February 10, 2019

Dark of the West Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

https://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/12/tour-schedule-dark-of-west-glass.html


Dark of the West (Glass Alliance #1)
Author: Joanna Hathaway
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: February 5, 2019
Publisher: Tor Teen

Description:

He was raised in revolution. She was raised in a palace. Can their love stop a war? Code Name Verity meets The Winner's Curse in Joanna Hathaway's Dark of the West, a breathtaking YA fantasy debut.

Aurelia Isendare is a princess of a small kingdom in the North, raised in privilege but shielded from politics as her brother prepares to step up to the throne. Halfway around the world, Athan Dakar, the youngest son of a ruthless general, is a fighter pilot longing for a life away from the front lines. When Athan’s mother is shot and killed, his father is convinced it’s the work of his old rival, the Queen of Etania—Aurelia’s mother. Determined to avenge his wife’s murder, he devises a plot to overthrow the Queen, a plot which sends Athan undercover to Etania to gain intel from her children.

Athan’s mission becomes complicated when he finds himself falling for the girl he’s been tasked with spying upon. Aurelia feels the same attraction, all the while desperately seeking to stop the war threatening to break between the Southern territory and the old Northern kingdoms that control it—a war in which Athan’s father is determined to play a role. As diplomatic ties manage to just barely hold, the two teens struggle to remain loyal to their families and each other as they learn that war is not as black and white as they’ve been raised to believe.
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Dark of the West is a new and exciting young adult fantasy that fans of the genre will surely enjoy. I'm not a huge fan of books about war, unless there's an overarching plot that makes it the story about more than just that. Unfortunately, in my opinion, that wasn't the case with this novel. Don't get me wrong, all the other aspects of the story were good - the complex characters, the world building, the "Romeo and Juliet" type love that happens - it was all great. It just seemed like the war loomed over top of everything else in the entire novel and didn't leave enough for the rest of the story. It takes several chapters for the two main characters to even meet, which honestly had me bored due to all the war and politics happening instead. I did like that the author tells the story from the first person point of view, in alternating chapters between the two main characters. That was a definitely plus for me and had a big hand it saving the book for me. I loved the forbidden romance aspect, which is what drew me to the book in the first place. Overall, it was a well written fantasy that fans will enjoy.


 

Joanna was born in MontrĂ©al and is an avid storyteller who was inspired to write after reading her great-grandfather’s memoirs of the First World War. A lifelong history buff, she now has shelves filled with biographies and historical accounts, and perhaps one too many books about pilots. She can often be found reading, traveling, or riding horses.

Her debut novel, DARK OF THE WEST (Tor Teen, February 5th, 2019), is the first in a WWII-infused fantasy series of forbidden love and deadly revenge.
Win (1) of (10) physical copies of DARK OF THE WEST by Joanna Hathaway (US Only)
Giveaway Starts: February 5, 2019
Giveaway Ends: February 18, 2019







 

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