Name: Martyna's review of Furyborn by Claire Legrand
Item: Furyborn
Rating: 2.5
Author: Martyna

Claire Legrand

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

Furyborn

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed ... unless the trials kill her first.

Aimee :)

"My queen worries for me. Be still, my wicked black heart."

She closed her eyes at his touch. "I'm too dangerous."

"I would like," she said, "to prove to myself, and to my father, that I am no longer that girl of ashes and ruin. I am stronger than she was,

I am stronger than any flame that burns."

"You are the One Who Rises. The Furyborn Child. You are the Sun Queen, Eliana, and I have come to bring you home."

Eliana's hand flew to Arabeth at her hip. "Careful, Camille," she said softly. "This is dangerous ground you're treading on."

'It’s Simon," said the boy, beaming. He was practically dancing on his toes, quivering with excitement. "My name is Simon."

"Come to catch a peek at me naked, did you?"

But Simon only smiled. "Oh, Eliana," he murmured, his voice no longer playful, "I want so much more than simply a peek."

"My wicked girl," he murmured and lowered his mouth sweetly onto hers.

Sometimes your goodness shines so brightly that I want to devour you. Maybe if I have enough of you, that light you shine will stave off the wickedness that lives inside me."

Eliana dreamed of death, as she so often did.

She dreamed of everyone's death but her own.

she reigned, a corona of light blazing around her head, over a world of scorched earth.

"I don't think you should show your costume until the very last moment."

Surprised, she had managed to ask, "Why?"

He'd smiled softly at her. "Because then they'll spend the whole trial hoping desperately that you survive, if only so they'll have the chance to see vou again."

"Sometimes I wish an army of earthshakers would come to Orline. Crack open the ground, let it swallow the city whole."

She would be a symbol of light and not of death.

"Call me 'little' again and I'll punch you."

A smile twitched at his mouth. "You know just how to entice me."

"Forgotten? In fact, I relish the memory."

"You're much more fun than I had imagined.”

"Fun?" She laughed low in her throat. "You've no idea just how fun can be."

My daughter, " he replied, something new and haggard in his voice,

The last time she'd pin him like that, it had been to his bed.

 She honestly couldn't decide which context she preferred.

The queen stopped screaming just after midnight.

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable-until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire's heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world-and of each other.

Morgan

She had shrugged, grinning. “I won’t argue with my body being a wonder. Harkan could tell you that much—“

Remy had clapped his hands over his ears. “Please, spare me.”

“Cause trouble in my home,” he said cheerfully, “and I will cut you from skull to navel, no matter how much I like your brother. And no matter how much Simon likes you.”

 "Give me my knives, and I'll refrain from hitting you for at least fve minutes.”

 "Have you always been this unspeakably irritating?"

 "Has your face always looked so temptingly carvable?"

“And good morning to you, dearest Dread,” said Simon, with a salute of his glass. “I must say, you are looking particularly, well, 

tash lee

I expected a bit more from this story. I didn't like the way in which chapters were placed and tbh I wouldn't mind for half of the Rielle chapters to be gone.... At the end it was a bit better than at the beginning tho 

Martyna

Sunky

kelsey

may the queen's light guide us home.

i heard so many mixed reviews and was afraid i wouldn't like it. but i enjoyed it. it was interesting reading the two main characters flip moral alignments. 

also simon is precious!!! 

and him and eliana i hardcore ship them so there's more hets for me to love ugh

arwen

I was a bit hesitant to start this book, because i wasn’t sure if i would like the fact it was two perspectives thousands of years apart. And yes i did find it confusing at the start, i still really enjoyed the book. Sometimes i didn’t have the motivation to pick it up, but when i did i got so invested into the story, near the end i really felt the emotions for the MC and equally love both POVs.

I DNFed this book at the start of Chapter 10, about 21% of the way through the book. 

