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Rielle lives in a time of magic, where people can manipulate the elements. Whereas everyone else with magical abilities has power over only one element, Rielle has enormous power over all of them. But she has had to hide her true abilities to stay safe. One day, however, to protect the crown prince, one of her two closest friends, Rielle reveals herself, and she ends up being forced to go through a series of dangerous trials to prove she is not the foretold Blood Queen, but rather the Sun Queen, who will protect her people from the angels, immortal beings who fought against humans a thousand years before and were locked away by seven magical people revered in Rielle’s time as saints.
Eliana lives over a thousand years later, in a time where magic is now just the stuff of stories, where Queen Rielle is considered the Blood Queen, who brought destruction on her land of Celdaria. In this age, the Undying Empire has taken over most of the countries founded by the saints. Eliana learned her skills with stealth and weapons from her mother and is a nearly invincible bounty hunter in the country of Ventera. She only cares about keeping herself and her mother and younger brother alive in a dangerous time. Her situation begins to change when she witnesses some young women being taken in the dead of night; shortly afterward, her own mother disappears. She finds herself aligned with the mysterious Wolf, a lieutenant to the Prophet, the leader of Red Crown, rebels against the empire.
The stories of Rielle and Eliana play out, a thousand years apart, over the course of Furyborn. Each is fighting to stay alive, to fight those who would hurt their loved ones, to prove themselves. And each has no idea of the whole picture of danger and evil she is facing.
I was blown away by this story. It raced along at high speed, and I could not put it down (hello, three late nights of reading!). The first chapter of the book tells “the end” of the story, that of Rielle’s fate, and then goes back and fills in with how Rielle got there, and alternates with Eliana’s story. It’s clear there is some connection between the two but it’s difficult to know exactly what it is, particularly since the two young women are separated by a millennium. The world of the book is fascinating, with its history and magic and angels portrayed as villains. Rielle and Eliana are complex characters, and they’re facing complex dangers. The stakes are high and the action is practically nonstop through 500 jam-packed pages. I cannot wait for more.
Rated: High. There are six or seven instances of strong language and more uses of mild and moderate language. Violence is frequent, with lots of fighting that involves swords and knives as well as magic used to kill. A fair amount of it is gory. Sexual content includes two fairly detailed sex scenes, one that’s a few pages long, and a reference to self-pleasuring, as well as a few other references to sex happening “off-screen.” The young adults in this book are 18 to 20 years old and face harsh situations, and the book reads a bit more like an adult fantasy than one that’s really best for younger teens. Call it “new adult” fantasy, perhaps?
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* I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
