Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)
by: A.C. Gaughen
Rating: 2/5 stars
GoodReads Review
But she soon learns that her husband, Calix, is motivated only by his desire to exterminate the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. Even more unsettling are Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother, which unleash a power over the earth she never knew she possessed—a power that could get her killed. As rumors of a rebellion against Calix spread, Shalia must choose between the last chance for peace and her own future as an Elementae.
This intense, richly drawn high-fantasy by the author of Scarletwill hold readers spellbound.
First of all I want to give a HUGE thanks to Net galley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books for giving me an advanced copy of this book! (This does not influence my opinion of the book at all and all my opinions and thoughts are entirely my own)
Overall thoughts:
Sooo..... if I’m being completly and totally honest this book didn’t really impress me all that much. I just found it lacking in certain areas and the characters just didn’t really do it for me?!?
Dont get me wrong- it was a fabulous concept and I absolutely loved the idea of elemental magic and it being dangerous and forbidden all all that jazz however I just felt that the transition from scene to scene was a bit choppy and it didn’t make me feel anything!
This again could totally be a personal thing since we all have different emotions and connect to different books, unfortunately I wasn’t able to connect with this story or the characters so that was really why I ended up giving it only 2 stars.
Specific thoughts:
I was instantly intrigued by the idea of an arranged marriage (especially to a man who is so against magic) but Calix (the man whom Shalia marries) ended up being rather cruel and he just annoyed me all the time! Every scene they mentioned Calix I had to try and hold in a huge sigh of frustration at the extreme annoyance he made me feel!!
“But as I shuddered against the cold, I sent a dark wish out over the sea that I would never grow to love my husband.”
And then there was the whole thing with Calix’s brother (who I liked but thought lacked character depth) he was clearly the better choice and you couldn’t deny the chemistry between him and Shalia but I just felt their romance wasn’t going anywhere (at least not anywhere soon).
“But now I knew the terrible price of the crown on my head, and I couldn’t forget that. And if I did, I feared it would mean sacrificing my humanity.”
This surprised me because I usually love slow burning romances and this one just left me disappointed!! Unfortunately I only got about 40% through this book before I lost interest and couldn’t continue it. Bottom line this books plot just wasn’t developed as much as I had hoped and while the characters held promise they ended up lacking depth. Overall a solid 2 star read!
Lets Chat!
(AKA give me the low down on all your bookish thoughts!)
What about you guys? Have you read this book? If so what are your thoughts? Did you love it? Hate it maybe? If you haven’t had the chance to read it add it to your TBR and let me know what you think!
-BubblyBooks
I've seen a few mixed reviews for this one! I'm sorry it didn't work for you, but there's always the next book! Disappointing romances are always a bummer.
ReplyDeleteHey! If you DNF a book, you should check out my DNF&Y feature on my blog! It's something I've started recently, so those books have a place to go.
Do You Dog-ear?
Thank you! It’s always hard when a book you were hoping to be good ends up disappointing you :( and I will definitely check out your DNF feature! I just recently started to DNF books (to be honest I hate to give up on books but sometimes you just have to you know?) Thanks for stopping by :)
DeleteI'm so sorry you didn't like this, Jamie. I read the Scarlet series by this author, and I love her writing style so much. I think I'll be able to get into this better than you did, since I loved her other books? Awesome review, though! <3
ReplyDelete- Aimee @ Aimee, Always
Thank you! I hope you love this book! I unfortunately couldn’t get into it but hopefully you’ll have better luck with it! I’ve never read her other series... maybe I should give them a go?
DeleteI ended up taking this book of my TBR after seeing so many mixed or poor reviews for it. Disappointing too since the premise sounds so good, but I think I'd have the same issues you did. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteYes It sounded SO good when I read the summary I only wish I could say the book ended up meeting my expectations.... Thanks for stopping by :)
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