boost it beyond people’s expectations, but this book was really good! The first few chapters are a drag, but it works out in the end 🙂
I’m sure I will like it! It sounds great! And I love a good fantasy!
Can’t wait to read your review!
Should be up in either March or April!