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adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
*ARC received from Netgalley - all opinions are my own*
TL;DR: Really enjoyed despite me having a few gripes with the plot! Riftborne would be best suited to those looking for an easier, almost YA, feeling fantasy. Definitely recommend and can’t wait for the sequel!
Review:
If I took away the romance, Riftborne was a very solid 4-star book and a solid start to the series but felt like the romance has potentially let it down a little for me.
As I said, as a purely fantasy book, I loved it! It was a bit of a simpler read but still really enjoyable with some interesting history we’re learning about throughout the book and a magic system that really has my interest. I liked that the authors have given each of the “classes” of powers different manifestations of said powers.
The romance, however, I wasn’t a massive fan of unless General Laryk turns out to not be the intended love interest, which I personally hope he isn’t. He comes across as very cold and unfeeling towards Fia throughout the entire book and on the few occasions where he is showing some sort of feeling for her, it comes across as very power hungry and wanting to own her as opposed to genuine love. I think he could potentially feel like he may have feelings for her but honestly think it’s her power that he’s attracted to and getting to know a way to crack her - Laryk actually mentions something similar during their training sessions. I’m really hoping for a different love interest in the future, especially given certain plot points at the end.
Aside from my issues with the romance, my oly other gripe is how Fia seemingly “gets over” her hatred of the Aossi and just sweeps all the discrimination she and the other Riftborne have faced aside when she meets a handful of people who don’t discriminate against her. Nevermind the fact that she tries to twist it to be “Ma” planting that in her head. Very bizarre that anyone could get over that so quickly.
Overall, despite my couple of flaws with Riftborne, I did thoroughly enjoy reading it and I’m very excited for the next book to see how things progress, especially with the ending happening the way it did!! Definitely recommend!
(Also final, more personal, side note on the romance - the authors state that Laryk is an Xavier to Fia’s Dark Phoenix which doesn’t make things clearer to me as a lover of both the X-Men movies and the comics. Nevermind that that’s a bit of a complicated and contested topic in the fandom so?? Regardless, Laryk hasn’t endeared me to him at all but only time will tell and I have my own theories for what will happen next!)