Let's be honest, the big highlight of this book is its universe. He is sincerely well built, but above all very rich. You have a magic system around 7 elements, a belief around divinities, prophecies and of course a kingdom. I love reading fantasy and what I like so much is to see the imagination of an author turned into a universe, because let's be honest in fantasy the author can do everything he wants and Claire Legrand really knew how to build her own universe that I absolutely liked.

In this book, we follow Rielle and Eliana, they are both related and we understand very quickly their link. Personally, knowing their link from the start did not bother me at all. Rielle and Eliana are quite different, Rielle has great power she was forced to hide all her life, until of course she is discovered. She is looking for recognition and that's what will motivate her, she's a complex character that is not always pleasant or loveable, but she is intriguing. Eliana has only one motto, to survive, and to protect her family she will have to act not always in a positive way, yes she is sometimes the bad guys. I had more facilities to appreciate her, she is more human in her construction.

For the plot part, the novel actually contains two stories, and even if our two heroines are connected, their two stories do not linked with each other in this first book, maybe for the sequel? Both stories are both involved, and although we know the end of Rielle's, discovering how it happened is exciting and having the mystery of Eliana's works just as well. In short, it's a novel that I loved, I found the universe rich, the characters touching and I have the true desire to read the sequel.

I remembered two chapters in to this book, that I’d read a previous book by Legrand (Winterspell) and not really connected with her narrative style, so I was sceptical that I would do much better this time. By chapter six I was hooked. Legrand has come a long way as an author in the last few years. That’s not to say Furyborn was flawless by any stretch but on the whole it was an unbelievably ambitious story (or first third of a story since this is a trilogy) told with fearlessness and flare.



I found the world building sufficiently detailed enough to support the scope of the story – which was utterly huge. The narrative switches between equal dual POVs – Rielle, a young court noble and best friend of the crown prince of Celdaria, hiding a frightening secret – and Eliana – a blade for hire in Ventera, whose prime motive is to survive the totalitarian regime of the Empire. The two young women are connected in a profound way, which the reader discovers as the overarching plot progresses. What struck me most was the many parallels between the two POVs. It’s basically the same plot for each of them and yet the two POVs are very different with different character journeys, both internal and external, whilst still mirroring each other. I found that an extremely accomplished way of telling and deepening the story, however readers who prefer (even without realising it) a more simple 3 or 5 act structure with neater conclusions and narrative peaks and troughs, may find this very irritating. It’s one of the reasons I think this book has been so polarising. Personally I think if you want fantasy where you are asked to think and not spoon-fed everything and babied along, you will really enjoy this but you need to allow six to eight chapters to bed in.



The author also plays with our sympathies as regards which MC we’re most invested in. One moment we might be more interested in Rielle, and the next it’ll be Eliana. In dual narrative books I am often keener to get to one character than another but in a strange twist I was just as invested in each. There are definitely influences from other books here – notably The Hunger Games, Harry Potter (at a stretch) and Queen of the Tearling – but there was nothing exploitative in those influences. You didn’t feel that plot points had simply been ripped off from other books (*cough* Red Queen *cough cough*) I liked both characters immensely, although Simon was far and away my favourite character, and one I sincerely hope we get more back story on and face time with, in the next book. Other noteworthy characters include Ludevine, Remy, Audric and Corlian. I do have a slight niggle with the characterisation and that’s that the secondary and tertiary characters don’t have a lot of external agency other than the main plot and MCs. My personal preference is that every character is just as real and has a back story (most of which we will never hear because it’s irrelevant to the story but I want to know that the author knows these things…). That way when they come into conflict with the MC it feels very organic and helps drive the plot. There were times where it felt like the author forced a character to go in a certain direction which led to a few moments of wobbly characterisation, a few inexplicable actions and some fairly flat dialogue. This is me being super picky because I could see more could’ve been done with the supporting cast.



My other main niggle is that the action scenes often felt incomplete. I mean you can tell me that character A swings a sword and character B’s head flies off and I will make that connection since I’m not totally devoid of intelligence, but this was more as if in a six step action sequence step three and step five were missing, possibly in an effort to make them fast paced, which made them seem rushed instead. Another super picky point.



