Seventeen year old heiress Averie Winston has traveled far from her civilized Aberelle to the exotic Chiarrin. Averie is eager to be reunited with her father, the general, and her handsome fiance Morgan. Both men are part of the Aberelle army who have invaded and occuppied Chiarrin for it’s stategic location. Averie openly embraces the new land, eager to explore and make new friends--which a lot of people find shocking. However, all is not as it seems and the people of Chiarrin are at unrest, and rebels begin to attack their own city. In this exotic land, living a very different life than the one she lead in Port Elise, Averie forms new opinions and begins to voice them. It's not until they're voiced that Averie realizes that as she's changing and adapting, many others, specifically Morgan, are not as fond of her new opinions, as they go against the very thing they support. As more conflicts arise, Averie realizes she doesn’t love her fiance, but instead is in love with the mysterious Lieutenant Ke Du’Kai who comes from Xantai, another one of Aberelle’s oppressed colonies. Averie must grow up fast in the face of war and forbidden love.
What touches me in this novel is that Averie's father--who she feels most distant to in the beginning of the book--understands her views, and even agrees with her, when others don't. I thought I had this book pegged from the beginning-- just a book about a make believe place, with make believe troubles, with a strong heroine who falls for the guy she's not supposed to. It is all those things, but it's much more than that. The author some how found a way to twist deep meanings into a small set of world that left you pondering over them. The characters are so diverse, and I found myself wanting to know more about them. Even Morgan, who you knew from the beginning wasn't going to be the one Averie ended up with, I found myself loving--even when I was desperate to be rid of him so Averie could be with Ket! I do wish Ket had gotten more page time, as he kind of reached his peak in the beginning of the novel, before coming in again towards the end of the story. There is an unexpected twist--at least, it was unexpected to me--within the last forty pages or so which left me staring at the pages going "NO WAY!" as I greedily flipped through them. A lot happened in those last pages, which most of the time makes me angry with authors, as if they'd rushed to include everything, and thus the book felt rushed. This ending didn't feel rushed. There was a relatively opened ending, but it was done in a way I enjoyed, and since I'm a pretty picky reader, that's saying a lot.
What touches me in this novel is that Averie's father--who she feels most distant to in the beginning of the book--understands her views, and even agrees with her, when others don't. I thought I had this book pegged from the beginning-- just a book about a make believe place, with make believe troubles, with a strong heroine who falls for the guy she's not supposed to. It is all those things, but it's much more than that. The author some how found a way to twist deep meanings into a small set of world that left you pondering over them. The characters are so diverse, and I found myself wanting to know more about them. Even Morgan, who you knew from the beginning wasn't going to be the one Averie ended up with, I found myself loving--even when I was desperate to be rid of him so Averie could be with Ket! I do wish Ket had gotten more page time, as he kind of reached his peak in the beginning of the novel, before coming in again towards the end of the story. There is an unexpected twist--at least, it was unexpected to me--within the last forty pages or so which left me staring at the pages going "NO WAY!" as I greedily flipped through them. A lot happened in those last pages, which most of the time makes me angry with authors, as if they'd rushed to include everything, and thus the book felt rushed. This ending didn't feel rushed. There was a relatively opened ending, but it was done in a way I enjoyed, and since I'm a pretty picky reader, that's saying a lot.
This novel is definitely under the "romance" category, though at times it feels more like a historical fiction--until you remember none of the places mentioned actually exist. Averie is stubborn, exuberant, open and thus the perfect protagonist. It takes a bit to get into the world, but once you're in, it's hard to leave. So go to you're nearest bookstore or library...and check this one out.
-Tina-
No comments:
Post a Comment