First, thank you Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

With that said... Wow. Furyborn grabs you from the prologue and sets you up to be both in awe and have your heart ripped into pieces the entire ride. It was like seeing a train derailing and being completely unable to stop it. The story starts in one of the worst moments in the characters lives, then are transported back in time so you can grow love them being fully aware tragedy is going to strike. However, this first installment only provides one piece on the timeline that leads to the events of the prologue. I can only imagine how many more twists and turns we are in for before knowing the full story.

The first few chapters after the prologue did take some time to completely hook me. Part of that is my life with a toddler not allowing for extended time immersed in fantasy lands and part was the alternating narrative. On occasion I would have to flip back to Rielle or Eliana's last chapter to remind myself of what was going on and who someone was, but eventually my experience shifted to every chapter feeling like a cliffhanger, begging you to read on. The pace is heart-stopping and the last half of the book left me breathless.

The world of Furyborn is epic and massive. You have ancient elemental magic, religion, court politics, war, prophecy and cruel trials. The story is intricate, especially with the connections between the two timelines, but it works really well here. It was interesting to see the ways Rielle and Eliana stories parallel and diverge from one another. I truly felt for Rielle who really, at the end of the day, just wanted to feel loved. Eliana took a little longer to grow on me. She reminded me a bit of Celaena (Throne of Glass) but more frustrating since she seemed to make every poor or selfish decision she could in the name of protecting her family and avoiding her inner daemons. Both women are absolute forces to be reckoned with and I enjoyed their development.

Overall, Furyborn was an intriguing, breathtaking, heart wrenching, brutal, and a touch comical start to a trilogy. I could not put it down, especially the last half. A day later, I am still mesmerized and not ready to leave that world yet (when is the next one out!?).  Furyborn is absolutely worth pre-ordering now if you are a fan of YA fantasy.

Recommended for: Fans of epic YA fantasy, magic, dual story lines, angels

You guys, what can I say about Furyborn? It might be dangerous to get me writing about this book because it was amazing. I was SO intrigued by the premise and after figuring out who was who - I was hooked. Rielle is everything. She is SO real and doesn't make excuses for her power or her feelings. She's strong, but she also has some powerful emotions that make her different from the typical YA heroine. Rielle has darkness in her life, and inside her which I felt like makes her so relatable. People aren't perfect. People have anger inside of them, and sometimes it just feels good to feel angry. Rielle is beautiful. This story is amazing, and I'm straight up obsessed. Can the next book come out already?

As my first book of 2018, I could not be more pleased with this story. FURYBORN is the first fantasy novel I have read in 5+ years, but I am so glad that I did! I was captivated by the original and unique storylines and was equally invested in both Rielle and Eliana's stories. Just as something dramatic was happening in one story, it would switch to the other, but the pace never let up. Each chapter was just as riveting as the next and I could not put this book down. I really liked that the language was not overly flowery or fantasy sounding. The names were easy to pronounce, the world was believable and interesting, and there was just the right amount of action, romance, and adventure. I was thoroughly pleased with this book and am so glad my 'wish' was granted so that I could read it. I have already pre-ordered a copy and plan to continue reading this series. 5 stars!

My mind is still buzzing with this book. Buzzing with the grand and breathtaking world Claire Legrand created.

Buzzing with the power, action, detail and subtle romance of the narrative.

Buzzing with the characters that, with in the first few chapters, I felt such strong feelings toward and a need to understand them that I canceled all my Saturday plans to sit in my jammies and read.

Legrand wrote that hell out of this gem of a Young Adult Fantasy novel. It undoubtedly will be amongst the best in its genre for 2018.

An End, and a Beginning

Furyborn is an original and well-constructed story of two powerful and independent young women (born Queens) centuries apart and deeply connected. One queen has the power to destroy the world and the other, to save it. This third person omniscient narrative (told by a narrator that is external to the story i.e. not a character) does something I love, the book begins with the story ending for one of the two Queens, an ending that captivates and haunts the reader the entire story.

