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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
Intriguing world building and a very creative premise for a series. I struggled a little bit with it but I think it was just my state of mind and not anything to do with the talents of the author. Some great uses of humour and excellent pacing but I felt the character development a little lacking. The premise did keep me interested and I will be grabbing a copy of the next book in the series. Enjoyed the Canadians settings and well she used the phrase "Allons-y" at one point which made me smile. All in all definitely worth a read.
Favourite Quotes/Passages
"I was there for days defending the narrative's deeper thematic possibilities to the naysayers, losing sleep over it because that's what happens when nerds fight other nerds o the internet. Dark times"
Favourite Quotes/Passages
"I was there for days defending the narrative's deeper thematic possibilities to the naysayers, losing sleep over it because that's what happens when nerds fight other nerds o the internet. Dark times"
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed this book. It was a mix between Avatar and Madoka Magica. Elemental powers, past lives, dark mysteries, and great sacrifices.
THANK YOU for not having the main character super powerful and the "savior." I like that Maia had to learn about her powers with the reader and was, in fact, awful. I also liked the author shows how scary fighting these monsters really is. Made me like the story even more because the characters were more realistic with all their flaws.
THANK YOU for not having the main character super powerful and the "savior." I like that Maia had to learn about her powers with the reader and was, in fact, awful. I also liked the author shows how scary fighting these monsters really is. Made me like the story even more because the characters were more realistic with all their flaws.
I love the potential of this. For me, it didn't quite deliver. For one thing, we get pretty vague descriptions of the girls except Belle, a typical, beautiful ice queen blonde.
There's a lot happening and it's hard to keep up with.
There's a lot happening and it's hard to keep up with.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated
adventurous
Maia Finley was just a geeky teen, with a geeky twin sister, June. They were identical twins born to a white American father and a brown/black Jamaican mother. Both girls were obsessed with the effigies. Four female warriors, each having the power of a single element: water, fire, earth, and air. The effigies protected the world from the phantoms who seemed to materialize out of black smoke and take the forms of any and all creatures that had ever been on earth. Almost a year before we meet Maia, her entire family had died in a house fire. She wasn’t home at the time it began but made it home in time to watch her home and family burn to the ground. Now, she lives with her Uncle Nathan (her dad’s brother) and is 16 years old. The night the fire effigy, Natalya Filipova, dies Maia is awakened in the night with the power entering her body, making her feel as if she is burning up alive. She is now like one of her heroes: an effigy.
Maia is found by the Sect, which is an international organization that trains regular humans to be soldiers to fight and contain phantoms, but they also “control” the effigies. They tell them where to go and get them to and from their destinations. The Sect also determines whether an effigy is worthy of duty or not. The other effigies are blonde-haired 19-year-old Belle Rousseau from France who control water and also has an icy demeaner, 18-year-old Chae Rin Kim born in Daegu and raised in Vancouver who has the power of earth as well as a fiery temper to go with it, and last but not least, 17-year-old Victoria Soyinka also known as “Lake” as she is focused more on her singing career than being an effigy who is British and has power over the air.
Maia is actually first located by extremely young, and extremely good-looking Sect agent 18-year-old Aidan Rhys. He has been in training and later fighting for the Sect since he was 10 years old. The night they meet Maia is at a charity event with her Uncle Nathan where she also meets a boy named Saul. He has white-blond hair and introduces her to the idea that there are other effigies that are causing the phantom attacks in well-protected cities around the world, including the recent attack in NYC. Maia can’t believe it’s possible until he shows up later that evening looking for her and attacks the hotel with phantoms and throws her from the window. It’s then that she learns that al of the previous effigies of fire live within her, their memories, and she can get flashbacks of them whenever until she learns to control them.
