Review: Beyond the Red - Ava Jae

Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.

Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.

When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves in to the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide.

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Review:
I've been really struggling to write this review because I had such high hopes for Beyond the Red and it just didn't live up to my expectations. I really liked the arid desert setting and I actually quite liked both of the main characters when they were apart but the second the two were thrown together things went downhill quickly and unfortunately that happens very early on in the story. What I wanted was more world building, I wanted to know more about the nomadic life the humans lived and I would have liked to have seen Eros spending more time with his family before everything went so horribly wrong. It all happened so fast that I never really felt invested in what was going on so no matter how tragic it was I didn't have the emotional connection I needed to be left heartbroken.

I also wanted to know more about the alien race Kora comes from, we learn very little of their customs or their history and there was just nothing that made them stand out as different to humans apart from that they're taller, faster, stronger and have weird markings on their skin. Instead of building a rich and detailed culture we get random words thrown at us that were either totally made up and used with very little explanation or were weird amalgamations of words we already use that just looked ridiculous (I wanted to throw my kindle every time I saw kinduv and that was repeated no less than thirty-seven times throughout the story but there were quite a few sortuv's too & I rolled my eyes at every single one of them).

It wasn't the world building that killed the story though, that honor goes to the most ridiculous case of insta-love that I've ever come across. To fully explain how crazy it was I'm really going to have to veer into spoiler territory so be warned if you decide to continue reading this review.

****SPOILERS BELOW****
(I'm pretty sure all of this happens within the first 10 chapters of the book but look away now if you don't want to see spoilers)

Let's just imagine you're Eros, you're a half human/half alien who was abandoned at birth by your parents and you've always been treated by an outsider by the humans you live with. The aliens believe half-bloods should be killed at birth though so you're lucky to still be alive and at least you've always been loved and respected by your adopted human parents, their son and his family. Now try to imagine the aliens invading your camp and brutally murdering over 200 humans, including most of the family you adore, right in front of your eyes. All this before you are taken captive alongside over 60 women and children, you are all humiliated, beaten and abused, stripped of your clothing and completely dehumanised before being permanently branded as a slave. Everything that happened to you and your people was done under orders from the alien queen Kora, something she never denies and never really apologises for.

So now you're a slave with no rights and with no choices and Kora decides that her personal guard can't be trusted so of course it makes perfect sense for her to make a reviled half-blood - someone who knows that she was responsible for the slaughter of the family who loved and raised him! - her bodyguard. If you don't agree she will have you sentenced to death so I can't really blame you for going along with it, especially since it gives you the chance to help some of the survivors of the attack, but surely you'll never feel anything but hate for the woman who destroyed your entire life? Surely you won't spend your entire time trying not to notice her beauty or the sexy curves she reveals when she undresses in front of you? Surely you wouldn't climb into her bed to comfort her when she has a nightmare the very first night you are forced to stay in her room? Surely you'd be angry and bitter and resent every moment of time you spent with her? Well apparently not in this case because Eros does all of those things and more!

****END MAJOR SPOILERS****

I could have probably got on board with the romance if it had been done slowly, if we had seen Eros and Kora gradually get to know each other, if they had taken time to talk about what had happened to Eros's family and the entire tribe that raised him, if Kora had admitted making mistakes and had apologised and tried to find a way to make things right. If that had happened BEFORE Eros started mooning over her I might have believed it but it didn't. Okay it takes a lot longer to get to the kissy kissy stuff, and to be honest there isn't an epic romance between them yet but their thoughts around each other are just totally unbelievable and unrealistic from the minute they meet and that totally goes both ways.

Don't even get me started on the issue of Kora announcing that a half-blood is going to be her new bodyguard and nobody questioning it, I'm pretty damn sure that her court would make sure she was chaperoned around her male guards too and I don't think there's any way in hell that her brother (the captain of her guard) would let her spend time with Eros alone. She may be the queen but nobody listens to her when she makes any other kind of decision so I doubt she'd get her own way here and I can't really see why she'd want to. It just doesn't make sense.

This review is already pretty long but there are still a couple of things that I really feel I have to mention. There is a second completely unbelievable case of love at first sight when a prince arrives offering Kora a marriage contract, I mean why have one case of insta-love when you can have two and make it an insta-triangle? Because we all know how much readers love triangles! What about including attempted rape? Obviously the threat of being executed for treason isn't enough when you can remind girls everywhere that there are fates worse than death. I absolutely HATE the use of attempted rape as a way to add danger to a story, there are a million other ways you can go without using it as a cheap plot device as a way to raise tension, especially if it has no further impact on the plot or any of the characters.

