This was a great addition to the world of fantasy, my favourite thing about it being the strong female protagonists. It was fast paced, intricate, and the world building was really well developed. I would recommend to readers who enjoyed books like Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake, or anyone who likes an adventurous tale that will keep you guessing.

Sometimes, I think I really dislike hype. I mean, yes, okay it pushes me to read a book WAY faster. Then, however, I have all these outsized expectations like with Furyborn by Claire Legrand. With the way that people were talking about it, I guess I was expecting the second coming. Although I did enjoy Furyborn a lot, I found myself slightly disappointed while reading it for essentially two reasons — pace and just being SO confused and lost.

The plot of the first book in the Empirium trilogy follows a dual storyline. In the past is Rielle who has control over all of the elements in her use of the empirium. Rielle is in love with the king’s son, Audric. Except he’s engaged to her best friend Ludivine. Meanwhile, Rielle has to undergo different trials with the elements to prove she’s the sun queen come to save everyone. Then, set in the future is the storyline of Eliana. Eliana is a bounty hunter for the Empire and will do whatever it takes to keep her family safe. Only, one day her mother, Rozen goes missing. Eliana then ends up journeying with her brother and this guy named Simon. Secrets are revealed.

So, I kind of get the sense that Rielle was supposed to be set up to eventually be a character we don’t like? Maybe I interpreted that all wrong. However, despite all her ridiculous mistakes including one where it is like HOW COULD YOU EVEN DO THAT — I still liked her. Out of the two storylines in Furyborn I found Rielle’s to be the most compelling. She has this tragic history with her mother. There’s some forbidden love. Hell, she even gets to be ostentatious in her costumes as she does the trials. I just thought she was so interesting. Although, there’s times where I found myself questioning why she didn’t just use Empirium magic to save the day at different points. Overall though, I would be glad to read more about her.

Eliana, the future storyline character, is kind of intriguing too. I guess we get this hint of who she actually is, but as a reader who is not a first timer, I figured it out immediately. I will say it drove me up the wall that it took SO LONG to get to that reveal. Like, we all already know who she is, why keep dragging it out. And then, I kept expecting her to be able to use empirium kind of like Rielle but she doesn’t. So, consequently I was a little disappointed. Like, this book is hyping two queens WHERE IS THE OTHER QUEEN. I also thought she was kind of a dick to Simon and all these other people who are just trying to help her or if not trying to help her, live their lives as refugees.

Okay so I guess where I found myself disappointed is that I expected to immediately gel with Furyborn by Claire Legrand and write love songs about it and join a fanclub after reading because it was supposed to be SOOO good. And, okay, yeah it is a decent read. But goodness, it is so freaking slow for anything to happen. There’s a race with assassins in the beginning which is exciting a little bit, but I just felt a little bored after that. Whenever it would start to get good, we would get a perspective shift. I just want to lean into the good parts, not get switched to another character.

I also didn’t 100% love this because I felt a little lost on the world building. For example, I wanted to know more about the magic. It did not entirely make a ton of sense to me. Plus the future timeline kept bothering me because I just wanted to know why everything was the way that it was and how it got to be so different. Yet, the reveals felt like they took forever.

Of course, I do plan to continue with this series and maybe am chalking a lot of this up to me as a reader. Right now I am so particular in what I read and have to be immediately and continually engaged. Maybe when I am less particular I will be ready for the next of Legrand’s new series.

Rielle Dardenne is the promised queen of the sun. Hidden away by her father, making sure she is protected at all costs. That is until she reveals herself to the public. Rielle craved to be accepted for who she was, loved unconditionally.

While Eliana "The Dread of Orline" the most notorious assassin in the realm of Orline is trying to live day by day making sure her family is taken care of.

These two women were raised differently, but they will both be crowned as queen. One of great evil.... and one of light.

Furyborn was a thrilling fantasy novel that was filled with mystery and suspense. A prophesy has been forsaken... and blood will be shed.

Overall this book was a fantastic start to the Empirium series!

"Resurrections. Our return, and our revenge"

LOVED this book. The characters are all well developed and not typical. I really enjoyed that this fantasy novel didn't follow the same ole, same ole plot that has been seen over and over again.

Wow. This was good. Gritty, gripping and kept me reading and wanted to know what was going to happen. Claire writes very well, and I will definitely be recommending this to Fantasy readers.