When she meets the other effigies only Lake is friendly and empathetic, both Belle and Chae are rather hard on her at the beginning but soon the four of them learn to work together. And they have to in order to beat Saul and whoever is helping Saul from inside the Sect. A sketchy guy named Bartholomäus Blackwell is the Sect’s representative of the council and he has a henchman named Vasily who was trained from childhood with Rhys but seems rather in love with killing. Much of the action surrounding they mystery of who Saul is, what he wants, and how he can do what he can do seems to include Vasily in one way or another, and since he answers solely to Blackwell it only stands to reason that he is the turncoat. Nothing is for certain at the end of the novel and readers will have to see the answer in the following books.
Sarah Raughley writes a promising and diverse introduction to an exciting trilogy. The effigies are all women with superpowers and what is exciting is that they all have flaws and battles to fight of their own, internally. They did not start out being awesome heroes who didn’t fear death (or phantoms) and were entirely okay with giving up their previous lives and aspirations to drop everything and happily sacrifice themselves for the world. Most effigies die young. They say if you live for 7 years then you’re good at it or a horrible coward. Either way, seven years from when you become an effigy is not a very long time and during that time your life is not your own to live. The young women learn how to come together to fight. To put aside their fears, insecurities, and anger for a larger purpose and to solve a mystery no one alive seems to be trying to figure out. How did Natalya Filipova really die, because it wasn’t suicide and was definitely murder (based off of Maia’s visions of Natalya’s memories). The question is: why? In the next books we hopefully see Maia come into her own and perhaps have a romance of some kind with Rhys, but hopefully not too cliché of one.
Maia is found by the Sect, which is an international organization that trains regular humans to be soldiers to fight and contain phantoms, but they also “control” the effigies. They tell them where to go and get them to and from their destinations. The Sect also determines whether an effigy is worthy of duty or not. The other effigies are blonde-haired 19-year-old Belle Rousseau from France who control water and also has an icy demeaner, 18-year-old Chae Rin Kim born in Daegu and raised in Vancouver who has the power of earth as well as a fiery temper to go with it, and last but not least, 17-year-old Victoria Soyinka also known as “Lake” as she is focused more on her singing career than being an effigy who is British and has power over the air.
Maia is actually first located by extremely young, and extremely good-looking Sect agent 18-year-old Aidan Rhys. He has been in training and later fighting for the Sect since he was 10 years old. The night they meet Maia is at a charity event with her Uncle Nathan where she also meets a boy named Saul. He has white-blond hair and introduces her to the idea that there are other effigies that are causing the phantom attacks in well-protected cities around the world, including the recent attack in NYC. Maia can’t believe it’s possible until he shows up later that evening looking for her and attacks the hotel with phantoms and throws her from the window. It’s then that she learns that al of the previous effigies of fire live within her, their memories, and she can get flashbacks of them whenever until she learns to control them.
When she meets the other effigies only Lake is friendly and empathetic, both Belle and Chae are rather hard on her at the beginning but soon the four of them learn to work together. And they have to in order to beat Saul and whoever is helping Saul from inside the Sect. A sketchy guy named Bartholomäus Blackwell is the Sect’s representative of the council and he has a henchman named Vasily who was trained from childhood with Rhys but seems rather in love with killing. Much of the action surrounding they mystery of who Saul is, what he wants, and how he can do what he can do seems to include Vasily in one way or another, and since he answers solely to Blackwell it only stands to reason that he is the turncoat. Nothing is for certain at the end of the novel and readers will have to see the answer in the following books.
Sarah Raughley writes a promising and diverse introduction to an exciting trilogy. The effigies are all women with superpowers and what is exciting is that they all have flaws and battles to fight of their own, internally. They did not start out being awesome heroes who didn’t fear death (or phantoms) and were entirely okay with giving up their previous lives and aspirations to drop everything and happily sacrifice themselves for the world. Most effigies die young. They say if you live for 7 years then you’re good at it or a horrible coward. Either way, seven years from when you become an effigy is not a very long time and during that time your life is not your own to live. The young women learn how to come together to fight. To put aside their fears, insecurities, and anger for a larger purpose and to solve a mystery no one alive seems to be trying to figure out. How did Natalya Filipova really die, because it wasn’t suicide and was definitely murder (based off of Maia’s visions of Natalya’s memories). The question is: why? In the next books we hopefully see Maia come into her own and perhaps have a romance of some kind with Rhys, but hopefully not too cliché of one.
