Beth's Review: Ariah by B.R. Sanders

Author Request Publisher: Zharmae Released: May 28th 2015 Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy Length: 334 pages Format: Ebook, Paperback Add to Goodreads Buy Links

Amazon Author Links

Website | Twitter | Facebook Synopsis

Ariah's magical training has been interrupted. Forced to rely on a mentor, Dirva, who is not who he claims to be, and a teacher who is foreign and powerful, Ariah is drawn into a culture wholly different from the elven one that raised him.

As his friendship with Dirva's brother blossoms into a surprising romance, and he slowly learns how to control the dangerous magic in his blood, life finally appears to be coming together for Ariah—but love and security are cut short by a tyrannical military empire bent on expanding its borders.

War, betrayal, passion, and confusion follow Ariah as his perilous journey leads him beyond the walls of the Empire, and into unfamiliar territory within himself. Along the way, he’ll discover just how much he’s willing to give up to find his place in the world, and he’ll learn what it means to sacrifice himself for freedom—and for love.

Four (3.5) Boundless Stars

Ariah, titled by the name of the main character, is the tale of a man and his unique life. Ariah is an elf in a very different world from any I’ve ever read about. Written in the first person point of view, Ariah takes us on the journey of his many life experiences, or perhaps I should say the many lives as he experiences them. This is also a “coming to adulthood” type of story which mixes well with his journey and all the interesting characters he meets along the way.

Ariah is an elf with many “talents,” which means he has several magical gifts. It’s interesting to learn about each one as he is trained to control them. I appreciate the way Sanders brought everyone to life and gave readers simple explanations of the different towns, their citizens, and their very diverse lifestyles. This is a very good story, but it was neither an easy nor a quick read. The 334 pages are filled with some exciting parts; unfortunately, there are also several parts that lost my interest, which felt the longest to get through. Due to the excessive use of the different languages and slang, the dialog was hard to follow at times.

Overall, I enjoyed Ariah and felt it was good. This book was a strong 3.5 star book for me.