The first boy disappeared on the day of his birth, on a night when the pale yellow moon of the nighttime sky turned red and bathed the heavens in the ghastly color of blood, on the same night the Kingdom of Cokyri abruptly ceased its merciless attack.
Across the land of Hytanica, under the shadow of the crimson moon, infant boys continued to vanish. Not until the blood had faded from the sky did the disappearances stop and the bodies of the murdered infants were found outside the gates of the city, a final word from the greatest enemy Hytanica had ever known. For the next sixteen years, peace reigned, but one mystery remained unsolved. The Cokyrians had abducted forty-nine newborns, but returned only forty-eight bodies.Now, as seventeen-year-old Princess Alera of Hytanica is besieged from all sides by suitors vying for the Throne, a teenage Cokyrian boy, Narian, is encountered within the walls of her Kingdom, a boy who will show Alera a world where women serve a purpose and not just a husband. As Narian helps Alera find her voice, she struggles against an arranged marriage that will shatter the life she has scarcely begun to live. And when Narian’s shocking past is uncovered, and war with Cokyri looms once more, he must fight to defy a fate ordained at his birth.
Danny: *sigh* What an awesome book. Seriously, it was absolutely great! See, I love historical fiction. And, this one is even more special since it is set in a fictional fantasy historical world that is just incredibly imaginative. I love what Cayla Kluver developed her and I envy her talent in creating such a world.
Also, I have to mention that she was only 15 when she created this work of fantastic fiction, but one would never guess this when reading her book.
Danny: In Legacy we have two rival communities that are in war with each other since a very long time. Also, they can’t be more different from each other. The Kingdom of Hytanica is like you would imagine a kingdom back in the middle ages. Very patriarchal, with a King and long beautiful gowns and Knight tournaments… The Kingdom of Cokyri, however, is very mysterious and one doesn’t know much about them. Apparently they are in contrast to Hytantica matriarchal, where women can rule and are able to fight instead of just looking pretty.
cutie: This is definitely a classic story of two fundamentally differing societies. My take while reading this novel was that while on the surface Hytanica seemed to be the more civilized of the two, their sometimes barbaric views of how females should behave made them not as progressive as the Cokyri.
Danny: The story is told from Alera’s POV, she’s the Crown Princess of Hytanica and is supposed to marry soon so that her father can retire from being king. Her father has already the perfect candidate for her, but… she despises him.
When Narian a long lost song of Hycantia comes in Alera’s life, everything changes for her. The way she sees herself and her kingdom….
Danny: I loved loved loooooveeddddd the characters the most. I love Alera’s voice, she is the perfect Crown Princess mature enough to know about her responsibilities but still young enough to break rules and be reckless. She seemed for me perfectly real and a very honest character. I could relate to all the decisions she made, which is very rare in literature for me. Often characters do things I have to shake me head. Alera stays true to her character the whole time. She is Crown Princess and this means sometimes she has to do what is best for her Kingdom not just best for her. I loved this!
cutie: Oh Danny… see… sadly, I didn’t like Alera. I know… I know. *hugs Danny* I just never got a handle on her and didn’t understand why she would do and say the things she did. Also… and I loath to say this, I thought she was a bit weak. I just wanted her to truly stand up for herself instead of doing what was expected of her. I also felt that the story’s action always took place without her and we had to wait for a secondary character to explain to Alera what was going on. I wanted her to be in the middle of it all, but instead I felt like she was merely along for the ride.
Danny: Alera’s bodyguard London is the most awesomnest secondary character ever. I think I have to beg Cayla for a book only about him!! I am in love with him!! My heart broke for him a few times in the book and I shed some tears on his behalf. Maybe we will get more of him in the next books? I sincerely hope so… and, don’t get me wrong, he’s not part of any Love Triangle here… he’s just the bodyguard… and oh so awesome!
cutie: Amen. Truly, he was a hottie. He was brave. He was fatherly. He was a smarty pants. He was pretty much the only comic relief. And did I mention he was hot?!
Danny: No, we can totally mention it again.. London was hot and I will beg Cayla for his own book.. yes I will beg!
Danny: : Stelton, the man Alera shall marry is a jerk. He’s arrogant and I although can’t like him, he’s again perfectly portrayed and described. But he’s also not easy to figure out which makes very intriguing despite is jerky behavior.
cutie: Classic manly man who is out to prove he’s the best and thinks people should bow down at his feet. He’s the character everyone loves to hate. While he annoyed me, I started to feel badly for him, cause he was far too easy to dislike, loath, despise, wish a bus would run him over. *evil chuckles*
Danny: Then there is Narian. The lost boy and …*swooon* he’s awesome and has everything I need in a boy to swoon over. Dark, mysterious, strong, determined and oh so sweet! Still, there is still so much to learn about him and I’m excited to find out more about him.
cutie: Narian was a great character and I just wish he’d had more time to shine. His “face time” in the book was so limited for me. I wanted to understand more about him, the curse, the lost boys, and what the heckles was going on!! But instead we learned about who was wearing what and how things smelled. Hopefully, these things will be addressed in the sequel, because frankly I just feel absolutely no resolution right now and I’m more confused then when I knew nothing about this book!
Danny…. do you still love me?
*bats eyelashes cutely*
Legacy is epic! It is an epic tale of forbidden love, loss, responsibilities, war, dark mysterious legends and two kingdoms so different from each other! The cast of characters is incredible and very deeply portrayed, one can see that the author spend time with her characters and each of them got the same love from her. Each one stayed true during the book and I loved to see their development. I can’t wait for more!
Danny’s Bewitched Rating:
Danny: I cannot stress enough how impressed I am by this book especially considering she was only 15 (I guess right now she get’s tired of hearing this) but it’s true! She not only create remarkable characters but also a new world… I am in awe…
The story has been sold to 18 countries and is already released there. Cayla also released Legacy before through amazon, this is why there are several versions on amazon and also on goodreads. And I was this *holds fingers only mini inces apart* to go ahead and buy the german version. But I wanted to stay true to Harlequin who not only gave this book the exposure it deserves but also this beautiful cover.
Also, I always love what HarlequinTeen does with the Chapter beginnings, always this beautiful ornament … I love that visual appeal!
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And I'll say it again, London was awesome!! And so hot. *swoon* I have to agree with Cutie though. All that extra description killed me. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the sequel!
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I can't believe she was only 15 when she wrote this, that's ridiculously amazing and impressive. I love too how you guys had such different reactions to this one, it was fun to read both your individual thoughts at the same time. I'm curious about this one, but I might wait a little while to try it:)
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I've thought about getting this one but I'm a bit torn (besides my TBR is nearly reaching the ceiling and that's not even my ebooks!). I like historical fantasy but I think it's a delicate balance between enough description and too much. I think I'll hold off for now but I do have to say London sounds a bit yummy… we'll see…
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