MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.5/5
Format: Kindle eBook
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Some secrets are best left to the shadows. But shadows have a mind of their own.
The ancient land of Quinaria teeters on the brink of war, as its most precious resource is unearthed and exploited. Three nations have maintained tenuous peace for centuries, but as the life-giving nevethium dwindles, rumors of an ancient evil long thought dead spread like wildfire.
Elaysia never wanted to lead. As the high chieftain’s only surviving heir, she’s thrust into a role that jeopardizes the already fragile peace. A deadly attack on the day of her induction strengthens her resolve—and her suspicion that her parents’ murders and these disturbing rumors are connected.
With newfound companions, she embarks on a journey to uncover the truth. But as they unravel layers of secrets, they find themselves in the clutches of a dictator whose unethical nevethium experimentation threatens to bring about a new world of terror and violence.
Elaysia and her allies could be all that stands between war and a dying world—if their conflicting ambitions don’t destroy them first.
MY REVIEW
What a debut by BSH Garcia! I had already had this lined up to read, but after reading From the Ashes prequel novella, I got even more excited to see what was in store for me two-thousand plus years later. One of the best things I can say is that this did not feel like a debut novel, it felt more like a seasoned author adding another strong addition to her belt with an epic tale with great character work and incredible world building. Garcia’s biggest attribute is her attention to detail in her world-building and that reminded me of my favorite read from last year, which was also a debut novel, The Drowned Kingdom by P.L. Stuart. Both shower you in beautifully intricate details that bring an unforgettable world to life.
I love that Garcia pulls from historical events, places and peoples to deliver such a unique fantastical tale. Based on the cover art, one might think it has some Egyptian flair to it, but after watching a few videos before reading this, I found out that this has a lot more in common with the Polynesian culture than it does Egyptian, which made it even more interesting for me, because that’s not really a culture that you get to read about very often. There’s a lot of history that can be pulled from these areas and Garcia did a fantastic job of working that in to create a world filled with rich history. There’s also some Eastern and European culture as well, which helps with giving a very diverse set of characters.
“Just because you can’t see your purpose right now doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. As long as there’s life, there’s hope.”
Speaking of the characters, this story has multiple POV’s and all the characters were very strong and each brought something a little different to the table, but I liked Davier the most, because he had a very compelling arc that I connected with the most and gave me excitement every time he was on the page. I really enjoyed what Garcia was able to do with making multiple races and having the humans not be the dominant one. Her take on the different types of species was very interesting, like an elven-like species called Nyrian’s, who aren’t your typical elves, and then a humanoid lion species called Beridian’s that I just thought was so cool, because like the Polynesian culture I mentioned earlier, it’s just not something you see very often.
Garcia plunges the reader into a world that is not easy for any of the characters involved, it was a great action-packed quest that dealt with corruption, racism a dwindling resource of nevethium, and an old evil rises that set the stage with some wild twists and turns that kept me engaged from page to page, and even caught me off guard with it being a little darker than I was expecting. Quinaria is full of dangers both close and far away, and Garcia is just getting started!
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