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alyssaindira's review
3.0
Hey guys, so I just finished reading Legacy by Cayla Oliver. We!l, I must say it wasn't exactly quite as I had transpired, nonetheless it was enjoyable to venture. Basically, the entire plot centers around Princess Alera, whom must pick a suitor that is approved by her father(approved being the key word) during her seventeenth year if she wAnts crowned queen of her kingdom. Yet, the only man in her father's good graces is an arrogant bastard. Steldor is the son of the captain of the guards son who is completely full of himself and treats everyone as if they are below him, a waste of his time. Therefore, not only can Alera barely tolerate his presence, I am dying to sh0ve that ass off a cliff. Along with that center dilemma, there is speak of a traitor in the palace. Additionally, they are able to capture a man of the enemy kingd0m. Only to discover..... well, you g0tta read it yourself to find out.*cheeky smile*. Nevertheless, I thought that the romance between Alera and Narian was going to be more scandalous. I guess that's hard to accomplish when you're under almost constant protection by your bodyguards. Although this book did deliver a few gasp worthy m0ments, I found myself skimming majority of the pages. And that ending, *sighs* I thought he was going to burst in like a boss...Anyway, not sure if I'm going to read the other books in the series Allegiance and Sacrifice. Questions?
Kluver is also the author of the Heirs of Chrior series which I enjoyed.
Kluver is also the author of the Heirs of Chrior series which I enjoyed.
thelibrarylady42's review
3.0
As I was reading this book I had to keep reminding myself it was written by a 14 year old girl. This wasn't always a good thing. When descriptions got to long or there was a lot of telling rather than showing I had to remind myself. But I also had to remind myself when the story took a twist I wasn't totally expecting. I was fully expecting the love interest to burst into the wedding and stop the main character, Alera, from entering a loveless marriage. He didn't even though that would have been the romantic thing to do. Instead Alera took responsibility and did what she thought best for the kingdom. This makes me want to read the second one.
Kluver tries really hard to make her main character Alera a strong, worthy female lead. She is almost there too. I think with a little less hand wringing and a little more spunk she will be a strong character.
The biggest drawback for this book was the lack of editing. At almost 500 pages it was way to long for a first installment. There were several places where descriptions could have been cut down or condensed. I think this is probably something that comes with experience. I'm excited to read Kluver's second installment to see if some of those things have improved.
Kluver tries really hard to make her main character Alera a strong, worthy female lead. She is almost there too. I think with a little less hand wringing and a little more spunk she will be a strong character.
The biggest drawback for this book was the lack of editing. At almost 500 pages it was way to long for a first installment. There were several places where descriptions could have been cut down or condensed. I think this is probably something that comes with experience. I'm excited to read Kluver's second installment to see if some of those things have improved.
thelibrarylady42's review against another edition
3.0
What I Liked: I enjoyed the second book much more than the first. Kluver has grown a great deal as a writer. While this book was still long it didn't have the same labored feel as the first installment. Alera has grown into a fine young woman and is finding her place as a leader. When she stood up to her father and let him have it I was cheering (maybe out loud.) She proved herself to be strong but not unkind. I still found myself being occasionally annoyed by her but that was mostly because I felt bad for Steldor. Steldor grew on me throughout this book. I didn't dislike him at the end of the last book but I didn't really care about him either. By the end I wanted him to be happy. He truly loved Alera even though he didn't always know the best way to show it. I wanted Alera to give him a chance but in the end I guess I was glad she didn't. In the end I find Alera to be a positive role model for young girls and that makes me happier than anything else.
What I Didn't Like: The book is still far too long and has too many descriptions. This is not something I hold Kluver totally responsible for since it is the editors job to help with these things. Like I said before I wanted Alera to give Steldor a chance. I wanted her to at least try to love him. I know she thought she could. That's a personal preference though. The only other thing that bothered me sometimes was time seemed to be slightly disjointed. Sometimes it seemed to move very fast and others it seemed to move very slow. It was a little confusing at times.
