Rift by Andrea Cremer

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Atom

Pages: 455pgs

The Story

Discover where the Nightshade series began . . .

Ember has always known that she owed her life to a mysterious order of Knights who saved her as a baby. The same order of Knights who called her best friend to service, leaving her behind to play the dutiful daughter.

But shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Alistair returns. Although he seems altered - shadowed and brooding - Ember places her trust in him, knowing that he's her one chance to escape.

Little does she know what danger lies ahead. For this is a tumultuous time, and Ember will soon be caught up in an age-old struggle between darkness and light. Neither she, nor her heart, can possibly survive unscathed.

The Review

A big thanks to Hachette Australia for sending me a review copy of this book!

RIFT is a prequel young adult series and opens us up to a magical world set hundreds of years prior to and from the same world of Andrea Cremer's Nightshade series, where the Keepers first originated from. For women of this medieval world, they are expected to be married off and bear children for their husbands. Not fight in violent wars and wield weapons of men. So for our main leading lady, Ember Morrow, her parents made a promise (a debut) at her birth to save her mother's life: For when she comes of age she must fight alongside the Guard in the heart of Conatus where there is a group of women who are just as strong as men in the battlefield. And, to escape an arranged marriage, she is more than happy and willing to leave her old life behind and join the Guard. But when her arrival causes a stir and when one of the leaders is dabbling in dark magics, Ember will soon need to trust her own heart and her instinct, and to learn how to become a fierce warrior in order to save the world as she knows of so far.

While I enjoyed Andrea Cremer's Nightshade series but since the last book Bloodrose wasn't my favourite final installment, I'm now really, really pleased to say that this new trilogy series was even better than Nightshade! Seriously, where has this book been all my life? Where has Andrea Cremer been hiding this wonderful masterpiece of literature  From the very first page I drawn into this storyline, and with each chapter and in each line . . . it made me SO involved with everything going on within the book and I just didn't want to leave this world behind. Ever. Set in the fifteenth century and in my favourite place of Scotland, RIFT delivers a wonderful blend of fantasy and historical fiction, along with some new characters, and hell practically every single word featured in this big world made me disappear from my own reality so once again excellent job to the author for doing that to me!

What made this series shine even more than it already did, you know besides the amazing storyline and the setting, was the main character, Ember Morrow, a girl who isn't too afraid to wield the most deadliest of all weapons nor waver from her fierce determination and rocking personality. Reminding me of the likes of Vampire Academy's Rose Hathaway and Hunger Games's Katniss Everdeen, Ember is just the kind of character you can't help but love and relate to instantly, and with every bit of emotion and every feeling that she felt, I ended up feeling which I'm sure every reader loves to experience at one stage with their favourite heroines. There is so much praise for Ember (obviously from me) and at the moment I just can't express how much I adored her character . . . there is way too many words for her alone!

While I expected some sort of a love triangle to occur, much like what happened in the Nightshade series (a pointless love triangle mind you), but I'm pretty darn happy that there is not one single love triangle in this book. At least not one that I could see happening since it's pretty obvious to whom Ember is slowly falling in love with and that is her mentor. An honourable man abided by his duties and armed with gorgeous looks, and a man with a serious and a part-vulnerable side to him, Barrow is one man you can't help but swoon over. Reminding me so much of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy character, Dimitri Belikov (a man I still love), Barrow just had this grace and raw intensity about him every time he leaped up onto the page and it's no wonder why Ember fell in love with him because I was too! One moment he is melting your heart and the next he is this out-of-this-world glorious warrior . . . yes, clearly the interaction between Barrow and Ember has this perfect balance of warmth to this fierce and out of control flame, and boy was it hot to witness! Why Andrea Cremer? Why write these hot and serious MEN? I seriously need a Barrow of my own!!! If anyone can let me know where to find one I will forever be grateful!

Overall, Andrea Cremer has once again weaved together the perfect combination of action, adventure, romance, fantasy, politics and history all into one perfect book. Whether or not you enjoyed the author's previous Nightshade series, RIFT still delivers more in every single book element and it is simply a book you cannot afford to miss out on! I LOVED IT . . . LIKE THIS MUCH! *spreads arms out*

The Rating

5/5 stars