This is book 1 in the new series Empirium. I never really got into the swing of this story. I would lay it down and a few days later I'd think I better try again to finish. I love the concept of parallel time lines and two women experimenting with their magical powers. Rielle and Eliana are the two heroines in this fantasy tale that is geared to teen readers. Maybe they can find something a little more substantial or likable about them. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A great start to a new fantasy series. Perfect for readers who enjoy strong female characters, rich and well-developed stories, and imaginative realms. It definitely left me eager to read the next installments.

What to say about this book?

It has this magical and mysterious feeling to it, but at the same time the problems the characters go through are so real and relatable. The only problems I had with this book were that it felt like forever to finish, it is really short paced, and sometimes I didn’t care for Eliana’s part, just Rielle’s. Overall, I would give this book 4 stars.

An original classic.
Furyborn takes things we are familiar with in fantasy, like prophecy and elemental powers, re-imagines them and weaves them into a beautiful sweeping tale.
The main characters are complex and as far from black and white as you can get. Both young women are strong and fierce, they make us question what is just and what is good, the difference between what we believe is right for others and what is really right.
A world so detailed and well imagined you can feel the sunlight catching your feet as you curl up on that cosy window-seat and hear the sweep of huge feathered wings.

Furyborn also includes representation and is very aware in it's equality and it's valuing of female friendship.
If you love magic, heroines who will hold you at dagger point and richly intricate fantasy worlds definitely read this book!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the digital arc!

This one wasn't for me. The first chapter hooked me, but then when the second chapter switched POV, all of the tension dissolved and I couldn't get into it. The writing was good but the story didn't make me need to keep reading.

2-1/2 stars

Wow. What a ride this book was!

So much happens in this book, so if you're looking for a fluffy read, maybe put this on the back burner for a bit. The prologue thrusts you right into the action and hooks you into the story right away. However, it took me a while to get into after that because of the alternating POVs every-other chapter. Once I got all the names down though, I was hooked again and had a hard time putting this book down.

There is just so much action! And complex characters! And wonderful magic! Basically everything you could ever want in a fantasy book. Well, series. So BE WARNED! You will want the next book right away after finishing and it's not set to release until sometime in 2019. The wait will be torture! But, read it anyway so you can suffer with me. :)

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire & Netgalley for sending me a copy to review!

This book surprised me! I had been reading all the hype, and had no idea what I was walking into! My Teenagers loved this as well. Definitely a book that we will be recommending to everyone!!!

Two feminist perspectives on two totally different timelines living two totally different lifestyles, yet their fates are entwined. Rielle hides her magic, but when her magic is discovered she’s forced to undergo a trial to possibly become the Sun Queen. And far in the future, the bounty hunter Eliana becomes wrapped up in trying to find out who is kidnapping women in her city. A slow burn, but worth it.

I was so hyped for this book, and it didn't disappoint! This book was a great way to kick off the summer, and the Summer Library Program!

Furyborn is a tough one for me to review. Reading this reminded me very much of when I read Sarah J. Maa's Throne of Glass a few years ago; I had very high expectations because it was so beloved and was left disappointed. My disappointment was further fuelled by the fact that I really enjoyed Claire Legrand's middle grade novel, Some Kind of Happiness, so I was excited to read something else by this author.

The biggest problem for me was that I didn't care about, or even like, either of the main characters. I also found that there was almost too many action sequences (I found myself skimming big sections of this novel while trying to find the actual plot) and the romance was a bit cringe worthy (the sex scenes did not work for me nor were they particular sexy, just somewhat confusing to find in a teen novel).

Furyborn is not a bad novel; in fact, I found that it picked up considerably for the last quarter of the book. However, for a 500 page novel, I needed to be more interested way earlier in the story (I actually considered not finishing this but decided to stick with it to see if it improved / if my hunches were correct. They were.). I found a lot of similarities between this and Throne of Glass so I think that Sarah J. Maas fans will probably really enjoy this one.

Do you ever wonder how an author could have an entire fantasy world tucked away in the crevices of her mind? Well, Claire Legrand has definitely created a complex magical world with demons, monsters, angels, and humans. Furyborn is the making of an intricate story where there are two queens, Rielle the Blood Queen, and Eliana the Sun Queen. Both women are connected yet their lives span over a thousand years. Furyborn tells the story of both of them in alternating chapters as they learn of their powers, past, and their potential to save and destroy the people they love. I liked how the chapters are short and full of action and adventure causing me to move quickly through the 500 page book. Of course the ending hints to more of these two captivating woman to come, and I am definitely looking forward to reading them.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy.

