In her debut
novel and the first book in a duology, N. E. Davenport where one woman bent on
revenge can change the entire world:
Ikenna's world has been flipped upside-down, her grandfather and only family left has died and she has been wallowing the last few months in school numbing the pain away. Her grandfather was also the only one who knows her secret, her blood gift that has needed to be kept hidden from birth. When one of her grandfather's best friends tells Ikenna that her grandfather was actually as, she will do anything to find out who was responsible. Bent on revenge she decides to once again pledge to become a Praetorian Guard, the most brutal trail where only a quarter of those who enter survive. The country of Mareen has been at peace for a long time but there are many forces at play and many who do not want Ikenna to survive the trials.
I personally love reading debut novels, I think that when an author decides to put a book out there, their debut is often one of their best and they bring something new to the genre they have chosen write in. So I was extremely surprised to find out that this was Davenport's debut book, it had many things that I love in the fantasy genre and I am personally shocked that this book has not received more hype, especially when it was released last year
Although this book has been stated by some that this is a YA book I would say it is more New Adult as it was fairly dark and a lot of death that in times is described in detail. There is also a lot more politics that occur in the book as well, especially in the latter half of the book.
I loved Ikenna as a character,
even though there were times when you want to hit her, but she felt very real,
with real emotions and reactions to what is occurring around her. She has a
secret that she has to hide, even from her friends therefore, she is truly
alone once her grandfather is dead. Ikenna has a mouth on her and times her
anger gets the best of her, but Ikenna has the skills and abilities to back
them up, so she is pretty kickass. I found Ikenna's interesting and one we do
not see very often, very Kate Daniels like but extra and extreme at times.
Lots and lots of racism and
misogyny in this book and while the main lead does not “handle” it well all the
time, I mean who would, she is amazing how she navigates through this world.
She must prove herself more for not only being black but also a woman and she
takes the measure of all those around her both friends and foe.
I think my criticism with this
book is that i found it a little predictable, right from the beginning and I am
a little bit confused on the world building. I am not completely sure about all
the countries involved and why the Mareen are seen as the "best" of
the countries, probably just a self-title as they are mainly white people, but
as you read farther and farther into the book that does not seem to be the
case. I also was confused of all the power that Ikenna's grandfather held and
how he was able to hold the peace between so many countries, they say he was
good with words, but that alone would not have been enough to hold peace as the
way the Mareen treat most people is just horrible
I really enjoyed this book, it
was a lot darker that I thought it was going to be as death and trails is a big
part of this book. Ikenna is a character that may be frustrating at times, but
still someone you cheer for throughout especially everything that she has to go
through. I cannot wait to read the next book in this duology.
Enjoy!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment