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zippy_julz's review
5.0
Rating Clarification: 4.5
I loved all of the books in this saraquael series and consumed the first 3 in about 3 days. The world built by the author was unique and the characters were charming. The only reason I didn't give this a 5 star rating is because there was no concepts that lingered with me after they were finished. That being said, they are a fun, easy read and I will be snatching the next book as soon as it is published. I loved the adventure of this book and the opportunity to get to know the new characters with th familiarity of the established characters that are already endearing. I appreciated that the romance didn't follow the same easier outcome that were in the first series. Hopefully in the next book the Gloresti will give some other estillorian a chance at romance.
I loved all of the books in this saraquael series and consumed the first 3 in about 3 days. The world built by the author was unique and the characters were charming. The only reason I didn't give this a 5 star rating is because there was no concepts that lingered with me after they were finished. That being said, they are a fun, easy read and I will be snatching the next book as soon as it is published. I loved the adventure of this book and the opportunity to get to know the new characters with th familiarity of the established characters that are already endearing. I appreciated that the romance didn't follow the same easier outcome that were in the first series. Hopefully in the next book the Gloresti will give some other estillorian a chance at romance.
rogankeira's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
2.0
This is my favourite book in the Estilorians series, as well as one of the best-written ones. Unlike the other books in the Firstborn trilogy, the romantic angst in this one isn't so extreme, so I find it much more enjoyable to read, but it is also more slow-burning and realistic than that of the romance in the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy: a very nice balance. That being said it shares the same weakness as all of the other books in the series: too little plot! For all that this is a romance book it is actually first and foremost a fantasy book. Except that enough plot happens in the whole trilogy for just one book. The first book in the series especially suffers from this, making it not particularly satisfying.
jeanz's review
4.0
MY REVIEW
My initial reaction when approaching this book was trepidation, as its a sister series to the Daughters of Saraqael, I thought maybe I would have to have read that series first. Then I saw the Glossary at the beginning of the book and thought "oh no I will never remember all these facts when reading the book" but I was pleasantly surprised as you don't really need lots of those facts retained as everything is explained in the actual book as the story progresses.
I loved all the characters, the unrequited love between Sophia and Quincy, the sibling love and rivalry between Tate and Tiege, as well as the brotherly/sisterly love between all the cousins. It is a believable story too, you believe that Tate's character would sneak off even though she was told not to.
I enjoyed how the story unfolded and was told from more than one perspective, it flowed brilliantly.
The ending is left in such away that we know that there is much more to come...and that's a great thing too.
So did I enjoy the book? YES Would I recommend it? YES Would I read more by Raine Thomas and more of this series? Yes I plan on reading the Daughters Of Saraqael Series and if I had book 2 of the Firstborn Series I would read it right now!
So don't just put it on your wishlists put it on your buy it list!
Available 30th April 2012.
My initial reaction when approaching this book was trepidation, as its a sister series to the Daughters of Saraqael, I thought maybe I would have to have read that series first. Then I saw the Glossary at the beginning of the book and thought "oh no I will never remember all these facts when reading the book" but I was pleasantly surprised as you don't really need lots of those facts retained as everything is explained in the actual book as the story progresses.
I loved all the characters, the unrequited love between Sophia and Quincy, the sibling love and rivalry between Tate and Tiege, as well as the brotherly/sisterly love between all the cousins. It is a believable story too, you believe that Tate's character would sneak off even though she was told not to.
I enjoyed how the story unfolded and was told from more than one perspective, it flowed brilliantly.
The ending is left in such away that we know that there is much more to come...and that's a great thing too.
So did I enjoy the book? YES Would I recommend it? YES Would I read more by Raine Thomas and more of this series? Yes I plan on reading the Daughters Of Saraqael Series and if I had book 2 of the Firstborn Series I would read it right now!
So don't just put it on your wishlists put it on your buy it list!
Available 30th April 2012.
nicolemm_author's review
4.0
Find more of my reviews on my blog, The Reader's Antidote
Apparently this is a companion series of this same world. I haven't read the books yet, but I did receive them for review from the author. And it's a fantasy world I'm definitely interested in. There aren't a lot of fantasy books out there in YA and so I was at first confused as to what kind of world I was being introduced to. But I was really excited to learn that it was a fantasy world. I think the only big thing I didn't like about this one was the parts that involved politics. I honestly didn't care and kind of skimmed over it to get the basic ideas of what was going on besides the rescue of Tate and the budding romance between Tate and Zachariah.
Tate was someone I could relate to. Maybe not with feathers in my hair, because as much as I love peacock feathers I don't think I'd look as good in them as Tate does. But she's stubborn like I am and I'm less inclined as I get older to listen to authority. And I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to see someone fly! Problem is, Tate gets taken by this kind of dragon thing called a kragen. And they're not really known to leave their victims alive. But it turns out the kragen is a sort of pet that belongs to a man named Zachariah. Zachariah saves her and the two of them become bonded somehow, to the point that they feel each others' pain. But let's just say that don't get along that well at first. They both have a fire in them.
It all ended sort of abruptly. Zachariah makes his... choice... at the end and then we're not exactly left on a cliffhanger but we're not given much time to process what really happened. And on top of that, I felt like some of the other characters weren't as three-dimensional as I would have liked. For the length, though, the characters were surprisingly delved into, I just think there could have been more character development. I can't wait to see what happens next now that Tate and Zachariah are in an interesting and confusing situation. While I enjoyed the romance, I'm hoping that this strange step they took won't automatically take the romance out of this series. Because while I loved this strange world, it was really the relationship between Tate and Zachariah that intrigued me. I'm so excited to see what happens next! I'll definitely have to start on the companion series.
