Mini review:

I received this E-Arc via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My ‘Wish’ was granted.

DNF

I was highly anticipating this book! A friend of mine had given it a positive review and it sounded so good! Unfortunately it wasn’t good.

The prologue was fantastic! There was murder and general excitement. While yes pretty much everything was spoiled I didn’t mind it. It gave me a reason to continue. It went downhill from there.

Both women annoyed me. I felt that the point of view shifts weren’t really done that well. It came to a point where I was just skimming to see what would happen next. That only lasted so lasted for awhile, then I just lost interest. Eliana read just like Aelin from Throne of Glass.

I only liked Remy, Eliana’s mother, and Harkan. While Rielle was more bearable to read about, she also became boring.

Overall this was an utter disappointment. I do not recommend.

Sadly I never finished this book. I read almost thirty pages and decided to shelve it until a later time. I never picked it up again. I just got lost in how the plotline ran. It's seems like a good book but the writing was hard for me to understand.

A mother and daughter are separated by 1000 years each with their own thrilling adventurous story to tell. Each chapter alternates back and forth to Rielle (mother) and Eliana (daughter). I really did enjoy this novel and I found it very fast-paced. Rielle must endure seven magical trials to prove she is the sun queen and Eliana is on the run trying to find her adoptive mother. I found Legrand's world-building a tad confusing and hard to follow at times. Sadly for me, this novel lacked the epic-ness of a Sarah Maas novel however, I am still intrigued and invested enough to continue with this trilogy. 3.5 stars!
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

2.5 stars, because I liked it, but it wasn't awesome and actually it had several issues from my point of view.

Plot and Thoughts

The beginning is pretty gripping. It starts with a bang (you have almost no idea what the heck is going on), and makes you want to devour the entire book in one go...then it time travels and I swear the book appears to sllloooowww ddddooowwwnn ttttiiimmmeee.

Rielle is perhaps one of the more annoying characters I've read about. She is so whining and self-centered!!! You either like her...or you don't. I didn't so it made me find about half this book exhausting to read, which is probably why it is getting such a low score. Your first introduction to her has her whining about how daddy drugs her and locks her in the cellar every time a storm rolls in in order to keep her powers under control (she has all the powers). At first you're disgusted and then you see his side of things.

Why does he do this? Cause the girl has zero control. Yes she hasn't been allowed to use her powers, but that doesn't mean she can't keep them under wraps! She has no control of her emotions and guess what reacts to her emotions...her powers. Yeah. Control yourself girl and don't whine when they make you recite prayers to calm you down. And maybe don't abuse animals. That was a major, and rather graphic, piss off. Also, she is the ultimate special snowflake...we'll get into why a bit later.*

Reading Rielle's story line felt pretty repetitive as she moves through trail after trail to become the Sun Queen, which we know she succeeded in doing because, Prologue.

Eliana is much more my style, or rather she started out more my style... and she doesn't abuse animals. Eliana is the Dread of Orline, an infamous assassin. We first meet her on a job, where she gets distracted temporarily, then gets back on track killing an entire family, including the children if memory serves. I don't think you are supposed to like her very much, but I kinda did. There were some things, however, I really didn't like about her. Namely, her use of sex to get what she wants.

I get that she is supposed to be a morally grey character, but her use of her womanly wiles to obtain the upper hand and/or trick someone was a bit grating. Also, just because she's slept with women does not necessarily make her bi. Bisexuals are attracted to members of both sex. So just because you slept with a girl does not make you bi.

She could also stand to not get all angsty half the time. Be cold-hearted and awesome like you promised Eliana!!!! I'm saying this because I like you as a character.

Plot-wise...well it started great with the Prologue that was essentially an Epilogue. It's not often you get the end of the story first and then want to read to see how you got there (I had a friend who always read the last chapter first, this one would have totally been her jam). In the beginning there was such promise.

Then it starts to lag and you feel like you are reading two separate books. Rielle’s story turns into a mind-numbing series of dull trials we obviously know she’ll complete because she is the queen in the prologue. Eliana goes off running from one place to another on a mission that seems to have no real consequential end goal for her as a character.

*This is the later!!!! So my understanding of the magic system is that users require something called a 'cast' in order to use their powers. Magic powers are based on an elemental system, sorta like Avatar (sorry Aang!!). Rielle is special because she doesn't need a 'cast' and she can control ALL of the elements. No idea what a cast is to be quite honest. I either glossed over that bit somehow or it was not well explained, so that qualifies as issue. HOW DOES IT WORK AND WHAT MAKES IT WORK???

