Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin

5 reviews

bluejayreads's review

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4.75

In my last library trip, I picked up two books, and this is actually the one I was less excited about. Both the cover and description seemed weak and just a tiny bit corny. However, the concept of the beasts that may not be as antagonistic as previously thought and the Filipino inspiration were enough that I decided to give it a shot. 

And oh boy. It sucked me in within just a few pages and I blazed right through almost four hundred intense and rich pages. I had to go back and read paragraphs again sometimes because I would inadvertently skip huge chunks of the text in my excitement to find out what happens. 

We'll start with the simple - the world. The rainforest where people live on platforms on huge trees is not a very complicated setting, but it's unique and vivid and very cool. There are some very neat details about society, as well, such as "marks" (which I gather are something like tattoos) to commemorate important things in your life and the way every city, town, and settlement is just … a single tree. There may not be a ton of depth to explore, but the breadth is spectacular. The characters do a lot of traveling and there are always new interesting sights for the reader and the characters. There was almost no exposition, but I still understand and appreciate the beautiful, lush, dangerous rainforest and the society built in the trees. 

And in this society we have Seri and the valiants. Seri's growth is spectacular. She starts off relatable in a quiet way. She ends up as an aide to a legendary commander not intentionally, but because she took the first opportunity she could to run away from the memory of something painful. But as the story goes on, just by virtue of doing her best and dealing with what's put in front of her, she becomes the stuff of heroic legend - braver, more confident, and powerful (with just a touch of the overpowered protagonist trope I love). She's in her late teens during this story, and it really feels like she matures into an adult. 

Other valiants thread through the story, but Eshai is the one consistent through the whole book, and she played a much bigger role than I anticipated from the back cover. And I loved the whole concept of her. She's a huge legendary folk hero, but in real life she's disorganized, has a temper, good at what she does but still feels like she's a little over her head, and not really excited to be a folk hero but if that's the role she has to play she's gonna do it. I also adored the dynamic between Eshai and Seri. It's hard to describe, but it was very good. 

If you like action, this book has quite a bit of action. Almost all of it is large-scale battles, with our protagonists and a bunch of unnamed or briefly-mentioned side characters facing off against beasts. The battles themselves are great - it's warriors with superhuman abilities against beasts with other weird abilities, so it's bound to be great. But this book also does something impressive: It makes these large-scale battles actually have consequences. Seri herself is rarely at risk of actually dying. But someone dies in every fight. And when they die, there are rites for the dead. There is grief and guilt and hurt. Even though we really don't have much doubt that the people we care about will survive, even the deaths of minor characters have profound effects on our protagonists, and that makes the danger feel real and ensures the fights never feel cheap. 

But after all of these great things, my absolute favorite thing is all the moral complexity in this story. At the beginning, everything is straightforward - the beasts kill people, so people need to defend against the beasts. But the more Seri learns about the beasts and Tsana's people, the more unclear everything becomes. Maybe the valiant aren't actually the good guys. There is eventually a single antagonist, but even there the morality isn't strictly black and white - he may be doing horrible things, but I can understand his reasoning. The main tension for Seri is trying to do the right thing when it's not clear what the right thing is, because for most of the book it's very unclear what is right. Neither "side" is truly good or evil. There's also a settler-colonization element that was good, if a little muddled. 

This review got long, but that's because there's so many great things to say about it. It was a thrilling, engrossing read with a vibrant world, good characters with great growth through the story, and some really awesome battles. And it has a happy ending - I love a dangerous, violent book with a happy ending for the primary characters. I'm very glad I gave it a chance, because it was completely worth it. 
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starrysteph's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved Dauntless; it felt like a breath of fresh air in the YA fantasy realm!
 
We follow Seri, who lives in a world defined by very clear rules. Dangerous magical beasts attack the people whenever they can, which is why they’ve made their homes in spreading trees. The brave valiant defend them with superhuman strength, thanks to the armor they make from the beasts’ skin and hearts. 
 
Seri has stayed safe in the “known world”, until one day she encounters a stranger from beyond her borders who can communicate with these beasts, challenging everything she’s ever known to be true. Now she’s faced with a new possibility: peace
 
One of the standout elements of Dauntless was world-building. Bonnin has created an incredibly vivid Filipino inspired world; I really felt like I was in a tropical jungle. The descriptions of the environment and the food and the culture were SO immersive. (Note: this book is pitched as a Filipino-inspired fantasy, but to the best of my knowledge this just means the world, not so much the mythology/events of the story).
 
The fantasy world was thoughtful; it’s fleshed out in a detailed way without feeling overwhelming.
There was a very strong focus on worldbuilding at the beginning - so the plot was gentle and slow at first but still found it quite engaging. She’s taking these delightfully creative concepts but storytelling with straightforward details: so younger readers can follow along easily.
 
