Air Awakens

Hello Cliches, my old friend... I've come to talk to you again.

Girl finds out she has magic, a prince tells her she's special, and it turns out she's the first one in 150 years to have her kind of magic. Of course. Plus, she has a lifelong magical bond with said prince, and every guy falling in love with her too...

A trope-filled book would still be a fun read if the writing worked. But this particular novel needed a couple more rounds of edits, because the writing is pretty amateurish and reads like a first draft. Stilted dialogue, a plot that's just a boring mess, cliche after cliche ... ugh.

I was kinda surprised by this book! I just didn't expect to enjoy it so much! It was a delicious read!
The world building is amazing and the author takes her time to develop each character making the story feel alive and fresh. I wanted to be inside the library where Vhala is an apprentice and to roam through the corridors of the Tower.

I loved Vhala and how her story slowly progresses until she is faced with the awakening of her powers. And the anti-hero, Crown Prince Aldrik, is at the same mysterious and captivating. I think I just loved the main characters and the fact that there is romance building up. I don't know why, but I love dark characters who have a sense of duty and loyalty inside them, making them complex and unpredictable. I am curious to know how their relationship progresses.

There is a good balance between male and female characters, with different cultures and races and that makes the story so much more real. It is a break from the male dominant stories we usually seen in fantasy worlds. This world has powerful sorcerers, male and female. The lore behind the magic is fascinating and I enjoyed the duality between fire and air.

I was pleasantly surprised because the story has dramatic and violent events, with gore and blood. and these details take away the obviousness of the story. We have a glimpse of how magic works and how it is used as a weapon of war. You have a feeling that anyone can die at any moment, even the main characters, and you root for them.

My suspension of disbelief was active throughout the story and for me the author did a good job of making me believe how this world works and accept its rules. It feels like it is a story about magic and war and not everything is going to perfect. I like this kind of “reality” in a fantasy story :)

It is a world I want to know more about and I went straight to Book 2 after finishing this one.

CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-8
W-7
P-7
I-7
L-7
E-9
TOTAL-7.57/10

This was a fun book. Definitely YA but better than lots. Great characters, small twists and turns I didn't predict with some I did. All were done well with care.
CAWPILECharactersVhalla Yarl—Newest and only Wildwalker left in world. Loves reading (character after my heart) denies being a sorcerer. Scared of it, but grows and is willing to accept it after some time. Unsure of her place in society.Crown Prince Aldrick- Hard and Soft. Hard outside. Seems to waffle a bit in beginning but I think he's in it for good. I'm interested to see what happens next with him.Prince Baldair-I though Prince B was going to be an evil brother, under a façade of good, but he's more neutral. Odd relationship with brother.Sameer- started ok quickly went downhill, hates magic, wants her to give it up even if he hadn't said it yet.Egmun—Very dumb, hate this guy, but I think he's got something more in store for us next books. Why does he want her dead so bad. Has to be a reason AtmosphereGood atmosphere, lots of descriptions. I could feel her sense of wonder or worry or appreciationWriting“enemies to Lovers” don't quite start as enemies but definitely antagonistic. Wasn't looking forward to inevitable 3-way romance, but it didn't happen yet (we'll see). I don't think Sameer needed to die to stop the romance but it was effective. PlotSurprisingly little plot, but that doesn't make it bad. The Violence did seema bit graphic but only in the sense that it was more than I was expecting from this book and less from others I've read. InvestmentVery exciting book. Keeps a good pace that makes you want to keep reading with plenty of places you could choose to stop if you wanted.LogicAffinities are slightly geographic but no one knows why. Basic Air, Fire, Water, Wind. But every mage has affinities of self. Small explanation in bookEnjoymentGreat fun. Lots of good momentsMiscCalling a Tornado that decimates the northerners in a quite literal sense. Fire and Air go good together but also dangerous to each other. Nice Wearing Black to the BallPhantom's notes to her. Definitely make her want to be a sorcerer by berating her about it very first.
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 10/09/2022

‘Air Awakens' is a novel written by Elise Kova, book one of the ‘Air Awakens' series. This novel is a fantasy, romance story about elemental magic and a library apprentice named Vhalla who's powers are awakening, which leads to the crowned prince to take an interest in her, as she also helped save his life.

The novel was a fast, fun read, that I enjoyed. Vhalla, the main character was frustrating at first, but her character developed as the novel progressed. The other characters were also very interesting, including the crowned prince and his younger brother.

Overall I enjoyed the novel in its entirety. I gave this novel a 4.5/5 Stars.

One of my favorite book series of all time is Elise Kova's Married To Magic series; a new adult fantasy romance “anthology” series, for lack of a better description. Having wanted to read more of Kova's books, I decided to start with her young adult debut.

I was unfortunately disappointed and underwhelmed.

The writing was subpar, which I was somewhat expecting. However, the content is what shocked me. I understand that this was her debut, but it was so surprisingly... not great (but not horrible either)?

Our main character, Vhalla, is pretty much a Mary Sue (as much as I hate to use the term) but also seemingly a self-insert of sorts? At least that's the vibe I got. The love interests are Thor and Loki, if Loki was the older sibling and had fire powers instead of ice powers. The story, world, and magic system is the most disappointing part as it is, from what I understand, a rip-off of Avatar: The Last Airbender. (It should be noted that I have not seen the show/film but I know enough about it to know this is accurate.)

The thing is, despite the unoriginality, this was still entertaining and enjoyable for the most part. I was going to give this 3.5 stars, however I found myself unexpectedly disappointed with the ending... I had hope that Vhalla would be cleared of her charges and sent to live and train in the Tower, but instead she was found guilty and sent to war? Unfortunate but whatever.

As much as I'm hesitant about this I will probably continue on with the series because a) I already have the spin offs (Vortex Visions and Trial of Sorcerers) gifted to me, b) I'm a completionist and c) I love Elise Kova lol. Fingers crossed that it's only up from here.

Kekaisaran Solaris hanya sejauh satu penaklukkan lagi dari menyatukan seluruh benua. Sihir elemental langka yang dimiliki oleh murid magang di perpustakaan Vhalla Yarl mampu membalikkan keadaan.
Vhalla diajarkan untuk takut pada Menara Penyihir, kelompok sihir misterius. Namun setelah tanpa sengaja dia menyelamatkan salah satu penyihir terkuat – putra mahkota pangeran Aldrik – Vhalla menjadi terseret dalam dunia penyihir.
Vhalla ternyata seorang windwalker, penyihir dengan afinitas langka, yang pertama setelah seratus lima puluh tahun. Ketika kekuatannya mulai bangkit, kekuatan tersebut akan terus bermanifestasi. Vhalla harus memilih, belajar mengontrol kekuatannya dan menjadi murid magang penyihir atau memusnahkan kekuatannya.
Pertama kali mencoba karya Elise Kova, dibaca di Kindle Unlimited. Buat aku world building dan magic systemanya cukup menarik, sepertinya aku belum pernah membaca yang mirip seperti Air Awakens ini.
Umumnya YA, kurang cocok sama insta-love kedua karakter utamanya. Namun buku ini sebagai pembuka seri cukup mudah diikuti dan ditulis dengan apik. Aku merekomendasikan Air Awakens ini untuk para penggemar fantasi.