I feel like I've really ripped this book to shreds which is awful because I hate writing negative reviews but this story had so much potential and it just could have been so much better. There must have been something going for it because I did keep reading until the end and I actually read the whole book relatively quickly because it was very fast paced and had plenty of action going on but the negatives far outweigh the positives and I have to be honest about that. I have to warn you that there are a lot of unanswered questions at the end too, it resolves a few things but it's quite a major cliffhanger considering we have no confirmation of a sequel. I can pretty much guess how things would play out so I'm not too bothered by the lack of resolution and to be honest I doubt I'd read a second book even if one is published but I think it's worth being aware of before you pick up the book.

Source: Received from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Other Reviews:
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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2016 Debut Novels I'm Looking Forward To.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week has a different theme & you can find all the details about how to join in HERE.

Today's topic is Top Ten 2016 Debut Novels I'm Looking Forward To and there are lots of books coming out next year that I'm already REALLY excited about!

I'm going to include the covers & blurbs (where available) and then I'll link to the Goodreads page for each book in case you want to add them to your TBR shelves. These are listed in no particular order.

1. Rebel of the Sands - Alwyn Hamilton
(Goodreads Page)

Sold immediately at auction across the world, this phenomenal novel is the first in a trilogy packed with shooting contests, train robberies, festivals under the stars, powerful Djinni magic and an electrifying love story. This promises to be a global super lead.

"Tell me that and we'll go. Right now. Save ourselves and leave this place to burn. Tell me that's how you want your story to go and we'll write it straight across the sand."

Dustwalk is Amani's home. The desert sand is in her bones. But she wants to escape. More than a want. A need.

Then a foreigner with no name turns up to save her life, and with him the chance to run. But to where? The desert plains are full of danger. Sand and blood are swirling, and the Sultan's enemies are on the rise.

2. This is Where it Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
(Goodreads Page)

10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama's high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03
The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05
Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student's calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

3. Beyond the Red - Ava Jae
(Goodreads Page)

Alien queen Kora has a problem as vast as the endless crimson deserts. She’s the first female ruler of her territory in generations, but her people are rioting and call for her violent younger twin brother to take the throne. Despite assassination attempts, a mounting uprising of nomadic human rebels, and pressure to find a mate to help her rule, she’s determined to protect her people from her brother’s would-be tyrannical rule.

Eros is a rebel soldier hated by aliens and human alike for being a half-blood. Yet that doesn’t stop him from defending his people, at least until Kora’s soldiers raze his camp and take him captive. He’s given an ultimatum: be an enslaved bodyguard to Kora, or be executed for his true identity—a secret kept even from him.

When Kora and Eros are framed for the attempted assassination of her betrothed, they flee. Their only chance of survival is to turn themselves in to the high court, where revealing Eros’s secret could mean a swift public execution. But when they uncover a violent plot to end the human insurgency, they must find a way to work together to prevent genocide.

4. Burning Glass - Kathryn Purdie
(Goodreads Page)

Sonya was born with the rare gift to feel what those around her feel—both physically and emotionally—a gift she’s kept hidden from the empire for seventeen long years. After a reckless mistake wipes out all the other girls with similar abilities, Sonya is hauled off to the palace and forced to serve the emperor as his sovereign Auraseer.

Tasked with sensing the intentions of would-be assassins, Sonya is under constant pressure to protect the emperor. One mistake, one small failure, will cost her own life and the lives of the few people left in the world who still trust her.

But Sonya’s power is untamed and reckless, her feelings easily usurped, and she sometimes can’t decipher when other people’s impulses end and her own begin. In a palace full of warring emotions and looming darkness, Sonya fears that the biggest danger to the empire may be herself.

As she struggles to wrangle her abilities, Sonya seeks refuge in her tenuous alliances with the volatile Emperor Valko and his idealistic younger brother, Anton, the crown prince. But when threats of revolution pit the two brothers against each other, Sonya must choose which brother to trust—and which to betray.

BURNING GLASS is debut author Kathryn Purdie’s stunning tale of dangerous magic, heart-rending romance, and the hard-won courage it takes to let go.