A word on diversity: I’ve seen people complaining that this isn’t good Bi rep. Personally I don’t agree. It may not be the Bi story you want to read because the characters’ sexualities really aren’t the driving force of the story; they are an important aspect of the character but it just so happens that there isn’t much gay romance in this book. While I’m on this subject, a Bi character who happens to end up in a hetero relationship is still Bi. Their sexuality isn’t subsumed by the relationship. I get that it’s disappointing if a books marketing has led you to expect something that the book then doesn’t deliver. And I do understand the perspective that having female bisexuals always end up with a male love interest unintentionally continues to foster the misapprehension that ‘you only need to meet the write man and you’re cured’. And yes that is a pernicious and abhorrent mindset that should be killed with fire. Believe me I understand Bi erasure and I don’t condone it at all. The flipside however is that being Bi means you might equally end up in a hetero as a homosexual relationship. Hating on a book when that happens isn’t helpful and actually hurts bisexuals who are in hetero relationships. This is a fantasy story first and foremost. It actually doesn’t have any obligation to explore issues of sexuality if they are not a fundamental part of the story, whether we want it to or not. And isn’t it nice to see Bi characters in a book without their sexuality being presented as the most important part of them? Y’know, almost as if they were real people who were more than the sum of their parts ;p



In conclusion, if you like epic fantasy with a sweeping, huge scale storyline presented in a slightly different way, I can’t guarantee you will like this but you should certainly give it a go. If I’d been rating from enjoyment alone, I would have given it 5*s, but a few of my pet narrative peeves showed up so 4*s it is. I’m already looking forward to book 2.

I received this book for review from Netgalley.com. This book was perfection. I took my time reading it in order to get engrossed in the world. I loved reading about this two women and how even though they live a thousand years apart, they have a connection. The characters were great, but I do have to admit I like Eliana's chapters more than Rielle's chapter. The plot was so addicting and I just needed to know how everything turned out. It makes me so sad that I am going to have to wait over a year till the next book in the series comes out. I highly recommend that you pick this up when it comes out in May!

**5 stars ** ARC kindly received in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely loved this book. It's amazing since the fist page. I really liked that there are two female lead characters that are completely unique and each have their own story. I highly recommend this bok!

Guys, guys! I kid you not, I loved this book so damn much! Was it absolute flawless perfection? Nah. There were some character decisions, some writing issues and pacing hangups (for me personally). There were plot twists that the buddy readers and myself saw coming immediately upon the start of the read, however, that didn't dull the enjoyment of the book, at all.

It's one of those situations where I can see a few teeny tiny flaws but still rate 5 stars because of the enjoyment of the way this book was crafted and how engrossed in the story I became. I will never be one of the most eloquent and well thought out book reviewers but I'm going to do my best here...hang with me.

We follow duel storylines in this book, set a thousand years apart with the same foe and a world in chaos in each. We follow Rielle, who is undergoing trials in her quest to become the Sun Queen and save the world she knows from the fall of the Gate and the return of the angels (who are NOT nice). There's love, lust, friendship, intrigue, magic, and a fucking magical "pet" to top all others.

The storyline also follows Eliana who knows Queen Rielle only as a fairytale, a story told to children in a hopeless world where she's been trained as an assassin and will do anything to keep her family safe. She's being hunted, a tool in a war that she wants no part in but cannot escape.

These two women are fierce, strong, and altogether badass. They have flaws, they have weaknesses, but their spirit is enduring. Holy crap guys, they're fantastic. Two storylines a thousand years apart, that weave together fantastically in a novel crafted so seamlessly I was left in awe.

Plus, can we get a hell yeah for sex, cursing, contraception, consent, the female orgasm, masturbation, feminist vibes for days, no girl hate, and low slung linen pants (you'll get it when you read it!). This book legit has it all, magic, heartbreak, passion, friendship, sexual and racial diversity, legends, living legends, dangerously sexy and mysterious unknowns, an evil that is very real, and a prophecy that will come to pass no matter what...but who is who?

I really loved the experience of reading this book, am thankful to NetGalley for the eARC and my new bookish friends for the buddy read. I'll be ordering my finished copy ASAP and impatiently waiting for the next book in this series, cause guys, this is a GOOD one.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I present you the best release of 2018.

(Actually it’s a tie between Furyborn and Sky in the Deep. Please don’t make me choose, I love them both.)

Once upon a time, the angels roamed the world, burning it to cinders. But the Seven Saints rose and defeated them, and locked them away in a dark, dark prison, and thus ensuring the future of mankind. But their exile shall not last. As foretold by angel Aryava, the Gate separating them from humans will fall, and they will return, seething with rage and hatred, seeking to dominate the land of Aritas. That is when two human Queen will rise, two Queens carrying the power of the Seven combined. A Queen made of blood, and a Queen made of light.
One of them will save the world.
The other will destroy it.

