My rating: 5 of 5 stars
GENRE: Young Adult – Fiction
FORM: eBook – Net Galley
SERIES: Legacy Series
While I was granted permission to read this book by a Net Galley affiliate publisher, Harlequin, I have received no compensation for this review other than the joy of reading!
SYNOPSIS: Princess Alera has a responsibility to her empire to marry a man worthy to be the king of Hytanica. The empire is at the brink of war, and her father tires of being king, therefore her decision must be made hastily. However, there is no man who matches the King’s criteria that interests Alera in anyway, and the man that her father believes is the best suitor she can hardly tolerate. Hytanica begins to feel threatened by the Cokyrans, the empire’s worst enemy, and a teenage boy thought to a native of Cokyran, is taken into custody. Alera, curious about their enemy, and even more so about the blue eyed teenager, begins to forge a dangerous relationship with him.
REVIEW: Legacy quickly became one of my favorite books so far this year. My attention was captivated within the first few chapters. Alera was such a wonderful change from the helpless/reckless female leads I’ve been reading about lately. She is a perfect mix of a curious, headstrong teenager, and a young women stepping into her responsibilities. She is opinionated, and fights against a society that views women as lowly by doing whatever she can to make sure her voice is heard. She is also slightly prone to making unwise decisions and getting into trouble. I just love her.
Legacy has a very “Fairy Tale” feel about it, in the way that it is written. It just screams “FUTURE DISNEY PRINCESS” material! The writing is descriptive and beautiful without being overwhelming and boring. I love the characters. Lord Steldor, Alera’s most acceptable suitor, actually reminded me of Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston, many times. I could just see him parading around in his dashing clothes and arrogant grin, causing the ladies to sigh. Narian, the captive, was definitely the strong silent type. He was confident and arrogant as well, but not to an annoying degree. I’m not going mention the messy dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes…(my own sigh inserted here.) I love how the king was a perfect mix of a person. He was neither a war hungry male, nor a flippant King. He took his role very seriously, and had just enough joy, smiles and compassion. He was also a very fair parent who, like all parents, eventually reaches the end of his thread. London, who’s name tripped me up more than once – I kept thinking we were talking about the country and getting confused, was one of my favorite characters. He made the perfect role model and great secondary father figure for Alera!
All in all, I cannot wait for the next book, Allegiance which will be released in March of 2012. The title of the third, Sacrifice, leaves me a bit nervous, however, it makes me wonder if author Cayla Kluver is going to pull a “Maggie Stiefvater” with her story.
WHAT I LOVED: I really, really loved this story as a whole! The characters were wonderful, the story was great – as I said, it reminded me of a fairy tale, and I feel that it is worthy to be placed in book next to Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and the like...well assuming it ends well. I have no idea if that was the authors intention when she wrote this ( and trust me, as soon as I’m done with this review, I’m going to go read up more on her), but if it was, she definitely succeeded.
NOT SO MUCH: I really don’t have much to complain about here. I did not care much for Alera’s mother. I felt she was rather flippant and detached, not only as a person, but as a mother. She sort of just blended in with the background, despite her claims of being mischievous and curious, just like Alera, in her youth.
SONG DEDICATION: Riding in the car yesterday, the song “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 came on. The first verse of that song really resonated with me in relation to his book. I think in the end, it really is a great song representation for the story.
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
Allegiance & Sacrifice (Covers not yet available)
IF YOU LIKED THIS, THEN YOU MAY LIKE LEGACY:
View all my reviews
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