5. Sword and Verse - Kathy MacMillan
(Goodreads Page)

Raisa was only a child when she was kidnapped and enslaved in Qilara. Forced to serve in the palace of the king, she’s endured hunger, abuse, and the harrowing fear of discovery: everyone knows she is Arnath, but not that Raisa is a Learned One, a part of an Arnath group educated in higher order symbols. In Qilara, this language is so fiercely protected that only the King, the Prince, and Tutors are allowed to know it. So when the current Tutor-in-training is executed for sharing the guarded language with slaves, and Raisa is chosen to replace her, Raisa knows that—although she may have a privileged position among slaves—any slip-up could mean death.

That would be challenging enough, but training alongside Prince Mati could be her real undoing. And when a romance blossoms between them, she’s suddenly filled with a dangerous hope for something she never before thought possible: more. Then she’s propositioned by the Resistance—an underground army of slaves—to help liberate the Arnath people. Joining the rebellion could mean freeing her people…but she’d also be aiding in the war against her beloved—an honorable man that she knows wants to help the slaves.

Working against the one she loves—and a palace full of deadly political renegades—has some heady consequences. As Raisa struggles with what’s right, she unwittingly uncovers a secret that the Qilarites have long since buried…one that, unlocked, could bring the current world order to its knees.

And Raisa is the one holding the key.

6. Shallow Graves - Kali Wallace
(Goodreads Page)

Breezy remembers leaving the party, the warm, wet grass under her feet, her cheek still stinging from a slap to the face. But when she wakes up, scared and pulling dirt from her mouth, a year has passed and she can’t explain the necklace of bruises around her neck. She also can’t explain the man lying at her grave, dead from her touch.

Returning home seems impossible. Her parents and sisters have clearly grieved and struggled to move on, and Breezy can’t begin to answer their inevitable questions. Her heartbeat comes and goes, she doesn’t need to eat or drink, she can see the inky memories of murderers, and she can somehow pull on this dark guilt to kill them. Haunted by the happy memories from her life and disgusted by the half-dead creature she’s become, Breezy embarks on a reckless quest to find answers and a dangerous healing magic…but the cure is as dark and terrible as the disease.

Set in a gorgeous, terrifying world, Shallow Graves is a stunning novel about the heartbreaking trauma of a girl’s life cut short and her struggle to reconcile her humanity with the creature she’s become.

7. Assassin's Heart - Sarah Ahiers
(Goodreads Page)

In the kingdom of Lovero, nine rival Families of assassins lawfully kill people for a price. As a highly skilled member of one of these powerful clans, seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana has always trusted in the strength of her Family. Until she awakens to find them murdered and her home in flames. The Da Vias, the Saldanas’ biggest enemy, must be responsible—and Lea should have seen it coming. But her secret relationship with the Da Vias’ son, Val, has clouded her otherwise killer instinct—and given the Da Vias more reason than ever to take her Family down.

Racked with guilt and shattered over Val’s probable betrayal, Lea sets out to even the score, with her heart set on retaliation and only one thought clear in her mind: make the Da Vias pay.

With shades of The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet, this richly imagined fantasy from debut author Sarah Ahiers is a story of love, lies, and the ultimate vengeance.

8. These Vicious Masks - Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
(Goodreads Page)

Jane Austen meets X-­Men in this gripping and adventure-­filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

9. Beautiful Broken Things - Sara Barnard
(Goodreads Page)

I was brave
She was reckless
We were trouble

Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.

10. The Square Root of Summer - Harriet Reuter Hapgood
(Goodreads Page)

My heart is a kaleidoscope, and when we kiss it makes my world unravel...

Last summer, Gottie’s life fell apart. Her beloved grandfather Grey died and Jason left her – the boy to whom she lost her virginity (and her heart) – and he wouldn’t even hold her hand at the funeral! This summer, still reeling from twin heartbreaks, Gottie is lost and alone and burying herself in equations. Until, after five years absence, Thomas comes home: former boy next door. Former best friend. Former everything. And as life turns upside down again she starts to experience strange blips in time – back to last summer, back to what she should have seen then...

During one long, hazy summer, Gottie navigates grief, world-stopping kisses and rips in the space-time continuum, as she tries to reconcile her first heartbreak with her last. The Square Root of Summer is an astounding and moving debut from Harriet Reuter Hapgood.

So are any of these on your wish list? Which 2016 debuts are you most excited about?