3.5, creative idea, I'm curious to see where the series goes from here
more like a 1.5*
This book was definitely written for younger YA. The concept was interesting but then the plot was very disjointed and everything felt very juvenile? Maia's love interest felt very forced, especially considering they don't really spend much time with each other.
That being said, I bought the sequels from Book Outlet before I realized I wasn't going to like this first one, so... hopefully it gets better? xD we shall see lol
This book was definitely written for younger YA. The concept was interesting but then the plot was very disjointed and everything felt very juvenile? Maia's love interest felt very forced, especially considering they don't really spend much time with each other.
That being said, I bought the sequels from Book Outlet before I realized I wasn't going to like this first one, so... hopefully it gets better? xD we shall see lol
Imagine a world subject to attack by Phantoms - strange creatures that resemble the giant things that the Chitauri fly around on when they attack New York in "The Avengers." There are supposedly safe zones with techie defenses that prevent the Phantoms from appearing, but they sometimes fail. And all bets are off if you're outside the safe zones. Got that pictured clearly?
Now, imagine that there are defenders called Effigies. They happen to be teenage girls and there are only four at a time. Each one wields a different element; earth, air, fire, and water. When one Effigy dies, her powers are passed to a successor. The girls are trained and given tactical support by an international group called the Sect. Still pretty clear?
So, in this world, an Effigy has just died and her successor has not told anyone about her new powers. That is our protagonist, Maia. As the tale progresses, we come to see more of her world, learn a little of the history of the Phantom and Effigies, and start to have some serious doubts about whether the Sect is being honest. Imagine a group that literally has the fate of the world in their hands. Wouldn't the temptation be there to keep things from the public and maneuver for political power? Is that part of what is going on? And on top of that, the Effigies are hormonal teenage girls with all the problems that a normal teen has, plus having to battle monsters.
There are bits to appeal to lots of different types of readers. There is the urban fantasy with the monsters and the elemental powers. There is intrigue and possible conspiracy theory about the Sect, and the source of the Phantoms. There is girl power and cat fights, with Maia trying to learn how to use her powers and get to know the other Effigies. It could also be seen as a super heroine story, although they don't wear masks and capes.
For readers who enjoyed The Naturals by Jennifer Lynne Barnes, this has a similar feel. The new recruit, the jostling for pecking order in the group, the murky history and secrets. It also reminds me of the Hunter books by Mercedes Lackey.
Recommended for ages 12+.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
Now, imagine that there are defenders called Effigies. They happen to be teenage girls and there are only four at a time. Each one wields a different element; earth, air, fire, and water. When one Effigy dies, her powers are passed to a successor. The girls are trained and given tactical support by an international group called the Sect. Still pretty clear?
So, in this world, an Effigy has just died and her successor has not told anyone about her new powers. That is our protagonist, Maia. As the tale progresses, we come to see more of her world, learn a little of the history of the Phantom and Effigies, and start to have some serious doubts about whether the Sect is being honest. Imagine a group that literally has the fate of the world in their hands. Wouldn't the temptation be there to keep things from the public and maneuver for political power? Is that part of what is going on? And on top of that, the Effigies are hormonal teenage girls with all the problems that a normal teen has, plus having to battle monsters.
There are bits to appeal to lots of different types of readers. There is the urban fantasy with the monsters and the elemental powers. There is intrigue and possible conspiracy theory about the Sect, and the source of the Phantoms. There is girl power and cat fights, with Maia trying to learn how to use her powers and get to know the other Effigies. It could also be seen as a super heroine story, although they don't wear masks and capes.
For readers who enjoyed The Naturals by Jennifer Lynne Barnes, this has a similar feel. The new recruit, the jostling for pecking order in the group, the murky history and secrets. It also reminds me of the Hunter books by Mercedes Lackey.
Recommended for ages 12+.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.