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A review by brittanica_bold
Odriel's Heirs by Hayley Reese Chow
4.0
Big thank you to Hayley Reese Chow for reaching out to me and providing me with a copy of this book! The opinions expressed below are voluntary and my own.
What I liked about the book:
1. It has a map! I love when books include maps, because you know some crazy stuff is going to go down and the worldbuilding is going to be insane!
97% of the time a book has a map, I’m guaranteed to fall in love! This was no exception!
2. I love mythology, real and created for the sake of literature, so the fact that this book was driven entirely by legend was very much my jam!
Original Legend: “three ordinary men stepped forward to confront Nifras, the demon necromancer, and his army of the Lost” (basically an army of the undead lead by a super bad guy). “The high spirit, Odriel, blessed them with great gifts to pass down to their Heirs. To the bravest, he gave the power of the Dragon – or fire. He cloaked the cunning in shadow – to walk unseen. And to the kind, he gave his healing touch.”
Add to this a missing (maybe even dead?) heir, a mini-boss that basically looks like Voldemort, an emotional support dog sidekick, a talking cat, and stories of previous heirs doing pretty crazy stuff to summon Odriel’s assistance, and I was a total happy camper!
3. Characters
Kaia – our FMC with the perfect amount of spark and flaws!
I cannot tell you how much I loved that Kaia was such an outcast in her community! She was literally stoned and yelled at for her abilities, but then still had to save everyone when the time came. Isn’t that the mark of a real hero???
Also, the author did a great job showing that she was no Mary Sue. The background and learning that went into her abilities was described as a lifelong experience instead of something she could just magically do, and she still didn’t come out on top in most instances. I loved the background that she was not the strongest in the events the heirs competed in and that she frequently lost in sparring matches with the Shadow Heir her whole life. This did a lot to humanize her character and made her truly relatable. It also made it that much more believable and exciting when she did something incredible! I absolutely loved her as the FMC!
Klaus – our MMC who you just know has one of those delicious bad boy smirks and eyes only for the FMC. I loved his nature of playfulness mixed with strong-will, and how he had her back at every turn. I also liked the bit of jealousy we got to see come out and play
What I liked about the book:
1. It has a map! I love when books include maps, because you know some crazy stuff is going to go down and the worldbuilding is going to be insane!
97% of the time a book has a map, I’m guaranteed to fall in love! This was no exception!
2. I love mythology, real and created for the sake of literature, so the fact that this book was driven entirely by legend was very much my jam!
Original Legend: “three ordinary men stepped forward to confront Nifras, the demon necromancer, and his army of the Lost” (basically an army of the undead lead by a super bad guy). “The high spirit, Odriel, blessed them with great gifts to pass down to their Heirs. To the bravest, he gave the power of the Dragon – or fire. He cloaked the cunning in shadow – to walk unseen. And to the kind, he gave his healing touch.”
Add to this a missing (maybe even dead?) heir, a mini-boss that basically looks like Voldemort, an emotional support dog sidekick, a talking cat, and stories of previous heirs doing pretty crazy stuff to summon Odriel’s assistance, and I was a total happy camper!
3. Characters
Kaia – our FMC with the perfect amount of spark and flaws!
I cannot tell you how much I loved that Kaia was such an outcast in her community! She was literally stoned and yelled at for her abilities, but then still had to save everyone when the time came. Isn’t that the mark of a real hero???
Also, the author did a great job showing that she was no Mary Sue. The background and learning that went into her abilities was described as a lifelong experience instead of something she could just magically do, and she still didn’t come out on top in most instances. I loved the background that she was not the strongest in the events the heirs competed in and that she frequently lost in sparring matches with the Shadow Heir her whole life. This did a lot to humanize her character and made her truly relatable. It also made it that much more believable and exciting when she did something incredible! I absolutely loved her as the FMC!
Klaus – our MMC who you just know has one of those delicious bad boy smirks and eyes only for the FMC. I loved his nature of playfulness mixed with strong-will, and how he had her back at every turn. I also liked the bit of jealousy we got to see come out and play