From Goodreads: Bound to a man she cannot love, Queen Alera of Hytanica must forget Narian, the young man who holds her heart. For Narian is destined to conquer Hytanica at the behest of his master, the powerful magic-user known as the Overlord. Alera doesn't truly believe Narian will fight against Hytanica - until Cokyrian troops attack with Narian commanding the charge. Faced with the greatest betrayal a heart can know, Alera must set aside personal feelings and lead her kingdom through its darkest time. And when all hope, will and courage seem lost, she must find strength and remember that even the blackest night must have a dawn ...
My Rating: 3.5 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel: With the prospect of war looming between Hytanica and Cokyri, Cayla Kluver's Allegiance raises the stakes for its characters and has a darker feel than Legacy, the first book in the Legacy series. That said, Allegiance can kind of be divided into two parts: the slow first half which goes into excessive detail about Alera's daily life as queen – the writing still hasn't been tightened – and a more intense, exciting second half.
Alera remains as annoying as ever in Allegiance and makes me so happy that I'm not a Hytanican subject under her rule. The other characters in the book seem to think she's so great, but I have no idea what they see in her. I mean, even though war is brewing and she's the queen, Alera just seems to mope about losing Narian or attempting to meet him in secret, thus putting herself and her country in jeopardy. Talk about selfish! Narian may have sworn to never harm her but he is on the enemy's side.
Narian actually isn't present much in the book and so there's not a lot of romance. However, Kluver does give Steldor a chance to make more of a lasting impression on the reader. I wasn't really a fan of Steldor in Legacy and at the beginning of Allegiance because he was smug and cocky, but he matures so much over the course of the novel that it’s hard not to be in love with him by the end. It doesn't hurt that while Alera is trying to learn more about Steldor, she gets to spend time with his dad Cannan and his uncle Baelic, two characters I liked.
As well, I was really pleased with the way Kluver ended Allegiance. Unlike a lot of books which end on massive cliffhangers because they're part of a series, the ending of Allegiance wrapped things up very nicely. It was so satisfactory in fact that I was actually planning on not reading the final book in the trilogy since I thought Kluver wouldn't have much more of a story left to tell (aside from what happens with the romance between Narian and Alera of course). That is, until I read the excerpt of Sacrifice. It looks like I was wrong!
Alera remains as annoying as ever in Allegiance and makes me so happy that I'm not a Hytanican subject under her rule. The other characters in the book seem to think she's so great, but I have no idea what they see in her. I mean, even though war is brewing and she's the queen, Alera just seems to mope about losing Narian or attempting to meet him in secret, thus putting herself and her country in jeopardy. Talk about selfish! Narian may have sworn to never harm her but he is on the enemy's side.
Narian actually isn't present much in the book and so there's not a lot of romance. However, Kluver does give Steldor a chance to make more of a lasting impression on the reader. I wasn't really a fan of Steldor in Legacy and at the beginning of Allegiance because he was smug and cocky, but he matures so much over the course of the novel that it’s hard not to be in love with him by the end. It doesn't hurt that while Alera is trying to learn more about Steldor, she gets to spend time with his dad Cannan and his uncle Baelic, two characters I liked.
As well, I was really pleased with the way Kluver ended Allegiance. Unlike a lot of books which end on massive cliffhangers because they're part of a series, the ending of Allegiance wrapped things up very nicely. It was so satisfactory in fact that I was actually planning on not reading the final book in the trilogy since I thought Kluver wouldn't have much more of a story left to tell (aside from what happens with the romance between Narian and Alera of course). That is, until I read the excerpt of Sacrifice. It looks like I was wrong!
Allegiance was released in February 2012 by HarlequinTeen.
Comments About the Cover: Although it’s gorgeous, it’s not very accurate. Alera is capable of riding on a horse by herself and when she does so, she wears breeches.
I skipped this one after reading ho-hum reviews. I can't enjoy a book, much less a series, if I don't like the main character. Alera sounds spoiled, whiny, and annoying. Definitely not a heroine I could root for. Glad I passed this one up. I'll just read your reviews to find out what happens next. :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, yay for no cliffhanger! That's a huge plus:) I've heard really mixed things about this series, and while I love the sound of the overall story, based on your description of Alera I think I would have some trouble with her. I don't deal with with whiny or mopey heroines, I like them kick-butt:) Really fantastic review Zahida, thanks!
ReplyDelete"Alera remains as annoying as ever in Allegiance and makes me so happy that I'm not a Hytanican subject under her rule."
ReplyDeleteLMAO! Oh, thanks for that Z! I had a good snort over that line. I haven't read book one, and despite the gorgeous covers for this series, I doubt I will. But I like knowing what I'm missing out on. :)
I don't think I'll be starting this series anytime soon. It's great that this one doesn't have a cliffhanger since they're great but always so frustrating when I have to wait for the next book.
ReplyDeleteYay! I love hearing that a book is cliffhanger-free -- lately, it's been feeling like nine out of ten books have torturous endings, so it's really refreshing that this doesn't! :) And I've been intrigued about this series for a while now but I keep putting it off because of mixed reviews. Even though I'd probably have the same problems with Alera as you, it still sounds like this series would be pretty fun to read! ;)
ReplyDeleteAwesome review, Z! :) <3
It's funny that a lot of people seem to think Alera is annoying. You would've thought the author or editor would have noticed that too and maybe made her a bit more likeable. Still, I am pretty curious about this series. I might try it sometime!
ReplyDelete*HUGS* because I agree with everything you wrote!
ReplyDelete"Alera remains as annoying as ever in Allegiance and makes me so happy that I'm not a Hytanican subject under her rule."
Lord is THAT the truth! I've..I..I can't even put into words how much I can't stand her. When she cut off her hair and was patting herself on the back for being empowered, argh, I wanted to shove her face in that stupid porridge she slopped together (and gave herself girl-power points for assembling). *eyeroll sprain*
"The other characters in the book seem to think she's so great, but I have no idea what they see in her."
I know, right?! Those parts are so infuriating. And they're good characters with actual brains saying these things! It makes no sense. I just pretend those scenes never happened.
Ah! Annoying characters make me hate books. Alera sounds pretty awful. I hate when other characters just praise the protagonist, when I can't find anything admirable about her. I'm sorry this book wasn't all that fabulous for you. :( Hopefully, you'll like Sacrifice more!
ReplyDelete