Furyborn, Claire Legrand – Book Review

Hello humans! Remember way back to the time Fairyloot put an arc in their box? I think it was in 2017? Well, I’m finally reviewing it! Furyborn has been on the radar for a lot of people for quite some time and I appreciate you taking your time to read my thoughts! On with the review…

Goodreads Summary:

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed…unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable–until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world–and of each other.

Find Furyborn on Goodreads

So Furyborn is dual POV which is something I don’t read very often, it tends to be either single POV or about five characters whose stories you have to follow. I’m thankful that this was only two since it not only jumps between the two characters but it also jumps through time. This isn’t a time travel book, perhaps I phrased that poorly, it is a book told in two different times. I am reminded of Queen of the Tearling and the way that jumps between times. This is a little more structured than that, but if that was something you enjoyed I think you will like the concept of this one.

I thought the dual time idea was a clever way of telling this story, it’s interesting to jump from being in the middle of one character’s story to her being more of a historical figure in the next moment. I thought the actual execution was also well done, the two time periods were always clearly set out and I didn’t find myself getting confused (it’s easily done)!

Plot-wise there were some parts of this that edged into ‘generic YA’ territory. The idea of different kinds of powers with elemental aspects, one girl who possesses particularly amazing powers and has to hide them. We’ve all read similar books. I think that the two stories running together manage to stop this book from feeling generic, despite the tropes. The trials Rielle has to undergo really ought to feel very generic, but they are written in a very engaging way, so to me, they didn’t feel ‘same-old’.

I think this book works because Rielle’s story is a familiar YA story while Elianna’s plotline is a little more complex, I found myself needing those chapters of Rielle to ground myself once more. It’s well balanced, this could have easily just been two separate books but the choice to write them as one has paid off.

As this has to do the worldbuilding of two stories it does make sense that this book is, at times, quite slow going. I’m anticipating a much faster sequel since these two characters and the relationships that tie them together have started to be more fleshed out. A lot of ends have been left loose and I am excited to find out in what way they tie together.

This certainly isn’t a book to read in dribs and drabs while attempting to do something else, it requires a degree of focus that some other YA fantasy does not. However, if you have the time to spare I think this is a really strong addition to the ‘YA girls with elemental powers’ shelf.

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received an ARC of this book in a Fairyloot box. All opinions are my own.

What say you? Has this been one of your anticipated reads? Let me know in the comments below!

J