Furyborn

By: Claire Legrand

Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham

Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

This stunningly original, must-listen fantasy 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, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable - until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire's heart 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.

©2018 Claire Legrand (P)2018 Listening Library

Critic Reviews

"Epic feminist fantasy." (Melissa Albert, New York Times best-selling author)

"Truly not to be missed..." (Kendare Blake, number-one New York Times best-selling author)

"Fiona Hardingham expertly narrates this thrilling fantasy, giving voice to two remarkable young women.... Hardingham's portrayal of these seemingly disparate but inextricably linked young women strikes exactly the right notes, precisely conveying the girls' single-minded intensity, which is underscored by sorrow and self-doubt. Impeccable pacing exquisitely ramps up the tension as the story hurtles towards a breathtaking climax that will leave listeners eager for more." (AudioFile)

Fun Action Thrill Ride

When I saw this book on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it. The description grabbed me & it sounded like a book that I would fall in love with. Once I finally found time to read the book it grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, I wound out of time to physically read the book so I ended up buying the audiobook. When I first listened to the narrator's voice I was hesitant but by the end I loved it. Fiona Hardingham (Narrator)just added a little bit more to the story. I was so glad that I switched to audiobook that I think it added a half star to my rating.

My rating would be a 4.5 but since I cannot do a half star I'm going to round up to 5. The plot was fascinating and I loved all of the characters that I read. This book was jam packed with action, swoon worthy heroes, and some really powerful women. I loved that Rielle & Eliana had their flaws and I loved that we got to know them on a fundemental level. It was fun to see the growth in them.

All in all, I really liked this story. I probably wouldn't consider it young adult though. I think it belongs in the adult fantasy section.

Why were the Angels warring with humans

The entire book I felt as though I was scrambling to catch up... as if I missed a whole series before this one... why were the angels fighting? Who was this blood queen and why did everyone hate her? There was just too much guesswork and not enough background knowledge.

A lot to process and lacks details (spoilers)

I liked the beginning, it had a lot of good elements and had me pumped for what got these characters to this place. I was largely interested in the story until it got about halfway and I began to notice that while each chapter was filled with descriptive action scenes, romance, and tension, it all felt hollow.

For instance, Rielle has to take on magical trials to prove she is the Sun Queen, but the trials are so overly difficult and traumatic that I find the fact that she passes each one with flying colors to be unbelievable. We are told that she has been hidden away from the world and her powers suppressed and that all she is taught is control- which she doesn't seem to have unless it is convenient for the plot. There is no real struggle and the fact they are practically trying to kill her, and she has no time to process what's happening to her before the next one starts, pushes her away as a relatable character. You can struggle sure, but when you throw her level 10s when we have been told she has only dealt with level 1s just immediately takes me out of the story. Her relationship with Audric and Lu is nice, Lu is a great character and Audric is the typical, boring prince charming who has no character growth or arc at all. Lu is the only one who brings anything new to Rielle's story. I also find her relationship with Corien to be odd, he comes out of nowhere and due to Rielle being a young and budding woman, almost every interaction they have is of Corien trying to touch her inappropriately and her telling to him to leave her alone one sentence and then pining for him in the next. This is what budding sexuality is, but we get no introduction to Corien, how he got in her head or why he is so sexually attracted to her.

Now to Eliana- the cold-hearted assassin who never lets the job get under her skin. I found her to be lifeless aswell. She has this personal code of not letting herself feel things unless she is around people she feels things for. She constantly lies to her little brother and gets her feelings hurt when he calls her a monster. She suddenly decides she wants to save people even though nothing she has done, shows that she really wants to help anyone but her family. She refuses to here about a little girl's trauma with the war because it hurts to hear, yet she wants to save all the refugees from being slaughtered by soldiers, it doesn't make sense the way it's written. Since she tells herself every page to not feel and not care, it's unbelievable for her to do the opposite. She also has a huge attitude problem and isn't really nice to anyone, she is also shallow and hypocritical and inspires little sympathy because she caused all her own problems.

The world-building is pathetic, who the angels are and why they were destroyed was never mentioned. Corien doesn't even explain it and Rielle doesn't ask. We are just told they are mad and coming to destroy the human race-Ok
The magic isn't explained there are no other characters with powers besides Rielle and Eliana which I find lazy and boring.
There are so many more questions than answers and I found myself dragging through the last few hours of the book because I don't like to leave things unfinished. I didn't hate it, and I will probably read the next one but certainly not right away.

Glad I didn't use a credit

Got this because I like long books, but this was 17 hours too long. Perhaps if I'd had a hard copy it would have been better, but I couldn't figure out the how much time had passed between one character's time period and the other, the end just sort of fizzled out, I found my self not paying attention then having to back up, thinking I'd missed something important. It just didn't work for me.

I Couldn't Stand Either Main Characters!

First off, this rating is actually 3.75 stars. I loved this world and the magic system, but I could stand either Rielle or Eliana. Both of them just made me want to scream at them. Like seriously, the both Rielle and Eliana just couldn't seem to understand how idiotic they were being. Rielle starts hearing a voice in her head, but it doesn't sound any alarm bells in her mind to tell someone?!?!? Eliana doesn't realize that secrets are being kept from her for MOST of the book!!!!! I wasn't even surprised with the twist since I figured that out way before the reveal. I didn't enjoy the weird, but totally not sure if it was there love triangle between Rielle, Audric, and Corien. This book would have been so much better if Rielle and Eliana used a little more sense. Hopefully book 2 will be better.

it's fine but difficult to get into

The end of the book is by far better than the beginning, which just throws you into the universe without much context.

DNFed at 50%

This was bad. Claire Legrand didn’t even try to make it NOT obvious about the twists that connect these two characters. Utter disaster 😒

Didnt capture my attention.

The story was all over the place and nothing new.I finished it just because I started to read it and in the end I never found out why she killed the prince.

Okay

I wanted to like this book. It has some wonderful premises. But in the end the characterization and storytelling were pretty flat.

Some rather female-centric sex positivity. Female masturbation, erotic dreams, birth control (!), and female orgasms during sex all show up.

The world also has a superficially queer setup to it. Same-gender couples in the world, both protagonists coming across as bisexual (one only in an erotic dream, the other has a bisexual partner history). No gender varience. But none of the actual romance or sex in the story is queer. As a reader I couldn't find an authentic sense of queerness at play.

The world is also superficially racially diverse. Lots of variations of skin color. But no deeper sense of non-white or post-collonial understandings of things show up.

Captures your full attention

Didn't want it to end...Can't wait for Book 2! Great narrator and I like how it flips between both women each chapter

I don’t understand how anyone could bare this book.

Maybe I’m being a little dramatic. The author doesn’t spend time establishing the relationships and so I came out not caring about the pairings. I couldn’t understand how Rielle could say she loves Audric and then givens herself to Corinne. Then also be wounded about Audric being betrothed. Make it make sense. Why would I care? She barely cares about him.

The time skips are very confusing and make it difficult to remember what was happening in each POV. Maybe less action and more character developed. I hated Eliana oh my goodness! I tried to like Rielle. Bottom line is, I did not give a damn who lived or died… maybe Remy, he was a godsend to otherwise dull characters. Simon was interesting too actually. Yeah I was prepared to get the whole series but this is where I stop. I don’t care enough to waste my money.

Phenomenal book and narration!

This is an amazing story, a dark fantasy romance with intriguing worldbuilding, exquisite writing and well-rounded character arcs! I just found my new obsession!
The Audible narration was TERRIFIC, I'll definitely follow the narrator around.

Gripping from start to finish

I loved it, all the characters are wonderful! Can't wait to start on book 2 😍❤