Author: Bronwyn Eley
Genre: YA Fantasy
Date Published: 9/12/2019
Publisher: Talem Press
Page Number: 497
In the city of Edriast, there is no deadlier duty than to serve as the Shadow.
As the personal servant of the powerful Lord Rennard, the Shadow's life is all but forfeit. Rennard possesses one of five rare and dangerous Relics – a jewel that protects his bloodline, but slowly poisons everyone else in its proximity.
When the current Shadow succumbs to its magic, nineteen-year-old blacksmith Kaylan is summoned to take his place.
It's an appointment that will kill her.
As the time Kaylan has left ebbs away, hope begins to fade... That is, until she discovers a plot to destroy all five bloodlines in possession of the Relics.
A rebel force plans to put an end to Rennard's rule and Kaylan suddenly finds herself embroiled in a cause that might just be worth fighting for. But no cause is without its costs…
As her life hangs in the balance and rebellion bears down on Edriast, Kaylan must decide where her loyalties lie – and how she'll leave her mark on the world.
Relic is the absorbing first novel in The Relic Trilogy, a thrillingly dark YA fantasy series.
In the city of Edriast, there is no deadlier duty than to serve as the Shadow.
As the personal servant of the powerful Lord Rennard, the Shadow's life is all but forfeit. Rennard possesses one of five rare and dangerous Relics – a jewel that protects his bloodline, but slowly poisons everyone else in its proximity.
When the current Shadow succumbs to its magic, nineteen-year-old blacksmith Kaylan is summoned to take his place.
It's an appointment that will kill her.
As the time Kaylan has left ebbs away, hope begins to fade... That is, until she discovers a plot to destroy all five bloodlines in possession of the Relics.
A rebel force plans to put an end to Rennard's rule and Kaylan suddenly finds herself embroiled in a cause that might just be worth fighting for. But no cause is without its costs…
As her life hangs in the balance and rebellion bears down on Edriast, Kaylan must decide where her loyalties lie – and how she'll leave her mark on the world.
Relic is the absorbing first novel in The Relic Trilogy, a thrillingly dark YA fantasy series.
Review
I haven’t picked up a book in a few months and I am so glad that Relic was my first in a while. As some of you may know, fantasy is my favorite genre so I am very picky with what I read, but Relic truly hit the mark when it came to all of my favorite fantasy things.
First of all, Kaylan embodied everything I love in a fantasy heroine. She was strong willed, passionate, and willing to do anything for her family, but also challenged the norm of this fantasy world by being a blacksmith rather than a companion (a popular job for girls in this world). It was also nice to see that while she was strong, she still had times where she was just tired and afraid. Too many times I see strong heroines as these emotionless characters, but with Kaylan, she was strong when she needed to be but also a normal girl when being strong was no longer necessary. The side characters also stood out to me as they each had unique attributes that set them apart and didn’t allow them to blend into the background.
Second of all, the plot was full of tension and twists that truly kept me on my toes. I was already intrigued by the synopsis but as I read the book, subplots and surprising occurrences pulled me in further until it was 4 A.M. and I was almost finished with the book. The idea of a ruler wearing a relic that sickened anyone near it was unique to me, and I was excited to find out how Kaylan would beat the relics effects or how she would deal with trying to save whoever came after her. I also liked that this plot also introduced a bit of romance to readers and that it wasn’t solely focused on the issue of the relic. It gave me a reprieve from the stress of wondering how Kaylan would survive and allows readers to see Kaylan as something other than a dying shadow or a doomed servant. It just added another layer to the story and sucked me in deeper. Then we get the twists at the end that shocked me and broke my heart, which solidified the fact that I will definitely be anticipating book two of this trilogy.
On another note, there were some questions that I was left with. For example, the synopsis mentions other bloodlines having relics, does that mean that there are other provinces/cities with lords in charge that also have a shadow to curb the relic’s effect? If so, why isn’t there mention of them and if not, what makes those relic and lords different from Kaylan’s lord? We also got a hint of there being more to this world as far as cities and regions, but I would have liked to have seen more of them to make the story seem more expansive. However, this is only the first book in a fantasy series and not all questions can or will be answered in the first instillation because a whole new world is being established. God didn’t create the world in a day, so we shouldn’t expect an author to be able to answer every little question we have in one book. If that was the case, why would we need two more books?
Anyway, I really enjoyed this book, and I am excited to see what this debut author has in store for me next because I am hooked on Kaylan’s story.
If you want to check out this book then visit the link below and don’t forget to add this book to Goodreads. Enjoy!
Buy Relic here on Amazon!
Author Bio:
Bronwyn joined the military right out of high school, where she learnt (among other things) to disassemble and reassemble a rifle blindfolded. After that she spent a lot of her time travelling around the world. Her favourite places (so far) are Scotland, Mongolia, Iceland and Ireland. Bronwyn finally found her natural habitat when she landed her first job in the publishing industry. While she has always been a writer, it was only when surrounding herself with books that she realised her life’s dream was to become an author. Relic is her first novel. Bronwyn lives in Sydney and spends her time eating chocolate, reading and practicing her martial arts.
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