New Release Spotlight + Mini-Review: Extasia by Claire Legrand

Today I'm excited to share a spotlight for Claire Legrand's latest release: EXTASIA! Extasia is a new YA horror full of witches, cult-like elements, and a dark, foreboding atmosphere that will keep you hooked for every page. Below, you will find some information about the book and author, as well as a short review from me. 

ABOUT EXTASIA:
Author:  Claire Legrand - Website
Pub. Date: February 22nd
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 496
Find it: Amazon | Bookshop.org  

SYNOPSIS:

“From New York Times bestselling author Claire Legrand comes a new, bone-chilling YA horror novel about a girl who joins a coven to root out a vicious evil that's stalking her village. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid's Tale and The Grace Year. 

Her name is unimportant. 

All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain--an evil which has already killed nine of her village's men. 

She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove. 

Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother's shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you? 

This searing and lyrically written novel by the critically acclaimed author of Sawkill Girls beckons readers to follow its fierce heroine into a world filled with secrets and blood--where the truth is buried in lies and a devastating power waits, seething, for someone brave enough to use it."

 

Review:

You can't ever really have too many books about witches and religious cults, and Claire Legrand's latest book is a unique and welcome addition to this concept. In Extasia, we follow Amity, one of four girls soon to become a saint of Haven, a role that will essentially make her an outlet for the people of her religious sect to vent and confess their sins. This is a deeply sexist and difficult world to read about, and Legrand did an excellent job of creating a setting that was completely abhorrent and frustrating to read, a world where women are silenced and religion acts as a major oppressor. 

Extasia is a story of questioning what one has been taught and brought up with, and whether it can be worth it to keep questioning and looking for something different–even if that means the consequences for doing so will be dire. The atmosphere and setting of Extasia were both vividly created to the point that I could feel the apprehension and dread that seemed to ooze out of each page and scene. The characters were well-developed and I enjoyed getting to follow Amity on her intense, life-changing journey. And as you may have already seen in other excited reviews, we do indeed have some sapphic relationships that were the perfect additions to this story. 

If you're in need of some witchy horror, complete with intense cult-like religions and a disquieting atmosphere, then be sure to give Extasia a read. 

*I received a copy of Extasia in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my enjoyment of the nove.*

New-To-Me Authors That I'd Like to Continue Reading!

This week's Tell Me Something Tuesday prompt is: Debut authors/ New to me authors. What books have you read lately by new authors that you want to read more from? I've decided to continue a similar post I've done and feature some authors that I read for the first time so far in 2018 that I want to read more from. Keep in mind, I'm only including authors that already have other work out that I actively want to read, so any  new debut authors that I've read this year and loved (which there have been a lot!) won't be included--I'll be making new posts for those at a later date.

J.V. Jones
What I read: A Cavern of Black Ice (review)

Amazon | Book Depository

What I would like to read next: A Fortress of Grey Ice & The Baker's Boy

Amazon | Book Depository
Amazon | Book Depository


Jonathan French

What I read: The Grey Bastards (review coming soon)

Amazon | Book Depository

What I would like to read next: The Exiled Heir

Amazon | Book Depository

I was so impressed by The Grey Bastards that now I would really like to check out more of French's writing, even if it is pretty different.

Robert V.S. Redick

What I read: Master Assassins (review)

Amazon | Book Depository

What I would like to read next: The Red Wolf Conspiracy

Amazon | Book Depository
    

Claire Legrand
What I read: Furyborn (review)

Amazon | Book Depository

What I would like to read next: The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

Amazon | Book Depository
    

Robert Dinsdale
What I read: The Toymakers (review)

Amazon | Book Depository

What I would like to read next: Gingerbread & Little Exiles

Amazon | Book Depository
Amazon | Book Depository
        

Colleen Oakes

What I read: Queen of Hearts

Amazon | Book Depository

What I would like to read next: Blood of Wonderland & Wendy Darling

Amazon | Book Depository
Amazon | Book Depository

      


Have you read any books by these authors? What authors have you recently discover that you'd like to read more of? Let me know!

