Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Furyborn

Furyborn follows Rielle and Eliana, two powerful women living 1,000 years apart as they find themselves facing the same enemy and facing the same prophecy.

The prophecy foretold the fall of the Gate, behind which Rielle and Eliana’s ancestors locked away the Angels.

“You will know this time by the rise of two human Queens-one of blood, and one of light. One with the power to save the world. One with the power to destroy it.“

Right off the bat, Furyborn’s prologue is a work of art. Just those few pages filled me with enough intrigue that I would’ve suffered if need be, through the next 400 pages just to find the answers to my many, many questions.

Luckily, Furyborn is not a book that needs to be suffered through.

The intricacies of both the worldbuilding and the intertwining plots, along with the cast of lovable–and some hateable– characters, kept my face buried in this book until the end.

–

Rielle - While I really enjoy Rielle’s character and the growth she undergoes throughout the novel, I feel as if the majority of her story is yet to be told still.

Eliana - Eliana is an incredibly frustrating character, and I spent most of the book wanting to scream for her to forgo her trust issues. Despite this, however, I love Eliana. She is spunky, badass, and not afraid of a fight.

Audric - While Audric is very likable, I don’t find him any more unique than most male love interests. He is very capable, strong, and kind, but also a tad too cookie-cutter for me.

Ludivine - I’m not sure there’s been a more kind-hearted, genuine being to ever live. Ludivine made me smile every time she appeared on the page and her loyalty to both Rielle and Audric just melts my heart.

Remy - Remy is Eliana’s moral compass. Whether she listens to him or not, he stands his ground and is usually right.

Simon - I honestly don’t know what to think of Simon. I loved him more and more throughout the story but wasn’t able to get a good read on him beyond him being good and lovable.

Navi - The MVP in my humble opinion. Navi encompasses the idea of Found Family (more on that later) and is there for Eliana exactly when she needs it. Similar to Ludivine, I couldn’t get enough of her on the page.

Honorable Mentions

Zahra - A late addition to this cast of characters, but mentionable nonetheless. I’m hoping we learn more of Zahra’s story in the coming books.

Evyline - She isn’t a main character, but I love the friendship she and Rielle are beginning to develop.

–

Found Family

This book is 10/10 when it comes to Found Family. Rielle's actual family is just her father, but she's built her life with Ludivine and Audric at the center of it and is slowly adding Evyline.

Eliana has her mother, Remy, and Harkan, and is now slowly letting Navi and Simon in.

Seeing this type of trusting and loyal relationship warms my heart every time I see it on a page. Found Family is one of my favorite things (is this a trope?) to see in books, and Legrand did not disappoint in Furyborn.

Inclusivity

Legrand does an amazing job of being inclusive in a natural way. Nothing seems forced or like it was added in an effort to be labeled diverse.

Patrik and Hob were mentioned to be married but were then developed as individual characters instead of as an LGBTQ couple.

Eliana is either bisexual or pansexual, which was sprinkled in here and there throughout the story so far. She and Harkan also seem to have an open relationship instead of a monogamous one, which is something I haven't seen often (or at all now that I think about it).

I feel as if inclusion like this is either the main topic of a book, or an author throws it in very obviously as an attempt to be inclusive without actually knowing how to write the characters/relationship.

It was very refreshing to see these relationships mentioned, but not forced (as it should be).

Sex positivity

I’ve seen people go both ways on this topic in the case of Furyborn, so this may be a little controversial, but I still think it is important to mention.

In my opinion, Furyborn is incredibly sex-positive both generally and in the way Legrand addresses women's sexuality.

When Rielle and Audric were caught together, there was no mention of her "virtue" or blame placed for any reason other than Audric's betrothal to Ludivine.

Rielle is immediately provided contraceptive tonic by Ludivine, again without any recourse beyond the possible rumors about the affair.

Eliana would sleep with contacts to get jobs and information, and Navi entered the Maidensfold as a spy to smuggle information back to her home country.

Sex is not viewed as something holy or sacred like it often is both in stories and in real life, but merely as a means to an end or a source of pleasure. The lack of focus on it is refreshing.