A few years ago I read Claire Legrand’s Winterspell. It was a truly unique novel, and Claire’s writing was sparkling with magic, but I was left a little unsatisfied. Wanting something more, something that would enchant me and make my skin tingle with anticipation and my heart flatter in my chest. And now, four years later, she delivered what I craved. She made me bow to her exquisite pen and boundless creativity. Because Furyborn bloody brilliant. Featuring elemental magic, prophecy, angels, trials, war, politics, fierce and diverse characters and sweeping romance, it bedazzled me to the point all I could feel and breathe was Claire’s words. With her dual PoV, alternating between Rielle and Eliana’s time, she managed to fill a 1,020 years gap and make you equally invested in their stories, which were intertwined in the most satisfying way. She mixed fairydust and blood, and she created a stunning saga that filled your veins and your cells, that took you to a rich and dangerous world that made your body hum with energy like a living wire, and filled your mind with images and senses you could not erase.

Deeply sensual and lush, Furyborn was brimming with intriguing and three dimensional characters. Rielle was a rather controversial one, a girl banished from the world, a woman who could not quench her insatiable hunger for attention, for admiration, for power and love.
Eliana, the Dread of Ornline, was a bounty hunter who silenced her conscience and committed terrible crimes in order to protect her family.
Always present, a shadow working as a puppeteer, was Corien, a villain that gave you goosebumps and was too alluring for your own good.
But every story needs a knight in his shining armor, a ray of sunlight between the looming shadows, and Furyborn was no exception. Prince Audric Lightbringer, the powerful sunspinner and soft marshmallow extraordinaire warmed your insides and made you want to cuddle him and keep him safe at all costs.
And then there was Simon, connecting the past with the present, a tortured soul devoted to the frantic request of a dying mother.

Furyborn was an intense novel. The most astounding thing about it was that you knew the majority of the important events that would take place since the first chapter. And due to this fact, you tried to guard your heart, to not get attached to characters you knew would perish or give in to the darkness, but it was a lost cause. You struggled and fought, but they crawled into your soul and tore it to shreds nonetheless.

All in all, Furyborn is a beautiful, dark and seductive masterpiece that will haunt me for a while. There’s nothing more I can say except READ IT PEOPLE.

Wow Great beginning to a new series, with a prologue packed with action and intensity.The story starts strong and continues really good with many things happening! The premise of the book is fantastic!I loved the idea of having 2 leading ladies each fulfilling a role in a prophecy - one being the savior and the other the destroyer.There are also some “side” characters that I’m very curious to explore more in the next book.Overall, it was a great read and now I'm excited for the next book!

Furyborn grabbed me from the first page and never let go. It was a wild ride of an adventure that I was thrilled to go on. Everything about it was fun and exciting and more than a little dark at times. And, there were angels!

The writing was strong, the world well developed and the characters were well defined with wonderfully evil bad guys. It was just such a fun story to read. My one complaint would be the wait between books. This is not a story you want to put down and wait a year for the next installment. Also, I was surprised at the sexual content of the book. It was more graphic than I have previously seen in a YA book. Just a heads up.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this book! The beginning was a bit confusing because of the switching point of views, but once I got into both the stories I was hooked. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and their complexities! The plot was fast paced and kept the reader guessing. We knew boys and pieces from the beginning and then had to figure out how those pieces fit into the current story. The weaving of takes was great and i would definitely give this to a friend! I can’t wait for the next book!

Do you like angels, mystical powers, death, hope, blood, romance, death, awesome characters, awesome worldbuilding, and death? Well, does Claire LeGrand have a story for you. But all kidding aside, I absolutely enjoyed this book and am already impatiently awaiting the next one (fingers crossed I get another ARC!). Parallel storylines is a common enough literary device that it can get tiring but the way it's handled in this book is utterly refreshing. Additionally, you never feel like you don't understand the motivations of a character even if you only met them a paragraph ago and will never see them in the book again. Would and will highly recommend to everyone.

I really enjoyed reading this book! Thank you so much to the publishers for the ARC.
It was slow paced at first and took me a while to get into the story and process all of the information but with patience I was able to immerse myself into this epic fantasy world.
The story revolved around the narratives of Eliana and Rielle, one from the past and one from present day. This book has everything needed to relax and dive into an awesome atmosphere with magic, castles, assasins, good deads and plenty of confusing bad ones. It was quiet the roller coaster ride. Two quees, propheicies, a kindgoms at stake, a love interest here and there..whats not to like?
I wouldn't recommend to a novice reader or someone who only reads the occasions fun book at the beach because its a bit long and intense and difficult to begin.
Overally great writing, great characters and fantastic world buiding!! I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Furyborn The Empirium, is a young adult novel and the first of a trilogy, that I plan to make sure I read all three. It is written in the vein of Game Of Thrones but not as “drastic”.

