When the elf princess, Atalanta, is snatched from her palace and a vampire crashes a ball at the castle, all of Arcamira is on high alert. To uphold their alliance with the elves and to satisfy their desire for adventure, four young royals set out with a search party to find Atalanta. The small band of warriors quickly find themselves facing down a monster, unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The vampires and werewolves they believed extinct are rising up under the banner of Tyrannus, a hybrid of two fearsome species forming an army to rid Arcamira of humans and elves… An act of war. A hybrid king. Adventure awaits, and Arcamira hangs in the balance.

Out March 2020

496 Pages

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

Before anything further is said… can we just look at this beautiful cover? Holy smokes! What a beautiful piece of artwork by Design Deluxe with aid from Adobe Stock. Secondly, I just want to note that this book won Best Fantasy Series in the 2017 Channillo Awards.

This book takes its time developing the fantastical side of the story with the introduction of many magical creatures, world-building, mystical characters, adventure, a difficult quest and human characters to keep the readers feet grounded. This is a fantasy book more appropriate for an older teen group rather than middle-grade or adult. There are some scenes that are a bit gory and violent that may not be suitable for younger teens; and, the dialogue is simple and may appear stilted to adults.

Lots of battle scenes and a true Narnia vibe. Plenty of magic and elves, and even a vampire/werewolf (sound familiar) hybrid. There are moments in the book that are slower than others but there’s a tasking quest underway that doesn’t happen overnight. Romance is present, but it’s not prominent for obvious reasons. It’s actually laid out/plotted well and carefully organized so that you don’t get lost. Colorful creatures, dark, eerie moments, ew moments and more…

I gave it: