There were definitely parts I enjoyed-the first few chapters were kickass and exciting and totally dragged me in. Of the main characters I was definitely more interested in Eliana than Rielle, though there were aspects about the Queen that were intriguing. The prologue was what sucked me into the story and while it gave away some of the future happenings, it also set up the need to know exactly what happened with Rielle.
Rielle Dardenne is the daughter of the Lord Commander of Celdaria and she is hiding something from almost everyone. Her ability to control all seven elements of magic which means she will either be the savior (Sun Queen) or the destruction (Blood Queen) of her kingdom. A thousand years in the future, Eliana Ferracora is a bounty hunter (the Dread of Orline) for the Undying Empire that has seized her city of Orline, forced to kill rebels until women and girls start disappearing…including her mother.
The story is told in alternating chapters, and while I understand the choice honestly for me it made it really hard to follow the story sometimes. I would have preferred each half of the story to be presented separately with the necessary overlaps presented at the end. And that is totally my personal preference as I know other readers have liked that the format allowed contrast between the characters. For me though I ended up reading through Rielle’s chapters faster because I wanted to get back to Eliana’s side of the story.
But it’s not really Eliana…I just wanted to get back to The Wolf! He was definitely my favorite character and I’d love a side book just about him. I don’t want to say much about him because the discovery of the full role he plays in the story as I didn’t expect the big reveal. Well, I did but my brain was strained trying to figure it out how it happened until the full explanation. Part of the reason behind that is the length of the book, which I felt was overly long. There were some areas where I thought the story could have been condensed, less exposition and more action. Don’t get me wrong, there is a certain amount of background that needs to be set, but there is a point where it becomes too much. For me, that were the chapters around Rielle and the trials she undergoes to prove she is the Sun Queen.
Rielle Dardenne is the daughter of the Lord Commander of Celdaria and she is hiding something from almost everyone. Her ability to control all seven elements of magic which means she will either be the savior (Sun Queen) or the destruction (Blood Queen) of her kingdom. A thousand years in the future, Eliana Ferracora is a bounty hunter (the Dread of Orline) for the Undying Empire that has seized her city of Orline, forced to kill rebels until women and girls start disappearing…including her mother.
The story is told in alternating chapters, and while I understand the choice honestly for me it made it really hard to follow the story sometimes. I would have preferred each half of the story to be presented separately with the necessary overlaps presented at the end. And that is totally my personal preference as I know other readers have liked that the format allowed contrast between the characters. For me though I ended up reading through Rielle’s chapters faster because I wanted to get back to Eliana’s side of the story.
But it’s not really Eliana…I just wanted to get back to The Wolf! He was definitely my favorite character and I’d love a side book just about him. I don’t want to say much about him because the discovery of the full role he plays in the story as I didn’t expect the big reveal. Well, I did but my brain was strained trying to figure it out how it happened until the full explanation. Part of the reason behind that is the length of the book, which I felt was overly long. There were some areas where I thought the story could have been condensed, less exposition and more action. Don’t get me wrong, there is a certain amount of background that needs to be set, but there is a point where it becomes too much. For me, that were the chapters around Rielle and the trials she undergoes to prove she is the Sun Queen.