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A review by mwhitney
The Waking Land by Callie Bates
4.0
I received this copy through Netgalley, for review.
After spending 14 years as a hostage in a foreign court, Elanna Valtai is forced to flee the only home she has ever truly known. Her dream to become a botanist is shattered when her mentor is arrested and she in implicated in a conspiracy to kill the king. And the only people there to help her are the same supporters of the revolution her father started years before. And her only way to any kind of safety is to return home to a country she doesn't know. And have to deal with the magic she has locked away and suppressed since childhood, and the connection and weight it has to the deep roots of the country she left behind and her part in a revolution she's not sure she can believe in.
I did enjoy this book. It's pretty solid although I wouldn't put too much stock in it's comparisons, comparing anything to Uprooted is just way too high (I read a lot of books and I've only found one other last year that met it on the same level of feeling, and this wasn't it.) I enjoyed this over all, there were some spots that I felt more time could have been spent, but over all the pace was good.
Elanna was far from a one dimensional character. She's strong, and fiery, stubborn, questioning, not content to take slack from anyone, and not thrilled about holding back from what she feels is right. She's also deeply conflicted about what she's supposed to feel about the place she's lived and what she's been told about her people, her family, her country.
The magical portion I like, the idea of connecting to the land it's self. The descriptions were incredible.
Give this one a chance. throw the comparison to Uprooted out the window, it's doing such a disservice. Callie Bates has given us something fresh, magical and new, and a Caveadear to believe in.
After spending 14 years as a hostage in a foreign court, Elanna Valtai is forced to flee the only home she has ever truly known. Her dream to become a botanist is shattered when her mentor is arrested and she in implicated in a conspiracy to kill the king. And the only people there to help her are the same supporters of the revolution her father started years before. And her only way to any kind of safety is to return home to a country she doesn't know. And have to deal with the magic she has locked away and suppressed since childhood, and the connection and weight it has to the deep roots of the country she left behind and her part in a revolution she's not sure she can believe in.
I did enjoy this book. It's pretty solid although I wouldn't put too much stock in it's comparisons, comparing anything to Uprooted is just way too high (I read a lot of books and I've only found one other last year that met it on the same level of feeling, and this wasn't it.) I enjoyed this over all, there were some spots that I felt more time could have been spent, but over all the pace was good.
Elanna was far from a one dimensional character. She's strong, and fiery, stubborn, questioning, not content to take slack from anyone, and not thrilled about holding back from what she feels is right. She's also deeply conflicted about what she's supposed to feel about the place she's lived and what she's been told about her people, her family, her country.
The magical portion I like, the idea of connecting to the land it's self. The descriptions were incredible.
Give this one a chance. throw the comparison to Uprooted out the window, it's doing such a disservice. Callie Bates has given us something fresh, magical and new, and a Caveadear to believe in.