The Verdict: I enjoyed the second installment more than the first and if the third follows this pattern I think I will be totally in love. I can't wait to see what happens next. I can't put the books in my library as they are a little to old for 5th graders but I would definitely recommend for high school libraries or 7th and 8th grade classroom libraries.
What I Didn't Like: The book is still far too long and has too many descriptions. This is not something I hold Kluver totally responsible for since it is the editors job to help with these things. Like I said before I wanted Alera to give Steldor a chance. I wanted her to at least try to love him. I know she thought she could. That's a personal preference though. The only other thing that bothered me sometimes was time seemed to be slightly disjointed. Sometimes it seemed to move very fast and others it seemed to move very slow. It was a little confusing at times.
The Verdict: I enjoyed the second installment more than the first and if the third follows this pattern I think I will be totally in love. I can't wait to see what happens next. I can't put the books in my library as they are a little to old for 5th graders but I would definitely recommend for high school libraries or 7th and 8th grade classroom libraries.
moon_reader's review against another edition
4.0
This book started out annoying (as usually 'cuz I don’t like beginnings but) then it changed it was interesting and the character changed through a lot. You got to see her will. It is something I definitely wont forget and something that made me want to move forward.
It gave me strength/encouragement.
Cant wait for the next book.
Don’t really want to read the first book just because i dont think I'll like it as much as this book.
It gave me strength/encouragement.
Cant wait for the next book.
Don’t really want to read the first book just because i dont think I'll like it as much as this book.
bell123's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Slow start but scene setting and character building are impeccable, found myself feeling for every character.
jinny89's review
2.0
This review is cross-posted from SkyInk.net.
I got this book off of NetGalley. At the time, I wasn’t aware that this was written by then-14 year old Miss Kluver. I’ve only read one other book by a teenager, and had a less-than-pleasant experience doing so. So understandably, I was a bit wary diving into Legacy. While I think Legacy also suffers from certain teenage writing patterns, this book is actually quite readable. I think it could have been better, for sure, but overall, it is quite okay.
The story opens with a prologue explaining the two kingdoms that are prominently featured in the story, Cokyri and Hytanica. Sixteen years ago, they were at war, and Cokyri ended up kidnapping forty-nine babies. The Cokyri then returned forty-eight baby corpses. One was missing.
The story then dives into the first person perspective of our main female character, Princess Alera of Hytanica. She’s turning eighteen soon, and her father says she must marry by her birthday. To be precise, there is a very specific person he wants her to marry — Lord Steldor, an arrogant young man. Naturally, Alera is trying to do all she can to get out of this arrangement.
In the meantime, Hytanica captures who they believe to be a Cokyri spy, sixteen year old Narian. However, it is soon revealed that Narian is actually the missing boy from the war years ago. His family takes him back, but Narian seems too Cokyri to live amongst the Hytanican people, a possible security threat to the entire kingdom. Alera, on the other hand, finds Narian’s Cokyri ways interesting and mysterious, and falls in love with him — but there’s no way her father will let her marry a man whose loyalties are so questionable.
So there we have it. It’s a pretty solid plot: nothing terribly original (the scene where Narian takes Alera on a moonlight horseback riding adventure through the silent city totally caused Disney’s Aladdin‘s ‘A Whole New World’ to play in my head) but it’s decent. The ending was interesting because it isn’t a happy ending, which I was surprised about; usually the heroine always gets what they want in the end in YA books. But I was surprised in a good way, not a bad way! However, on that note, the ending didn’t feel very conclusive. A lot of the conflicts in the book are left unresolved or just hanging. I always say this, but I’ll say it again: even if it’s a series, each independent book has to have some sort of resolution!