This fantastic, fast-paced fantasy will leave readers waiting on the edge of their seats for a sequel. Both of the strong, smart female protagonists are well-rounded and the story is intriguing. Hand this book to fans of Marie Lu and Cinda Williams Chima. It will not disappoint.

I struggled to finish this. I had to keep reading this in between other books this weekend and finally finished this Sunday morning around 5 a.m. At that point, I was hell-bent on finishing this thing. I don't have a lot to say except skip over this book. It's not the worst book I read this year, but good grief towards the end I kept saying to myself who cares.

When I requested this book from NetGalley, I thought the synopsis of this book sounded so good. Two young women, one thousand years apart from each other, hold powers that will either save the world or see its destruction. One of the young women is either the queen of light and salvation, or the queen of blood and destruction, otherwise known as the Sun Queen and the Blood Queen respectively.

The two women are known as Rielle Dardenne and Eliana Ferracora.

In Rielle's story-line she has to deal with seven trials (always seven isn't it) in order to test her. Eliana's story-line a thousand years later shows her as a bounty hunter and assassin.

I honestly didn't feel either way about Rielle or Eliana. I usually end up liking at least one POV more than the other when authors write their stories this way. This time, I was meh on both of them. I really wish that Legrand had split this book (yeah this is me who always complains when an author writes trilogies) since it made better sense than cramming two plot-lines with different characters into book #1. If she had, I think the characters would have been more developed. Even though this book is over 500 pages long, I didn't feel like Rielle or Eliana were that developed. You just have things happening to them and they react to it.

Also a word of warning, don't start off the book showing how one of the characters is alive and then we jump back in time to show them going through some stuff. There is no tension then to me as a reader when I am supposed to care if they live or die. You already spoiled me on that.

The love interests (I guess we can call them that) in this book sucked. Rielle's love interests are Audric and Corien (by the way, I had to go back and look up these people's names while writing this review, that just lets you know how little I cared about them). I don't want to have spoilers in this review, but let us just say one of these people wasn't even a real love interest. I just didn't care and wanted to kick something after a while. Also I hate love triangles.

Eliana's love interest was Simon. Hard shrug about this dude. There was zero chemistry. I don't even get why YA novels always have to have a love interest. There is enough going on with both young women's story-lines that Legrand could have just had women and men there with no romantic entanglements.

The writing was okay, I thought the world-building was lacking. I don't want to post spoilers, but I went huh a couple of times while reading. The flow was bad throughout this whole thing too. FYI, this is why it took me almost a week to finish this thing. Books should not put me to sleep, this one did a few times.

One word of warning, I know this is marked as young adult, but this book has sex scenes. Which seems to be a new thing in young adult books. To me that alone would push this to the new adult genre. I only say this in case any parents out there were thinking about getting this for their teens. I would say ages 12 and up would be a good audience for this book. Back to the sex scenes, no thank you please. I don't know what was going on there.

The book limps to an ending. Since this is already titled book #1, you can imagine a second and possibly third book happening.

Superb read, well written with a great plot and characters. I was engrossed from start to finish, this book is so hard to put down! The cover got my attention first but this story is amazing and the world building is phenomenal. This adventure has romance, magic, drama and there are twists and turns. Can not wait to read the next book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

First book in the Empirium series

4 stars

“Tell her she is stronger than any flame that burns.”

Furyborn is an interesting fantasy. It’s quite unlike most fantasies when it comes to storytelling. You see what makes this story so fascinating is that in the opening prologue we learn that Rielle, one of our main characters, has murdered her husband (the prince of Celdaria) and is the cause of chaos and corruption. In this opening chapter, a little boy named Simon witnesses his father die at the hands of the angels that Rielle has collaborated with and released from the Gates that bound them. Simon is a marque, which means he is half-human and half-angel. He is able to travel through space using deep magic and Rielle is tasking him with brining her newborn daughter to a safer place. It’s a pretty epic opening chapter. What makes this novel stand out is that we see Rielle transform into the guise of the Sun Queen as when we as readers know that she is the Blood Queen who will bring destruction and death to the land. Rielle is forced to undergone seven trials to prove that she is the Sun Queen and that she has the right to be canonized. In an alternating timeline, we follow Eliana who is known under the moniker of the Dread of Orline. She is a fierce assassin who lies to herself that killing doesn’t bother, but it weighs heavy on her conscience. Eliana finds herself caught up in an elaborate plot with the Wolf, a brutal man who is as feared as she, as they make an unlikely alliance to deliver a princess and find Eliana’s missing mother.


