Illborn was a book that I went into with high expectations after hearing a lot of praise, and it lived up to my expectations. Four young adults are born within a few weeks of each other and are connected by a strange dream they all share and burgeoning forbidden powers. Corin is part of a clan in the North and ends up in trouble after a raid on a neighboring village. Allana is the daughter of a courtesan who must disappear after an unfortunate accident. Arion is supposed to fulfill his duty as the third son and become a priest, but longs to become a knight. Leanna has an experience that makes her consider the priesthood instead of her upcoming marriage. Throughout the book you follow these four characters as they learn more about themselves and their powers and the world around them.

I really loved the worldbuilding in this book. The world of Illborn is reminiscent of Medieval Europe during the crusades and the inquision. In fact in many ways Illborn almost doesn't read like fantasy for quite awhile, or perhaps as historical fantasy or alternate history. However the events and the religion are not quite what you think. For me this really upped the stakes because it felt familiar but foreign enough that I didn't know what would happen. The world felt very detailed and I really loved the prominent theme of interweaving religion, politics, and war. The ending was satisfying and pretty epic, but at the same time I was left with lots of questions and I'm very interested to see where we go in the next book.

Pacing wise, I never felt myself dragging despite the book's length, because I loved each of our characters. However, I do feel like the book lacks an arc that can be easily identified. It feels like there's no central plot or arc. Each character has a really detailed and vivid arc that is well realized and well paced for the most part, but if you asked me what the book is about overall, all I would be able to say is that you follow these four characters. There is plot going on as the world starts to come together and characters run into other people, but more in the sense of a nation's trajectory over history than a typical book arc like the classic quest. It almost feels more like a middle book because it's obviously setting a lot of up for future books. This never really bothered me because the characters and world were so interesting, and it even made the stakes a little higher I think. However, if you are a heavily plot-driven reader, this book might be a challenge for you.

Overall I highly recommend Illborn. I'm very excited for the next one to come out and look forward to finding out more.