Review: Firstborn by M.J. Hastings

Firstborn by M.J. Hastings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC and ALC of this book via Netgalley all opinions are my own.

This reminded me a bit of An Ember in the Ashes, atleast when it came to Bryn and the firstborn soldiers training to be a soldier. If you are fan of YA dystopian/fantasy in the vein of The Hunger Games or An Ember in the Ashes I think you would enjoy this.

In this world children are broken up by birth order, firstborns train to be soldiers, second borns are scholars, and third borns are taken but don't ask questions about where or why. Bryn is first in her family and best in her class, the annual tradition of the Long Night is approaching where firstborns must kill or be killed to graduate training. She is expected to win, but the night before discovers a plot involving her brother and sister. While she has tried to push them away and put her country first, she can't shake the connection she has with them and the fact the they might be in danger or involved in something dangerous.

This had good action, world-building, decent pacing, and a good amount of action to keep things moving and interesting. I do hope to see more character development as the series progresses. Bryn for as great as a soldier in training was, didn't always act like a soldier in the field when it came time to fight and her relationship with her siblings and other people in general needs alot of work There is alot going on in this politics, corruption, magic, and more. I will say I almost DNFed this when a love triangle entered the picture. I never liked them and thought we were done with those about 10 years ago.

I appreciated that while there was romance, it didn't overwhelm the plot. It was there but more of a subplot not a main plot. It also wasn't super spicy.

Overall, I enjoyed this debut. I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

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