This is reminiscent of several well established dystopian books while being original and interesting.

I think it could have used a bit more editing to help maintain reader focus. Author is clearly talented and has a lot going for them!

Personally I would have liked a bit more relationship development and slightly less prolonged battle and action scenes.

Plot - 3
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 3
Personal Bias - 3
Final Score - 3

I really wanted to love this book. The premise is great where you could see the potential but the writing and book itself missed the mark for me personally. It definitely reads as a YA novel but the repetition and fluff could be avoided. I liked the different POVs and how they added to the story but still couldn’t get over the repetitive aspects. This was an ARC so maybe editing wasn’t finished.

This book was a pageturner. From the time I downloaded the book I couldn’t put it down!! From the imagery provided I really felt like I was there with the characters.

I found many parallels to "The Hunger Games" and I love it! Especially the strong friendships, that no risk is too high for the main characters, to save a friend.

It's very nice to read and I was literally addicted to the book.

I liked it. Mainly because it is a genre that I like a lot. The problem was that it didn't catch my attention from the beginning, I had to read almost half of it to finally get interested in the plot. Also what happened is that at times the story didn't make sense. The narration became very confusing.
I liked the characters quite a lot, and I could even identify with some of them, but the truth is that there were also others, whose personalities and attitudes did not make sense to me and I felt that the book became very tedious because it reached a point where I could not continue reading because of those characters.
At some points I also felt that the scenes, specifically the battle scenes, had a lot of phrases that were very repetitive. There were also a few scenes where the perception of time failed, which confused me quite a bit. I can say that it is quite an entertaining story, because the events that occur throughout the book keep you very alert for what follows next, so it hooks you and makes you read until the end, but I did have a very difficult time, reading some scenes with certain characters, or the battles at the end were no longer that interesting to me.

I DNFed this book at about 10%, it just was not for me right now. It didnt keep my attention and there are too many books out there to push through. Sorry.

REVIEW:
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
🔥🪨💧💨
I really liked this book, it was exactly what I was looking for in a novel set in a Dystopian world. I loved all of the characters, they were all unique in their different ways. I liked that I was able to get POVs from all of the characters, it made things easier.
🔥🪨💧💨
The only thing I didn't like is that things moved too fast, the characters easily learned their elements, the lovers easily fell in love in such a short time, I didn't like that. I even thought this book was a stand-alone because of its fast pace, but it's actually in a series.
🔥🪨💧💨
However, I'll be reading the next book in the series because I love the characters and storyline too much. Can't wait for its release!

I couldn't get into this. The characters were rather 2 dimensional and it just wasn't compelling. I liked the premise and thought it had potential, but this read a bit like a really basic first draft.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed reading the server chronicles: rebellium by A.J. Wolfe. It is a YA dystopian- fantasy book, with action, well developed characters and an interesting plot. The characters were really well developed and I thought sone complimented each other really well. I liked that the story had multiple POV’s, it made the story that much more intriguing to me. I didn’t like that the book was in 3rd person point of view but I still enjoyed the book. I loved being in the mind of Damian and they did a great job at showing us his thought process. I do hope that in the next book we get a few more characters from my favorite characters POV’s, since some of them well so interesting.

Also another thing I didn’t particularly like was the constant repetition, I feel the story would have been more enjoyable if there was a little more editing to the story. But I do understand that I received an ARC copy and hope the final book was fixed so that the reader can have a more easy reading time. Overall this was a good story and it really did surprised me. I absolutely recommend this book and I’m exited to see what else A.J. Wolfe writes.

Premise has promise, the book is technically YA but it comes across more as a middle grade book. The story had a lot of potential but I think with more attention to characters and their depth this can be a phenomenal work.

The Aether Chronicles: Rebellium by AJ Wolfe

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Firstly, thanks to the author AJ Wolfe and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, the first in what promises to be an excellent series!

The Aether Chronicles: Rebellium was, mostly, a very engaging read. It was a fast-paced novel with plenty of action and twists. I really enjoyed the plot & the setting. I also enjoyed how the powers the “elementals”, as the people who possess either water, earth, or fire powers, are known.

There were several enjoyable twists in the book, which I won’t delve into too much. However the best twist comes towards the end and really surprised me!

As I said, this book was really enjoyable overall. There are just two reasons for the 4 star instead of 5: at times, the book seemed to veer off slightly & the characters sometimes felt immature. That being said, the main characters are late teens/early 20s, so that could justify their immaturity.

It’s also worth mentioning that, after looking the author up, I was amazed to find out they’re so young. When you consider the author’s age, this is a wonderful piece of work! I’m already looking forward to the second!

