Reviews with content warning for Violence - Air Awakens

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Air Awakens by Elise Kova

23 reviews

danchuchie's review against another edition

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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.

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literarymary95's review against another edition

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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.

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trish1993's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was so good and I’m ready to continue our main characters journey through book 2 I need to know what happens next

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

1.5

Where do I begin... The protagonist's name being two random Norse words? The chapter that is Divine Rivals But Worse? And actual dialogue tag that is "demanded gently"? The love interest asking the protagonist if she's ever fucked a man or masturbated two pages after calling her a child? (She's seventeen by the way.) The way the love interest's entire personality changes chapter to chapter? (And no, the protagonist thinking "the two halves of his personality don't seem to fit" does not fix that.) Why does this love triangle have so many sides when it's crystal clear who she is going to end up with!

I literally only finished this due to a reading challenge. The back 40% was better than the first 60%, but I cannot get over how bad it was.

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maleika's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

1.5

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areebarehman's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

My first read of January and it didn't disappoint! The story follows Vhalla Yarl who works as an apprentice in the Imperial library.
With the help of the silver-tongued heir to the throne, Vhalla soon discovers her magical abilities. Throw in a golden prince, rebellion, conspiracies and a bloody war and you've got an adventurous story!
The book is a seamless blend of magical characters and a compelling storyline. I won't give it five stars because I wanted to see more of aldrik's powers. He's called the strongest sorcerer of his time but I didn't see much of that. His character seemed a little flat at times and the same goes for Vhalla. I guess we'll see more character growth in the next book. Still, a lovely read.

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