4,5 stars.
Air Awakens kept popping up in my recommendations at Goodreads, and although I had initially DNF’ed my Kindle-sample, the growing hype caught my interest, and I ended up enjoying the story immensely.
Our protagonist, 17-year-old Vhalla Yarl, is an apprentice at the imperial library. The story takes its beginning with Vhalla being summoned late one night, in order to scour the library for information on certain magic and poisons along with her fellow apprentices. One of the princes has been severely wounded in combat, and Vhalla, believing that the prince in question is Baldair, whom she has a small crush on, gives everything she has in order to help save him.
It turns out, however, that the person in question is the crown prince, Aldrik. In contrast to his younger brother’s easygoing, charming nature, Aldrik is reputedly snobbish, manipulative and ruthless, and people tend to fear him due to his magical powers. While struggling to save the prince, Vhalla was inadvertently drawing upon magical abilities she didn’t know she had, unaware that she has created a bond between Aldrik and herself. From this point on, the two characters are inescapably linked.
Having all sorts of prejudices against magic and sorcerers, Vhalla struggles to accept the fact that she’s a sorcerer herself. She’s torn between the need to stay in her comfort zone, and the need to satisfy her curiosity. As scary as the prospect is of leaving her library apprenticeship for a life working, living and training as a sorcerer, Vhalla can’t help being drawn into this new and intriguing world, when the crown prince takes it upon himself to become her mentor. As it turns out, it’s a path fraught with difficulties and Vhalla soon discovers that she, being the first Windwalker in a very long time, attracts the attention of people, who see her as a nothing other than a potential danger or a tool to be used in the service of the Empire Solaris.
My thoughts:
In Air Awakens, magical powers are aligned with the elements of earth (Groundbreakers), fire (Firebearers), water (Waterrunners) and air (Windwalkers). Vhalla is the first known Airwalker to have her powers awaken in almost 150 years. Aldrik is a Firebearer. He’s powerful, skilled and has an extensive knowledge of magic. It is through his teaching that Vhalla begins to understand her magic.
The magical system is not particularly innovative - the idea of the elemental alignment is quite common, as is the concept of the unbreakable bond (magical or otherwise). However, it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story, as the system functions in an elegant, seamless way, and although the characters do talk about magical theory from time to time, it isn’t the prime focus of the story.
The social perception of magic does, however, play a significant role in the development of the plot. In the south, where the capital (and the castle) is located, people tend to view sorcery with wariness and in some cases even fear and contempt. In other parts of the realm (most prominently in the West), sorcerers are in held much higher regard. Bearing in mind that all Windwalkers (at least the ones who were known to be such) were imprisoned and executed 150 years prior to Vhalla’s awakening, and that she’s the first one to emerge since then, she’s even more likely than any other type of sorcerer to become the target of prejudice and distrust. The latent threat becomes more pronounced as the story progresses, although Vhalla has the firm support of the other sorcerers of the Tower.
The “magic is outlawed” or “magic is viewed as suspect” trope is quite common in fantasy literature these days, Throne of Glass and The Orphan Queen being examples. That's not a problem, though - I rather like the dynamic it creates in this particular story: as Vhalla begins to reconsider her own opinion of sorcery, while becoming even more of an outsider in her own circle of friends and co-apprentices (and later on in society at large), her character develops and becomes much more complex and interesting. By being forced to adapt and recreate her sense of self, Vhalla becomes very relatable and appealing.
The relationship between Aldrik and Vhalla is one of the things I like the best about this story. The romance is nice and slow-burning. Aldrik has the “bad boy vibe”, but Kova lets him grow into a much more vulnerable, caring and empathic character, as he becomes enthralled with Vhalla and her openminded, trusting way of being. Due to the fact that the story is told with Vhalla as viewpoint character, much of Aldrik’s plotting and reasoning is hidden from her (and us), which makes for some interesting revelations along the way!