The world building...let's be honest, it's lacking. Why are angels at war with humans? Why are angels (usually known as the 'good guys') the bad guys? Where did this power that can fight back against to angels come from? What are the angels powers aside from telepathy and controlling humans? How are the humans trapped by the angels? Where did the flying horses come from? Why can they now be whistled for and they'll magically come like a dog? Exactly how did nephelims come to be? Wraiths, eh? What exactly IS the emporium? Are powers common? Is it like other magical kingdoms where it is a genetic trait inherited from the person's parents? Does it just 'magically' select people (see what I did there? Funny, right??


In Conclusion

Good premise, not so great execution. Great potential, not fully used. Promises you a war between angels and humans, political intrigue, time travel, character-driven plot, and lots of action. But unfortunately what you get is a somewhat stagnate story-line that could have been a lot shorter.

Love Claire Legrand! I've read multiple books by her and each one gets better and better! Furyborn and Winterspell are probably my favorites! Furyborn will keep you intrigued! The plot was phenomenal! The writing skills are brilliant as she does an amazing job of world building! I really loved how unique this story was and cant wait to read more by her! Also I need book 2 in this trilogy like yesterday as I'm dying to know what happens next! This is a definite one click read! This story grabbed me from page one and I could NOT put it down. Claire is such a talented writer and has such a unique voice! 5 stars from me

FURYBORN by Claire Legrand is definitely an intense whirlwind of angels and bloodshed and magic. I was totally enthralled with this take on angels, and how deeply wicked they could be, plus the epic heroines who were unapologetically powerful in their personalities and abilities were AMAZING to read about. However I felt the book was a bit disjointed, like there were so many subplots crammed in that the main story had no room to breathe. And it was long. Very long.

Both stories are set 1000 years apart, something I also wasn't a fan of because I felt I just read two separate books. They stories barely related, and any relation they did have was spoiled in the blurb anyway. Plus the book had a thing for "spoiling" itself, but beginning with a scene telling us what Rielle would do and how she would turn out. As a reader, I didn't find it intriguing to know how the story got there...I found it took away the magic of "what's going to happen".

I did love the magic though, the intensity of it, and how the book explored the emotions and feelings one has while being powerful. Rielle craved the darkness but hated that she loved it. Eliana was in denial that she was even powerful in that way. The contrast but similarity was great.

I also really loved the secondary characters, with Remy and Simon and Navi being some of my favourites. Remy, with his storytelling and character development from hating to fiercely loving his older sister, totally stole my heart! I struggled more with Rielle's secondary characters as Adraic just seemed shallow and Rielle's burning passion for him was a bit over the top for me.

I definitely found the length exhausting though and wish it hadn't lagged so much over the trials. There were SO many of them and they just went on forever.

But overall it's exciting to see powerful women in fantasy, and less sexism to push them towards their goals. The book was full of politics and intrigue, hidden prophecies and cruelty, and dark powerful angels lurking in the background. I was totally in love with the premise and the title!

Two queens one foretold to cause destruction and one to be the salvation. A Sun Queen and a Blood Queen years apart but yet similar. A war that these Queen’s will determine the fate of the world.

I really enjoy this story it was action packed, full of magic and I loved the back and forth where you get to see the story of these two Queens side by side. There is deceit and romance also. This is the 1st book in this Trilogy and I can’t wait till the 2nd book. I need to know how the story develops and to learn more about the Queens and the other major characters in the story. I think this is one to put on you TBR pile.

Didn't love the characters, didn't love the story. Dark and violent and it didn't seem really to stand out from among so many other books

I did not finish this one. It just wasn't my cup of anything really. It was just too much and really slow. I did not really connect to either protagonists. 1 star for me.

This book just killed me in the comfort of my own home. my feelings are owed so many apologies because I have been emotionally compromised by Holly Black and I just want to lie on the floor and not think for a month or two. This is the kind of book you read and you're filled to the brim with glee at the author’s wording and characterization and imagination and ingenuity, so much that your eyes start skipping lines because you’re so impatient for what happens next and you have to force yourself to read every word. Sometimes, you even have to re-read passages because you've missed actual events while you were too busy anticipating and predicting. Oftentimes, you have to stop reading completely because the words are so good and you're so full of excitement and love that you need to expend some of that energy, otherwise you'll just spontaneously combust!