Worldbuilding

My favorite aspect of reading a book is the worldbuilding, and Claire Legrand did not disappoint in Furyborn.

Most books have a lot of worldbuilding up front, and then it tapers off throughout the book as we become more familiar with the world.

In Furyborn, however, I felt as if the worldbuilding mounted as the story went on. I believe that this was in part because Rielle herself was a part of the world that was being built in Eliana’s story.

Not too much about Rielle could be revealed at once, as there were things that readers still needed to find out about her themselves, instead of through the history known during Eliana’s time.

–

Overall, Furyborn was a rollercoaster of emotions that I would be more than happy to ride again. Everything from the characters to the world-building to the ever-racing plot was exquisite.

Content Warnings

modernathos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I have to be honest, I almost DNF'd this book multiple times purely because it started out as such a drag. It's a five-hundred-pages-long brick of a book and should have been about three hundred pages shorter, because that's how long it took for the plot to finally pick up properly. I do have to be honest and say that, once the plot did pick up, I was hooked until the end. But on to the actual book now.

I quite liked Eliana as a character. The writing of her perspective at the start of the book showed how indoctrinated into her society she is really well and it was fascinating to read how she justifies some of the things she does, as unacceptable as they may be. It was also a good writer's choice to not have her morality make a 180 when she is literally face to face with the consequences of her actions. However, that is about where the logical character development ended for me. Legrand set up some beautiful storylines and relationships - Navi and Remy's friendship, Eliana and The Wolf's eventual friendship - but those were either thrown away or rushed. Additionally, Eliana's deal with The Wolf felt weird and forced. For someone who was willing to go to horrific lengths and had such faith in her repuation and importance to her society, she was very quick to turn her back on that same society and make a deal with a man who she had absolutely zero reason to trust. To summerize, a lot of the character development in this book felt forced and weird, especially on Eliana's side.

cw/tw: talk of NSFW and non-consent
Every moment that the characters were engaged in sexual activities or anything adjacent to it was, in my opinion, either too graphic or completely unnecessary. I mostly don't have any problem with sex, but it was mostly unnecessary to the plot and a bit too graphic for a book that classifies as Young Adult (12 - 18). Legrand should have especially been more careful with the way she describes certain sections that were either explicitly or assumably non-consensual but were described as fine. Again, Furyborn classifies itself as Young Adult, which means it is aimed primarily at minors, most of which will be just starting to explore their sexuality and comfort/discomfort and so might think that certain sections in the book are okay while they are not. This is just plain dangerous.

Also, except for one, maybe two times, the sex didn't add anything to the plot or characters except to show that 90% percent of the characters are predators, so in YA book it would have been better to just leave those sections out.

Finally,

Rielle and Audric having a relationship in which Audric is so loyal to her and risking everything while he is betrothed to Ludivine, while Rielle is horny for Corien is really fucked up

. In conclusion, the sexual parts of this book generally made me quite uncomfortable.
end of content/trigger warning

Will I read the rest of the series? Yes, I will, because the worldbuilding and main plot is generally quite good, if fairly poorly executed, and Legrand have a pleasant and enjoyable writing style. I really hope the 1100 pages the next to books take up combined will be worth it.

Rep: gay characters (MLM).
February 7th, 2023 - March 9th, 2023.

"Have you always been this unspeakably irritating?"
"Has your face always looked so temptingly carvable?"

"Belief doesn't keep you alive."
"But, given time, it can win wars."

"I have heard rumors of what is done to them, these missing girls, and I hope my daughter is safely dead."

Content Warnings

eve_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ I usually don't enjoy dual point of views, but Legrand does it so well. The chapters are relatively short and almost every single one ends on a cliff hanger, so I was completely hooked from start to finish. I truly don't think there was one moment I was bored.

⁕ There is zero info dumping in this book, but it did take me almost 300 pages to get a firm grasp on the important historical and religious context of the world. I really hope the next 2 books in the series further grows upon this knowledge.