The Aether Chronicles: Rebellium
I received a free ARC, but this review is my honest opinion of the book
Rating: 3.5 stars
Overall, not particularly original or exciting, but could be a fun read for YA readers.
The good:
A classic adventure story is always fun, and there were some good aspects to the story. I personally love elemental powers, and it was fun to meet all the characters and see the rise of the rebellion. There were a few twists in the story that I didn’t see coming, which was good. There was also some decent character growth and I appreciated the emphasis on the characters’ emotions. It was a fun read and it was exciting to see the stories of the characters as they developed and learned more about their powers. There were a lot of characters, but they were developed pretty well and had distinct qualities.
The bad:
I think I would have liked this book a lot more if I was a bit younger. Some elements felt more juvenile. Having read a lot of books in this genre, I felt like a lot of the elements were cliché and I have seen a lot of these ideas before. I wish there was more world-building. Although there was some worldbuilding, at times, I felt like I couldn’t get a super clear picture of this world and its history. Some of the elements of the world felt rushed or just tacked on without being explained well. I wasn’t super surprised by most of the events in the plot. Also, I personally am not a huge fan of having a lot of POVs and so many characters. Because of these factors, I wasn’t particularly engaged in the reading, and it took me a long time to get through this book.

Hello and sorry to bug you! Congratulations on your first book of many to come.

The premise of the book is the reason I choose it and stuck with it. It was nice to see a new writer get better on each page as you could see them fall in love with writing each line. I will not complain about anything any different from anyone else that has reviewed your book. Yes, it was a tad long and these ADHD may not like that and some of the long chapters dragged on. The description of things may have been repeated into oblivion about the pupils changing colour and the teenagers not wanting to discuss their problems.

But the good by far outweighed the bad. The detailed descriptions from the writer made you feel like you were right there in the battle with them. The roller coaster ride was worth it when you see that fate was playing her mighty hand to move the chess puzzles into where they needed to be. Well done with the premise and providing enough lore to keep me wanting more.

To A.J. Wolfe: Please keep writing! We need more writers willing to put themselves out there. Great job at being very technical in your writing as it made it easier to imagine the sectors and elements based off of your detail. Great start for a Sci-Fi series to begin with. I can't wait to see what else you come up with in the series and in future writings.

Thank you and have a great day!

Chris Humphrey

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Aether Chronicles: Rebellium! It is an exciting, action-packed, YA Dystopian-Fantasy book, complete with layered characters and an absolutely intriguing story. I honestly could not put the book down. All of the characters are well-developed with strengths and weaknesses. The story is told through multiple POVs; although, Natalia is the main POV/character (and, in my opinion, she is a great main POV). I really appreciated Damien’s POV chapters and thought they added a lot to the way the overall story unfolded. My favorite character was easily Roman. Hopefully, in the next book, we get even more of him. The author did an amazing job with the side characters – they, honestly, all felt like main characters to me. I want each and every one of them to have more time in the next book! Beyond the characters, the book is super action-packed and exciting.

The ONLY reason I’m giving this book four stars instead of five is the editing. I read an early ARC, so hopefully, a lot of the errors have already been fixed. There is quite a bit of repetition (for example, the eye colors of the elementals every time they use their powers). The amount of times an ellipsis is used is in the hundreds. With that said, the story, the characters, the world are all great. The book just needs some basic editing.

This book will appeal to YA readers that enjoy Dystopian-Fantasy books. The story had promise but I gotta admit it took me some time to get into the story and to connect with the characters. It feel like a mix from The Hunger Games and other dystopian fantasy tropes. I really like the dynamics of Natalia and her friends plus the rebels. And while I am always cautious with a slow burn this was well executed and not too slow. The action and fighting scenes are awesome and one of the highlights of the book. Good writing style with some unpredictable twists and turns.

This book was a fun read. While it is intended for a young adult audience I found the characters and story interesting enough to finish the book. A little more character development is needed to keep older readers attention. In places the book was so exciting and quite thrilling! I definitely want to see more! Thanks#netgalley and #Pluviampress for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I enjoyed the book overall but it got a little convoluted at parts which made it a bit hard to get through.

I give this book 3.5 stars. While it has good world building, and an interesting magic system, it was a bit slow and some of the main characters were a bit annoying.

The book would pick up and then slow down every once and in a while in waves making the reading process a bit tough, however when it picked up it hooked you.

Pros:
- interesting magic system (very similar/ seems inspired by Avatar the Last Airbender)
- Good world building
- Keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting to read more (again only when things started to pick up)

Cons:
- Not the most interesting characters
- Little to no character development
- Can get slow and dragged on a bit

Overall I would recommend this book to reading who are getting into fantasy and who like Avatar The Last Airbender, or those who are wanting a quick read that may not be a 5 star read but is still a good story nonetheless.

Very young adult and reads like it as well. Very slow to get into it. Then it gets faster and then slows like a roller coaster. You can see were there are tie- ins and themes from Hunger Games. I like the characters but they need more depth to their personalities. I like the magic system.

I think this would appeal to anyone looking for a good weekend dystopian YA read, because that’s why I started it! Unfortunately it didn’t hook me, and nothing felt new. It made me think of a mashup of the plots from the Hunger Games and Divergent with a dash of Bella Swan for the protagonist. I stopped reading after we first meet the rebels, but the writing didn’t compel me to continue reading and see how it unfolds,

DNF at 15%, ARC courtesy of NetGalley for an honest recommendation.