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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5/5
This book had an incredible magic system, world building, and banter. Typically I hate dual POV, but this was a successful and interesting exception. The only reason it was not a 5/5 was because since it was the first book it was mainly learning the backstory and building up our knowledge of the world.
This book had an incredible magic system, world building, and banter. Typically I hate dual POV, but this was a successful and interesting exception. The only reason it was not a 5/5 was because since it was the first book it was mainly learning the backstory and building up our knowledge of the world.
Brief thoughts originally published 24 May 2018 at Falling Letters.
I think everyone in the book blogging world who would want to read this already has. I need to create a rule where I don’t request young adult fantasy – I have high hopes of enjoying it, but I rarely do and then I don’t have much to say in a review that I don’t feel has been better articulated elsewhere. Hence the brief thoughts post instead of a full review that I struggled to write for a week and then gave up on. (At least I feel like it’s been a long time since I read a book that was neither here nor there for me!)
I would have skipped this book if it was by anyone else. I was willing to give it a shot because I adored the fantasy-esque scenes Legrand wrote in Some Kind of Happiness. Unfortunately for me, this book is totally different from that. I knew that Furyborn is YA, but it’s definitely on the older end of the YA spectrum and the style is typical YA fantasy – nothing particularly fancy.
The prologue features a different tone than the rest of the book, however. It also features the most dramatic scene of the book. I liked the prologue better than most of the rest of the book.
Usually alternating perspectives between chapters doesn’t work for me, but I found that the chapters in Furyborn are short enough that I didn’t get bored or forget what was happening in the other timeline. This also made skimming through Rielle’s trials quick.
What sets this book apart from others in the same genre is the older age of the protagonists and the embracing of female desire. Another twist on a trope is that Eliana works and fights for the oppressive Empire, rather than the rebels. There’s also a role reversal that I feel I haven’t seen often. I like the exploration of fate and identity – can we choose to be who we want?
I had this wishful thinking theory that the 1,000 years between Rielle and Eliana was actually propaganda by the Empire and Rielle’s storyline only happened like 20 years earlier, and Rielle is actually still around….but no, that’s not the case.
The Bottom Line:Recommended for fans of the genre, who may appreciate some of the twists on usual tropes.
I think everyone in the book blogging world who would want to read this already has. I need to create a rule where I don’t request young adult fantasy – I have high hopes of enjoying it, but I rarely do and then I don’t have much to say in a review that I don’t feel has been better articulated elsewhere. Hence the brief thoughts post instead of a full review that I struggled to write for a week and then gave up on. (At least I feel like it’s been a long time since I read a book that was neither here nor there for me!)
I would have skipped this book if it was by anyone else. I was willing to give it a shot because I adored the fantasy-esque scenes Legrand wrote in Some Kind of Happiness. Unfortunately for me, this book is totally different from that. I knew that Furyborn is YA, but it’s definitely on the older end of the YA spectrum and the style is typical YA fantasy – nothing particularly fancy.
The prologue features a different tone than the rest of the book, however. It also features the most dramatic scene of the book. I liked the prologue better than most of the rest of the book.
Usually alternating perspectives between chapters doesn’t work for me, but I found that the chapters in Furyborn are short enough that I didn’t get bored or forget what was happening in the other timeline. This also made skimming through Rielle’s trials quick.
What sets this book apart from others in the same genre is the older age of the protagonists and the embracing of female desire. Another twist on a trope is that Eliana works and fights for the oppressive Empire, rather than the rebels. There’s also a role reversal that I feel I haven’t seen often. I like the exploration of fate and identity – can we choose to be who we want?
I had this wishful thinking theory that the 1,000 years between Rielle and Eliana was actually propaganda by the Empire and Rielle’s storyline only happened like 20 years earlier, and Rielle is actually still around….but no, that’s not the case.
The Bottom Line:Recommended for fans of the genre, who may appreciate some of the twists on usual tropes.
I had a great time reading this and already can’t wait for the next one. It took me a little to get into because of the division of the chapters but one third of the way through I was sold.
I did prefer one storyline to the other and I (selfishly) hope that the next book will give a bit more time to that but even when I was reading it I was never clamouring to go back to the other perspective.
Also I have to say this: there is an enemies to friends to lovers(?) relationship that GOT. ME. BAD. They remind me so much of bellarke I wanna die.
I did prefer one storyline to the other and I (selfishly) hope that the next book will give a bit more time to that but even when I was reading it I was never clamouring to go back to the other perspective.
Also I have to say this: there is an enemies to friends to lovers(?) relationship that GOT. ME. BAD. They remind me so much of bellarke I wanna die.
