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popthebutterfly 's review for:
Reign the Earth
by A.C. Gaughen
Rating: 4/5
Recommended Age: 16+ (sexual violence and rape, infant/child/fetus death, abuse)
Pages: 448
Author: A.C. Gaughen
Amazon
I received a free copy of this arc in exchange for promotion and review from Bloomsbury Children’s Publishing. Thank you so much for allowing me to participate in this endeavor.
Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for an end to the violence that has claimed so many of their loved ones. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bone Lands, a country where magic is outlawed and the Elementae--those that can control earth, air, fire and water--are traitors, subject to torture . . . or worse.
Before she is even crowned, Shalia discovers that she can bend the earth to her will. Trapped between her husband's irrational hatred of the Elementae and a dangerous rebellion led by her own brother, Shalia must harness her power and make an impossible choice: save her family, save the Elementae, or save herself. – Amazon.com
Welcome to the new year and with a new year comes a new book review! My first book review of 2018 will be this book which for the most part I absolutely loved. I thought this book was a very high action book and also a very emotionally taxing book. The book did very well with character development (for the most part) and the plot and pacing kept the book interesting and moving well. I also want to appluad the book for showing a realistic view of what an abusive relationship looks like. I studied this area and I volunteered at a rape crisis center and I can tell you that there is a cycle of violence with abuse. Relationships will start off great and then slowly there will be little things that will annoy one of the partners. Eventually there is a break in which violence will occur. Afterwards, the offending partner will make amends with the victim and the victim will more than likely take them back. Then the cycle starts again. This is why it is so hard for abuse victims to leave their situations, because there is a honeymoon period in which things are amazing and great and the offending partner sometimes goes above and beyond in giving the victim what they truly desire, but it’s all a psychological game. If you condition a person to live in a certain element, they will do it. And that’s what an abuser does, they condition their victims to live in a certain way and to accept less than what they deserve. This is what this book does really well in my opinion. It will really show young girls what an abusive realtionship looks like and give you a character that while is strong can still fall into this cycle of violence.
However, I did feel like this book had a very awkward beginning and ending. The mechanics of the magic and the world are not very well established in the beginning which makes for a trying read. The whole of the magic really isn’t explained until towards the end and even then I’m still left confused by the book. I also had issues with the ending as it just kind of ended. It’s hard to explain, but it didn’t feel like a natural ending. I also though there were some character development issues, especially with the main’s family, and there were some plot issues in the book that will hopefully be resolved in the next one.
Verdict: This is an amazingly powerful and moving read and I greatly enjoyed the book. I felt like it could have been a bit more polished in places, but overall I enjoyed the world presented in this book. If you’re looking for a good 2018 release, this one comes out on 1/30! Go check it out!
Recommended Age: 16+ (sexual violence and rape, infant/child/fetus death, abuse)
Pages: 448
Author: A.C. Gaughen
Amazon
I received a free copy of this arc in exchange for promotion and review from Bloomsbury Children’s Publishing. Thank you so much for allowing me to participate in this endeavor.
Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for an end to the violence that has claimed so many of their loved ones. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bone Lands, a country where magic is outlawed and the Elementae--those that can control earth, air, fire and water--are traitors, subject to torture . . . or worse.
Before she is even crowned, Shalia discovers that she can bend the earth to her will. Trapped between her husband's irrational hatred of the Elementae and a dangerous rebellion led by her own brother, Shalia must harness her power and make an impossible choice: save her family, save the Elementae, or save herself. – Amazon.com
Welcome to the new year and with a new year comes a new book review! My first book review of 2018 will be this book which for the most part I absolutely loved. I thought this book was a very high action book and also a very emotionally taxing book. The book did very well with character development (for the most part) and the plot and pacing kept the book interesting and moving well. I also want to appluad the book for showing a realistic view of what an abusive relationship looks like. I studied this area and I volunteered at a rape crisis center and I can tell you that there is a cycle of violence with abuse. Relationships will start off great and then slowly there will be little things that will annoy one of the partners. Eventually there is a break in which violence will occur. Afterwards, the offending partner will make amends with the victim and the victim will more than likely take them back. Then the cycle starts again. This is why it is so hard for abuse victims to leave their situations, because there is a honeymoon period in which things are amazing and great and the offending partner sometimes goes above and beyond in giving the victim what they truly desire, but it’s all a psychological game. If you condition a person to live in a certain element, they will do it. And that’s what an abuser does, they condition their victims to live in a certain way and to accept less than what they deserve. This is what this book does really well in my opinion. It will really show young girls what an abusive realtionship looks like and give you a character that while is strong can still fall into this cycle of violence.
However, I did feel like this book had a very awkward beginning and ending. The mechanics of the magic and the world are not very well established in the beginning which makes for a trying read. The whole of the magic really isn’t explained until towards the end and even then I’m still left confused by the book. I also had issues with the ending as it just kind of ended. It’s hard to explain, but it didn’t feel like a natural ending. I also though there were some character development issues, especially with the main’s family, and there were some plot issues in the book that will hopefully be resolved in the next one.
Verdict: This is an amazingly powerful and moving read and I greatly enjoyed the book. I felt like it could have been a bit more polished in places, but overall I enjoyed the world presented in this book. If you’re looking for a good 2018 release, this one comes out on 1/30! Go check it out!