"Since our war with the humans began, I have had only one dream. Every night, the fog surrounding it lifts, and I understand more of what I see: a woman, made of gold brighter than the sun. She stands in a river of blood, and light falls from the ends of her hair. Is she friend or foe? This my dreams have not made clear to me. But I know this: she will come. In this war, or the next-she will come."

-Lost writings of the angel Aryava (Furyborn)

Who, What, When, Where and Why

Rielle Dardenne lives with secrets that killed her mother, and distanced her from her now cold father and may mean creatures long imprisoned may now be returning to the human realm. She’s raised amongst royalty in a kingdom of people born with elemental magic (wind, fire, metal, etc.). She is wild, interesting, and powerful and may be one of the long 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 and faces certain death if she fails.

Eliana Ferracora is a talented bounty hunter, a notorious sword for hire who lives and works in the underbelly of the Undying Empire, ruled by a nameless and faceless tyrant a thousand years after the legend of Queen Rielle. Eliana seems invincible until her mother vanishes alongside countless other women and girls and she has to join the rebels she once hunted to find and save her from an unknown evil. Eliana unwittingly lands in the center of a war spanning across time.

Final and Random Thoughts

Stay Woke – This book has non-white people as central and minor characters. Is in a world with both really traditional notions of love and romance paired with main characters who are occasionally fluid in terms of sexual orientation and women who aren’t afraid of or apologetic about physical pleasure. But all these components are woven in simple and subtle ways. They are simply a part of the societal norms of the Furyborn world. Much respect to Claire Legrand for being one of the few storytellers in the Young/New Adult Fantasy genre who aren't boxed in.

Just say no to lead female tropes! You ever read those YA stories where the chicks with the most power keeps playing the weepy damsel in distress to feed the machismo of man-boys who aren’t worth her time, this isn’t one of those narratives. I’m tired of stories (especially those written by women) that make other women less than for the sake of a romantic sub-plot.

Just a dash of love. Thankfully this isn’t a book overwhelmed by superfluous sex scenes but the author excels at conveying the chemistry, tension, attraction and/or intimacy among characters in a balanced, believable and complimentary way.

This is a true series. The story is too big for one book. Sometimes I read series and feel like they barely had enough content and color for one book and there isn’t really any story left to tell and the writer is trying to take my coins by painfully stretching out the narrative like a bad soap opera. I can honestly say that this story could not be wrapped up well in one book.

I had a serious book hangover after reading Furyborn. It was such a great book! Loads of action and adventure, but also love; although, it was nice to read a book that wasn't heavily romance based. Rielle, having all 7 kinds of elemental magic, is an interesting character - of course you can't have a main character that isn't if you want to write a great book. She starts out with what seems the best of intentions, but is too easily influenced by an external force...I still have so many questions about what's going on, though!!
1000 years later...Enter Eliana, bounty huntress and all around badass. Her entire world is shaken to its core when she feels most invincible and sets her an a soul searching journey with her little brother across her kingdom. I think she may be my favourite....
Claire Legrand is super talented and I truly cannot wait to read the rest of the series....actually foaming at the mouth while I wait.. Exceeded all of my expectations and then shattered them to bits...