I think it’s pretty obvious that Eliana’s storyline isn’t the most interesting of the two and it is hinders this novel. However, towards the end the importance of Eliana’s story is revealed and it makes the overall novel much more enjoyable. At the start of my reading experience with Furyborn, I was salty (for lack of a better word) that I was being thrust between two very opposing views and one being an obviously weaker storyline. However, Rielle’s story is so amazing that it outshines the negatives of Eliana’s and the seamless connection of the thousand-year timeline is remarkable. I’m impressed with Legrand’s conceptualization of these two periods and their very different outcomes. Legrand’s writing style isn’t the most beautiful, but it is addictive and the story conclusively makes a ton of sense and shows how brilliantly planned it was. I’m really impressed with Legrand and I wanted to be snooty and hate this novel, but I can’t. It has a lot of good points. It’s not perfect, but it really won me over in the end.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 4

There are two main female characters: Rielle and Eliana. Rielle is my favorite PoV and character. Knowing the outcome of her antagonistic future makes seeing her go through friendships, love, cruelty, and politic battles so much more interesting. She has a quiet bloodlust and it seems a little unlikely that she would become who we see her become in the opening chapter, but I’m so excited to find out what drives her to murdering Audric the way it was described. It also makes me wonder if she and her actions are misunderstood. I loved her progression through the trials and in the end, I was really excited about where her character is going. Eliana is kind of stale. I say this because I have a strong dislike for anyone who manipulates other people for their personal gain and safety without looking at the bigger picture and the damage it could potentially cause. I suspect I have a conflicting personality with her, which is probably why I don’t like her, but also, she made so many bad choices throughout this novel. The last couple chapters felt like a completely different character and I was conflicted about if I was beginning to like her or if it was a trick. Hopefully, she doesn’t stay self-centered forever.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: Rielle-5 Eliana-3

There are two main love interests. There is Audric, the prince of Celdaria, who has been best friends with Rielle since they were small and the Wolf, who is a protector of Eliana, much to her dismay. I really both of these guys. Audric is sweet and he is your typical prince, but he is seemingly lovable and has a good heart. Wolf is great. My jaw hit the ground when we found out who he was. I knew, but I didn’t see how and then it made sense. Good stuff. Neither of them is particularly swoon worthy, but I like both of them well enough and they both provide some spark. Also, Rielle and Audric have some steamy sex scenes, so this is definitely mature YA.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Audric-3.5 Wolf-3.5

The Villain- We know early on that Rielle becomes a villain, but we also know that Corien, an angel, is a mastermind behind a lot of what goes down. Man is a skeevy and I want Rielle to shake him but knowing she won’t makes me sad.


Villain Scale: 3.25

There are so many characters in this novel. The ones I really liked were Lu(divine), Remy, and Navi. Lu was my absolute favorite she was comedy gold and the ending! Y’all, I was shocked and my jaw dropped. Legrand had me surprised. I didn’t see that coming! Remy is Eliana’s brother and he loves to tell stories about Celadria and the time of magic. He is obviously a wonder that must be protected. Navi is a princess that Eliana and Wolf are bringing back home and I liked her, but she wasn’t my favorite. She’s still worth mentioning though.


Character Scale: 4.5

Overall, I’m completely surprised with how much I enjoyed Furyborn because I thought I was going to lowkey hate it. Legrand has definitely made me want to continue with the series. Although I must confess I would be okay with completely ignoring Eliana and just focusing on Rielle’s storyline because where it left off was a shocker. Click spoiler if you want to read a sentence that is technically a spoiler, but will rip your heart out, “No one can be sure of Audric the Lightbringer’s last words, but in the days before the Fall, whispers traveled fast across the world. His last words, the whispers said, were for his murderer: ‘I love you, Rielle.’” So, I’m slightly deceased by that storyline in general, but looking forward to reading the series just so I can see this scene through Rielle’s own eyes. I definitely recommend this to fans of fantasy who are looking for a grittier and more mature storyline.


Plotastic Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: It’s not really a new cover or an original concept, but it’s nice on the eyes.

Thank you, Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.