Okay, so I was gonna try to muscle through this book, but I don't care enough about the characters at 21% of the way through the book to enjoy it. I'm confused by the action sequences. The world politics might be interesting, but I just don't think I feel like muddling my way through the rest of this book to find out.

I will say that the cover design is absolutely beautiful and whoever did that should be so proud of themselves.

Kirsten Simkiss

I DNFed this book at the start of Chapter 10, about 21% of the way through the book. 

Okay, so I was gonna try to muscle through this book, but I don't care enough about the characters at 21% of the way through the book to enjoy it. I'm confused by the action sequences. The world politics might be interesting, but I just don't think I feel like muddling my way through the rest of this book to find out.

I will say that the cover design is absolutely beautiful and whoever did that should be so proud of themselves.

My favorite thing about this first book is the way that the chapters are split between the stories of one woman’s descent into the villain and one’s path to the hero. But at the same time, there was so much information in each and every chapter that I did find myself getting somewhat lost until about 60% of the way through the book. And the first ~1/3 was quite slow as well, which made it hard to keep invested and probably harder for me to follow. However, the last 1/3 was definitely more exciting and had some crazy reveals that I wasn’t expecting, for sure! And for a YA fantasy, this is 

On the audiobook side, I did really enjoy the narrator, but I find that books that flip flop POVs frequently are harder to follow if the narrator is too similar between chapters (as is somewhat the case here). But nonetheless, I definitely enjoyed the reading and the writing in this book. I will definitely keep reading the series, as I have quite a few questions I need some answers to.

Tace

My favorite thing about this first book is the way that the chapters are split between the stories of one woman’s descent into the villain and one’s path to the hero. But at the same time, there was so much information in each and every chapter that I did find myself getting somewhat lost until about 60% of the way through the book. And the first ~1/3 was quite slow as well, which made it hard to keep invested and probably harder for me to follow. However, the last 1/3 was definitely more exciting and had some crazy reveals that I wasn’t expecting, for sure! And for a YA fantasy, this is definitely on the spicier side…

On the audiobook side, I did really enjoy the narrator, but I find that books that flip flop POVs frequently are harder to follow if the narrator is too similar between chapters (as is somewhat the case here). But nonetheless, I definitely enjoyed the reading and the writing in this book. I will definitely keep reading the series, as I have quite a few questions I need some answers to.

The stunningly original, must-read fantasy of 2018 follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire's heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

Vicky (A City Girl's Thoughts)

DNF'd. I couldn't get into it. Also, is this supposed to be Christian-fantasy? God is mentioned but there are non-biblical saints spoken of.

Lacy W

Find this review and others like it at https://aravenclawlibraryx.wordpress.com

tw: mention of murder, suicide, drugging, false imprisonment, actual murder, toxic family relationships, animal death (pretty graphic. Like incredibly graphic), child abduction 

Alright, my friends. Buckle up because this is going to be a rough review. We’ve haven’t had a negative review in quite a while so I know we are overdue for one. I truly wanted to like this book because the premise was pretty good. I even debated about buying this book on Kindle because it was on sale. But I saw a lot of reviews saying it was not good. So I decided to check it out on Overdrive first before I bought it. I’m so glad I did because I would have been so mad to waste two united states dollars. 

We’ll start with the characters because they tend to make or break a book. Rielle was from the past. I think the author was trying to turn her into this misunderstood villain. Rielle didn’t have an easy life and I feel for her. Truly I do. But wow, she was so unlikable. I so badly wanted to like her but she was just awful. She had an attitude and was cocky as hell. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when girls have cocky attitudes and stand up for themselves but there’s a limit. Still, I preferred her over Eliana. 

Eliana was actually the bane of my existence. Anytime the book switched to her POV, I cringed. She was awful. She acted incredibly entitled, thinking she was so damn great at everything she does. She treated every single person she came across horribly, even her poor brother. There’s a difference between being hard because life has handed her a crap hand and being hard because you’re just an awful person. She was just an awful person. 