While I found the plot more or less okay, my biggest problem was the narration. It’s in a first person perspective, and the writing style just didn’t seem to fit with it. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was mostly fine despite being a little too ‘flowery’ at times, and overly descriptive. My issue is that this is supposed to be a first person perspective, yet the writing felt like it was more suited for third person. Alera, our narrator, ended up sounding quite stiff, in my opinion, and as a result, she came off as having no personality of her own. She sounds like a third person narrator. And not just the narration, but the dialogue as well. It didn’t feel natural. You know, I kind of suspect this story might have originally been written in third person. There’s a couple scenes that threw me off as I was reading; for example, there is a scene where it is cold outside and Alera talks about her ears turning pink. As a reader, I was thrusted from watching the story unfold inside Alera’s point of view to suddenly being outside of Alera, in order to see her ears turning pink. There’s some more scenes, but you get the idea. (Though I could be wrong about the third person narration thing, in which case this example would be a blooper, I suppose).
Because everything in the story is written with such formality, including all kinds of dialogue, the characters came off feeling kind of artificial. None of the characters felt particularly ‘real’ to me, although I inexplicably became quite fond of Steldor, for some odd reason. I know it’s weird because you’re not supposed to like him, but I think it’s just because he’s the only character that felt like he had any real sort of personality, even if it’s the cocky arrogant kind. I even started rooting for Steldor and Alera to get together (and was pretty punch pleased with the ending ).
With all that said and done though, I do think, for the author’s age at the time she was writing this book, that this is a remarkable feat and I see huge potential. I think with some more practice in writing stories, Miss Kluver will become an amazing story teller. Though I’m feeling kind of lukewarm towards Legacy, I’m still eager to read the next book in the series.
I got this book off of NetGalley. At the time, I wasn’t aware that this was written by then-14 year old Miss Kluver. I’ve only read one other book by a teenager, and had a less-than-pleasant experience doing so. So understandably, I was a bit wary diving into Legacy. While I think Legacy also suffers from certain teenage writing patterns, this book is actually quite readable. I think it could have been better, for sure, but overall, it is quite okay.
The story opens with a prologue explaining the two kingdoms that are prominently featured in the story, Cokyri and Hytanica. Sixteen years ago, they were at war, and Cokyri ended up kidnapping forty-nine babies. The Cokyri then returned forty-eight baby corpses. One was missing.
The story then dives into the first person perspective of our main female character, Princess Alera of Hytanica. She’s turning eighteen soon, and her father says she must marry by her birthday. To be precise, there is a very specific person he wants her to marry — Lord Steldor, an arrogant young man. Naturally, Alera is trying to do all she can to get out of this arrangement.
In the meantime, Hytanica captures who they believe to be a Cokyri spy, sixteen year old Narian. However, it is soon revealed that Narian is actually the missing boy from the war years ago. His family takes him back, but Narian seems too Cokyri to live amongst the Hytanican people, a possible security threat to the entire kingdom. Alera, on the other hand, finds Narian’s Cokyri ways interesting and mysterious, and falls in love with him — but there’s no way her father will let her marry a man whose loyalties are so questionable.
So there we have it. It’s a pretty solid plot: nothing terribly original (the scene where Narian takes Alera on a moonlight horseback riding adventure through the silent city totally caused Disney’s Aladdin‘s ‘A Whole New World’ to play in my head) but it’s decent. The ending was interesting because it isn’t a happy ending, which I was surprised about; usually the heroine always gets what they want in the end in YA books. But I was surprised in a good way, not a bad way! However, on that note, the ending didn’t feel very conclusive. A lot of the conflicts in the book are left unresolved or just hanging. I always say this, but I’ll say it again: even if it’s a series, each independent book has to have some sort of resolution!
While I found the plot more or less okay, my biggest problem was the narration. It’s in a first person perspective, and the writing style just didn’t seem to fit with it. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was mostly fine despite being a little too ‘flowery’ at times, and overly descriptive. My issue is that this is supposed to be a first person perspective, yet the writing felt like it was more suited for third person. Alera, our narrator, ended up sounding quite stiff, in my opinion, and as a result, she came off as having no personality of her own. She sounds like a third person narrator. And not just the narration, but the dialogue as well. It didn’t feel natural. You know, I kind of suspect this story might have originally been written in third person. There’s a couple scenes that threw me off as I was reading; for example, there is a scene where it is cold outside and Alera talks about her ears turning pink. As a reader, I was thrusted from watching the story unfold inside Alera’s point of view to suddenly being outside of Alera, in order to see her ears turning pink. There’s some more scenes, but you get the idea. (Though I could be wrong about the third person narration thing, in which case this example would be a blooper, I suppose).
