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Reviewed by:
  • Furyborn by Claire Legrand
  • Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor
Legrand, Claire Furyborn. Sourcebooks Fire, 2018 [512p] (The Empirium Trilogy)
ISBN 978-1-4926-5662-3 $17.99
Reviewed from galleys R* Gr. 9-12

While saving Celdaria's crown prince from an attack, Rielle reveals her power to control the sacred seven elements, an ability found in only two prophesied queens: the Sun Queen of salvation and the Blood Queen of destruction. The king orders Rielle to be put through seven trials to test the skill and loyalty that will prove her the Sun Queen. Over a thousand years later and oceans away from Celdaria, nineteen-year-old Eliana is a bounty hunter, using her (well-hidden) superhuman strength and speed to hunt down rebels against the Undying Empire to keep her family from starving or worse. When she encounters the rebel leader, however, he seems to be the only one who knows what her abilities might mean and the true threat she is under. Legrand effortlessly handles the dual timelines, providing clear navigation for readers as Rielle's and Eliana's stories unfold; each thread gets its own mythology and history, and while hints are given that the two places/times are linked, the revelation of exactly how they connect makes for a dramatic climax. The character arcs of the two girls are intriguingly orchestrated, given that both girls begin the books as murderers, one merciless and one remorseful. Direct, strikingly vivid prose lends heat to the sex scenes and horror to the violent ones, and the nearly five hundred pages race by in stunning fashion. This is a must-have for fans of Marchetta's Lumatere Chronicles (Finnikin of the Rock, BCCB 3/10, etc.) or Cashore's Graceling (BCCB 1/09).

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