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kathis_wonderland's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Let’s talk about Relentless by Karen Lynch. Relentless is the first book in the Relentless series and has been one of my favourites for a long time. The book is about Sara Grey, whose father was killed by vampires when she was a child. Soon she discovers that there is not only the human world but a supernatural one. During one fateful night she meets the warrior Nikolas, who helps her understand the power she has. As Sara is in constant danger, she needs every help she can get.
So far, I have read this book three times. Karen Lynch is one of my favourite authors of all time. Relentless was the first book I read from her, so it has a special place in my heart. As a new spin-off book is published soon, I decided to re-read the other books in the series again. And to summarize my feelings and thoughts about this book, I will edit my first ever review I wrote (my English wasn't that good back then as well, so an edit is really overdue!).
To begin with, this book is not a cliche romance! It is a wonderful and magical fantasy book with lots of new creatures. I love when a variety of magical creatures appear in fantasy books. Only reading about vampires and werewolves gets dull over time. Having roughly 10 years between my first read and third read gave me several new experiences with fantasy books. But I remember very vividly how much I loved Relentless, when I first read it. It had so many new fantasy elements to it that I did not know back then.
Sara is a young teenager, who fights the bad and is a total heroin, who also has breakdowns and can't handle easily what happened in her life. She isn't helpless either and knows when it's time to ask for help. That is something we still rarely see in books. Back then I was totally in love with Nikolas and I still kind of am. I adored his name as well. Even though we don't get to know him very well in this book I kind of fell for him right away. Sara's friends Roland and Peter are such amazing friends. I have a new found respect for Sara's uncle Nate. I just realized that he had to take his little traumatized niece into his care when he was not that old himself and grieving as well. Chris is still an absolute gem.
I just really love this book (and still am). I felt several emotions while reading this book. I laughed, cringed and bawled my eyes out towards the end of the book. I like the way Karen Lynch describes everything in the book. She has just a wonderful writing style.
One part I really want to talk about is the romance in the book, because there is little. This book is evidence that books do NOT need to have romance and relationships in it to be good. It makes me so happy to finally know a good romantic book without love, heart and roses. It's just refreshing. I can remember how amazed I was by this novel to not have a kiss or any romantic advances between the two main characters in it.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves fantasy and wants to read a new and refreshing book about it! As this book is (and still is after roughly 10 years) one of my favourite books I am totally looking forward to the next few books!
So far, I have read this book three times. Karen Lynch is one of my favourite authors of all time. Relentless was the first book I read from her, so it has a special place in my heart. As a new spin-off book is published soon, I decided to re-read the other books in the series again. And to summarize my feelings and thoughts about this book, I will edit my first ever review I wrote (my English wasn't that good back then as well, so an edit is really overdue!).
To begin with, this book is not a cliche romance! It is a wonderful and magical fantasy book with lots of new creatures. I love when a variety of magical creatures appear in fantasy books. Only reading about vampires and werewolves gets dull over time. Having roughly 10 years between my first read and third read gave me several new experiences with fantasy books. But I remember very vividly how much I loved Relentless, when I first read it. It had so many new fantasy elements to it that I did not know back then.
Sara is a young teenager, who fights the bad and is a total heroin, who also has breakdowns and can't handle easily what happened in her life. She isn't helpless either and knows when it's time to ask for help. That is something we still rarely see in books. Back then I was totally in love with Nikolas and I still kind of am. I adored his name as well. Even though we don't get to know him very well in this book I kind of fell for him right away. Sara's friends Roland and Peter are such amazing friends. I have a new found respect for Sara's uncle Nate. I just realized that he had to take his little traumatized niece into his care when he was not that old himself and grieving as well. Chris is still an absolute gem.
I just really love this book (and still am). I felt several emotions while reading this book. I laughed, cringed and bawled my eyes out towards the end of the book. I like the way Karen Lynch describes everything in the book. She has just a wonderful writing style.
One part I really want to talk about is the romance in the book, because there is little. This book is evidence that books do NOT need to have romance and relationships in it to be good. It makes me so happy to finally know a good romantic book without love, heart and roses. It's just refreshing. I can remember how amazed I was by this novel to not have a kiss or any romantic advances between the two main characters in it.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves fantasy and wants to read a new and refreshing book about it! As this book is (and still is after roughly 10 years) one of my favourite books I am totally looking forward to the next few books!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Dementia, and Alcohol