Darkest Addictions Book Reviews: YA Review: Wings of Arian by Devri Walls

Series: The Solus Trilogy, Book 1
Format: Kindle Edition
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Publisher: Stonehouse Ink
Links: Amazon - B&N - GoodReads

Synopsis:

Kiora thought she had never heard a lie until she was sixteen. But she was wrong. Her entire existence was based on nothing but. She thought that evil did not exist. Lie. That magic was not real. Lie. And that the land of Meros was all there was. One more lie.

With Aleric telling her that evil is knocking on the door and that she is the only one who can stop them she has a choice to make. Refuse, or start the wildest most painful ride of her life.

She reluctantly dips her toe into her new existence of magic and threads, dragons and shapeshifters, and the person who wants to take control of it all: the evil Dralazar.

However, this journey was never meant to be hers alone. She will be accompanied by a Protector. To her disbelief, and utter irritation they name the hotheaded, stubborn, non -magical, (albeit gorgeous) Prince Emane. They will have to trust each other with their lives, but right now Kiora would settle for a non hostile conversation.

And now it comes down to this, If you had never heard a lie, would you know when you heard one? Is knowing good from evil innate? Kiora finds herself having to decide who lives and who dies on those very questions.

*A copy was provided by XPRESSO BOOK TOURS for review

I've had this book on my TBR for some time now, the cover alone was enough to entice me, but the synopsis also caught my attention. Imagine a world where everything is peaceful, there are no lies and you grow up believing that the land you're a part of is all there is. But what happens when one day someone comes along and tells you that your entire existence is a lie? Your once quiet mundane life is turned right side up and you find yourself battling creatures you could only imagine in fairy tales? For sixteen year old Kiora that's exactly what happens, and placed upon her shoulders is the fate of Meros and the lands around them.

I was intrigued from the very beginning, and I loved how Devri Walls kept me coming back for more each and every time. After thousands of years of living in peace, evil once again rises and the need for a Solus and their Protector is imminent, but for the people of Meros, evil is not something they are aware of. The king had decided long ago to keep what happened thousands of years prior, (all the death, destruction and pain) from his people. In his mind it was for the best, they needn't know what occurred or that magic does in fact exist. But thanks to this decision, his people aren't prepared to fight evil, and Kiora is left baffled and has to learn quickly about magic, dragons, pain, lies and destruction before it's too late.

Kiora was one of those characters I would have gladly pushed off a cliff, and I honestly didn't understand what made her so special other than she might be the last Solus. She cried... for everything! Someone raised their voice at her? She Cries. She trips? She Cries. Her magic doesn't do as she wishes? She cries. Someone on the bad team dies? Cries. Someone falls in love with her? She CRIES, smh... ENOUGH already!! [Kill Me Now, Please?] I understand her compassion and the fact that she wasn't raised, or didn't grow up in a world where there was evil, but this girl needed backbone. I also didn't like how her and the rest of the magical community kept so much from Emane. Sure he doesn't have magic and he couldn't possibly understand much of it, but he IS a vital part of this journey and keeping things from him or completely disregarding his feelings was unnecessary and frustrated the hell out of both of us >.<

As far as disappointments, Kiora's incessant whining was the one that topped the list, actually it was the only problem I had with this book. I loved most of the characters in this book. Prince Emane goes from this arrogant can't-think-for-himself-because-of-his-father's-ideals- Prince to a strong young man who one day would be capable to run his own kingdom. I do believe that he's got so much more growing to do, and I'm looking forward to reading more about him in book two. A couple other characters that stood out to me were Arturo, the pegasus and Morcant, the dragon, they're interesting magical beings and the banter between Emane and Arturo was priceless. I would have loved to see more of Dralazar's evil ways however, sometimes it seemed that he was only there to fill a hole.

All in all however, Wings of Arian is a breathtaking High Fantasy YA novel with twists and turns, secrets, betrayals and action packed romance woven into a world of lies on the brink of war!