Blog Tour: Wings of Arian by Devri Walls {Review+Giveaway}
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Today is my stop on the Wings of Arian blog tour hosted by Consuming Worlds.
Today I am happy to share my review, as well as a giveaway with you all.
Wings of Arian (Solus #1)by: Devri Walls
Publication Date: Apr. 24, 2012
Publisher: Stonehouse Ink
Genre: Fantasy
Age Group: Young Adult
Source: e-copy provided by Consuming Worlds for the blog tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 462 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 3/5 stars
Kiora thought she had never heard a lie until she was sixteen. But she was wrong. Her entire existence was based on nothing but. She thought that evil did not exist. Lie. That magic was not real. Lie. And that the land of Meros was all there was. One more lie.
With Aleric telling her that evil is knocking on the door and that she is the only one who can stop them she has a choice to make. Refuse, or start the wildest most painful ride of her life.
She reluctantly dips her toe into her new existence of magic and threads, dragons and shapeshifters, and the person who wants to take control of it all: the evil Dralazar.
However, this journey was never meant to be hers alone. She will be accompanied by a Protector. To her disbelief, and utter irritation they name the hotheaded, stubborn, non -magical, (albeit gorgeous) Prince Emane. They will have to trust each other with their lives, but right now Kiora would settle for a non hostile conversation.
And now it comes down to this, If you had never heard a lie, would you know when you heard one? Is knowing good from evil innate? Kiora finds herself having to decide who lives and who dies on those very questions.
With Aleric telling her that evil is knocking on the door and that she is the only one who can stop them she has a choice to make. Refuse, or start the wildest most painful ride of her life.
She reluctantly dips her toe into her new existence of magic and threads, dragons and shapeshifters, and the person who wants to take control of it all: the evil Dralazar.
However, this journey was never meant to be hers alone. She will be accompanied by a Protector. To her disbelief, and utter irritation they name the hotheaded, stubborn, non -magical, (albeit gorgeous) Prince Emane. They will have to trust each other with their lives, but right now Kiora would settle for a non hostile conversation.
And now it comes down to this, If you had never heard a lie, would you know when you heard one? Is knowing good from evil innate? Kiora finds herself having to decide who lives and who dies on those very questions.
Fantasy is always such a tricky genre as there are so many elements needed to make it work. Good world building, strong characterization and development, as well as an engaging storyline are what make a good fantasy in my opinion. I felt Wings of Arian did a commendable job at striving to integrate the above elements in the novel. I did feel it was a bit on the longer side and I found myself distracted at times, as I was ready for the plot to move forward a bit faster than it did.
I like Kiora's character for the most part. She is sweet and good and has the fate of the world on her shoulders. She is the Solus, the one who can defeat the power-hungry Dralazar. However, she will not be able to do it on her own. She will need the strength of a Protector to assist her and balance her weaknesses. Kiora's Protector comes in the form of Prince Emane, who is quite stubborn. The two do not get along in the beginning, but once they realize the dire nature of their situation they must put their own issues aside and work together. I do appreciate that Walls did not give us a situation of insta-love with these two. Instead, Emane and Kiora must learn to tolerate one another first, and then we see them develop a friendship and respect for each other, and eventually a romance. I liked Kiora's empathy, but I felt it could be a hindrance to her task at hand. She is fighting a war whether she likes it or not and unfortunately war means casualties. As our heroine, I did feel she was a bit excessive in her crying though. I am glad we got to see her toughen up as the book grew on, and I think she is finally starting to realize what all is at stake and what needs to happen to persevere.
I felt a bit overwhelmed reading this one as there is so much to learn. I didn't feel like it was info-dumping, however. Kiora and Emane both have a lot to learn about their new roles, as well as the history of Dralazar and I felt like I was right there alongside them processing this information.
We have some great side characters in this novel. Arturo and Morcant were by far my favorites and we even have some twists and turns concerning other characters I did not see coming! I like that Kiora had so many allies that were willing to train her and aide her in the battle for good versus evil. For so long she has felt alone and alienated because of her gift of vision and my heart really ached for her at how her own flesh and blood treated her. Of all the people that end up supporting her, I think she was most surprised by Emane and how he really stepped into his role of Protector. He's actually a good guy, but being heir to the throne he has so many responsibilities that his life does not feel as his own. He is shocked when Kiora asks him what he wants as he's never been asked that before.
I am curious as to what will happen next for Emane, Kiora, and crew, especially after new revelations have been brought to light.
Devri Walls lives in Kuna ID with her husband, two kids and one very bouncy lab. After suffering from an abundance of creativity with not enough places to put it, she turned to writing. Which in the end, turned out to be exactly where she should have been putting it all along.
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8 comments
Fantasy can be very hit or miss, especially when there is a lot to learn about the world.... but it sounds like you enjoyed overall... I'll have to check it out. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI love Morcant he is one of my favorite characters. And I too love how Devri Walls doesn't give us that insta-love, great review!
ReplyDeleteI hope you read the rest of the series, because this series just get's better as the books go on. :)
This sounds pretty good! I have so many Fantasy series to start, TOG, Girl of Fire and Thorns etc that there's no room for another right now but will defo keep an eye out for it especially if you read the others!
ReplyDeleteI love Arturo and Morcant as well, we always need more dragons and pegasus in YA. :P I'm glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteThis is not my go-to genre, and I agree with you -- it can be tricky. I'm trying to be more open, though; and I do like the sound of this one aside from the information dump. The cover is so lovely, and you have me intrigued with the main and secondary characters! Thank you for the lovely and honest review xo
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's been almost two years since I read this. I'm not much of a fantasy reader, but I did like it, especially the dragon!
ReplyDeleteNice review, Jessica!
Thanks for the review :) I'm looking forward to reading this book. It looks like it could be a good series.
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentines Day,
Lori
I'm with Teresa, fantasy are a hit or miss with me. But this one did sound enjoyable and the idea of it interesting. Glad you enjoyed nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteGreat review!!
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