“Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”
Could God ever love a half-blood all of society looks upon with such fear and disdain? Jace once believed so, but when a tragic loss shatters the only peace he’s ever known, his faith crumbles as the nagging doubts he’s tried to put behind him descend on his grieving heart. With them come the haunting memories of the bloodstained past he longs to forget, but can never escape.
Taken from home at a young age and raised to serve the emperor, Kyrin Altair lives every day under a dangerous pretense of loyalty. After her unique observation skills and perfect memory place her into direct service to the emperor, Kyrin finds herself in further jeopardy as it becomes increasingly difficult to hide her belief in Elôm, the one true God.
Following the emperor’s declaration to enforce the worship of false gods under the penalty of death, many lives are endangered. But there are those willing to risk everything to take a stand and offer aid to the persecuted. With their lives traveling paths they never could have imagined, Jace and Kyrin must fight to overcome their own fears and conflicts with society as they become part of the resistance.
View book extras at www.ilyonchronicles.blogspot.com
My Thoughts: What would you do if your faith was challenged? In Resistance, author Jaye L. Knight created a fantasy world where sticking to your faith even though the world was against it was the prominent theme. This was a very well told story of two characters who come to their awareness of their faith.
There were two different stories in this book: one followed Jace and the other Kyrin. These two lead completely different lives that ultimately came across each other further into the book. It was wonderful to read the rich details that the author used to described the world and events in both stories. My favorite was when it followed Jace. I felt more connected with him and I simply felt bad for him for all the suffering he went through. His character growth was more profound with me versus that of Kyrin. I wanted to hug him a few times and tell him that everything would be okay.
What I found most interesting about this book was how Knight portrayed the religions in this Roman typed world. In this world, people prayed to a male and female god. It was the norm to follow these two deities. However, a few followed the one God, Elom. The belief in Elom was Knight's version to Christianity. Those that followed Elom had to keep their faith a secret since it was against the norm. The constant challenge against your faith and standing by it was brought up throughout the story. It made me question how much I stick to my believes in this chaotic world we live in.
Though this was a thought-provoking book, I could not give it five stars. There were a few times that I felt disconnected with the story and I couldn't seem to concentrate on it. The majority of these times was when following Kyrin's story. I guess I was not as interested in her as I was with Jace. I even tried to go back to re-read a few of these parts to make sense of things, but I found myself doing that too many times. I simply let it go and enjoyed the rest of the book which I found fascinating.
As a whole this was a very well written book. It talked about faith and religion, which led me to think about my own faith. I highly enjoyed Jace's story and simply wanted more. There wasn't any romance in this book but there were hints that the second book might have just that. I would be looking forward to it. I rate this:
About the Author: JAYE L. KNIGHT is a 25-year-old independent author with a passion for writing Christian fantasy and clean NA (New Adult) fiction. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God's love shines as a light to offer hope. Jaye is a homeschool graduate and has been penning stories since the age of eight. She was previously published as Molly Evangeline. You can learn about her latest writing projects at www.jayelknight.com.
GIVEAWAY:
Immerse yourself in the world of Ilyon! Fill out the Rafflecopter form below for a chance to win an autographed copy of Resistance (Book 1 in the “Ilyon Chronicles” series), a Resistance-inspired necklace crafted by the author (Jaye L. Knight), a Better Homes “Warm Rustic Woods” candle, and a wolf paw leather bookmark from Lodgepole Leathercraft. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.
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Very thoughtful review, Vonnie! It's awesome to hear that the storyline made you think. :) And I, too, really like Jace's character/storyline, and I'm hoping for more romance in future installments. ;) Thanks so much for participating in the tour!
ReplyDelete~Amber
Thank you so much for your review! I'm so glad you found it thought-provoking and really liked Jace. He's always been the heart of Ilyon Chronicles for me. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, Vonnie, this sure sounds like a GREAT book! I love how the author has used a fantasy metaphor to tell a story of the struggles of Christians in the face of persecution. I looked up the book on Amazon, and was disappointed to see that it was only available in a Kindle edition. (As you know, I don't like ebooks.) However, I decided to read your review anyway, because the story sounded so interesting!
ReplyDeleteWell, I loved your review!! I like that you pointed out the differences between Jace's and Kyrin's stories, as well as your thoughts on the whole idea of fighting for your religious beliefs.
I was also delighted to discover the giveaway, which is for a PRINT edition of the book! YAY!!! So of course I'm entering it!! If it so happens that I don't win this book, though, I'll wait for it to come out in print on Amazon, but I'm crossing my fingers!
Thanks for featuring and reviewing this book!! : )
I hope you win because I know you'll enjoy this book. And yes, the orint version will be coming out later.
DeleteThank you for your kind comments.