5 for Eliana's plot, 3.5 for Rielle's. I understand the purpose of Rielle's side of the story, but I just couldn't connect with her.
“People like us don’t fight for our own hope,” he said quietly. “We fight for everyone else’s.”
From other reviews, Furyborn seems to be a "love-it-or-hate-it" type of book.To me, it wasn't great, and it wasn't terrible. Furyborn had a lot of creative worldbuilding that I haven't seen in fantasy often, and a few interesting characters. Really, I just feel somewhat ambivalent about this book--there were a lot of things I liked, yes, and there were a lot of things I found boring or slow.
Between Rielle and Eliana, I liked both of them about the same. Neither of them were my favourite characters, but I didn't find myself particularly annoyed with them. I felt like both Rielle and Eliana were very archetypal, somewhat generic fantasy characters. The side characters, however, I found interesting. I liked Ludivine a lot; she was just so incredibly sweet and angelic, so even though Rielle and Audric didn't hold my interest, I liked being in Rielle's POV because of Ludivine. On Eliana's side, I liked Remy, Navi, and Simon the most. Remy and Navi were just so nice and positive compared to Eliana's pessimism, and Simon was intriguing, even if he was kind of an ass.
Plot-wise, I found the whole book somewhat slow and repetitive, which really made me struggle in some areas. I really felt it with Rielle and the seven trials: each of them were so similar to the other ones. Rielle would describe her costume, the crowd cheering, almost die, and Corien would speak to her and she would miraculously make it out alive. I liked seeing Rielle outside of the trials and especially with Ludivine and Audric, and witnessing her trying to navigate complicated court politics. Eliana's side of the plot was slightly faster and more interesting, but I still struggled in parts.
One aspect of the worldbuilding I liked is the creativity of the lore. Angels don't show up in otherworld fantasy often, so that part of the worldbuilding had me hooked. It's a fairly unique concept. I do wish some of it had been expanded on--I would like to know more about the empire and the angels--but I expect that will come in the next book. There was a lot in this book that I was expecting to happen but looks as if it will be saved for a sequel, which personally left me feeling kind of betrayed. The book opens with Rielle as an anti-heroine and a crisis, but after that all the action died down, and so did the continued establishment of the world that makes it feel real.
This is especially obvious in the 1,000 year timeskip from Rielle and Eliana. Except for a few mild things, such as guns and gas lamps, the world feels the same. I would say, in our historical terms, Rielle's era reads like high medieval era, while Eliana's is Regency-era at the latest--that's a difference of 400-500 years at most, and I definitely felt the lack of change while reading it. Why do people still fight with swords, especially when there are guns? Why are the same countries all still around with the same borders after 1000 years, even accounting for the existence of the Undying Empire? Having the feeling of time lapsed would have been really nice to see and given the book a lot more atmosphere than it has right now.
I did mostly enjoy reading Furyborn, though. Yes, the plot was a bit slow at times, but in the end I liked the characters and the worldbuilding enough, even if nothing was an absolute standout to me. Throne of Glass fans might like this, but if you don't like slow fantasies, then this book is probably not for you. I will definitely be picking up Kingsbane after it comes out.
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I'm torn on how I feel about this book? As I'm reviewing after finishing the whole series, I don't know if I can totally fairly judge this one? Because one of my biggest things from this first book was that I was so confused lmao. I definitely think that the idea behind it is original, but the pacing was slow at times then fast at others, I would get kind of confused jumping 1,000 years apart, and the main relationship was expected yet happened way too fast/not much progress.
Basically, I think this had a ton of potential, but it didn't really live up to it. The idea and plot are original, but I wish Legrand paced a bit better and made things flow more smoothly.
Links :)
https://www.instagram.com/thesundayreads/
https://www.pinterest.com/izzystraka/
Basically, I think this had a ton of potential, but it didn't really live up to it. The idea and plot are original, but I wish Legrand paced a bit better and made things flow more smoothly.
Links :)
https://www.instagram.com/thesundayreads/
https://www.pinterest.com/izzystraka/
I absolutely loved this book. I was worried that I wouldn’t like it but god was I wrong. I fell head over heels for this book. I am so excited to continue on with this series.
Rating: 3.75/5
Interesting read! Different than what I’ve read recently- I bought the next/last 2 books of the trilogy at B&N today so I’m ready to dive in to those....
.... and hopefully get all my questions answered but I was so confused the whole time haha
Interesting read! Different than what I’ve read recently- I bought the next/last 2 books of the trilogy at B&N today so I’m ready to dive in to those....
.... and hopefully get all my questions answered but I was so confused the whole time haha