Format Reviewed: ebook
Series: Odriel's Heirs
Author: Hayley Reese Chow
Author’s Goodreads
Author's Website
My Review on Goodreads
I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Kaia is the Dragon Heir, as was her father before her, and yields flame to protect the land of Okarria. A necromancer's undead army is threatening the world and she, along with the Time Heir and the Shadow Heir, must defeat him and his hordes of the undead. But they are missing an Heir and must continue on, hoping to find him along the way. They meet a large cast of characters, including a talking cat and a magus, and they gather allies and head to the final showdown.
Characters
This book sports a vast cast of characters, my favourites being Shad (a talking cat) and Gus (her loyal fire-proof canine). There are some interesting fantasy creatures who become allies, plus Kaia's infuriating twin brother Bram, a magus, and more humans. I usually dislike large casts of characters but I managed here easily, perhaps because everyone had their own personalities and it was easy to remember who everyone is.
Protagonist
The main character wasn't perfect, and I can see exactly why she is a bit abrasive. She has been hated since she was a child, and then she was expected to sacrifice everything and go save them? I also like characters with faults, because you know...everyone has faults. No one is perfect. In real life, we don't toss a person in the bin if they have a flaw. People are complex and that's awesome. She has the power of fire that is linked to her emotions. At seventeen, that's a lot to handle, and there's a war going on.
War
It's war. People die. Characters that you have grown attached to die. And stay dead. And I very much like that this story didn't shy away from that. I appreciated that when they fight, they hare injured and exhausted and need a lot of time to recover. It drives me bananas when characters go through so much and go directly into the next battle like it's nothing, even when they suffer huge injuries. We also get to see Kaia's grief at a few points in the story, and that was great. She's young and in her first battles, you don't walk away from that all sunshine and rainbows.
Final Thoughts
I loved this book and I highly recommend it. It was an engaging read that held my interest. If you like fantasy with life-or-death battles with consequences, I think you will enjoy this book.
*~*Below is a spoiler, so don't read it if you haven't read it!*~*
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I was nearing the end of this book, cuddling my dog, when the scene with Gus happened. I gasped "Nooo!" AND THEY DID IT BECAUSE THEY HAD TO AND I COULDN'T EVEN.
If Gus didn't get a good ending I would have lost it. I was afraid this book was going to do me dirty, but it saved me right at the end. All is well in the world now, I'm fine.