There’s very little I didn’t like about this book. There is, however, the matter of Sareem - Vhalla’s colleague at the imperial library. He seems like a nice guy, although he gives Vhalla a bit of a hard time when she reveals her magical abilities to him, but she ends up treating him really poorly, and I actually liked her less because of that. I understand that a character needs to be flawed in some way for them to be able to grow, but some of Vhalla’s choices in regard to Sareem just made her seem indecisive in a very juvenile, spineless manner. She does improve, though, so it’s a somewhat minor matter.
Also, I had some troubles with the pacing, which was somewhat inconsistent. It became apparent when I read the sequel, Fire Falling, that much more time had passed during AA than I'd expected. It made for some confusion, but it's not something which ruins my grasp of the plot.
All in all: Air Awakens is a finely crafted, emotionally engaging (even for an old fart like me) fantasy novel, which had me flipping pages frantically. Kudos to Elise Kova for such a kick-ass debut! :)
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Popular Highlights in this book
They were sending her to war, so she would go and become something they had every right to fear.Highlighted by 971 Kindle readers- Vhalla had never struck someone before, but he was making an appealing case.Highlighted by 674 Kindle readers
- The first fiery explosion rang out through the clear night, sending shock waves across the capital of the Empire.Highlighted by 447 Kindle readers
From the Publisher
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| Air Awakens | Fire Falling | Earth's End | Water's Wrath | Crystal Crowned | |
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| Customer Reviews |
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6,351
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5,037
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4,768
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4,872
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| Price | $3.99 | $4.99 | $5.99 | $5.99 | $5.99 |
| Complete the entire Air Awakens Series | Book One | Book Two | Book Three | Book Four | Book Five |
| Slow Burn Romance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Brooding Love Interest | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Elemental Magic | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fantasy War | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Deep Friendships | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Heroine Who Grows | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Older Young Adult | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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Reviews with images
Excellent beginning!!!
What a GREAT beginning to this series. This gave me strong Avatar the Last Airbender vibes and the slightest nod to the Phantom of the Opera. I'm genuinely confused to those who compare this to a Cinderella retelling. It's nothing like Cinderella. Ok, her mom dies when she's young and she's essentially a servant in the palace but that's where the similarities end.Moving on... I really enjoyed this book and also the character development. Or beginning of it, since this is a series and there's more to come.I LOVE a strong MC and Vhalla is that for me. She's not perfect but she's gutsy and true to herself.I laughed so hard when she "smelled" the library because she knew the scent of books so well. THAT'S my kind of girl. We can be friends."A certain smell lingered on the air, it tickled her nose and beckoned her onward. She couldn't place it at first, but as her step quickened and the scent became stronger. she realized what it was with smile. it was the smell of dusty leather and parchment."Aldrick is..... so many things and I love them all. His growth is so interesting and I just loved the slow burn romance between the two. Chapter 22 and on is my favorite. About 70% through.Things I did not like....The beginning was a bit blunt for me . Have you ever started watching a tv series, but you've missed the first episode? THAT'S how I felt with chapter 1. It was a little choppy in the beginning and I felt like there should have been a chapter before to just give it better flow.... I hope that makes sense.WHAT DOES VHALLA LOOK LIKE?!? seriously, there's so much description for the other characters but all I know about her is she has brown eyes with flecks of gold, she's short, has long hair. I think its brown and lightly tan skin. Ummmm, I would like more than that please. Sareem's description was a bit choppy too. I just wish everyone was described equally. I feel like some characters were given more attention to their physical details and others weren't.I need MORE of the "bond" between them. I hope it comes up in the next books because I love it. I also wanted a bit more world building in the beginning. It would have helped some things make sense.QUOTES..."As much as Vhalla had been trying for years to grow into a woman, right now she needed her inner child who embraced the world shifting around her.""I want a place you hardly dare to even whisper. I want the bravery to not only read, but to do. I want the man, not a library boy. A man who is tall an witty and knows more about the world than you would ever dare dream.""You foolish girl"... "As if anything could make me not want to touch you."OVERALL....A great book that I read and greatly enjoyed in just a couple days. On to the next!Hardcover review.... This hard cover copy is just lovely. I love everything about it. I tried to take detailed pictures so that you could see what it's like.