The plot and world building wasn’t fun either. I think the book could have worked better if the book was just about Rielle or if the time gap wasn’t so large. It was jarring to constantly go between 1,000 years. There was a plot twist that I had trouble trying to connect the dots because the time gap is large. 

A couple of last things before I wrap it up. We aren’t going to talk about the sex scene because it is cringe and I don’t want to think about it anymore than I have to. The addition of angels was also too much. There were already powers that happened in Rielle’s world. Adding angels just became too confusing. 

Overall, this wasn’t a good book and I’m so disappointed. I don’t think I will continue with the series because it just doesn’t appeal to me. Maybe I’ll check out some reviews and see if the series gets better but I doubt it. Especially if I’m going to have to deal with Eliana again. She almost ruined the whole book for me. Oh well. There is always another book.

mercy

4.5* hey simoneliana my besties did u eat today do u need me to get u anything ? 👩‍👧‍👦

Follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world--and of each other.

lisa roeling 

i just didn't care?? at all
i also think i don't vibe with claire legrand's writing (i dnf'd one of their other books)
so now i have to give my friend her book back and tell what i thought of it, help (they recommended to me and said it's their favourite book)

Fiona Hardingham

This stunningly original, must-read fantasy follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable-until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire's heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world-and of each other.

i actually really enjoyed this. i can’t sit here and say the writing styles gripped me but the back and forth between the characters was definitely something i enjoyed. i have already ordered the second book and am excited to finish this story 

Angela Cogley

julie

Furyborn was a book I went into with super high expectations. Were they met? I’d say so. However, I have to tell you, the first 150 ish pages were hard to get into, and I had to take a break because I was so bored.

However!! Once you get past that, this book was so hard to put down. Eliana and Rielle kept me on my toes with both of their perspectives, and I loved reading about them and seeing their stories intertwine. I loved the descriptions in this book, and imagining the world and characters. I saw a lot of character development in Eliana, and I loved seeing her grow. I just wished the first half was more interesting.

If you get a chance, please pick this book up. It’s worth a read for sure. I can’t wait to read Kingsbane!

Emily B

I have been in a reading slump for so long I had wondered if I’d ever get out of it. This book brought me back! It was such a fun read! It had a few problems, sure, like some character consistency issues. I also would love to see the lore of some creatures fleshed out, but who knows, that might all happen in the second book. These are just nitpicks though. 

I loved both of the main characters. Knowing her fate, I was intrigued by Rielle and how she becomes who she does. Her dynamic with the main villain is what really stole the show though. He is so deliciously cunning, cruel, and manipulative that he was a joy to watch on page. I kept looking for his dialogue so I could see him interact with Rielle every chapter, I loved him that much (my nickname for him is Evil-Yum yum- bad guy. Juvenile, I know, but that’s what my brain came up with.) 

Eliana started out as a character who I got frustrated with, but I ultimately understood her. Doesn’t mean I liked her decisions though. However, this gave her room for more character growth, and that cultivation of emotions at the end was fabulous! Not to mention her chemistry with her love interest had me cackling with glee!

There is so much more I could say. I loved Simon and Zahra, they were my favorite side characters. Remy was a joy, and Navi was so lovely. Ludivine reminds me of one of my aunts, and Audric is a supportive cinnamon role. I wish I could go into more, but it’s 1:20 am in the morning and I need sleep. Point is, this book is an absolute gem! Read this as soon as you can!

Well written, and concept great, book just fell slightly short at times. Any smut in this felt rushed and sort of out of nowhere with no build up or anything, and sometimes characters rushed. I never got the vibe of there being something being between Rielle and Corien, but the dialogue kept insisting there was. She also acted super out of character during her trials. Book was too long -- details, like in each trial, worked against the plot and bogged it down instead. Some of the shifting POV worked against the plot too, but overall, book was pretty good! Can't wait to read more about Lu, Eliana, and Simon!

