The Electric Heir Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

The Electric Heir (Feverwake #2)
Author: Victoria Lee
Genre: YA LGBT/Fantasy
Release Date: March 17, 2020
Publisher: Skyscape

Synopsis:

Six months after Noam Álvaro helped overthrow the despotic government of Carolinia, the Atlantians have gained citizenship, and Lehrer is chancellor. But despite Lehrer’s image as a progressive humanitarian leader, Noam has finally remembered the truth that Lehrer forced him to forget—that Lehrer is responsible for the deadly magic infection that ravaged Carolinia.

Now that Noam remembers the full extent of Lehrer’s crimes, he’s determined to use his influence with Lehrer to bring him down for good. If Lehrer realizes Noam has evaded his control—and that Noam is plotting against him—Noam’s dead. So he must keep playing the role of Lehrer’s protégé until he can steal enough vaccine to stop the virus.

Meanwhile Dara Shirazi returns to Carolinia, his magic stripped by the same vaccine that saved his life. But Dara’s attempts to ally himself with Noam prove that their methods for defeating Lehrer are violently misaligned. Dara fears Noam has only gotten himself more deeply entangled in Lehrer’s web. Sooner or later, playing double agent might cost Noam his life.

The Electric Heir is the second and final book in an amazing YA fantasy duology that fans of the first book are definitely going to want to get their hands on ASAP. If you haven't read the first book yet, I highly recommend doing so before reading this one. There's a lot of background info on the characters, the history, and everything else leading up to the events that happen in this book. You'll be pretty lost and not nearly as invested if you don't read the books in order. The second thing I want to mention is the obvious trigger/content warnings. The author has been very open about some of the tough topics that happen in the series and I love that readers are given a huge heads up about everything they're going to encounter so they can decide for themselves if they still want to read the books and also to prepare them for what they'll be reading about. A lot of books touch on some of these topics but don't really mention it in the description, so the reader is caught off guard when they stumble upon them. I'm obviously uncomfortable reading about these topics, but the fact that I was well prepared and knowledgeable about what was coming made it much easier to digest.

This story picks up a few months after the first book ends, so it feels like you never left once you start reading. I was sucked back into this crazy world right away and it felt like no time had passed since I'd been there. The characters continued to be incredibly realistic and easy to connect with. I loved getting to know them all better, especially Dara and Noam - the main characters. Their strengths and weaknesses are out there for everyone to see which made them so easy for me to empathize with. I grew to really love these characters over the course of the duology and found myself very invested in both of them and their lives. They change a lot over the course of the book and the series, and I loved watching it happen. There are definitely a lot of diverse characters throughout the book (and series) which I thought was awesome. The author didn't overshadow the plot of the book or the characters themselves with their diversity, like I've seen with other stories. They are all well rounded and complex, and that includes their strengths, flaws, diversities, and everything in between.

The plot was fantastic and didn't disappoint in the least. A lot of times the second and/or final book in a series doesn't live up to what the first book delivered and that sucks. Happily, that wasn't the case here. The story line is layered and deep with a quick pace that kept me on my feet and reading as fast as I could to see what would happen next. There were a few twists and turns that blew my mind a bit and definitely threw me for a loop. I can't go into much more detail because I don't do spoilers, but I felt like this was a fantastic ending to a powerful, multi-layered fantasy duology. I highly recommend it to fans of YA fantasy, readers who enjoy LGBT and other diverse characters, and don't mind some heavy and disturbing topics amid a vivid landscape and story line.

 

Victoria Lee grew up in Durham, North Carolina, where she spent twelve ascetic years as a vegetarian before discovering spicy chicken wings are, in fact, a delicacy. She’s been a state finalist competitive pianist, a hitchhiker, a pizza connoisseur, an EMT, an expat in China and Sweden, and a science doctoral student. She’s also a bit of a snob about fancy whisky.

Victoria writes early in the morning, then spends the rest of the day trying to impress her border collie puppy and make her experiments work.

She is represented by Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty at Root Literary.

Win (1) copy of THE ELECTRIC HEIR by Victoria Lee (US Only)

Starts: March 11, 2020

Ends: March 25, 2020

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