In Book One, we meet Rielle the mother of Eliana – the author shifts back and forth in time to tell the story of these two women. It is well done and I had no problems keeping up as it can happen at times when this method is used. The story is so magical that I didn’t want to put it down. The author does an excellent job setting the stage for the next book. And it looks like this could become a movie.

I highly recommend you read if you like magical creatures, angels and the like. This is a well-written book with characters that will have you turning the pages until the end.

Reviewed by: Linda C.

This book was a quick read and pretty fun for the first two-thirds. Then it got too much sex and reminded me of other series too much, ie. the Shadow and Bone, the Glass Throne, and even The Hunger Games, that I was just ready for it to be done.

Pros: Two strong female characters who were mostly likable. Good action and a good villain. An interesting storyline and setting.

Cons: Weak male characters; the romantic interests were too mild and perfect. The sex scenes were not needed. Imitated other books too much.

I received an electronic copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

I didn’t read the synopsis of this book before diving right in. When you have a cover like Furyborn’s, you’re automatically curious about the contents, and I was not disappointed.

Furyborn follows two women who are living a thousand years apart. There doesn’t appear to be any common thread between them: one is a lady at a prominent court (Rielle), while the other is an assassin working to protect her family against the wrath of a sinister empire that’s overtaken the world (Eliana).

Each chapter alternates between the two women and weave separate stories that feel for the majority of the book like you’re getting two YA books at the same time. They’re separate enough that they feel like their own thing... until the pieces start falling into place and the truth of the matter starts to make itself known.

Coming off of reading Caraval, I was a little disappointed with Furyborn. Not because it wasn’t good but because I felt like I didn’t really get enough answers to make it feel as though it stood alone. With Caraval, I wanted to continue with the books to follow but I felt satisfied with what had been presented to me. Furyborn doesn’t have that same feeling. The book ends just as I feel as though we were starting to get answers, and I desperately wanted more.

That being said, Furyborn is a marvel in worldbuilding. Claire Legrand has expertly told this story with not one but TWO compelling protagonists that have so many layers to them.

I wanted to have more answers right away but Legrand has hooked me and I absolutely need to know what happens to both Rielle and Eliana.

Verdict:
Read it! I think it’s a great YA book that many will love. Fans of Sarah J. Maas’ books will eat Furyborn up.

This first book in a new fantasy trilogy for young adults features many elements readers of this genre will find familiar. There are life-and-death challenges with fancy costumes a la “The Hunger Games” (along with two competing male suitors); manipulation of one type of matter at its most fundamental level by select magicians, along with a special person - a “Sun Queen” who can manipulate all of them a la Leigh Bardugo’s “Grishaverse”; angels who make war on humans a la Laini Taylor’s Smoke and Bone trilogy; and so on. Thank heavens in this fantasy world there are no high schools, or I imagine we would see incognito angels there as well. But never fear; even without high schools, there are love triangles.

All this echoing of other trilogies means there are a lot of world-building elements to digest. We do so as we follow the stories of two young women a millennium apart in time, Reille and Eliana, each of whom is suspected of being one of the two foretold queens of legend. One of these will be the“Sun Queen,” who will save the world from the angels, and one will be the “Blood Queen” who will destroy it on their behalf. It isn’t clear yet which girl is supposed to be which queen.

And just to keep our interest elevated, there is a hot romance with a possible rival in each time period.

Almost every chapter (they switch back and forth between the female protagonists) ends with its own cliffhanger. The book itself ends without any conclusions for either Rielle or Eliana. Readers will just have to wait for the next installment.

Evaluation: The plot may be derivative of multiple others, but it’s still fun.

I loved this book! I can’t wait for the next in the series. It was fast paced but good world building, without large info dumps which can be tedious. I liked that the romance wasn’t the focus and that the two female characters were both strong in their own unique ways.

Unfortunately, Furyborn was not the book for me. I had a very hard time identifying with the two main protagonists and felt that the writing was just not engaging to me. I do, however, appreciate the advance copy and hope that others will enjoy this book more than I did!

An enjoyable fantasy story, not without a few hitches, but this one will have me going back for the sequel—as yet, still Untitled.