An element I LOVED was the concept of valor armor: magical armor (taken from killed-in-battle beasts) which shifts and changes color and shape to adapt to the warrior’s body … and to reveal their inner self. It was so neat to see vivid writing & descriptions that reflected characters’ hearts and emotions.
 
And speaking of characters, there were 3 female POVs here … and I enjoyed all of them! Each character engaged with their strength in different ways; people could cry and grieve and be furious and this wasn’t dismissed at all. Seri in particular had a compelling journey around guilt and grief and learning to open up to others.
 
There were also some fun POV switches, when you immediately get corrected on information one character thought they had right. I think that’s such a fun way to utilize multiple points of view
 
There’s also a sapphic romance here between two of the main character POVs (Seri is a lesbian and Tsana is bi). The romance IS a subplot but it’s important and given some depth; it’s warm and earnest and sweet to watch. It does feel very YA at times - especially with the instant connection - but I appreciated the slower development of the relationship over the course of the book.
 
Also … there’s an animal companion component here, which might just be my favorite element in a fantasy book. I can’t talk about it too much without being spoilery, but OOO was it sweet. 
 
Finally, there’s a sweet open-ended - but happy - ending. I love standalone fantasy books. I can see that the door was left open for a follow up here, but everything was also concluded in a satisfying way
 
CW: murder, death, violence, animal cruelty (hunting & culling), animal death, gore, grief, death of a parent, physical abuse, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts, classism, colonization, mental illness, fire, poverty, starvation

(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
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betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Seri is a newly made assistant to commander Eshai Unbroken, whose reputation for killing beasts is unparalleled. In their world, beasts roam the forests and it is up to the valiants to kill them, use their skin as armor, and discover new settlements. As Eshai’s assistant, Seri sees first hand how much destruction the beasts can cause. And even kills one herself.

Seri thought the divide between people and beasts would always be there. Separated by violence. But when she meets Tsana, Seri realizes things could be different. After all, Tsana can communicate with the beasts. And maybe there doesn’t have to be violence after all. If they can get everyone else to understand.

Thanks to NetGalley and Swoon Reads for an advanced copy of Dauntless to review! I’m always on the lookout for a good new fantasy. Especially when it’s a debut author! This reminded a lot of Beasts of Prey, though it is one of those rare YA fantasy standalones.

What I liked about this book from the beginning is the way the world is described. Yes, you’re dropped right in the middle of the action, but for the most part, I didn’t feel confused. Bonnin does a good job making sure you’re up to speed on the intricacies of this world, unfolding details exactly when you need them. This isn’t always an easy thing to do, so I was impressed!

While I did enjoy the world building, after the initial scene at the beginning, the plot does take a bit to really get going. However, when it does, you’ll find that this book is difficult to put down! If you like your fantasy with a lot of action, you’ll find that in the second half of the book.

The only other thing that put me off is that there are technically three points of view, but they didn’t necessarily feel different enough from each other. I wanted something that better signaled when I was with a specific character. For the most part, all of their voices really blended together.

Despite the pacing and the voices, the rest of the story and the characters were interesting enough that I would definitely read another book by Bonnin. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
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A solid fantasy debut that I think a lot of teens will love! Stay tuned for a full review to come soon.
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melaniereadsbooks's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Thank you to Swoon Reads and Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Seri decides to leave behind her home and join a new settlement further from the known world. Seri is tasked to be assistant to the head of the Valiant stationed there, the hero Eshai the Unbroken.  But the Beasts the valiant are supposed to fend off are becoming more tactical and fighting in ways that seem off, and Seri helps Eshai journey to find out the cause, discovering secrets about herself and her world she never knew existed.

This was so good! I was hooked on the lush world-building and intriguing mystery's of Seri's past right from the beginning.  Seri is such a compelling character and the entire time I was trying to figure out what happened to her and where she would go! Eshai and Tsana are also really great characters. Tsana's arc was super interesting to me and I loved seeing how she developed throughout the story.

There is a sapphic relationship at the heart of this one, but I'll be honest and say the romantic relationships in this story were not as compelling as the mentor relationship between Seri and Eshai or the world building.  I definitely think the world-building and plot is the highlight of this one!  I loved it and can't wait to hold a finished copy!
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bookswithlizx's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you to the author for the eARC.

I absolutely adored Dauntless, it was very well written and I loved the worldbuilding. I usually have a hard time keeping up with fantasies because of the worldbuilding, but I didn’t have any issues at all while reading dauntless. The world was easy to understand and the fantasy elements were all incredibly interesting, I especially loved the concept of the beasts!! 

I also really liked the characters, Seri and Tsana’s relationship was so cute and I really loved that their relationship was a part of the story even though it wasn’t the main plot point. I loved Eshai as well, she’s an incredibly powerful woman and I’d honestly love to read a book just about her.

Overall, Dauntless is a very fun and quick read and I really enjoyed it.
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