You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
toggle_fow 's review for:
Furyborn
by Claire Legrand
This was a tense, exciting ride.
I have to admit, I did not expect this book to be good. It was hyped when it came out, but the description never struck a chord with me. "Two queens... separated by a thousand years..." Honestly, it sounded annoying. POV-switching isn't my favorite, and having to invest in TWO separate characters and TWO separate stories is often burdensome. What the description didn't mention, though, is that it's actually one complete story from the get-go, and that there's time travel involved.
The plot is an angels-vs-humans situation, similar to the Dominion TV show/Legion movie, except set in a sort of Medieval/Renaissance fantasy world. This is interesting enough, but the book is carried mostly by the characters. Rielle's story is the more enjoyable one, which is sad because the prologue already tells us how it ends. Her magic trials were actually far less interesting than her relationships with everyone -- her father, her friends, her tutor. I felt like through her I was able to care about them all.
Eliana's chapters were compelling as well, but that was mostly because of the other characters, not Eliana herself. She has an intriguing setup: cold, arrogant, selfish, antagonistic, fiercely loyal. Her persona is born of pain and watching her grapple with her protective selfishness and haltingly grow beyond it was compelling. Unfortunately, she also apparently studied the art of being annoying under Caeleheana from Throne of Glass.
The constant sneering, coldly smiling, and viciously grinning gets old. So does the unceasing braggadocio about how skilled, deadly and ruthless she is. Eliana is not infrequently ambushed, bested, and knocked out -- yet for some reason she CANNOT shut up about how she's the Dread of Wherever and could kill them all with her left pinky finger. It's nowhere near as bad as Throne of Glass, but still gets grating after a while. She's lucky she has her fabulous brother Remy and that Simon is EXACTLY the kind of character I most adore, otherwise this would be much harder to forgive.
BIG CAVEAT AND ALSO QUESTION: Is this an adult book or a YA book? I found it in the YA section of the library and the characters are older teenagers. However... there is a full sex scene in one of Rielle's chapters near the end and a lot more sexual references throughout than I am used to seeing from YA.
I have to admit, I did not expect this book to be good. It was hyped when it came out, but the description never struck a chord with me. "Two queens... separated by a thousand years..." Honestly, it sounded annoying. POV-switching isn't my favorite, and having to invest in TWO separate characters and TWO separate stories is often burdensome. What the description didn't mention, though, is that it's actually one complete story from the get-go, and that there's time travel involved.
The plot is an angels-vs-humans situation, similar to the Dominion TV show/Legion movie, except set in a sort of Medieval/Renaissance fantasy world. This is interesting enough, but the book is carried mostly by the characters. Rielle's story is the more enjoyable one, which is sad because the prologue already tells us how it ends. Her magic trials were actually far less interesting than her relationships with everyone -- her father, her friends, her tutor. I felt like through her I was able to care about them all.
Eliana's chapters were compelling as well, but that was mostly because of the other characters, not Eliana herself. She has an intriguing setup: cold, arrogant, selfish, antagonistic, fiercely loyal. Her persona is born of pain and watching her grapple with her protective selfishness and haltingly grow beyond it was compelling. Unfortunately, she also apparently studied the art of being annoying under Caeleheana from Throne of Glass.
The constant sneering, coldly smiling, and viciously grinning gets old. So does the unceasing braggadocio about how skilled, deadly and ruthless she is. Eliana is not infrequently ambushed, bested, and knocked out -- yet for some reason she CANNOT shut up about how she's the Dread of Wherever and could kill them all with her left pinky finger. It's nowhere near as bad as Throne of Glass, but still gets grating after a while. She's lucky she has her fabulous brother Remy and that Simon is EXACTLY the kind of character I most adore, otherwise this would be much harder to forgive.
BIG CAVEAT AND ALSO QUESTION: Is this an adult book or a YA book? I found it in the YA section of the library and the characters are older teenagers. However... there is a full sex scene in one of Rielle's chapters near the end and a lot more sexual references throughout than I am used to seeing from YA.