Photo credits: Adonyi Gábor Edited by Vaishali Title: Odriel's Heirs (Odriel's Heirs #1) Author: Hayley Reese Chow Genre/Themes: Upper YA Dystopian Fantasy, Apocalypse, War Publisher: Self Published Year of Publication: 2020 Version: E-book kindly provided by the author R E V I E W...Kaia Dashul is the ascending, purposeful champion in this stellar, action packed, high-stakes, high-octane, high risk YA fantasy adventure. Opening with the wishes of a young mountain girl, a bedeviled castaway, both doubtful and bold, Hayley Reese Chow brings forth a story charged with trying times of bravery and responsibility that companion young Kaia and the burden of her leadership. Eddying with the waves of indecision, grief, faith and worth, spurred by all that questions the ambivalent merit of this bringer of fabled fire. It’s Kaia Dashul’s birthright as the Dragon Heir, alongside her two counterparts, to defend the people of Okarria. When the real threat of history’s notorious necromancer grows warmer as the past repeats itself in a game of demise and devastation, 17-year-old Kaia lunges at her opening to prove herself and her path as the adept heir of legend. Without a second glance at Arimoke, her home of snubbing ostracism, Kaia leaves for a time of new experience, novel exploit and chance to practice what her roots have cultivated within her. ‘She took a deep breath and called the inferno.’ ’A cyclone of flame whipped around the Dragon Heir’s body, and her rage grew with exponential speed, as did the pressure of the howling heat within her. And Kaia exploded.’ ‘Courage, she thought to herself, remembering her father’s words. The first battle is in your head.’ “A desperate girl who entreated Odriel for help—alone, barefoot, and heart bared.” With her steadfast hound, Gus, courting her lead, the offensive and strapping, perspicacious Shadow Heir, Klaus Thane at her side, and their feline guide Shad, this travelling foursome face both the beauty and bane Okarria sets at their feet in the form of helpful allies, beastly dangers and impish bothers, with the omnipresent threat of a dark demon pursuing every shadow and shade of light with the vibrations of dark promise, the weight of his danger blossoming a pitch-black omen through every onyx night as the waning sun bristles with its counterpart to survive the arctic dusk. “If ever you need a light, just remember the one that burns within you never goes out.” ‘There would be no drinking or dancing this night, just the sharpening of blades and the oiling of armor.’ More than anything, Kaia wants to live up to a namesake that she’s yet to fit into, but refined by fire, spirit, despair and rage, her shortcomings of the untried forge a wall of corroding uncertainty, and it’s with bitter despondency that she carries the stave of the mighty and feared Dragon Heir, swallowed by the contempt of Okarria’s people. Doing right always seems to call for a cost, and as the barrier between defense and menace grows feeble so to does the simmering glow underneath Kaia’s skin. Amid the din of sweeping emotions, doubt is as much a killing blow against any bringer of light. “I’m scared,” she whispered. The confession burned her throat. “I’m glad to see you have some sense, after all.” "Yes, the world is always changing, as are the people in it. But make no mistake, Guardian Dashul, you are and have always been the Dragon Heir. It does not mean you have lost yourself." Belief is a life force, gifted from others and born from within, to nourish and infuse zeal, and with Kaia’s heart crawling with the riotous feelings of remorse, trepidation and dread, the heft of an infernal glow coupled with armies of death stalking to swallow the land’s vitality, a questioned sense of worth means there will always be something to prove. And with the Shadow Heir’s unexpected belief and slow-burning trust, Kaia has no choice but to source her strength, a position of power and pain, and a willingness to believe in the inheritance she was meant to walk with - the immense gift of Dragon’s rage. "It’s like they say, ‘The Dragon Heir walks through fire alone.’" "Except when you walk with me," Klaus countered’ Wow! When the seconds dried up after i polished the last sentence of this book I took a drawn-out contented sigh, not one of exasperation, but the kind you take after a full meal and an ever fuller belly. Comfortable, copious and sated without the need for more - that’s exactly how I felt after reading ‘Odriel’s Heirs’. Hayley Reese Chow writes a story that climbs with intensity and speedily passes by with abundant action that barely lets you breathe. I could feel Kaia’s throttling urgency to do well and I wanted her to win - a sure sign of my own belief in her and the story. The first half of the story eagerly builds itself, but the second half? Wow, does it bolster through with power. ‘An avalanche of gratitude shocked Kaia to her core, filling a void she had hidden so long, she had forgotten what wholeness might feel like.’ “Now that you’ve seen the bad, you’re about to witness the miraculous.” If there is anything In the fantasy genre that fills me with honeyed satisfaction, it’s a well-placed and well-executed battle scene, and we get two very well described and written battle scenes in ‘Odriel’s Heirs’! Overflowing with anticipation, thrill and mortal fear, they were, for me, the best scenes to read. Though Kaia was committed and devoted, she was realistically plagued by very real human fears with trial and self-assurance - vulnerability always looks nice next to strength. I loved Klaus too! He gradually morphs from the barbed and sharp-hewn to warm and affectionate, and yes I saw it coming and was just waiting for this bond to flower sweet petals. Klaus, as a character forms a beautiful balance to Kaia and I backed the reshuffling of their relationship dynamic the whole way. "When you grieve, the sun does not shine, and when your heart is light, the whole world smiles with you." "Except for the stoic, Guardian Thane," As with any story of darkness, we need a radiant flagstone to source the way, and the light in this story comes from Kaia’s spirit, her drive to do right, her love for her friends and family and the warm, trusty relationship that commences between her and Klaus. An expansive knell of doom casts Okarria in a hellish infernal glow, and as brash, doubtful Kaia travels the paths of it, subject to both it’s frightening and bewitching, it comes close to heart that nobody is immune to the threat of a dark lord and his pungent army of the dead. Facing kinship, savagery and exploitation, Kaia is graced with the gift of Odriel’s telling, and with fire cupped in her palms and flames low in her belly, it is with the weight of Okarria’s survival that sits on rusted hinges, as it then falls to the Odriel’s heirs. ‘Now, sitting atop his majestic stag, with his grave countenance and freshly healed wounds, he looked every bit Odriel’s Assassin, the dangerous Shadow Heir of legend.’ An atmosphere choked with foreboding and the sky raining pelts of raging promise from a demon lord’s keening blanket of black death poised to snuff out Okarria’s life-force with a voracious maw of infallible death, the mysterious forces, beastly and beautiful coalesce across the land, bound by the all-seeing Odriel. With every budding hero comes the luggage of dicey doubt and delicate dignity, and Kaia is here to show us the value of courage against both. “When he steps foot upon the land, the sky will not grow light again.” ‘She smiled to herself. Time to burn bright.’ From a sheltered mountainside home to fighting a vicious darkness shadowing Okarria, here arrives a condemned Kaia on an expansive adventure, treading fear and unease as she fills the sizable shoes made to fit the heir of dragon fire; a story that twines the larger troubles of war with the internal conflict of Kaia’s mortal vigour. Kaia is a protector, a vision of fear and carrier of grave uncertainty in this hard hitting, crawl-to-keep-up, keep you on your toes, acute, shapely story of hearty ambition labouring against the forbidding throes of a darker time. Well written and keenly crafted is a transformative coming of age fantasy that hails this genre as one that continues to make magic. Thank you Hayley Reese Chow for reminding me of why the YA fantasy genre is never one to be overlooked. A brilliant mouthful of duty, misgiving, love and foreboding, with a harbringer’s flaming scythe that barricades an army of death from the promise that always comes with light. “Light the darkness, Dragon,” “Till our horns lock again, brother.” “Odriel protect you,” he whispered. I gave this book 4 stars -A big thank you to Hayley Reese Chow for sending me a copy of Odriel's Heirs in exchange for a review! C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: I’d definitely place this in upper YA - although no scenes of torture of gory death are explained in any extreme detail, there is still mention of characters being tortured, body mutilation etc. Very minimal swearing (a few curses here and there). --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- ____________________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● Author Interview with Hayley Reese Chow ____________________________________________ S O M E T H O U G H T S/ C O N C E R N S... 1) Some parts of the story could use a bit more explaining - the circumstances around why the heirs fled the royal family, why the magi went into hiding and more about Kaia’s past would have been a tad more helpful. It takes firm concentration of the mind to keep up with the running story - a reader can get a little lost trying to appoint names to faces and remember character histories. If you don’t keep up with the story, you might fall behind at times. 2) A lot is condensed into a 300+ page novel - while there is more than enough to feed on as a reader, the story does speed on by with some time lapses (mostly when the characters are travelling). I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK L E A V E A C O M E N T A N D L E T' S T A L K A B O U T |
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