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Review: Furyborn by Claire Legrand

*Furyborn will be released Tuesday, May 22nd!*

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Sourcebooks Fire, 2018
Hardcover. 512 pages.

Furyborn is a book that had been on my radar since last year and I was thrilled when I received copy of it in the mail one day. I read it pretty much as soon as I received it and almost immediately fell in love with this story. In all honesty, I started seeing a huge mixture of good and bad reviews for Furyborn a few weeks before I received it, so I was starting to feel fairly skeptical about whether or not I would enjoy it so I really didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did. 

Furyborn tells the story of Rielle Dardenne and Eliana Ferracora, two young women living entirely separate lives centuries apart, but who end up having more in common in their stories than they ever knew or expected. I was curious to see how Legrand would handle the two storylines in this book, as I've found time-jump novels to be rather hit or miss for me, personally. The way Legrand handled it was perfect, however, and I found that both stories were incredibly engaging and meshed really well overall. 

The story is told in evenly alternating chapters between Rielle and Eliana, and I was so glad to see that Legrand kept up the alternating pattern between only those two characters and no one else. I worried that if she added too much or mixed it up it would become confusing, but because of how she executed the story it was perfectly clear the entire time what was happening in each time period. Legrand also managed to tie together both perspectives with much cleverness and managed to make these two wholly separate lives fit together in unexpected ways. I even noticed very subtle symbols of similarities in the stories of each as they were told that I also felt added an extra layer of cohesion.

In regard to our main characters, Rielle and Eliana, I am beyond pleased to say that I genuinely liked both of them, which is something that doesn't always happen. What made both characters stand out so much and endeared them to me the most was that they were both such distinct people with very different personalities, but at the same time they had core similarities that united them in subtle ways and helped make this story work so well. Eliana is intense, badass, and occasionally does morally questionable things, though everything she does is for the benefit of her family. She is confident in herself and her abilities and I really appreciated that because she wasn't ever afraid to hide what she did or what she was capable of and I really admired that. Rielle is not quite as intense as Rielle, but she is every bit as badass as her, though it manifests itself in different ways. She tends to be the quieter form of power, whereas Eliana is more outspoken. 

Furyborn is an action-packed book that takes off at a quick pace and never really lets up. I would have liked a few more moments to catch my breath at times, but I also felt highly entertained and always lamented the times when I would have to put the book down for a while. Another set of props goes to Legrand for writing the consistent action in an approachable and highly engaging manner. I never felt like I wanted to skim over any action scenes, and that's always a good sign to me that action scenes are written with a lot of care and attention to detail. I also found myself subconsciously slowing down my reading to prevent finishing this book too quickly because of how fast it reads!

My only real complaint about this book was in regard to the magic system. It was discussed in detail to a point, but I still don't feel like I ever had a full grasp or understand of how it actually worked. It's not necessarily vital to the story itself, but it just would have been nice to have a better understanding of how the magic worked and details in regard to that. 

Overall, I really loved this book. The characters and the story were refreshing, the dialogue was incredible, and the writing itself was highly engaging. I wholeheartedly recommend this to any fantasy fan or anyone looking for a fast-paced, exciting story. I've given Furyborn five stars!

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

*I received an ARC of Furyborn in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating of the book.*

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The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
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Waiting on Wednesday: Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

This week's upcoming book spotlight is:
Furyborn (Empirium #1) by Claire Legrand
Publication Date: May 22nd, 2018

Sourcebooks Fire
Pre-order: Book Depository | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"The stunningly original, must-read fantasy of 2018 follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

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."

This one may be really far off right now, but I already can't wait to read it! I really love this concept of having the two different stories and how the past seems like nothing but a story to those in the modern times. I've seen this idea played with before, but I've never seen it as such a large premise in much fantasy, so I'm looking forward to finding out more. :)

What do you think about this upcoming release? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

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