About the Book
-
Author:
- Kendare Blake
Cover Story: Sword and Sorcery
BFF Charm: Oda Mae Brown
Talky Talk: Rinse and Repeat
Bonus Factors: Loyal Pets, Tami Taylor Award
Factor: War
Anti-Bonus Factors: Necromancy, Body Shaming
Cover Story: Sword and Sorcery
The sword, the flames and the reflection of a fierce-looking eye are a pretty fair representation of this book. I would have liked to see the horse and armor the author so lovingly describes, but to be fair, so many fantasy book covers look like that (hello, Alanna) that it’s no wonder the designers went with something different.
The Deal:
When raiders destroy a village, leaving a little girl named Reed as the only human survivor, a pair of warrior women rescue her and offer her a place in their order. They are Aristene, immortal followers of a goddess called Kleia Gloria, who train heroes to achieve glory. Reed is determined to earn her place by leading her assigned hero to win a war against a blasphemous king. But is she prepared for what that victory will cost?
BFF Charm: Oda Mae Brown
Reed’s world is violent from the first chapter, which made me want to protect her, even though she would never admit to needing protection. Since losing her home to the raiders, she almost never feels safe. The Aristene order, her so-called home, is a fiercely competitive place where the line between training and abuse can be blurred, and whose leaders have a hidden agenda. Her closest ally is her horse, and even the horse bites her. Someone needs to get this girl some help.
Swoonworthy Scale: 4
Reed’s love interest is Prince Hestion, the hero chosen by the goddess for her to train. It may be instalove at first – she sees him in a vision when they’re children, and he starts flirting with her the moment they meet – but they do back it up with several months getting to know each other as comrades-in-arms during a grueling war. Hestion is the archetypal hero: handsome, charismatic, fighting to protect his loved ones despite his dislike of violence. While this made him rather familiar at times, I did appreciate the way he challenges Reed’s loyalty to the order and encourages her to make her own choices.
Talky Talk: Rinse and Repeat
Maybe because it’s an ARC, the writing repeats itself. We are told at least four times that one of the Aristene elders has multicolored hair, and that Reed finds this strange. The same scenes of Reed’s first visit to the Aristene city are shown more than once, first briefly, then in detail.
Bonus Factor: Loyal Pets
Reed’s snappish horse Silco (short for “Silver and Combat”) is a fellow survivor of the raider attack that killed her family, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. When one of them gets angry, the other is the only one who can calm them down.
Bonus Factor: Tami Taylor Award
Reed’s adoptive mothers, Aster and Veridian, show her unconditional love when everyone else is pressuring her to succeed. They refuse to let politics or religion divide their family. Veridian is an apostate who left the order, while Aster stayed, but the three of them respect each other’s beliefs and will always help each other, no matter what the elders say.
Factor: War
At the start of the book, Reed dreams of leading heroes to glory, but she doesn’t understand yet what that means. Learning about the realities of war, having to make choices that are not at all glorious, and understanding why Veridian lost her faith, are harsh but important lessons for her to learn.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Necromancy
I can’t go into detail because of spoilers, but there are some scenes involving a dead body and a clacking skull I wish I’d never read.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Body Shaming
For once, I’d like to read a YA novel about a girl who doesn’t agonize over her body type. Reed’s fellow initiate Lyonene nicknames her “Ox” for being tall and strong, even though Reed repeatedly asks her to stop. Reed envies Lyonene for being smaller and thinner, even though you’d think an order of Amazons would resist that way of thinking. Relatable? Sadly, yes, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying.
Relationship Status: Initiate
I was hoping for a story that would inspire me, but this one didn’t quite pass my trial. Maybe the sequel will.
Literary Matchmaking
Leigh Bardugo’s Wonder Woman: Warbringer is another story about a society of warrior women.
Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown is another fantasy novel about a horse and his girl.
And Tamora Pierce’s In the Hand of the Goddess is another story in which a goddess guides a young woman through her first experience of war.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review. Champion of Fate is available now.