It’s that feeling of finally finding something that is all-encompassing enough to hold your full attention and something inside of you just awakens and I love it!!

So what is this book about?

We follows two character Rielle and Eliana who I loved sooo much! They were my pancakes to my breakfast. Rielle has a secret power and has been hiding away most of her life until she is suddenly discovered and then we have Eliana will stop at nothing to protect those she love. These characters are so complex and their motives make you root for them the entire time. Now this story does take two paths, two stories that intertwine and link together and this made the plotline incredibly fast paced and page turning.

So basically what I'm trying to day is that I need that sequel....

The first two chapters of this book was quite confusing but after that, it becomes quite entertaining. A bit slow at first then it picks up the pace on both Rielle's and Eliana's chapters halfway through the book. Though each chapter alternates POVs between Rielle and Eliana, the story easily picks up where the last POV chapter leaves off so basically, you can read this book three ways: read all of Rielle's chapters first then Eliana's chapters or Eliana's chapters first then Rielle's chapters or read it from cover to cover with the alternating POV chapters like I did. Either way, you'll be able to easily follow the storyline.

Classified as a YA Fantasy book, I think this book should be reclassified as New Adult (NA) Fantasy because there was one romantic scene that was quite graphic and I don't think it is appropriate for young adults even though Rielle & Eliana are somewhat aged at around 18 years old, they both act and read a lot older like maybe 21 years old and the readers who might be picking up this book may not be mature enough for the mentioned romantic scene. I will have to reserve judgment on its merits as a fantasy book because so far, being the first book in a trilogy, it has only two fantasy elements in it: magic and violence. It did touch on Rielle's challenge or seven magical trials and on Eliana's quest but only a little bit. So I'm hoping that the other fantasy elements will come out and grow as the books progress.

Love all the characters in this book especially Rielle, Eliana and Remy and the plot is quite interesting and I can't wait to get my hands on book two.

Furyborn is that kind of novel that manages to capture the reader from the start. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I was hooked from page one and I just couldn’t put this book down. Claire Legrand wrote an incredibly compelling story with Furyborn and the first chapter alone was a bold and action-packed introduction into a tale that continued to amaze me with every new page I read.

"And what hope, she wanted to ask, can they possibly find in a killer such as me?"

As far as the story goes I want to emphasise how much the concept alone intrigued me: prophecies? Trials? Elemental magic? That sounds like my kind of book! I’m a huge Avatar: the last Airbender fan, so if a book features elemental magic I don’t have to hear anything else to want to read it. But Furyborn has a lot more to offer; it’s a very unique story set in a world ruled by magic and fear and it was very interesting to get to know it. But this is also a very dark book. It’s supposed to be YA, but in my opinion it could easily be an adult fantasy novel. Topics such as war, death, loss and violence are main aspects of the story and are often described in detail; rape is another subject and even though it’s not as graphically depicted as the other topics, I still think that you should be aware of this, going into the book.

One of my favourite parts about Furyborn were the characters, especially how they interacted with each other, their friendships and relationships. I really liked Rielle, one of the protagonists, and her relationship with her two best friends, Ludivine and Audric. Ludivine is probably my favourite character in the whole book and I’m just so, so excited to see what’s going to happen next with those three. I also liked Eliana, the other protagonist; I liked how important her family was to her, because I think that’s something that gets often left behind in YA novels.

“We all have darkness inside us, Rielle,” he said, his voice rough. “That is what it means to be human.”

Both of our protagonists, Rielle as well as Eliana, have a dark side to themselves, which fits the whole atmosphere of Furyborn; I think there might be something along the lines of anti-heroine in the future for one or both of them, so if that’s something you enjoy in a book, you should definitely pick this one up! Also, both Rielle and Eliana are bi!!! It should be said that the focus isn’t on their sexuality, but it is explicitly stated that they both feel attracted to men and women, so yeah. That’s pretty cool!

And finally, the writing. Claire Legrand had the perfect voice for a book such as this one. I read Furyborn in two or three days and it has more than 500 pages, but it was so captivating that I just wanted to read on and on. It’s not often that I find myself unable to put a book down, that I stay up until late into the night, just to keep reading. But I had this while reading Furyborn. Another thing I adored were the different timelines and POVs! I’m not always a fan of changing POVs, but it was very well done in this book.

"Fighting to save friends and allies was one thing. But fighting for the world was not a task she appreciated having dropped in her lap."