Because everything in the story is written with such formality, including all kinds of dialogue, the characters came off feeling kind of artificial. None of the characters felt particularly ‘real’ to me, although I inexplicably became quite fond of Steldor, for some odd reason. I know it’s weird because you’re not supposed to like him, but I think it’s just because he’s the only character that felt like he had any real sort of personality, even if it’s the cocky arrogant kind. I even started rooting for Steldor and Alera to get together (and
With all that said and done though, I do think, for the author’s age at the time she was writing this book, that this is a remarkable feat and I see huge potential. I think with some more practice in writing stories, Miss Kluver will become an amazing story teller. Though I’m feeling kind of lukewarm towards Legacy, I’m still eager to read the next book in the series.
krumpdaddyreads's review
Seriously one of the best series and is definitely one of my absolute favorites. I promise the books get better as the series continues. One of the things I detest is a love triangle and you definitely will not find that in this series, though at some times you are led to believe that there may be one. It was a great surprise to find out how old this young author was when she wrote this book, but it was a pleasant surprise. This book series is not for everyone but for the people who loves stories about princesses and the struggles one must face to become Queen, it is definitely for you. I through my full support behind these books and would recommend them to anyone who asked of my opinion. Once again, extraordinarily beautiful books!
christajls's review against another edition
3.0
Originally reviewed at Hooked on Books
The world of Hytanica is amazing. The descriptions are lush and like any good fantasy novel I found myself daydreaming what it would be like to run away there. I loved the idea of stealing away to ride horses, long beautiful gowns and tiaras, and amazing dinner parties. It's what keeps me coming back time and time again to the genre and Cyla Kluver does a great job setting it all up.
If only that was enough.
But if there's one thing I have no patience for is a weak female lead. Maybe it's the feminist in me but it drives me mad and Alera is the perfect example of this. I found her so incredibly flaky and annoying. I'm sorry but hiring a new maid and planning a dinner party guest list does not a stressful day make. And I found her love for Narian irrational. It made me think of Elena's love for Stefan on The Vampire Diaries. At a certain point their actions are no longer understandable. I could go on about all the reasons I was disappointed with her but at the end of the day it comes down to this. I did not believe she was this brave, independent woman all the other characters kept saying she was. Instead she made me want to pull my hair out and throw the book against the wall.
I was underwhelmed by Legacy but decided to give Allegiance a chance to change my mind. It didn't. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be continuing with this series.
The world of Hytanica is amazing. The descriptions are lush and like any good fantasy novel I found myself daydreaming what it would be like to run away there. I loved the idea of stealing away to ride horses, long beautiful gowns and tiaras, and amazing dinner parties. It's what keeps me coming back time and time again to the genre and Cyla Kluver does a great job setting it all up.
If only that was enough.
But if there's one thing I have no patience for is a weak female lead. Maybe it's the feminist in me but it drives me mad and Alera is the perfect example of this. I found her so incredibly flaky and annoying. I'm sorry but hiring a new maid and planning a dinner party guest list does not a stressful day make. And I found her love for Narian irrational. It made me think of Elena's love for Stefan on The Vampire Diaries. At a certain point their actions are no longer understandable. I could go on about all the reasons I was disappointed with her but at the end of the day it comes down to this. I did not believe she was this brave, independent woman all the other characters kept saying she was. Instead she made me want to pull my hair out and throw the book against the wall.
I was underwhelmed by Legacy but decided to give Allegiance a chance to change my mind. It didn't. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be continuing with this series.
emma211's review against another edition
5.0
I love these books! I don't usually read this sort of thing, but I have really enjoyed this series :)