Book Review: Air Awakens by Elise Kova

Rating: 4.5/10 (I’m being harsh, but I’m annoyed! I don’t like feeling underwhelmed after reading a book, especially when it’s the first of a series. It loses points for giving a series a relatively weak start.)

This book actually creates a really interesting world, and has a really cool fantasy concept. The main character, Vhalla, works as a library apprentice in the palace. In a land where sorcerers are feared, the Crown Prince is one himself. Each region of the empire (the West conquered the other three eventually) has sorcerers with an affinity for a certain element. Honestly, I liked the idea. Unfortunately, it was never completely explained. I learned bits of the history of this world and how magic worked, but the problem is the Vhalla doesn’t really know much, so I was left pretty confused as to what each power was, what it could do, and how it affected the sorcerer. I have to give the author points for the character of the Crown Prince, who was pretty interesting, and whom I ended up liking despite my original disdain. Unfortunately, his character and relationship with Vhalla don’t make up for how confusing and unclear the book is. Throughout the book, Vhalla is clueless and in a constant state of confusion. She never knows what is going on, yet becomes involved in the world of sorcery and court politics. As a result, the reader is kept pretty much constantly in the dark. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure what the plotline was. While I understand the need for there to be some questions so that I’m left wanting to read the second book, to have no idea what is going on is pretty frustrating. Finally, as the first book of the series, I’m supposed to be left wanting more, delighted with the book, pulled into the story’s world, and ready to binge the entire series. Instead, I couldn’t make myself start the second book. Altogether, I was left kind of disappointed.