Reviews with content warning for War - Air Awakens

Reviews tagging 'War'

Air Awakens by Elise Kova

15 reviews

danchuchie's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“They were sending her to war, so she would go and become something they had every right to fear.”

Synopsis:

The story follows Vhalla Yarl, a library apprentice, that has spent half of her life in the library of the Empire’s capital. Like every one else, she has been taught to fear sorcerers and the Tower, the sorcerers’ quarters, is a place she never wished to be in. That is, until she unknowingly saved the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of the world, the Crown Prince Aldrik.

It is by that seemingly small gesture that Vhalla finds herself entrenched in the sorcery world, making her question everything – herself, the empire, society, friendships. Now she must decide: embrace her power or eradicate it and remain as she was before. Who she always has been.

Every day of indecision is a step closer to danger and she will find out just how much her indecision will cost her.

Review:

Damn.

There is something about 2010s YA fantasy books that truly have a richness to it that 2020s YA fantasy books try to reach but very few achieve.

Was it the best fantasy book I read? No.

Was it really good? Yes.

I think the key is coming to it with low, nearly non-existing expectations, almost even negative ones, and you’ll be surprise with how much you’ll enjoy yourself.

This was an incredibly quick read. The pages flew as I read them and I finished them in three nights, pretty much. The story was fast paced, easy-to-read simple writing with no major purple prose. Basically, the author didn’t try to reach beyond her scope (with this one) – made it simple, easy and entertaining.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say the development of the bond between Vhalla and Aldrik wasn’t what entertained me the most. It was really well done; it was a slow burn that, at some point, I wondered if anything was even going to happen in this book.

The story felt so similar to ‘Avatar’ in some ways – the usage of elemental magic with different regions representing different ‘elements’

with the main character being the last person in the world to be able to manipulate air/wind

. Regardless of the similarities, it didn’t feel like a cheap copy – it felt inspired, sure, but not a copy.

The plot differs from ‘Avatar’ quite a lot. It is a YA novel from the 2010s so it does use a lot of normal YA tropes/clichés. However, it doesn’t make it any less good.

The world building was slow, in the sense that is not explained to you in the first few pages. It’s laid out gradually as the plot develops and the need for the reader to know the context of X or Y grows.

Which, I believe, it’s a smart choice.

I’m constantly tired of having to power through 50 or more pages of almost only world building before the actual main plot starts and I can start enjoying the characters.

The character development is gradual and steady. Vhalla starts as a naïve know-it-all, insecure about herself, and by the end, she has acquired knowledge [outside of books], has understood context and complexity and has found strength within herself.

Most side characters were interesting and kept you engaged as they interacted with the main character. Aldrik, the love interest, was surprising at the third interaction. I loved how the author didn’t make him a total asshole throughout 70% of the story and then completely changed him. No. She made him complex whilst remaining through to the idea he is reserved, always an asshole but caring.

I completely loved how some things that I often see on YA fantasy books were ignored for the sake of, well, me and my sanity.

I will not read the 2nd book right away because I’m afraid that too much YA in a grow is going to break the magic this book created but I’ll definitely continue this series and I can’t wait to see how Vhalla, and Aldrik, manage everything.

Content Warnings

literarymary95's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book had an interesting concept but it felt like not much was happening until the last third of the book. I'm still going to continue reading the series, but the start of it was really slow.

Content Warnings

fiercereadsfiction's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

akirokis's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

aseel_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

MC was a bit annoying at the start but she got less annoying quickly. I absolutely did not see the ending coming at all, otherwise a great read and I really like the world

Content Warnings

mspilesofpaper's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I have to start this review with: I knew that the book is YA and I like to read YA from time to time because it can relatively relaxing compared to adult novels where the stakes tend to be higher and everything is a bit grittier. Unfortunately, Air Awakens is one of those YA books that fall into the category of "What did I just read? I want my time back" because it's so bad.

The Plot
I'm sorry but what plot? Nothing really happened.

The story can be summarised in: Vhalla is a Mary Sue who finds out that she's the last ~~airbender~~ Windwalker, falls in love with the (crown) prince whom she had saved with her magic, becomes the victim of the evil politician and has to become a soldier to fight in the latest war (the last part is the cliffhanger at the end to set the scene for the next book).

The Writing
Atrocious.

"Vhalla did not know what she was looking for, she simply walked."

"Vhalla couldn’t suppress a small giggle, it was the first time she laughed in a week, and it made her whole body feel lighter."

Yeah, it's bad. The book needs another round of editing because the amount of grammar mistakes is exhausting. There were times where I had to read sentences three times before I understood them. I don't want to imagine how exhausting it must be if the reader is a teenager and doesn't speak English as first language.

The Worldbuilding
Ancient Rome meets Avatar: the Last Airbender.

The magic system is based on Avatar as it includes the four elements (with air being erased until Vhalla's magic makes an appearence) and is also based on geography. Each part of the continent relates to one element. The Empire is a mixture of Ancient Rome and the Fire Nation from Avatar. They are always at war and the reader doesn't learn the reasons behind it. Might be unification as it's mentioned very early in the book but that's just my guess. The religion system is barely explained but there are two deities ("The Mother" aka the sun and "The Father" aka the moon).

Concerning the magic system: sorcerers are feared and we never learn why. The author had the chance of explaining the entire world by giving Vhalla lessons on history, on magic, ... -- but Vhalla does research (that never goes much beyond the "and she read book xxx" and a short period of letter exchanges with an unknown character who turns out to be the LI) at the begin of the book but the reader never learns anything through it. Instead we learn that the sorcerers are educated in a tower on the palace grounds and after their training is done, they can leave and make their fortune in the world that fears them because it's expected that they support the tower with money/food/... for the next generation of sorcerers. Also, the LI aka the crown prince is also a mage and utterly feared. I still don't understand why he's still the crown prince because no one in this Empire would follow him/respect him as he's so feared.