(Bre)anne✨

TW to be added later

Well written, and concept great, book just fell slightly short at times. Any smut in this felt rushed and sort of out of nowhere with no build up or anything, and sometimes characters rushed. I never got the vibe of there being something being between Rielle and Corien, but the dialogue kept insisting there was. She also acted super out of character during her trials. Book was too long -- details, like in each trial, worked against the plot and bogged it down instead. Some of the shifting POV worked against the plot too, but overall, book was pretty good! Can't wait to read more about Lu, Eliana, and Simon!

Annabella

I hadn't felt this immersed in a book in quite a long while, I must admit

La profecía lo anunció: llegará una Reina de la Sangre para destruir el mundo, y una Reina del Sol para reconstruirlo. No se sabe cuándo, no se sabe quién. Pero sucederá.

En dos épocas diferentes y reinos separados, las vidas de Rielle y Eliana están vinculadas por lazos aún más poderosos que la magia. Una de ellas es la Reina de la Sangre; la otra, la Reina del Sol: ambas están destinadas a unir el cielo y la tierra, las almas celestiales y los humanos. Pero el camino que tendrán que transitar es duro, repleto de sacrificios y de pruebas inclementes para estas reinas que, al fin y al cabo, son dos chicas tan valientes como vulnerables en cuyos hombros el Destino eligió cargar el peso del Universo.

El origen de las dos reinas

Ana Marazuela

Emelie

It was good overall but I'm still not sure if I got the plot... fantasy is not my thing!

I enjoyed this immensely! I loved the story and I’m really excited to see how this goes!

 The only negative thing was that it was what felt like a ton of story but a bit less description if that makes sense? Like, someone would die and within a paragraph and it isn’t mentioned much beyond the one line. 

Shai

I enjoyed this immensely! I loved the story and I’m really excited to see how this goes!

 The only negative thing was that it was what felt like a ton of story but a bit less description if that makes sense? Like, someone would die and within a paragraph and it isn’t mentioned much beyond the one line. 

Tia Malt 

I didn’t like this the way I wanted to, but there were definitely pros. The plot was so unique, but I felt no connection to any characters other than Rielle and Eliana. 3 stars from me

** spoiler alert **
           ****might contain Spoilers**** 
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I tried so hard to really like this book. The story was actually a great story, I was intrigued as to what was the point of the fight and how the kingdom/houses came about. BUT... there was so much fighting and kidnapping that it steered away from giving details on the war that was going on. I didn't find relevance in some of the chapters with the issue. I have soooo many questions (which might go down in the second book)... Why is there a sun queen, why are they divided?, where does that power generate from?... what is it connected to? why the fights with the angels other than greed, why are there so many years apart? How did Rielle have the power to send Simon and Eliana to that time, Time Travel is a thing? If so then Corien could've just stepped back in time to get the baby? How did Simon become the wolf, where did Ludivine come from how? Why? What is her purpose aside from protecting Rielle? How did corien become so powerful? 

And Maybe all of these were answered, but at some point I was just bored with the repetition that I just couldnt deal... if these were answered, please someone explain it to me! lol. ... Maybe I rushed through the book because of that? I really wanted to LOVE this book. Like I said, not a bad story, but not my fav read in 2018 that's for sure.

Megan Lowe

I’m not really sure what to think about this book. I have wanted to read it for months and was absolutely stoked to receive an ARC but this book was hard work.
Usually I fly through a book quickly. This one, it was tough.
That said, I did enjoy it, and I await the following book(s). I think what bothered me was that basically right from the start we know who Eliana is. That’s not a surprise. But it takes SO long for things to start happening. At about 30% dots start connecting, then they stop. We get more about 55%, then it stops again. Finally at the end we get even more but it’s the end. The intervening sections are hard work to get through. Also, I felt not enough explanation was given about Eliana’s time. What happened after Rielle fell? Why is it bad? Even as simple as who is who?
Still, I did enjoy this book at points. Rielle was an intriguing character, who you thought you’d hate, but don’t. Eliana is a little more complex. One thing though is I absolutely HATE how she uses sex.
Simon is interesting, Remy is sweet, and Navi was neither here nor there.
I did think Zahara’s appearance was random, even if a great addition.
I would like to see more humour, the parts where it was were fantastic, and more explanations. I get we’re supposed to be left in the dark to an extent, but if it’s to the point where we check out, I don’t think is intended.
Still, a decent book if you can stick with it, and am awaiting the next books!

jess

“People like us don’t fight for our own hope,” he said quietly. “We fight for everyone else’s.”