3.5 stars. I'm not going to critique this book too much, because it took me ages to read and honestly I wouldn't be able to properly do it justice because I read it so intermittently. I don't have very much experience with a fantasy story such as this that is quite complicated, so to me there seemed to be a TON of stuff going on. There were definitely some vibes I got throughout the book that reminded me of Game of Thrones but also of Camelot and King Arthur. I did like Rielle more than I liked Eliana though, and in the beginning I found myself dreading Eliana's chapters and would often read them quite quickly (another reason why I don't want to critique this too much - I skimmed quite a bit). The last 20% of this book is such a whirlwind, I would suggest that you read it all in one go because damn, what an ending. Because I skimmed it in attempts to finish the book, there were definitely a few things that surprised me because I hadn't really picked up on them early on. There are a lot of characters in both stories, so don't feel bad if you can't keep track of them all, as I found they eventually all became their own nearer the end. There's a handy little chart at the end that explains the different bits of elemental magic, and I do wish that it was at the beginning of the book so I could have referenced to it (I didn't even know it was there until I finished reading, and it would have been really handy - but maybe that's my own fault for not giving the book the once-over before starting it). I do really like the story lines though - especially Rielle's. I found myself a bit confused in the end because Rielle's and Eliana's story didn't quite line up, but I expect that will be resolved in a future book. For now it keeps me interested in how their stories will intersect (or more specifically, how Rielle's story will eventually turn into that first chapter). About halfway through the book I think I realised that I didn't really want to continue this series, as much as I do find the premise and characters really interesting. But now, after how it ended and the various twists and turns in the latter half, I think I will probably reread this again before any sequels come out to get a better grip and understanding of the story. Although if the sequels have covers that look anything like the cover for this book, I may not even be able to resist it whether I decide to read it or not.

Meh.

I believe a big problem with this book was my expectations: two women, divided by centuries. Th centuries could be years from the way the book is written: the world building is very scarce, and aside from the stray mention of things like guns and, very briefly, genetics, these two stories could have been taking place at almost the same time. There were really no differences to tell them apart.

Also, while the characters themselves are interesting, I believed they relied to heavily on men. The second character, Eliana, I felt was constantly fainting or passing out or being drugged and needing rescue. Her obsession with Simon, especially towards the end with her need to save him, even though he was a god awful character, actually made me angry. Rielle had two characters, Audric and Corien, vying for her attention, and it was just like....AGH! Just do something that doesn’t involve them!!!

The romances in this book were just so-so, and the side characters were all so one-dimensional that a reveal about a character towards the end of the book just made me shrug. This book is also very cluttered, with a lot of sub plots, and I feel like some of the characters (especially Simon), withhold information without any reason, just to create...tension maybe? It feels false. Eliana spends a lot of the book being held captive by Simon, and there’s a lot of unnecessary escapes/deaths/plot detours that could have been stopped if a character had just said something. It felt like a book, they were only withholding information because this was a book and they needed to so they could make a word count or something.

Also the prologue is incredibly off-putting, so obviously placed their as a way to get some exposition out of the way, and it is VERY poorly done. It also reveals something major about how the two characters are connected. I mean, it’s not really a surprise, this all feels done before to me, and it’s just distracting later on when, again, people unnecessarily withhold information.

The writing reminded me a smidge of The Queen of the Tearling, though with far less depth. This book flirts with edginess, with a lot of talk of sex and the occasional use of the “f word” but never really forms an identity. Is it YA? Is it New Adult?? Who knows, I don’t.

Maybe people coming into this book with different expectations will feel differently, but I just thought it was meh. I will give it credit, there are some interesting concepts in this book, hints of world building and character development, but they are so unfulfilling it’s sad.

I received a digital copy through NetGalley for review.

And wow, am I glad I got to read this one.
Two women, utterly connected, separated by time and deeds. Both cloaked in lives taken and blood spilled.

"The Gate will fall, the angels will return, and bring ruin to the world. You will know this time by the rise of two human Queens. One of Blood and one of Light. One with the power to save the world. One with the power to destroy it. Two Queens will rise. They will carry the power of the Seven."
"A Queen made of blood, and a Queen made of light."
"Which one are you?"

Rielle is head strong, with a desire to push back against the rules that govern her life. Having to hide herself in plain sight. Lying to everyone around her, keeping the lid and control on her immense secret. She exposes everything to save someone she loves.
Eliana lives in an occupied land, doing the only thing she's good at, acting as bounty hunter and assassin to an empire she despises. At the expense of her own soul, to keep her family safe. Dreading the day that the lives she steals from others finally overtakes her, and the cage of the empire snaps shut around her, claiming her forever.