From the beginning, through several sets of introductions to characters, plots, and settings, the novel felt confusing and busy. An easy case of too many characters and too quick a rotation through their points-of-view. Here, in the first act (assuming the three-act structure) the novel dips quite often into the skimmable realm and the characters, at various times, feel fairly standard and stock with predictable voices.

Rielle—heroine number one—brings intrigue, power, and mystery to the table and is an easy character to like and care about. Her relationships with her friends and her mentor all feel very authentic and Legrand avoids many tropes often found in this kind of fantasy structure. There are no "mean girls," no overlording villainous court figure, and no unnecessary wavering of character and spirit. No one is hung up on all the decisions. Everyone seems to know his or her own mind, for the most part, and they play their roles accordingly.

Immediately, I liked Simon's POV, but was disappointed to find that he never takes over the narration again. Simon, a character not even mentioned in the book's summary, plays a pivotal role throughout the story, but he's never really given enough attention beyond that opening. The novel would've been improved if we didn't follow Eliana and instead got the benefit of Simon. He has more of an internal struggle with which we can identify (failure, anyone?) and seeing Eliana through his eyes would've smoothed out some of those rough edges Eliana brings.

Getting to know Eliana was a little more difficult. While I really liked that she is apparently interested in both sexes (how often is there a true main character who is bisexual?), I was disappointed from that angle that it wasn't explored more—but there are more novels to come, so we shall see. There are a pair of husbands who were tertiary characters, but who leveled out the diversity nicely in that area. Anytime a same-sex couple can be portrayed as ordinary and even introduced with all the nonchalance of it being no big deal, I'm in. But that's not my main issue with this character....

To me, Eliana seems like a faux-badass. Like she’s a badass until real badasses are present and then her badassery is diminished to something lesser and common. I don't know...just the lack of oomph from her character despite what I was told as we began her story. The Dread/Eliana was often caught unawares and she seemed to be thrown off her game quite often. Regardless, she felt more written than the other characters, and less real because of it.

Act two picks up the pace and really holds this story together. My interest level increased tremendously and I was ready for the story to break wide open. Once the trials began for Rielle, everything about this book improved markedly. Legrand really shines here with her ability to properly write both a fight action sequence and a magical obstacle course of sorts (for lack of a better term). Neither was overwritten or improperly paced—instead we had the necessary pull for wanting to continue reading. Skimmable pages—gone.

Unfortunately, we lost a bit of that engaging facet once we were in the third and final act of the story. Uneven delivery, pacing, characterization, and plot development leads to more questions than are necessary for a finale—even with the understanding that its part of a larger story to be concluded through later installments. The triangle between Ludivine, Rielle, and Audric felt grounded in the triangle created by the characters Scarlett O’Hara, Ashley Wilkes, and Melanie Hamilton for a while—it did eventually out itself properly and shake off any phoniness.

Eliana feels utterly laden with weaponry. And all those weapons all seem to be named with rather atypical names for swords, daggers, knives, and such. The weapon-pack-mule, coupled with an odd and sudden change in her dealings with Simon—which seems nearly out of character for her, or a rushed character evolution, she began to feel very forced and wrongly shaped. It was as though there was far more going on in the author's head than what appears in print.

However, the overall story is still intriguing and there were many questions from the ending that remain unanswered. Questions for which I do want answers. I hope there is improvement in the sequel that will bolster the need for a continuing series. Good beginnings.

This is the story of two Queens, The Queen of Light and the Queen of Blood. The Queen of Light is prophesied to bring peace and protection to Celdaria. The Queen of Blood will bring death and destruction. Rielle is a gifted child who lost her mother in a fire created out of Rielle's anger. No one knew the portend that this event would bring 13 years later. Eliana lives a lifetime away in a future that is filled with no light. Magical gifts are gone. There is only the Imperial Army and the mysterious disappearance of women in the night. What is the connection between the two? Angels. Angels seek to return to this world. They want to dominate it with the power of the Queen of Blood. She holds the key to destroying the Gate which has kept them at bay for more than a thousand years. Eliana is an unlikely hero. She is a cutthroat assassin. She makes her living by doing the Empire's bidding. Unknowingly, if the Empire knew who she was, she would be their greatest weapon.

This is a story about lies, love, death and magic. Truth is hidden away from loved ones. It is believed this is to protect them but of course it only leads to pain and suffering for all involved. The story shares the rise of Rielle to her place as the Queen of Light as she becomes the Queen of Blood. Eliana meanwhile discovers her birthright. She is all that stands between the Emperor and the people of the land.