⁕ Legrand starts each chapter entry with a journal/text/letter excerpt that is dated with months from the Gregorian calendar. I really wish she had devised her own system for time/date keeping because this was a really small and easy detail that detracted from the world-building.

⁕ SPOILER: The magical kingdom(s) that this story take place in exists largely outside of heteronormative, patriarchal society. LGBTQ+ and women characters are in positions of power without being questioned or explained as "outside of the norm." WHY THEN does Legrand make a point to highlight that the "crawlers" (Frankenstein monsters born from the experiments of the Empire) are made of mutilated women and girls that were stolen?! Without any further exploration or discussion?! I'm still trying to find the words as to why this made me feel so icky but it did.

⁕ To whoever labeled this book as a YA on Goodreads and Storygraph: Why?!?! There are brutal beheadings of children, assault, body horror/experimentation, and at least one sex scene. I'm not complaining (especially since the author expertly used these moments to explore themes of morality, loyalty, and survival), but I think a lot of audiences looking for mature reads might accidentally pass this one over because of false advertising.

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads

Content Warnings

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Content Warnings

charliethebooklover's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

SPOILERS

This book had many flaws, from the chicheneness, to the lack of representation. This review mught be a it all over the place, so strap in!
First off, the characters where a but cliche. I didn't find much that really drew me to them. We have our haunted main heroines with dark pasts. The romances were all so boring and overdone. Now don't get me wrong. I like romance, love it even. I like enemies to lovers, soft and hardcore trope, etc. But only if it's done well, and this book just made it feel rushed and unessecary. But there was one exception. Ludavine. Oh my god, how I loved her. Her sassyness, and her hilarious over dramintic self-centerness, but still is caring an loyal. And ten she dies. And then, SUPRISE she's an angel, and she turns into a completly new character with a new personality, and comes back to life. She did a full one eighty, and turned into another boring cliche. Then on Eliana's end, we meet Navi. And while she's also just a trope, I enjoyed her character, and her friendship with Eliana. Overall, all these women feel like lesbians. But they're not becuase there's next to no representation. Eliana is implied to be bisexual, and harkan is a person of color, but then harken alledgelly dies, and the bisexuality is mentioned once in passing. But desppite all of that I still liked it? It was a fun read, despite all the obvious plot twists and boring characters. I want to keep reading, and I most likley will continue the series. If you want to read this book, please check the content warnings first, and stay safe. Mental health comes first!

Content Warnings

thecourtofreading's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

"we live in a world where good kings die and those foolish enough to hope for something better are killed where they stand."

i quite literally could NOT put this book down, and i love when this happens, because this book was good. i'll admit, the prologue made me want to dnf it a little, but i was intrigued enough to keep going and honestly i'm so glad i did because this book delivered.

at first, i thought it was going to be some wacky time travel thing and i was thinking how the heck that was going to work, but it wasn't and i was pleasantly surprised with the turn this took and what happened. it's split into dual povs, and usually this annoys me because there's always one pov where it's like "oh great it's this person again", but honestly each storyline kept me gripped and i don't even think there was a dual chapter. the pacing was amazing.

i would definitely continue this series, however my tbr (and wallet) are YELLING at me to not buy anymore books, so i'll listen until i've read a few more and then i'll splurge out on the two sequels.

Content Warnings

angstifies's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i really loved the world building and the magic in this book and everything surrounding Rielle’s story. i kinda disliked Eliana at times especially when she was randomly rude to people who absolutely did nothing to deserve that and i did not care for any of the couples.

Content Warnings

taelights's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Honestly I really enjoyed this one and will definitely be continuing with the series. It took me awhile to get into the book because the beginning was a bit slow and then the animal death scene towards the beginning was very graphic and difficult for me to listen to. But once the paced picked up and I made sense of some things that had confused me at first I was very hooked.

I am not overly attached to either of the main girls to be honest but their stories still managed to intrigue me. While the romances did provide me some sexy inspiring quotes I could care less about them. The only one I'd care to see more of is Rielle and Corien but that's mostly because Corien is interesting to me and I want to see how his story plays out.

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