Reviewing Debut Novel Relic by Bronwyn Eley

Title: Relic
Series: The Relic Trilogy
Author: Bronwyn Eley
Publication Date: September 12th, 2019
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In the city of Edriast, there is no deadlier duty than to serve as the Shadow.

As the personal servant of the powerful Lord Rennard, the Shadow's life is all but forfeit. Rennard possesses one of five rare and dangerous Relics – a jewel that protects his bloodline, but slowly poisons everyone else in its proximity. When the current Shadow succumbs to its magic, nineteen-year-old blacksmith Kaylan is summoned to take his place. It's an appointment that will kill her.

As the time Kaylan has left ebbs away, hope begins to fade...

That is, until she discovers a plot to destroy all five bloodlines in possession of the Relics. As her life hangs in the balance and rebellion bears down on Edriast, Kaylan must decide where her loyalties lie – and how she'll leave her mark on the world.

Review

I received an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Eley's strength lies in her ability to evoke sensations and emotions. She describes the experience of being near the relic and the effects it has on Kaylan in such a vivid manner that I was physically recoiling in some moments. The use of language works, making it easy for me to position myself within the scenes and feel as though I was there with Kaylan as well. She was also able to set up the plot and world quite well by the end of the novel. However, I would say that it took me awhile to fully understand how the world worked and why the relic was so important. Furthermore, majority of this first book was dedicated to just setting up for the climax of this series. It's not a bad thing per se, but I was hoping to see some action or scenes that didn't just involve talking. If anything, Eley's managed to build a solid foundation in which I'm hoping will launch us into an action-packed second book that is a lot more gripping and intense.

I struggled to fully love Kaylan as the protagonist, but can acknowledge that there must be more to her than what has been revealed in Relic. I did come to love Markus, but felt like he was written for readers to be attracted to - as really the only male that is of any interest. At first, I couldn't grasp whether Lord Rennard was suppose to be a villain or a flawed character to empathise with and learn to understand. Even now I'm conflicted as to how to feel about him, only because the characters that are around him and seemingly know him aren't also sure how they feel about him either. I'd like to think that there will be more characters revealed in the second instalment that could perhaps be written with more conviction.

The plot line is intriguing and different to many of the other YA fantasy novels out there, in that the protagonist does not support some form of cause (at least not yet) and the desire for power isn't necessarily driven by an individual or group. It really questions human nature and why people fight for what they believe in, which I liked. I'm interested to see where Eley takes this trilogy when it comes to world expansion, character growth and overall plot development. If you're up for exploring a debut Australian author in a world that's questioning its own authority and bound for change - good or bad - definitely give Relic a try!

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Gemina Was As Amazing As I Thought It'd Be

Title: Gemina 
Series: The Illuminae Files
Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
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Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed. 

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station's wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They've totally got this. They hope.

Source: Goodreads

Review

I don't know why it took me so long to actually pick up Gemina, seeing as I loved Illuminae, but boy was I in for a ride. Yet again, Kaufman and Kristoff sucked me back into the world and had me on edge for most of it.

Originally I was kind of disappointed that the sequel to this series was going to be a companion novel because I miss Kady and Ezra so much! That didn't last very long though. Nik and Hanna are amazing individuals themselves - both sassy, hilarious and just genuinely likeable characters. They definitely did remind me of Kady and Ezra but it didn't feel like a character mould that the authors re-used in this secondary book. We're also introduced to Nik's cousin Ella who stole the spotlight for me. As much as I loved the two protagonists, Ella was super smart and witty, easily a character I would've wanted to become friends with in real life.

The setup of Gemina follows that of Illuminae with IM chats, diagrams, transcripts and just every artsy thing that kept me interested. I think I lived for the IM chats between Nik and Hanna because it was such a creative way to convey how their relationship progressed and also a way to get to know them. I found that I was never lost, despite the pretty complex sci-fi references, because there was always a diagram or image that displayed what the text was trying to explain.

Even with minimal text, the story was constantly action packed and intense. There were so many gripping moments and at the climax I was actually quite overwhelmed by emotion. I also liked that there were references back to Illuminae and events just seemed to make more sense or built up towards what could potentially happen if Heimdall and Hypatia ever met up.

I do still think I love Illuminae (review here) just a bit more - more because it introduced me to the world and the characters. In saying that, Gemina is one of the rare sequels that live up to the expectations set by the initial book, and for that I would highly recommend anyone who hasn't started the series to do it. Now!

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