From other reviews, Furyborn seems to be a "love-it-or-hate-it" type of book.To me, it wasn't great, and it wasn't terrible. Furyborn had a lot of creative worldbuilding that I haven't seen in fantasy often, and a few interesting characters. Really, I just feel somewhat ambivalent about this book--there were a lot of things I liked, yes, and there were a lot of things I found boring or slow.

Between Rielle and Eliana, I liked both of them about the same. Neither of them were my favourite characters, but I didn't find myself particularly annoyed with them. I felt like both Rielle and Eliana were very archetypal, somewhat generic fantasy characters. The side characters, however, I found interesting. I liked Ludivine a lot; she was just so incredibly sweet and angelic, so even though Rielle and Audric didn't hold my interest, I liked being in Rielle's POV because of Ludivine. On Eliana's side, I liked Remy, Navi, and Simon the most. Remy and Navi were just so nice and positive compared to Eliana's pessimism, and Simon was intriguing, even if he was kind of an ass.

Plot-wise, I found the whole book somewhat slow and repetitive, which really made me struggle in some areas. I really felt it with Rielle and the seven trials: each of them were so similar to the other ones. Rielle would describe her costume, the crowd cheering, almost die, and Corien would speak to her and she would miraculously make it out alive. I liked seeing Rielle outside of the trials and especially with Ludivine and Audric, and witnessing her trying to navigate complicated court politics. Eliana's side of the plot was slightly faster and more interesting, but I still struggled in parts.

One aspect of the worldbuilding I liked is the creativity of the lore. Angels don't show up in otherworld fantasy often, so that part of the worldbuilding had me hooked. It's a fairly unique concept. I do wish some of it had been expanded on--I would like to know more about the empire and the angels--but I expect that will come in the next book. There was a lot in this book that I was expecting to happen but looks as if it will be saved for a sequel, which personally left me feeling kind of betrayed. The book opens with Rielle as an anti-heroine and a crisis, but after that all the action died down, and so did the continued establishment of the world that makes it feel real.

This is especially obvious in the 1,000 year timeskip from Rielle and Eliana. Except for a few mild things, such as guns and gas lamps, the world feels the same. I would say, in our historical terms, Rielle's era reads like high medieval era, while Eliana's is Regency-era at the latest--that's a difference of 400-500 years at most, and I definitely felt the lack of change while reading it. Why do people still fight with swords, especially when there are guns? Why are the same countries all still around with the same borders after 1000 years, even accounting for the existence of the Undying Empire? Having the feeling of time lapsed would have been really nice to see and given the book a lot more atmosphere than it has right now.

I did mostly enjoy reading Furyborn, though. Yes, the plot was a bit slow at times, but in the end I liked the characters and the worldbuilding enough, even if nothing was an absolute standout to me. Throne of Glass fans might like this, but if you don't like slow fantasies, then this book is probably not for you. I will definitely be picking up Kingsbane after it comes out.

BLOG | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

cheyenne 

*** 3.5

I happened to be reading this book during my reading slump so when I decide to reread this another time, my rating may change. While I did enjoy the characters and the book itself, I felt it could've been a shorter book. I don't think it needed to be 500 pages. Some of the chapters were just kind of unnecessary to me and stated things I already knew. Nevertheless, it has a lot of potential and when the next book comes out, I'll definitely reread this one and read the next one. It's worth a shot if you're into high fantasy.

tash lee &
Furyborn by Claire Legrand

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