If you’re looking for a captivating story that features a lot of dark themes and is very action-packed, Furyborn is the book for you. I can promise you, it won’t be easy to put this one down! I’m really looking forward to see how Rielle’s and Eliana’s stories are going to continue and I can’t wait to read the next installment in the Empirium trilogy.

SOME SPOILERS!!!! I'm not even sure where to begin on this one. The description of this book sounded original and exciting, but in delivery it was convoluted and confusing with unlikeable characters that were completely unrelatable. I did not connect to anyone and actually strongly disliked the two main characters the story centers on, Rielle and Eliana. The magical aspects were interesting with elemental powers but too much was left out to get really excited about how everything worked. I felt like the author relied on the readers' knowledge of magic from a basic fantasy genre standpoint so didn't get too focused on explaining how certain things like casters even worked. And yet, the author decided to throw creatures referred to as angels into the mix that were in no way related to what most people would think of as angels - it would have been much better to have come up with an entirely original race of magical beings than to use angels and then describe them as something completely foreign. I did finish this to the conclusion and was thankful when it was over. I should also mention that there are some highly graphic sex scenes in this that are completely inappropriate for a young adult classification so be advised. All in all, this book fell flat.

This book is perfect for fans of Kristen Cashore and Leigh Bardugo. I loved the duel perspectives of our two female leads Rielle and Eliana. I found this book fresh and enjoyable and would definantly recomend.

Furyborn is the first novel in a new YA trilogy. The story is a dual perspective told by two very different women. The world building and the explanation of abilities is great and the author does a great job at describing the world being built. Although the two main characters a different, the reader will discover that they have a few things in common. My full review will be posted on my website www.bookofcons.com closer to release date.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a little slow in beginning and was hard to stay with. Book was just not my style

This is the very long first installment of a trilogy about heroines with more magical powers than they know what to do with. The chapters alternate between the stories of Rielle and Eliana, both dealing with struggles to manage their power against forces of evil. For my taste, in spite of the maps included, the book took much too long to make sense of the kingdoms, the political structure, the relationships, and the connections between stories. I found myself skipping impatiently over the opening quotes of each chapter, and I became more focused on Eliana's story. It wasn't a deal-breaker that I didn't like the main characters, since often that makes a book more interesting. It was just that it all took too long and was unnecessarily complicated, and I finally didn't really care about what happened to either Rielle or Eliana.

Furyborn is the first book in the Empiruim Trilogy. It follows the story of 2 different women and flips back and forth between their stories. A prophecy from long ago talked about the rise of 2 queens, who both will be able to control the 7 elements. One is the blood queen, who will bring destruction to the land. One is the Sun Queen, who will save the world. I really loved this story. It was not hard to follow which chapter belonged to who, as they are labeled. For myself, I think I would have preferred to have the 2 different stories be split into a part one and a part two. I'm looking forward to the next book and didn't want this book to end. I feel like we are just beginning. It does not end on a cliffhanger, but it doesn't wrap up the storylines. Now we wait.

If I could give half stars, this would be a 3.5. A cut above your average YA fantasy, but it doesn't quite break new ground.
Where this book succeeds -
The two leads, Rielle and Eliana, are complex characters, and it's interesting to compare them with one another. There's Rielle, daughter of nobility and raised in privilege , who goes to great lengths to appear poised and perfect while hiding a growing darkness within. Eliana, knife-for-hire and assassin, has decided that she is a monster, and denies that there is any kind of possible compassion or goodness within her. Yet both enjoy a bit of theatricality - Rielle with her costumes, and Eliana with her moniker and reputation. They're nice foils for one another, and I like how their journeys parallel.
I really enjoyed the world building thus far, and am very interested to learn more. It was a nice touch to start each chapter with a bit of lore, and I would love to learn more about the Saints and the era they lived in.
Where this book falters -
Though many of the side characters were fun, they did not have much depth. Especially Rielle's love interest, Audric. He's dull as hell, and despite their long history described on the page, their attraction felt very skin-deep and shallow.
Lastly, it felt like there was a lot of sex for a YA book. One scene in particular felt very drawn out and borderline silly, and took me out of the book entirely.
Most criminally, for as powerful as Rielle and Eliana are written to be, they both are carried through a lot of each of their stories. They're both such tough, cool ladies - I really want to see them take charge and be the directors of their own adventures!
This book will be enjoyed by fans of Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Aveyard. I will be reading the sequel!

Amazing all around book. With great female characters with both good and bad attributes. These are real characters with real problems and if you throw in magic it just complicates everything. Would greatly recommend for all to read.