Furyborn by Claire Legrand was a book that I wanted to love, but it ultimately fell short of my expectations. I had checked it out from the library along with another young adult fiction novel, and of the two, I thought that this one seemed much more original and that I would enjoy it much more. As I said, this was not the case; the book sounds wonderfully interesting but its content is confusing and mundane at times.

                The story is split into chapters that are told in the viewpoints of its two protagonists. The first is Rielle, a rebellious and fierce woman who is subjected to seven trials after she reveals that she can perform all seven types of elemental magic. She undergoes these trials to prove that she is the Sun Queen; the only people who can possess this power are the Sun Queen and the Blood Queen, who were only alive in prophecy, until now. The second protagonist is the assassin and bounty hunter Eliana, whose story takes place a thousand years later. In her world, the Undying Empire seized power, and she serves them to keep her family safe. Her mother vanishes, along with many other women in the city, and she goes on a mission to find out what happened to them and save them all.

                One of the major problems I felt that this book suffered from was how both protagonists were presented to the reader. Rielle was clearly addicted to her growing power and resonated strongly with the more evil side of her personality. It became extremely obvious that she was meant to be the antagonist of the story. If this characterization had been much more subtle, I feel that it would have been a great way to build up for a reveal of Rielle’s true evil identity at the end of the book. That being said, the reader already knows that Rielle is the blood queen, and the way she is characterized ends up making her an unlikable and flat character that is hard to enjoy reading about. Conversely, Eliana is supposed to be an elite deadly assassin, but she is portrayed as a scared and reckless character more often than not. I felt that the good nature in her was amplified to the extreme, and it made the reveal of her as the sun queen unsurprising. As I progressed through the book, I found myself wishing that the author did not constantly reinforce these aspects of each characters’ personalities, so that the reveal was more of a surprise.

                Also, I thought the plot itself has a major problem; the vast time difference between Rielle and Eliana is unnecessary and awkward. It does nothing for the book other than making it more confusing for the reader. The time difference is a central part of the plot, but it isn’t explained or made significant at all during this story. The story could have been told without the time difference, and I think its presence in the story just unnecessarily complicates things.

                I would ultimately not recommend this book to other readers. I typically read entire series, even when I feel they are not particularly excellent, because I enjoy the closure and knowing the full story. However, this is a series that I don’t think I will return to when more volumes come out. Furyborn did not have a lot of original ideas and it wasn’t particularly challenging to read in terms of vocabulary or topics, but it was confusing to understand the world and society of the story. It’s a very basic young adult fiction novel, and I feel that there are much better options available to those looking for a good book to enjoy.

Checkout Furyborn at the Newport Beach Public Library.