Hello my lovely, love readers! Today I have for you a book review! Gasp! Shock! Really?! Yes indeed, I have actually managed to pull together the ragged edges of my focus long enough to finish an entire book!

The focus of the book review today (as you may have guessed from the title), is the first book in “The Allegiance” series, entitled Captive Rebel. It is Erin McDermott’s debut novel, and she contacted me through Instagram at the end of August to invite me to read and possibly review it. The book is available in paperback and Kindle format on Amazon.

Now, Amazon has put this book into a few different categories like fantasy, mythology & folklore, that sort of thing. Having read the book, none of these are incorrect but I think the categories that fit best would honestly be something like Young Adult/Fantasy & Mythology/Romance. Also, while it was easiest and faster to get the Kindle edition, I kind of wish I had the hard copy because I really like the cover on this one! Also, my Kindle doesn’t do it justice; the Kindle, while still working astonishing well as in it works just as well as the day I bought it, is about six years and three generations out of date, and thus does not show colour and still has actual buttons. And that cover –> deserves colour.

Now: the book! I thought this book was pretty cool, actually. It is fast paced and there is a surprising amount of detail and plot development in a comparatively short novel; at 164 pages, this is a fast but enjoyable read. McDermott’s enthusiasm for the world she is creating is palpable, and the writing style progresses noticeably from the beginning to the end of the book.

The inclusion of elements of Greek mythology into the plot pleased me immensely; throw in some some mythological figures and I’m there! The increasing involvement of that mythology in the story through the appearance of both mentions of the Greek gods, and of mythological creatures themselves is also quite skillfully done from beginning to end. It leaves you in no doubt that something has happened to bring the once-absent gods back, has awoken them from sleep, and that things are now changing. A gentle but exciting form of suspense that leaves you looking forward to the next book, so I’m quite happy about that.

The overall theme of this book seems to be twofold: there is the Allegiant-Rebel struggle, and also this progression, this sense of personal growth from both of the stories’ main protagonists, as well as some of the supporting characters. One in particular surprised the living hell out of me in a battle at the end, and I found myself quite bemused.

In addition, while this book is quite clearly a romance, I didn’t find the romantic elements overpowering. You know what I mean? I’m not incredibly fond of romance books because they are too often ridiculously overdone and absolutely stuffed with completely unbelievable cliches. Now, I’m not going to lie: there were some cliches in Captive Rebel, but the important point for me is that they didn’t detract from the rest of the story, which is what I was interested in.

All in all, I was quite content when I got to the end of this book and would definitely make time to read the sequel.

Main image credit: Me, myself and I (and my Kindle and iPhone. Cheers).

Insert image credit: Goodreads via Google images. Link in photo.

Categories: book blog, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Fiction Reviews, Reading Challenges

Tags: Amazon, book blog, book blogger, book review, Book Reviews, books, Bookstagram, bookstagrammer, debut novel, Eriin McDermott, Fantasy, fantasy literature, Goodreads, Greek gods, Greek mythology, Kindle, read YA, reading, YA, young adult literature