The Characters
Vhalla is a Mary Sue. She is boring, she always complains, she is the last Windwalker (the first of her kind in centuries), she considers herself as ugly and plain ("fizzy, untameable hair, skinny, nothing special") while having three (!) attractive men being smitten with her / telling her that she is beautiful. She has no backbone in one chapter before telling herself that she needs to stand her ground in the next chapter. She's also supposed to be so clever but has zero common sense. I'm pretty sure that her brain is decorative. Of course, she gets a make over and goes to a ball where everyone fawns over her. Of course, she cuts off her hair at the end of the book to mark the change as she's a "different character" now.

The male love interest, the crown prince, is part abuser, part creep and part sensitive guy who is unconvential attractive but still falls into the typical description of every male LI in a YA novel. Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, mysterious, muscular but not too muscular. I believe that the author wanted to use the "bad boy" trope with him but gosh ... he abuses Vhalla physical (throws her off the highest tower, grabs her face until it hurts, ...) but also verbal ("You are like a pathetic little worm who only wants to sit in the dirt when I was prepared to give you a chance to grow wings and fly."). Of course, Vhalla forgives him because he shows her his sensitive side two chapters afterwards. Of course, they have a magical bond with each other because she saved his life, so they are drawn to each other. Lovely.

The other love interest is Vhalla's male best friend who is bland porridge. Of course, he's considered as attractive and slightly "exotic". Though I believe that he is described as dark-haired with pale skin. They have one awkward date during a major festival where he acts like he planned out the entire date but he never pays much attention to her. He hates/fears magic and looks up a way to remove Vhalla's magic. Such a great character. Afterwards, he just vanishes as character and dies rather quickly too.

The other best friend is her female best friend who becomes an one-dimensional, jealous "I'm in love with him but I let you have him!" girl. That's it. She's alive but I doubt that we will ever see her again unless she turn 100% evil as she lost the love of her life.

The crown prince's younger brother is the heartbreaker. Golden hair, light coloured eyes. Always flirting. A womanizer who talks everyone into his bed (Vhalla is the first who does not jump into it). Feels like the comic relief character. He has a difficult relationship with his brother but never dives into any explanation why their relationship is strained.

The Romance
A love square thingy between Vhalla, crown prince, male best friend and female best friend. Vhalla wants the crown prince, the crown prince wants her. The male best friend wants Vhalla, Vhalla doesn't want him. The female best friend wants the male best friend, status unclear if male best friend who have wanted her too. Thankfully the love square thing is rather short-lived and lasts for max. two chapters (if all scenes are combined).

The romance between Vhalla and the crown prince is ... exhausting. Starting, she fears him because he is a sorcerer and she fears all sorcerers. Do we ever learn why sorcerers are considered as evil? No, of course not. He wanted to have her for her magic and as an object of power (since she's the first Windwalker) before realising that he wants her for her characer because she makes him laugh. Major issue: she's 17, turning 18, and I believe that he's in his mid/late 20s. Yikes. Of course, she's considered as an adult once she turned 18 (how convinent) but she's still a teenager and he's an adult.

The Names
Vhalla Yara sounds like the author removed some letters from "Valhalla" and read/saw Game of Thrones. The names are all over the place in general with Aldrick (or Aldrik, idc), Baldair, Roan, Sareem, Fritznangle, Craig, Daniel, Egmun, Larel, ... -- W H Y. Set a theme for names if you have different cultures in their novel and stick to it. Do not use the fantasy generator and pick the names as they appear because they never fit your theme.

The Cover
Why is the girl white and blonde? By the description of Vhalla, I got the feeling that she was considered as POV. She is described as yellow-skinned with brown, gold-flecked eyes and "frizzy, untameable" hair. The hair as well as the yellow skin description give me racism vibes because a) Vhalla is from the East where people are yellow skinned (We used to call Asians "yellow skinned" not too long ago as well ...) and b) the hair reminds me of the phase where black girls with natural hair had always been described with "frizzy, untameable" hair.

TL;DR:
Bad plot. Bad writing. Bland characters. Mary Sue. Bad LI. Love square. Cliches upon cliches.

(I don't understand all the 5 star reviews. Did the author threaten you?)

Add-on:
The author starts the book with a reminder that piracy is illegal and a crime. She hopes that the copy that the reader has is legally acquired. Does she really believe that people pirate books for fun? I hate to break it to her but people pirate books because they cannot pay for them. Depending on the country, books cost between €10 - €50 (just for novels, we do not speak about academic literature) and libraries are not always an option (not one close-by, too expensive, ...). I do not want to encourage readers to acquire books via a torrent but the letter from the author is so unneccessary.
If you are still interested in this book after reading this review: the entire series is available on Kindle Unlimited. Amazon offers a 30 days test period for free and has regular offers where three months cost €0.99.

Content Warnings

dadimabookernow's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Please note the main character does get beaten and it is almost hinted at SA.

Content Warnings

psydneigh's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. There were a few plot points that felt weird or unfinished to me, but overall it was good. One thing I really didn’t like was that Vhalla almost always skipped meals. It came off like she had an eating disorder but it was never looked at like a bad thing. I would’ve rather meals just not been mentioned in the book instead of her starving herself for no reason. On to the next one!

Content Warnings

georgiaisreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

shadereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

More...