Apparently this is a companion series of this same world. I haven't read the books yet, but I did receive them for review from the author. And it's a fantasy world I'm definitely interested in. There aren't a lot of fantasy books out there in YA and so I was at first confused as to what kind of world I was being introduced to. But I was really excited to learn that it was a fantasy world. I think the only big thing I didn't like about this one was the parts that involved politics. I honestly didn't care and kind of skimmed over it to get the basic ideas of what was going on besides the rescue of Tate and the budding romance between Tate and Zachariah.
Tate was someone I could relate to. Maybe not with feathers in my hair, because as much as I love peacock feathers I don't think I'd look as good in them as Tate does. But she's stubborn like I am and I'm less inclined as I get older to listen to authority. And I mean, come on, who wouldn't want to see someone fly! Problem is, Tate gets taken by this kind of dragon thing called a kragen. And they're not really known to leave their victims alive. But it turns out the kragen is a sort of pet that belongs to a man named Zachariah. Zachariah saves her and the two of them become bonded somehow, to the point that they feel each others' pain. But let's just say that don't get along that well at first. They both have a fire in them.
It all ended sort of abruptly. Zachariah makes his... choice... at the end and then we're not exactly left on a cliffhanger but we're not given much time to process what really happened. And on top of that, I felt like some of the other characters weren't as three-dimensional as I would have liked. For the length, though, the characters were surprisingly delved into, I just think there could have been more character development. I can't wait to see what happens next now that Tate and Zachariah are in an interesting and confusing situation. While I enjoyed the romance, I'm hoping that this strange step they took won't automatically take the romance out of this series. Because while I loved this strange world, it was really the relationship between Tate and Zachariah that intrigued me. I'm so excited to see what happens next! I'll definitely have to start on the companion series.
bookbriefs's review
4.0
First of all, I have to say that I really love this cover! It grabbed my attention immediately. And the coolest part about it is that I totally pictured her as Tate the whole time. And I know that the whole point of having a cover model is to have her look like the character, but they don't always match up with the image I create in my head. But this one did- it was dead on. The cover just captures her essence really well.
Raine Thomas is like a master world builder. She made the coolest creatures and world. I loved learning all about it. But the one mistake I made was that I didn't read the glossary before I started reading the book. As a result, I was kind of confused. There are so many new terms for the kinds of people and things that they all became kind of jumbled up for me for a while. But the good news is that this has such an easy fix. Don't be overeager like me- take the time to read the glossary of terms at the start of the book. It helps to clear everything up! Plus it is kind of like a cool little history lesson.
I really loved seeing the bond that Tate and Tiege( her twin brother) share. It was really touching to watch him go to such great lengths for her. And Tate, well she is a bit stubborn. But then again she is a teenager, and like ALL teens she thinks she knows everything. (Hey, it happens to the best of us- we have all been there). This can get her into trouble sometimes, but she is savvy and that is what I loved most about her. She uses her head, and I really appreciated that we got to see her thought process. For example, I loved her checklist of things to do in order of importance when she was first leaving the cave.
One thing I could not picture, no matter how hard I tried, was seeing everyone appearing as the same age. Everyone looked like they were 17-19, which is awesome but also a really strange concept to me. As I was reading, even though I knew all the adults and elders appeared like a teenager, I still pictured them as middle aged. It is just a hard habit to break. That would be really hard for me to give authority figured the respect they deserve if they looked to be my age. I would see everyone as my peer, which I guess in a way is very equalizing and good. But still a little strange. Don't get me wrong though, I would love to not age anymore. I would be more than happy to be frozen at 24 forever :)
Defy seems to be the start of a really promising series. I can't wait to see what Raine has in store for us next. I have her Daughters of Saraqael trilogy, which I recently learned is the sister/earlier generation series to this one (the firstborn trilogy) and now that I have gotten a taste of this awesome world, I need more! I think I will be bumping up the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy on my TBR list!
Raine Thomas is like a master world builder. She made the coolest creatures and world. I loved learning all about it. But the one mistake I made was that I didn't read the glossary before I started reading the book. As a result, I was kind of confused. There are so many new terms for the kinds of people and things that they all became kind of jumbled up for me for a while. But the good news is that this has such an easy fix. Don't be overeager like me- take the time to read the glossary of terms at the start of the book. It helps to clear everything up! Plus it is kind of like a cool little history lesson.
I really loved seeing the bond that Tate and Tiege( her twin brother) share. It was really touching to watch him go to such great lengths for her. And Tate, well she is a bit stubborn. But then again she is a teenager, and like ALL teens she thinks she knows everything. (Hey, it happens to the best of us- we have all been there). This can get her into trouble sometimes, but she is savvy and that is what I loved most about her. She uses her head, and I really appreciated that we got to see her thought process. For example, I loved her checklist of things to do in order of importance when she was first leaving the cave.
One thing I could not picture, no matter how hard I tried, was seeing everyone appearing as the same age. Everyone looked like they were 17-19, which is awesome but also a really strange concept to me. As I was reading, even though I knew all the adults and elders appeared like a teenager, I still pictured them as middle aged. It is just a hard habit to break. That would be really hard for me to give authority figured the respect they deserve if they looked to be my age. I would see everyone as my peer, which I guess in a way is very equalizing and good. But still a little strange. Don't get me wrong though, I would love to not age anymore. I would be more than happy to be frozen at 24 forever :)
Defy seems to be the start of a really promising series. I can't wait to see what Raine has in store for us next. I have her Daughters of Saraqael trilogy, which I recently learned is the sister/earlier generation series to this one (the firstborn trilogy) and now that I have gotten a taste of this awesome world, I need more! I think I will be bumping up the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy on my TBR list!
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