Review: Air Awakens by Elise Kova

Air Awakens

by Elise Kova

Genre: YA Fantasy, Magic, Romance

Publication: August 27th 2015 by Silver Wing Press

Series: Air Awakens #1

Length: 392 pages

Format: eBook provided by author

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A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond…

The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.

Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for reviewing purposes. I was not compensated for this honest review.

Since the summer I started blogging, I’ve seen AIR AWAKENS around Goodreads, Twitter, and all sorts of other social media. Needless to say, when I was offered an opportunity to review this, I jumped on it.

AIR AWAKENS follows the journey of a library apprentice, Vhalla Yarl, who discovers that she has magic over the air, namely a Windwalker, something that hasn’t been seen in a hundred and fifty years. When she saves the life of Prince Aldrik, she gets sucked into the inner strife within the kingdom.

Vhalla is a fantastic character. She goes through so many obstacles, so much death and strife, but she still manages to keep her innocence and sanity (although she faints a fair amount in the novel). She definitely has so much going on within her and it was incredible to see her character development throughout the book.

The romance was also amazing. I loved Aldrik and Baldair (and even Sareem despite how clingy he was). They all fit with Vhalla in different ways; they had their own personalities and all brought out different aspects within Vhalla. Both princes were multi-dimensional, and it was interesting to see how much Aldrik changed throughout the course of the book and how much I started to dislike Baldair (he seemed weak-willed).

My only complaint (for lack of a better word) was the amount of typical tropes found in many YA novels; I knew Vhalla was going to be super important and incredibly powerful from the start, and I knew that there was going to be a romantic relationship in progress between her and Aldrik. I knew that there was going to a mysterious brother and a “heartbreaker” brother so it was a bit extraneous to read. Apparently, it doesn’t bother me that much, because I still adored every bit of this book.

Overall, it was a thrilling ride, packed with lots of action and romance. And if you’re anything like me and you love romance-fantasies (and pretty covers), definitely pick this one up!

★★★★½ / 5

Have you read AIR AWAKENS yet? Are you planning to? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!