Claire Legrand's Furyborn brings a masterfully crafted, well thought out world to life.
This one has something for everyone, I really enjoyed the weight of these lives she has crafted, one which we know how it ends, but not how she became, the Queen of Blood. And the other just coming to the realization that everything she knows - she's about to leave behind forever. And she must live up to and untwist the horrors of the past, to become a Queen made of light.

I adored this book. There is a beautiful moment in life when you can make the choice to be good or evil and Legrand just writes so wonderfully that I found myself pondering my own life choices along with her characters!

I really wanted to get into this book. I guess I found it hard to connect with the characters because we started with a kinda-prologue from one point of vuew, then switched to a main character that was semi-hard to relate to, and by the time I was tarting to warm up to her, we switched to another character 1000yrs in the future. I found that a little jarring. Thus, I wasn't able to connect or feel very invested in continuing to read. Perhaps I am getting tired of the assassin/killer teenage girl and it is my own issue, not the books. It was well-written, I just didn't bond with the characters.

A page turner for sure! I couldn't put it down not just because from the very beginning of the prologue you are right into the bloody story, but because at the end of every chapter is a cliffhanger. I enjoyed the switching of POV for each chapters more than I thought I would. This book is designed like a two for one story that works together and probably apart just as well. I'm so ready for the sequel it is such a fun read and every characters are written with a purpose and to perfection the story could be told from any pov.

It's a beautiful hauntingly tale of a mother and daughter divide by time and fate. Both so alike and yet so different they are each other yin and yang. Rielle is such a tragic heroine not by her own making, but by circumstance that she is such a Shakespeare or mythology type character who is just doomed for a reader to love. Eliana on the other hand is the opposite of her mother she is a stronger heroine due to her circumstance who you just hope become something that was promised. The only thing these two characters share beside the same fate is Simon, who is a mystery character that shares history between Rielle and Eliana. Simon is awesome in his own secretive way that he is so intriguing I'm looking foreword to more about his story. Rielle and Eliana are both such flawed and broken characters trying to survive their destiny by burning their world to become a light of hope.

Well, what can I say.... WOW! This book was amazing!

I was drawn in from the very first chapter, and couldn't put this book down.

The story is told in alternating POV, and is centred around two main characters. This is done extremely well, as both characters maintain their own voice, and have believable story arc's and character development.

I'm dying to get my hands on the second book now!

5 epic stars!

✦ 4.5 stars ✦

What an ARC this was. I was uncertain initially, but by the end of the book I was 100% fury-sworn!

Awful puns aside, let's get down to the nitty and gritty of this.

This book has brilliant chapter openings. I noticed it consistently, that Legrand really hooks you in with great one-liners. Simple, but dramatic! The prologue is literally explosive, and really sets the tone for the rest of the series. We immediately rewind two years to view Rielle Dardenne, an impetuous Commander's daughter who is ensconced in a temple to hide her dangerous powers from the world. Warning, time gets kinda screwy in this book so I'm not going to try and break it down too much.

The book is a dual POV novel which alternates between the perspective of Rielle and Eliana. Eliana Ferracora, Dread of Orline, exists 1020 years after Rielle – and we learn that Rielle's time is seen as one of near-myth and rumour. The dramatic shift within the world state takes you from a neo-classical fantasy setting, to a gritty dystopian world – where the connections between the two only grow as the novel continues. Eliana is a bounty-hunter, who works for the Empire hunting rebels, to save hers and her family's skin.

They called her the Dread, not knowing that beneath the mask and cloak and painted-on smile, she as simply a girl. A girl with a heart that burned for blood.

Initially both Rielle and Eliana got under my skin a bit. They seemed rather typical heroines with Rielle as the over-powered, feisty snowflake, and Eliana as the merciless-with-a-conscience, unbeatable shadow in the night. I liked that Legrand admitted that they were both beautiful. That was the first step in undermining my expectation of these characters.

