What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller
First line: Given the extreme size of the king’s sword, Olerra felt certain the man was compensating for something.
Summary: In the kingdom of Amarra women rule the land and men are subservient. The potential future queen, Olerra, is trying to secure her ascension to the throne and the one way she believes will help is by stealing a husband from the neighboring kingdom of Brutus. This will show her strength and cunning to her people. Her intended target is the second son of the king of Brutus. He is known for his beauty and docile nature which will help with breaking him to her will.
Sanos, the crown prince of Brutus, has been raised for the throne but it hasn’t been easy. His father is abusive and controlling leading Sanos to do what he can to protect the rest of the family from his wrath. But one night in a drunken prank he takes the place of his brother and gets captured by an Amarran princess. Sanos is determined to escape and return to his kingdom but as he spends more time with the princess in her kingdom he finds the need for escape is slowly going away.
My Thoughts: I had no idea what I was getting into with this book. I have read most of Levenseller’s young adult works and really enjoyed them so I was definitely going to pick up her first adult book. While her YA books could be spicy this took it to a whole other level. She does preface the book with trigger warnings and reasoning behind the writing of this book which I found very insightful. So for this review I also want to let you know that the author’s note is a must read for anyone before starting What Fury Brings.
Now on to the actually review. I did enjoy this and how the world that is built here is something completely different. She turns most fantasy books on their head. This is a female led society and the women have an extra magical strength over men. But they are not the norm in the world they inhabit. It is only the kingdom of Amarra which has these rules. Everywhere else fits into the patriarchal mindset.
Olerra is a strong woman who is trying to do better for her people by winning the throne away from her greedy masochistic cousin. There were times I did not like her but as we learn more about her motives that lessens. The choices she makes are in the hopes of helping her people in the future but to get there she has to fit into some of her societies norms which are rather off putting.
The biggest issue was how quickly the relationship seems to change. I know that several weeks or months have gone by but to the reader it seems like less. When you consider what Olerra has done to Sanos I felt like things came to a conclusion rather fast. But with this being said I felt like the pacing was well done. It did not drag on and the conclusion was swift. This appears to be a standalone but I can see that the author does have a way that they could expand it beyond the first book if she so decides.
I will definitely continue to read Levenseller’s books but now I will be a little more prepared for what she will bring to her adult romantasy in the future.
FYI : Only available at the moment on Libby.