Successor

I admit it. I'm a cover junkie. If I see a really cool cover and the blurb catches my fancy, I'm going to read that book. 

And so, I read Successor. 

Successor tells the story of Evan, who immediately after graduation finds out that her mother was from another world, and that she is next in line and must learn to claim her power, in order to protect her people.

This is a great coming of age story. It took me a few chapters to really get into it, but once I did, the pages turned themselves. 

I thought the world building was solid, but I want more details! I look forward to learning more about the systems of magic that govern Evan's new world in the next book. 

The character work is solid, especially in regards to how Evan reacts to the challenges she is faced with. She is young, but that also means she is quick to adjust and accept viewpoints that are far removed from the reality that she previously thought immutable. She has all the makings of a strong female leader, who while still uncertain of her own abilities at times, will not turn away from what must be done. 

At 342 pages, this is not exactly a short read, but it felt like one. I finished it in one sitting. The story flowed well and I was just enjoying myself the whole time.

If you are a fan of coming of age high fantasy featuring a strong female lead, this is the book for you. I wouldn't quite compare it to Throne of Glass yet, but it certainly has the potential to get there. I mean, Kingdom of Ash comes out on Tuesday, and we're going to need a new epic tale to move on to!

I received an ARC from The Wild Rose Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Expected date of publication is October 24, 2018.

Successor by Rae Miles is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel aimed at Young Adults.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher The Wild Rose Press, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis:
Evangeline (Evan) is 17 when she and her friend Leila get swept away to a different dimension (plane). There she finds the purpose to her life. There she finds her home. Evan discovers that her mother, who died when Evan was born, was actually from Laraek, and she had a gift. As an elemental, her mother could control nature. Evan will inherit her own gift, but first she must assimilate – let the Link bond with her mind, so that she too can become an elemental. Her responsibility then will be to protect her clan. Easier said than done.

Most elementals have years to accept what will happen. Evan does not, and she is a little distracted. Between the new culture, an enemy of the clan who seems to want to kill her, and a rather hot-looking guy who is bound to protect her, Evan is also worried about Leila, who has “travel sickness”, and will not last on this plane. Evan has to get her back home, but the only way she can leave, is to become an elemental. Back to Square One....

My Opinions:
For a debut novel, this was good. The writing was clean, and the plot flowed smoothly. It was a very easy, fast read. I liked the characters, and the relationships between Evan and Leila, and Evan and Ren. Evan was a strong female lead, who also had her own insecurities (as every 17-year old has), but her personality rang true. Some of the other characters could have been fleshed out a little more, but overall they were interesting.

For a YA novel, it had plenty of action, an interesting new world, and romance. For a “relatively” old lady reading this, it was still highly entertaining.

I assume this is not the last we hear from Evan and her new home, and I’m looking forward to following along.

I like the overall plot and the writing style; the worldbuilding is very promising and it opens the way for an incredible adventure.
Sadly, I think the book could have used a more precise and extensive work on the story and the characters: they are fairly sketched and very compelling, but the fact that they're not completely developed lessens one's reading experience.
Another problematic point is the instalove of the main character: it felt a bit forced and rushed.
Nevertheless, this is a good book and I look forward to read more from this author.

A wonderful first novel. It has excellent world building and fascinating characters! I enjoyed the action and romance. I look forward to the next installment.

I am not normally a fan of fantasy. I can only get so far before my eyes glaze over and I find myself getting confused and really bored. It’s just never been a genre that works for me. “Successor” has seriously been the exception to that rule! I was lucky enough to be approved to get a free advance reader copy from the publisher and NetGalley, and that usually makes me soldier on through even an awful book. This book seriously captivated me, I found myself not able to put it down! The characters feel so real that I feel like I could almost touch them. The storyline was intriguing, and I didn’t feel like the details went over my head. It was an unpredictable adventure that I’m now sad is over. I truly feel that this book should be the first in a series, the author is extremely talented! I’m very highly recommend, this book will not disappoint! Happy reading to all book lovers, I’m going back to spend some time with the Lareak clan!!

The beginning was a bit awkward and took me a while to settle into. I really ended up relating to Evan even though circumstances were a bit out of this world.

What a captivating book! This is off to a great start! Can't wait to read book 2! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

I actually really liked this book. I am interested to know whether there is more in the works or not. I would 9/10 recommend.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I saw the cover of this book and it drew me in and I had to see what it was about and blurb sold me on the rest. The idea of Even graduating and find out something about her mother and her legacy was just a bit exciting. The characters in this novel were very well done and each had their own personality. The details of the world was done expertly as if were I was right there with the characters. This made me very happy and would for sure read it again.

Actual rating is closer to 2.5, but I bumped it up.

The premise was really interesting. I really liked the idea of a girl discovering her hidden heritage and coming into her own power that she didn't even know she possessed. I thought that would be mostly what this book would be about. While we did get some of that, a lot of this book felt like world building to me.

The Laraek clan was pretty well explained and covered. The elemental thing was well explained and mapped out. The inter-dimensional stuff pulled together quite brilliantly and I really appreciated that. BUT, I was almost wondering if this was going to turn out to be a duology due to the amount of time dedicated to explaining things rather than the plot being pushed forward. But it's not and I think that's where it began to unravel a little for me, because I felt everything else in this book was a bit rushed.

The main things I thought were a bit rushed:

Evan becomes somewhat proficient with a staff in what I viewed to be a matter of days. Maybe a week or two. This is partially explained by the Link, I believe. It gives her knowledge (as it is an ancient entity) if she opens herself to it.

The insta-love. The author does try to explain the insta-love between Ren and Evan as an 'echo,' which is basically a fundamental draw between two people (stronger than what we would call a chemical attraction). Basically, it's insta-love. There's no way around it. I found it happened rather fast and the idea Ren would share his deep dark pain of losing his family to the bad guy cannot be explained by an 'echo' when everyone is constantly saying how stoic and private he is as a person. I don't know. I didn't really feel it. If it was fleshed out a bit more I think I could have bought it a little better, but felt like an easy out.

In conclusion:

For a first book by an author, this one was descent. I would definitely try another book by Rae Miles, but maybe not about the same characters seeing how she wrapped this one up with a pretty bow. I found her world building quite interesting and well explained. But, I do think this book would have been better if it was longer (and I usually don't say this) so there was more room to move the plot, love and training along without making it feel so rushed. It would have really help that pacing overall.

This was an easy book to read - the main character was accessible and easy to relate to. I have since found out that there is a follow up, which makes the time spent on worldbuilding make sense.

This is such a good story. Characters feel real and well established. Excellent world building. Evan is really interesting and the mystery of family and history will played out in a comfortable timeline. I can’t wait to read more!

reviewed on amazon as well

‘The Successor’ by Rae Miller was a fast-paced, quick read with great characters, interesting world building, and plenty of action. Definitely recommend!