Every time she had dared to show herself in such a garment, she had sensed hungry gazes upon her and felt her own secret hunger rear up inside her belly, hot and eager.

When we delve deeper, these characters are given the chance to grow and reveal more of themselves. Eliana has more personal development than Rielle, where we simply learn more about Rielle – uncovering layers. Rielle harbours a dark hunger inside her – a rage and desire we saw in flashes, that I really enjoyed. I also enjoyed, however, that she clings to doing the right thing and is truly trying to be a good person.

I want... I want. I crave. I hunger.

"I want so many things," she whispered, "and none of them are very good."

The true note that honestly broke my heart for Rielle was her loneliness. She is immensely lonely. It stems from being isolated and without familial affection, and lays the seeds for her eventual demise. The villain, Corien, uses this loneliness to his advantage. He is an insidious villain, creeping his way first into Rielle's head, and then into her world. He – I honestly believe – cares about her in some fashion, and it helps to paint him as a multifaceted antagonist.

Rielle's love interest Audric is nice enough (view spoiler), but I don't care all that much about him as a character. It is truly tragic – like reading a classic again – to know a character's end before they get to it. It's probably why I find it difficult to care about Audric, but he also just seems so typically golden and wholesome. Good for him. (view spoiler) Her reaction to killing someone who loves her so fully is what is truly going to slay me. 🙁

I also found that, personally, I enjoyed Eliana's story more than Rielle's. I may be more drawn to it because its ending is yet unwritten, and there is such possibility to it. Eliana is also, extremely active and moves the plot forward on her own initiative a lot. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I liked hers more. I think I just like her character more, particularly her growth through the book. She is the product of a hard world, and didn't come out in all the right ways. Through the book she learns to connect with her humanity again, and I'm eager to see her further development. I predominantly think I like it, because I care more for the secondary characters in this timeline, and more about Eliana's interactions with them than Rielle's with hers.

"We are all of us dark creatures," Navi said, "but if we linger in those shadows, we'll be lost. Instead we must seek the light when we can, and that's just what you're doing. I see it happening."

Something that I think Legrand knocked out of the park in this book were the female friendships. Rielle and Lu, and Eliana with Navi and Zahra. I love Zahra! She's so cute. Some of my most highlighted passages in this book were the conversations and moments between Eliana and Navi. These friendships weren't just surface level, or plot driven, but truly meaningful and it's obvious that Legrand has taken care with them.

"I'm not good at having friends."

"I've rather fallen out of practice too. Shall we try to remember how it goes, together?"

This book definitely meets the Bechdel test! Rielle and Lu also have a great relationship, which comes out more near the end – with a final great twist. Navi and Lu are really cool characters as well, with really matter-of-fact, accurate portrayals. I don't know if I'm describing it correctly, but I really liked their observations and their weight in the story.

This war has claimed the lives and bodies of too many women.

It was also just slipped in there, but Eliana is bi (I'm 97% sure) and I really love that. The diversity was also stellar. I'm really over typical fantasy creators denying diversity for 'accuracy' reasons (lol it's fantasy, and there are dragons). If any fantasy writers need tips on how to do it, read this book!

Simon, I have to say, really stole my heart near the end. I was already extremely intrigued by him with his entrance, and by the end of the book I was reading and re-reading extra slow just to soak up his and Eliana's sweetness and desperation. An odd combo, but it works so well. Eliana's little brother, Remy, is also an adorable addition to the book – and I like the idea of him as a dreamer and chronicler of this new legend.

The language in this book is incredibly rich. Legrand paints pictures so vividly , that it was very easy for me to imagine. At the beginning I found it could lean into purple prose a bit, and get a bit heavy, but found the balance acceptable when I really got into the book. The worldbuilding, as well, is great. It strikes just the right balance, for me, between too much and too little. It may lean a little towards the sparser side – as a lot of the characters in Eliana's timeline have absolutely no idea about the world they live in – but I found the epistolary fragments at the beginning of each chapter really lean into giving the book a richer, more nuanced world . Not only do they provide a hint at the chapter direction, but they really had me thinking about the messaging systems for some reason, and how important letter writing seemed to be!