Top reviews from other countries
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ONE OF MY FAVORITE FANTASY ROMANCE NOVELS EVER.
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Spannender und fesselnder Auftakt, ich bin sehr begeistert
Reviewed in Germany on March 15, 2018
Beauty and the Book
Reviewed in Germany on March 15, 2018
Oh man, das Cover hat mich sowas von umgehauen.
Noch bevor ich den Klappentext gelesen hatte, wusste ich, dass ich dieses Buch haben muss. Es wirkte auf den ersten Blick wirkte es vom Stil her sehr Steam-Punkig und gefiel mir sehr.
Meine Meinung:
Was ein Buch, was ein Geschichte.
Wieso um Himmels willen kannte ich dieses Buch bisher nicht? Die Geschichte hat mich schlichtweg überrollt. Ich hatte überhaupt keine Erwartungen, zumindest keine großen, denn Erwartungen hat man ja immer wieder, sei's drum, alles was vorhanden war, wurde übertroffen.
Ich lernte eine Welt kennen, in der Magie zwar existiert und auch irgendwie anerkannt, aber nicht wirklich akzeptiert wird.
Für die vier Himmelsrichtungen gibt es verschiedene Magiearten, es wird sich hier nach den Elementen gerichtet, Feuer, Wasser, Luft und Erde.
Allein das klingt schon irre spannend oder? Dennoch, es geht noch besser.
Die Geschichte versprüht mehr und mehr Spannung, sodass man irgendwann gar nicht anders kann, als weiterzulesen.
Bei jedem Kapitel habe ich zu mir selbst gesagt, “ nur noch ein Kapitel“, das hat natürlich nicht geklappt.
Was ich damit sagen will, die Geschichte hat einen unglaublichen Spannungsbogen, Ereignisse welche sich überschlagen und Wendungen die ich nicht habe kommen sehen.
Unsere Protagonistin Vhalla, nicht nur der Name ist etwas besonderes, ist ein unglaublicher Charakter.
Zu Beginn sehr unscheinbar und eigentlich mit ihrem Leben als Bibliotheksgehilfin recht zufrieden, entwickelt sich in der Geschichte mehr und mehr zur Kämpferin. air awakens
Nicht nur für sich selbst, sondern für die, die sie in ihr Herz geschlossen hat.
Wo anfangs noch unsicherheit und unentschlossenheit herrschte, kam innerhalb der Geschichte immer mehr von Vhallas wahrem Ich zum Vorschein.
Sie begann sich selbst mehr zu zutrauen und entwickelte den Wunsch nach mehr, nach etwas besonderem.
Nun zu Prinz Aldrik, Mädels, was soll ich sagen……er hat zwar den Charme eines Bad-Boy und irgendwie ist er auch einer, aber ihn umgibt auch eine gewisse Dunkelheit, die ist seit neustem für mich entdeckt habe.
Auch er ist wieder einer dieser Charaktere, indem mehr steckt, als es zu Beginn den Anschein hat.
Mehr möchte ich an dieser Stelle nicht verraten.
Mit dem Schreibstil von Elise Kova hatte ich zu Beginn der Geschichte so meine Schwierigkeiten. Ihr Schreibstil ist sehr einzigartig, und sie beschreibt Situationen und Handlungen wahnsinnig detaillreich und bildhaft, dass ich erst etwas überfordert war. Als ich diese erste Überforderung dann überwunden habe, fand ich es einfach klasse. Ich war hin und weg.
Fazit:
Diese Buchreihe verdient absolut mehr Aufmerksamkeit. Die Geschichte hat mich von Anfang bis Ende begeistert und mitgerissen.
Vhalla und Aldrik sind zwei Protagonistin die nicht unterschiedlicher sein könnten, und doch passen sie so gut zu einander.
Nachdem die letzte Seite gelesen war, habe ich mir direkt die nächsten drei Bände bestellt und freue mich jetzt schon riesig drauf, zu erfahren wie es weitergeht.
Zitat aus dem Buch:
“ I did not speak before NOT because I did not care, but because- I am not a good man, Vhalla.“
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