Neliem

by Clare Di Liscia

Description

Oriana dreams of escaping her life of ruthless cruelty from the people who now rule over those who remain. No telling whom the plague will strike next, Oriana means to find freedom for herself and her people. Drawing strength from ancient tales of her enemy, young Oriana transforms herself from victim to warrior with the help of a mysterious and powerful dagger given to her by a kind and dying boy. Years later, during her enemy's betrothal ritual, Ezra, a boy she has never before seen, show more selects her as his mate. With servitude her only option, Oriana accepts the offer. Whisked away to a seemingly perfect world, Oriana discovers sinister secrets at every turn, including the identity of Tristan, a boy with whom she shares an undeniable but impossible connection. Why would a boy she doesn't know wish her to be his betrothed? Why does she feel such a strong pull toward a stranger? Someone in Ezra's family not only knows the answer to both those questions, but also about the dagger Oriana possesses. He will do anything to stop the union. Now, with everything on the line, Oriana turns inward to find the strength she needs to seize the full power of the dagger so that she may protect herself and save her people. show less

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Benboo 99 reviews

Good story and descriptive development of characters. Female character pining away a bit too much, but all in all, a strong writing style and good story telling made this a compelling read.

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Jan 28, 2023

spoirier27 5 reviews

I was selected and given an advanced copy. The summary of the book was very interesting to me, I like to read all sorts of genres but I have definitely been in a fantasy mood lately. It's taken me a few days to write this review and I still am not sure I know exactly what I want to say. This book has so much potential. Really, it does. I liked the characters and it had a good core story; it just really missed the mark for me. I won't give any spoilers, but there was so much description in small, almost insignificant things, such as how many steps it would take to cross a room, how many exits, how to inflict the most pain, etc... and then more important parts needed way more description. I was left with so many questions. I would have show more gladly read another 100-200 pages to get the full story. There was so much talk for no action. As I had mentioned, describing exit points and inflicting pain, yet never did she act on any of it... Just a bit at the start then it was just wasted, with some mentions of how it helped her in the past, yet there was never really much detail into her past. I just felt it could have gone deeper. Strange things would happen (her thinking something and it would happen - or the star) and no explanation was given. Were all three of them Neliem? Is that even possible? Was it all Ezra doing it, or was it Tristan and her as well???? Why weren't there more spirits and ghosts? Why wasn't that described more? There were just too many points lightly brushed over. I'm all for imagination (hello, fantasy!) but this was too much. Could have been great, to me it was just OK. Even if there was a sequel, there shouldn't be so much left to explain. show less