Warrior of the Wild

As her father's chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: to win back her honor, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller - release date February 26, 2019

When I picked up this book I knew it would be good, but even that was an underestimate. This book was undeniably INCREDIBLE!!!! This book did not leave my side from the time I picked it up to when I set it down. I was so wrapped up in the wonderful world that Levenseller created that it started to feel real. Probably the most amazing part about all of it was how quickly this book took hold of me. Readers who dislike slow beginning will be relieved when they discover this book because the action starts on the very first page and doesn't let down until the very last sentence. 

This book follows the perspective of Rasmira the recently banished, warrior daughter of her village's leader. The catch is that Rasmira didn't fail her test, she was sabotaged! Once she is banished to the Wild she runs into Soren, who had been banished the previous year along with his friend Iric, who is about to be killed by hungry Ziken. In return for saving him he and Iric show her a few tricks to survive in the Wild, but Rasmira does not care about making a life for herself out in the Wild, her only goal is to kill the god Peruxolo who torments all seven villages. Soon enough Soren and Iric get wrapped up in her adventure and she helps them defeat their own challenges as well. The author does an amazing job developing each of the characters through how they interact with each other. I especially loved seeing how Rasmira warmed up to Soren because the two of them made me laugh on more than one occasion as I read this book!

I love love LOVED how Rasmira solves the mystery behind Peruxolo's powers when she finally fights him at the end of the book. I thought that this discovery added so much to the story and made me rethink the whole story all over again! As always, I will be interested to see if there will be a map in the final copies of this book, but I am doubtful because this ARC gave no indication of one. This book was an all-around adventure to read and absolutely loved every second of it!

Hands down this book deserves 5/5 stars! It was so spectacular and there is really no way for me to adequately express how much I enjoyed it and do it justice, that is why I hope that everyone who can reads it because it was truly that good. It mixes fantasy with a kick-ass vibe that complemented all of the characters so well. I devoured this book in a day. The way it ended leaves room for the possibility of a second book, but it if didn't have a sequel the ending would still be satisfactory. But I would, of course, love to see a sequel hit the shelves as soon as possible if the author has one in mind!!

~ Alyse :)

Reviewed on February 23, 2019

Last of Her Name

Sixteen years ago, rebellion swept the galaxy known as the Belt of Jewels. Every member of the royal family was murdered--down to their youngest child, Princess Anya--and the Union government rose in its place. But Stacia doesn't think much about politics. She spends her days half-wild, rambling her father's vineyard with her closest friends, Clio and Pol.  That all changes the day a Union ship appears in town, carrying the leader of the Belt himself, the Direktor Eminent. The Direktor claims that Princess Anya is alive, and that Stacia's sleepy village is a den of empire loyalists, intent on hiding her. When Stacia is identified as the lost princess, her provincial home explodes into a nightmare.   Pol smuggles her away to a hidden escape ship in the chaos, leaving Clio in the hands of the Union. With everything she knows threading away into stars, Stacia sets her heart on a single mission. She will find and rescue Clio, even with the whole galaxy on her trail.

Last of Her Name by Jessica Khoury - release date February 26, 2019

Surprisingly, this isn't the first book I've read about a retelling of Anastasia in space!  Before I read this Space-Anastasia retelling, I had to read Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston just so I could see the differences between the two.  Even though they are based on the same legend and both have that space twist, they are very different stories!!  I loved both books.  Space-Anastasia might just be my new niche of a favorite genre.  Also, I heard that before the title of this book was going to be Firebird instead of Last of Her Name and I have to say I like the latter MUCH better; it sounds so much cooler.  The title and the font with the crystals is so gorgeous and definitely has much more of a striking effect than Firebird does.  So bonus points for that!

Our Anastasia character is a mechanic named Stacia.  She is very loyal to her best friend Clio, so much so that it is basically ingrained into who she is.  So of course, when Clio gets captured by the enemy, Stacia will do whatever it takes to get her back.  Our Dimitri character is Pol, a type of adapted human called an aeyla who's got these cool horns.  Along the way to rescue Clio, they meet Riyan, a tensor, who can manipulate gravity (which is PRETTY COOL by the way).  I'd have to say my favorite character is Clio just because of how much more she is than what you can see on the surface.  Like, she is astronomically different than what you think at the beginning (once you read it you'll understand what I mean even more).  Clio's whole character was surprising and amazing and multiple plot twist in of itself.  Lastly, there is a tiny bit of love triangle things happening in here, but not too much, so if you don't mind that and like a good space-age romance, this book is right up your ally.

I loved the whole idea of these crystal Prisms that powered their whole society and how Stacia can ~unlock secrets~ Prisms have (not saying more because SPOILERS!).  I also loved how there was planets named after gems and their system was called the Jewel Belt.  I didn't really like the ending too much because it's kind of sad but that was the way it had to go I guess :(.  

I'm going to do a quick comparison between Last of Her Name (LoHN) and Heart of Iron (HoI).  Both of these Space-Anastasia books were really good and I recommend both of them highly!  So some similarities besides the obvious ones: one similarity is that both Anastasias are best friends with characters from another race that's looked down on by other people.  With HoI it's D09 (Di), who is a Metal robot, and in LoHN it's Pol, an adapted human aeyla.  Both have surprising twists and heartbreaking moments.  Some differences are that in HoI Ana is more of an outcast/criminal before finding out she is the princess Ananke, and in LoHN, Stacia is just a regular citizen who is into mechanics before finding out she is Princess Anya Leonova.  These two novels have a very different feel to them.  Lastly, a small and minor difference that I just really like, in HoI the planets had a Greek mythology naming system and in LoHN they were named after jewels.  Both super cool.  Looks like you'll just need to read both to see which one you like better!

Overall I would give this 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I would of course recommend this book if your niche is Space-Anastasia.  It would also be a good book for any sci-fi or fantasy/retellings readers!  Took me 5 days to read.

-Taylor

Reviewed on February 23, 2019