February 19, 2018
This fantasy trilogy opener from Legrand (Foxheart) introduces teenagers Rielle Dardenne, a Celdarian, and Eliana Ferracora, a Venteran. Many Celdarians are able to magically control a single element, but Rielle can secretly manipulate all seven. According to legend, this means she is either the Sun Queen, who can save the world, or the Blood Queen, who can destroy it. When Rielle reveals her talent by single-handedly saving the crown prince from invaders, the king imposes a series of deadly trials designed to test her strength and prove her loyalty. A millennium later and a continent away, assassin Eliana ponders the source of her preternatural healing abilities while hunting insurgents for the Empire. When her mother vanishes, Eliana offers tactical assistance in exchange for information, thus altering the course of her future. Action and steamy romance abound, but character development takes a back seat to worldbuilding and an excessively complicated mythology. Legrand cleverly intertwines her protagonists’ seemingly discrete storylines, which unfold in alternating chapters, but her plot is overstuffed; a conclusion lacking resolution or closure will leave invested readers eager for the next installment. Ages 14–18. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

February 1, 2018

Gr 10 Up-Set in the fantasy world of Aritas, this novel alternates between the stories of two dynamic young women. Rielle is forced to use her elemental magic in order to save her best friend, the Crown Prince, during a disastrous horse race. In response, the King forces her to undergo seven trials to discover if she is the Sun Queen, a long prophesied savior of their people, or the Blood Queen, bringer of destruction. One thousand years in the future, Eliana is a bounty hunter working to keep her family alive in a kingdom long conquered by the Undying Empire. When her mother disappears, she has to decide if joining the rebels or ingratiating herself to the Empire will give her a better chance of bringing her family back together. By the time Eliana is coming of age, the stories of magic, angels, and Saints are thought of as myths, but Eliana will learn that there is still a cosmic battle being waged that she and Rielle have both fought in their own ways. The book gets off to a slow start due to the large amount of world-building devoted to the planned trilogy. However, once the story truly gets underway, it quickly becomes a page-turner. Readers will find the complex and flawed characters immensely relatable. The two narratives are deftly interwoven, and plot twists will keep teens on the edge of their seats. Frank descriptions of masturbation and a graphic sex scene make this appropriate for older teens. VERDICT A good choice where Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Kate Elliott's Court of Fives are popular.-Sunnie Scarpa, Wallingford Public Library, CT

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2018
Two girls separated by a thousand years are connected by a prophecy.In a prologue, readers learn that pale-skinned Queen Rielle has killed her husband, the biracial Audric. She gives birth to their baby while a war between angels and humans rages. To keep the infant safe from the angels' leader, light-skinned Corien, Rielle desperately charges a child with magical abilities to use his gifts to flee with and protect her--with mixed success. Later chapters alternate between telling Rielle's story and flashing forward 1,020 years to focus on olive-skinned Eliana. Following a childhood tragedy, Rielle hid her staggering ability to control all seven elements until a threat against her beloved Audric caused her to reveal her gifts, prompting the Magisterial Council to impose seven trials to determine whether she was the Sun Queen or Blood Queen spoken of in prophecy. While readers start off knowing her story's end, a steamy romance and devious twists along the way pack surprises. Eliana, meanwhile, is a deadly bounty hunter--serving an evil empire in order to protect her own family--who gets mixed up with rebels when her mother is abducted. The rigid, cliffhanger-heavy chapter structure is supported by breakneck pacing and constant action. The ending leaves neither storyline resolved.High stakes, epic scope, intense action, and sweeping mythologies. (element guide) (Fantasy. 15-adult)

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February 15, 2018
Grades 8-12 Sun Queen Rielle was both savior and scourge, but her dying act was pure love: saving her only child from discovery by an ancient enemy, the angel Corien. As Eliana grows up among ordinary people, she notices differences in herself but has no explanation for them until she becomes part of the rebellion against the Undying Empire. There she meets Simon, who is strange and yet somehow familiar to her, and who is bent on saving her life at all costs. Intertwined stories of mother and daughter, told in alternating high-octane chapters, tease readers to discover which woman is truly the Sun Queenwho will save the worldand the Blood Queen, who will end it. Legrand excels at world building, deftly integrating the religion and history of this imaginary world into a dark yet rousing adventure story that combines passion and danger at every turn. Juxtaposing the mother's past with the daughter's present provides a unique way to get to know memorable characters. A world map and a chart of the elemental (religious) temples are included.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)