Review: Wildbound by Elayne Audrey Becker

Wildbound by Elayne Audrey Becker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

This is the second book in the Forestborn duology, and I would highly recommend reading Forestborn first. This is a follow on to the first book, and really wouldn't make sense if you read it as a standalone. This book follows Rora and Helos directly after the events of the first book as they both take different paths to save the kingdom and the people they love. Rora has a plan to awaken magic througout the land and hopefully save those afflicted by a lethal magical illness called the throes. Humans are being infected with magic because magic has no where to go in a world where magic is being irraticated, so it latches on to humans who aren't compatible. Rora find out in the first book that bringing the magic back to the land may just be the cure to the illness that is plaguing the humans and one of her best friends. Helos chooses to join the fight as a healer. He isn't a fighter and action taker like Rora, but he still has some big decisions ahead of him.

I thought the character development was great in this book. The world building was a big part of the first book, where as this installment focuses more on Helos' development as I expected it would. Rora's character does still see development and we do get to know Wes and Fin a bit better, but Helos is really the star of the show here. Again there is a bit of romance, but it isn't the main focus of the plot.

I do feel like parts of this book were repetitive especially as we switch between points of view between the two siblings. Often times things that are happening in Rora's chapters are recapped in the next chapter with Helos and vice versa. I often found myself thinking "Didn't I just read that" and I would go back a few pages to make sure I hadn't lost my place and it turns out it was the same thing from the other sibling's POV. The additional perspective and detail was good in some situations, but it felt repetitive in others.

This duology has some great and inventive elements, that I really enjoyed. I thought the plot was interesting and I enjoyed going on this journey with the characters. If you are looking for a creative YA fantasy, check this duology out.

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Review: Forestborn by Elayne Audrey Becker

Forestborn by Elayne Audrey Becker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via the publisher. All opinions expressed are my own.

If you are looking for a new and creative YA fantasy check this out. This is centered around a pair of siblings who are able to shift forms. They were orphaned as children and taken in by a gracious king after surviving in the wild and magical forest on their own. A vague prophecy leads to the general populace distrusting Rora and her brother Helos despite the king giving them his protection. When a magical plague begins attacking non-magical people, specifically the king's younger son, Rora, Helos and the king's elder son Weslyn take off on a quest to barter with giants for a cure. This quest will take them back to the forest of Rora's nightmares, where her mother abandoned her, and her father and village were slaughtered. On top of their quest to save the prince and the people from the plague, they must find the cure before war breaks out. There are 3 rulers in the land and King Jol has decided to eradicate magic land completely, and he has given the other rulers an ultimatum to join him or go to war. Rora and her group must avoid Jol’s men on their quest or face their wrath.

This has everything you want from a fantasy. It has great world building as the cast of characters traverses through the forest which is as much a characters as Rora, Helos, and Wes are. You never know what the forest is going to throw at them next. The beasts of the forest were so creative and perfect for a fantasy like this. We get a lot of character development on Rora, she goes through quite a lot on this book and has to deal with not only the current situation but trauma from her past as well. I expect we will see her continue to grow as the series progresses. I also expect to see more development from Wes and Helos as well, we see a bit of development as we get to know Wes, but as Rora is the main character the focus of development is on her.

There is a mild romance forming between two of the main characters, but it isn't really relevant to the plot. I could have done without it, but I'm anxious to see if and how it progresses in the next book. I’m kind of on the fence with it right now. I went into this book thinking it was a standalone, but as I approached the last 100 pages or so I realized there was no way it could wrap up without being rushed. Turns out it is atleast a duology. I’m very much looking forward to book two as Rora, Helos, and Wes all have their own burdens to bear and battles to fight. I look forward to seeing how they tackle the political issues with Jol and the fantasy issues with magic trying to find a place to take root as Jol tries to destroy it. For a debut this was fantastic and I only expect the storyline to get stronger!

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