Review: The Waking Land

Title: The Waking Land
Author: Callie Bates
Pages: 400
Published by: Hodder and Stoughton
Release date: 29th June 2017
Synopsis:
It’s been fourteen years, since King Antoine took Elanna hostage. Fourteen years since her father’s rebellion failed. Fourteen years spent being raised by the man who condemned her people to misery. A man she’s come to love as a father.

Now 20, Elanna is about to be taken prisoner once again… but this time by her father’s mysterious righthand man.

Her father wants to reignite his rebellion, this time using Elanna as figurehead. He will tell his followers she is the legendary Wildegarde reborn, a sorceress who could make the very earth tremble.

But what no one knows is that magic really does flow through Elanna’s veins. Now she must decide which side she’s on, and whether she’ll use her powers for mercy… or revenge.

Purchase from: Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of The Waking Land to review!

Review:

I was so excited to read The Waking Land when I first heard about it. I was immediately drawn in by the synopsis, and had high hopes for it. But while I did enjoy it, it unfortunately didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

I liked Elanna’s character development, how she overcame her fear of her magic and began to see through the lies and hatred that she’d been taught during the time she was held prisoner. I enjoyed the romance despite feeling that it was a little rushed, but I didn’t feel like there was enough development of the other characters besides the love interest, Jahan, and I didn’t feel a particular connection to a lot of them. I thought that there wasn’t enough development of the relationships between them and Elanna.

While I loved the concept of the magic and the world that it is set in, as well as the focus on nature, I thought that it didn’t live up to its full potential because of the lack of world building at the beginning of the book which lead to a bit of confusion at times. The writing style, however, was beautiful, and I found it very easy to be able to read the book in a few sittings.

Despite the issues that I had with The Waking Land, I did enjoy it as a whole, and if there is a sequel, I will definitely make sure to pick it up now that the world has been established!

Rating: ★★★☆☆