Avenged by Amy Tintera
Pages: 416
Publish date: April 26th, 2017
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9781760290658
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks
A war that will fuel her. A bond that will destroy her.
Emelina Flores has come home to Ruina. After rescuing her sister Olivia from imprisonment in rival kingdom Lera, Em and Olivia together have devised a plan that will rebuild Ruina to its former glory.
But just because Em and Olivia are out of Lera doesn’t mean they are safe. Their actions over the past year have had consequences, and they are now targets of retaliation. Olivia will destroy everyone who acts against Ruina, but Em isn’t as sure.
Ever since Em posed as Prince Casimir’s betrothed in Lera, she’s started to see another side to this war. Lera may have destroyed the Ruined for decades, but Em knows that Cas is different. And now that he’s taken the throne, Em believes a truce is within reach. But Olivia suspects that Em’s romantic feelings for Cas are just colouring her judgement.
Em is determined to bring peace to her home. But when winning the war could mean betraying her family, Em faces an impossible choice between loyalty and love. Em must stay one step ahead of her enemies–and her blood–before she’s the next victim in this battle for sovereignty.
Avenged:
I received a review copy of Avenged by Amy Tintera from Hot Key Books via Allen and Unwin, in exchange for honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.
This review will contain some spoilers from Ruined – Book 1 | Ruined Review
Avenged was one of my most anticipated sequels for 2017 and let me tell you I was not disappointed. The second book of a series always scares me, simply because they tend to suffer and not stand up to the first book. Avenged was just as fast paced, intense, full of revenge and that little bit of romance that hits the right spot.
Avenged starts off not long after Ruined finished, and with the ending of book one, I didn’t know what to expect. Avenged follows protagonists Emelina Flores who after posing as a princess and vowing to get revenge, is back in Ruina, she is back home. Then there is Prince Casimir who has taken to the throne, but no in the way that he was thinking.
After the ending of Ruined, I didn’t know what to expect in Avenged and let me tell you I was so excited. One of the things I loved about book one was how much I loved Emelina and I loved her even more in Avenged. The reader is able to see a different side to Emelina throughout the novel. We get to see her vulnerability compared to her strength from book one. I liked how at times we do see her strength through the book and she doesn’t need a male to show her strength. But then her weakness is her sister and her love for Casimir.
Talking about Cas. In Ruined he is a ‘weak’ male protagonist compared to other YA male leads. But, in Avenged he finds his voice. And it was great to see. I loved Cas’s character arc, I love seeing him grow into a King. He has to make some hard decisions throughout the book and sometimes he makes some stupid ones. But I loved seeing him grow.
The romance in Avenged doesn’t overpower the story, in reality, it was barely there. But, I still loved it. I adore how different Emelina and Cas are, but when they are together they seem to fit so well. They balance each other out so well.
I also like that we get to see some characters from Ruined throughout the book. We see them grow throughout the series and I love the interaction between the side characters and our protagonists.
Olivia has a big influence throughout Avenged. And it’s scary as shit! Even though Emelina is sharp and fierce in her own right, it’s nothing compared to Olivia. For me, Olivia could very much turn into the villain of this story. Yes what she is fighting for her people, but the way that she goes about it isn’t all that great. She can kill people in a second and it doesn’t hurt her at all. She doesn’t care that she is killing people, murdering people.
Overall, I loved Avenged. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I love the character arc’s of both protagonists; Emelina and Casimir. As well as the side characters who grow and start to form. Avenged explores the notion of family, friends, and love. It’s about standing up for what you believe in and what you think is the right thing to do. I love the fierceness, the weakness, the plot. I adored the romance and friendships. If you love your fantasy this series is for you.
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