Admittedly most of the plot points were reasonably predictable, yet they were set up/interconnected well. There were a few nice surprises (view spoiler) My main qualms about this novel were resolved as the book continued. I would have liked to have known exactly what the Empire was from the beginning, but obviously it was meant to be a reveal as the characters learned about it. Incredibly frustrating though. The main issue isn't so much an issue, and more just something I found. The dual perspective was a cool and committed way to run the book, and was an interesting and new thing to get my head around. Each chapter could be so individually exciting, that I often wanted to skip ahead a chapter to see where everything continued in one character's plotline. This meant that I was occasionally finding it quite difficult to become immersed in the book, and part of the reason it may have taken me a while to get into it.

I've talked a lot about my heart in this review, and that might just be because it's early and I need better metaphors, but honestly this book was GREAT. Such a strong series opener , and one of the most stand-out YA fantasies I've read recently. I am eagerly at the edge of my seat, jumping up and down, for the sequel.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to review! ♥

I received this ARC for a honest review.

I am so impressed with this book. I loved the intertwining of two character's stories and then connecting them. I can't wait to see where the second book takes us and how Rielle's story continues.

The book wasn't too violent or dark which I appreciated. It isn't for all ages but it didn't have moments where I cringed like some of them I do. Definitely recommend giving it a try!

This book engaged me from the very beginning. Once I started I couldn't stop. Rielle and Eliana are connected by a prophecy. The story goes back and forth between the two weaving a tale that encompasses both of them together and apart. Tons of action. I want to read more about what Simon went through! Book ends wide open ready for the next one which I can't wait for. I received an ARC at no charge for which I voluntarily provided an honest review.

I don't even know if I have the words to describe how much I loved this book! It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2018, and when I got the notification from NetGalley that I was approved to read an arc I was over the moon and immediately stopped what I was doing to start reading!

This book started off with a bang in the prologue, which shows Queen Rielle giving birth, sending her child away to protect her, and then fighting an angel. From there, we go three years into her past to see the events that lead up to that intense scene, and let me just say that it was basically heart stopping action from beginning to end! I don't know the last time I actually yelled at a book before, but I was screaming and my hear was pounding throughout the entire book!

We switch perspectives between Rielle and a badass assassin/thief named Eliana. Based on the synopsis for the book, you know that one of them is the Sun Queen and one is the Blood Queen, but you don't know how the two characters relate to each other until closer to the end of the book.

The characters were amazing and both women were strong and independent, and really didn't take crap from anyone. If I had to choose a favorite perspective, I would go with Rielle, mainly because from her perspective we can see how the world became the way it is.

I cannot wait to read the second one to see what happens to both characters! Definitely one of my favorite reads of the year, and I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can reread it over and over again!

Review also posted on: www.meltingpages.wordpress.com

the description of this book had me hooked...two girls...a thousand years apart and yet connected....how? why? I had to find out. I like that the author went back and forth for each chapter between these 2 girls and gave subtle hints as to their connection. I love that each woman have different abilities and that they learn more about them as the book progresses. I cant wait to read the next book in this series.

If there ever was an amazing book that you wanted everyone to know about - it would be this one. The writing style, the action, the adventure, the mystery, the romance .... EVERYTHING is perfect. It flows perfectly with the element of anticipation looming over every single chapter. I can NOT wait for more from this author and I will put this in the hands of every single YA reader that comes in to my library!

It was a bit hard to get through, but the changes of narration helped. I was excited for a BI main character and more fantasy. Some of the backstories were complicated for me. I found myself backtracking, trying to understand who was who or what had happened. That's a high fantasy problem in itself. I would recommend this. It's nicely written and very adventurous.