My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Average Rating: 3.67 Stars
Pages: 380
ISBN-13: 9871500392710
*I received a free copy of Severance in exchange for an honest review*
"To be born Gaian is to be born gifted. That wasn’t always true, but as more infants were born with special talents of the mind, what was once considered abnormal became the majority. The ungifted were sent to Thalassa, an island chain off the coast of the mainland. These orphans grew up in a vassal kingdom forced to pay dues to its overseers. In Severance, the first book of The Sovereign, a Thalassan soldier and orphan gets wind of a plot against his island home and wages war against its oppressors. A captain’s daughter fights for a love across the cultural divide. An assassin’s need for power takes him on a bloody journey throughout both lands. And a princess tells the biggest lie in her nation’s history, protecting her family’s right to rule."- Goodreads
Severance was a good novel about the struggles those who are different face and the hard times involving war, deception, and power. It was well written and had many like-able characters, but it was very slow at times and it could get very confusing on which character is which due to the frequent switching of points of view. While the book had some flaws, I still found it to be a good read. It had great battle scenes and the plot was definitely intriguing. Lastly, the idea behind the world and the world building was pretty awesome. To be completely honest, the idea behind the world was the reason I said yes to reviewing this book in the first place. The world just captivated me because of the way that the Gaians' will just cast aside their children if they are not talented in mind reading. Especially since they are basically tested right after birth and then are shipped off to be a Thalassan orphan if they are cannot read minds.
On to a more light hearted topic, my favorite characters happened to be Xander and Ana because it was interesting to see this world through their eyes as well as see how their cultures differ. Xander is a Thalassan soldier and orphan that the book centers a lot on and Ana is the Gaian daughter of a Gaian Caption and a Thalassan infant caretaker. On the other hand, a character I actually thought that I would hate but didn't was Roselyn, who is the Thalassan Princess and Xander's ex-lover. There are definitely some things about her character that are unlikeable in my opinion, but I still couldn't find it in myself to hate her. However, a character I loathed entirely was Donovan, who is a really bad character that got on my nerves endlessly. However, that is kinda impossible to avoid when he is one the antagonists in this novel.
Overall, this was a good read and I would pick up the next installment. If you like war stories and stories that focus on two struggling races because one thinks they are better than the other, then I would suggest you pick this up.
Thanks for reading!
-Ashley <3
LINKS!
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24087084-severance
Authors' Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2892946.Michael_Pritsos
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7260199.Jessica_Mastorakos
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