Sara's Review: The Beginning of Everything (The Rising #1) by Kristen Ashley
Updated: Jan 28, 2020
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PUBLISHER: Audible Studios
NARRATOR: Liz Thompson, Dina Pearlman, Stella Bloom, Joniece Abbott Pratt, Esther Wane, Gemma Dawson, Robin Miles, Clara Francesca, Lance Greenfield, Jakobi Diem, Ralph Lister, John Hartley, Rupert Channing, Sarah Coomes
RELEASED: November 26, 2019
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
LENGTH: 15 hours 14 minutes
FORMAT: Audible
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Once upon a time, in a parallel universe, there existed the continent of Triton. The land was filled with beauty, but it was also splintered by war. Out of the chaos grew a conspiracy to reawaken the Beast, a fearsome creature who wrought only tragedy and devastation. The only way to stop him was to fulfill an ancient prophecy: Triton’s four strongest warriors must wed its four most powerful witches, binding all nations together and finally bringing peace to the land.
This is the story of their unions: the quiet maiden Silence and the savage king Mars. The cold warrior Cassius and the fiery witch Elena. The steadfast soldier True and the banished beauty Farah. And the pirate king Aramus and the mysterious queen Ha-Lah. Their unions will not be easy, but each couple must succeed, for the fate of their world is at stake....
3.5 (FOUR) BOUNDLESS STARS
This series is set in the same world as Fantasyland (which I love) just on the other side of the green sea. A "Beast" is rising, and the most powerful four Witches must marry and consummate their marriages with the four most powerful warriors in the land to defeat the best.
Oh, and BTW there is a lot of M/M sex scenes in the book. So if that bothers anyone, skip this series.
If The Rising was written as Fantasyland and each book had two main Characters/couples, it would have worked. However, there are SO MANY characters, and with each chapter, we get a different POV I was honestly a bit lost until ¼ of the way through. I still get confused about some of the side characters. I almost DNF'd, it was so confusing. If you feel this way stick with it, it will get easier.
The Beginning of Everything introduces all of the main characters, and it loosely revolves around Silence and Mars. However, I do mean loosely because all the characters are heavily featured. So far, Silence is my Favorite, which is surprising since she is a silent clever little mouse of a woman. I am not a fan or Mars, and maybe he'll grow on me but meh so far. I like Cassius, and he is just so alpha, Elena, is a kick as chick that gets pushed around too much. The other two couples are yawn at least so far.
It really took me a while to get into this story, I appreciated the different narrators, but they still were not used to their fullest capacity. Not as "duet" style reading. One narrator reads each chapter instead of a character. With so many characters, it makes it even more confusing. I honestly think this book and probably series would be easier to read instead of audiobook.
Overall, I am giving The Beginning of Everything 3.5 Boundless Stars if I had a rough start, but I stuck with it, and by the end, I was ready for book 2.