Cayla Kluver
Legacy
Legacy, Book #1
Review brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell Cadiz
Synopsis:
A Crown Princess
A Scandalous Secret Crush
A Kingdom on the Brink of Disaster
In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father’s choice of suitor fills her with despair.
When the palace guard captures an intruder–a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom’s greatest enemy–Alera is alarmed . . . and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands.
Review:
Legacy follows Princess Alera as she goes about her daily life. Her father is determined for her to marry by the age of eighteen so he can step down and Alera can rule along side her husband. The problem is the only male in the kingdom who seems suitable for Alera, by her father’s standards, is the unbearable and egotistical Steldor. Meanwhile, there is still a great deal of tension between Alera’s kingdom, Hytancia, and the nearby kingdom of Cokryi. The last act Cokryi took against Hytancia was to steal a bunch of babies and leave their dead bodies at the front gates, except one baby was unaccounted for. Cokryi had stopped the battle against Hytancia abruptly and none have ever stepped foot in Alera’s kingdom since. But the tension and distrust between both kingdoms grow as Narian, the mysterious boy who had been captured by Alera’s guards, is discovered to be the unaccounted for baby and now Alera finds herself developing feelings for him. A love that may be the downfall to her kingdom.
I had been pretty excited to read this novel. The book sounded as if it would offer a wonderful plot and rich characters but after a few chapters I found myself completely bored with the story. I started skimming through pages then skipping ahead because I honestly could not get into it.
The main character, Alera, spends soooo much time talking about frivolous and superficial stuff. Constantly describing what she was wearing, what her sister, Miranna, was wearing, how wealthy she was, how her hair was done etc. She also spends a great deal whining. Her sister, Miranna, is just as annoying. She is younger and I do know how bothersome younger siblings can be but Alera and her sister were just too boring to care about. I can understand that Alera and her sister were raised very sheltered and there are many restrictions on women in the kingdom but I just didn’t see anything really interesting about either girls.
Steldor was probably one of the well written characters. He is extremely arrogant, driven, and a total play boy. He never tries to pretend what he isn’t. He is also very clever and cunning. Steldor was one of the characters that really shined in the novel even though he was most of the time, a total jerk. But I respect him for the fact that he never tried to convince anyone was anything else than what he is. London, Alera’s bodyguard, is also one of the only good characters in the book. He is agile, sexy, and mysterious. He also has a good sense of humor. He isn’t afraid to be honest with Alera, even if it means hurting her feelings.
The characters really were never well developed. Alera never changes nor does her sister. They also make INCREDIBLY stupid decisions. I had no respect for Alera. The plot was drawn out slowly but, in truth, was pretty much nonexistent. The novel consists of a constant mass of descriptions for every little thing and Alera whining she would have no choice but to marry Steldor. I never understood what Narian saw in her. Steldor, I figured, just wanted to marry her because he wants to be king but what either man sees in her eludes me. There was never any real chemistry between Alera and Narian or Alera and Steldor. Steldor never seemed to be attracted to her.
The descriptions in the novel are endless. Descriptions of what people were wearing, what everyone was eating, how the kingdom looked. I enjoy reading descriptions. You can’t write a novel without it but there’s a difference between just enough and too much. In Legacy, the descriptions were WAY too much creating a yawn fest most of the time.
Legacy failed to leave a good impression on me. The dialogue is forced. The characters are cliché and stereotypical. The plot is lack luster. Maybe the fact that the novel was written by a fourteen year old has something to do with it, not sure. But then again, Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Chronicles was wonderful and he started them when he was a teenager.
There are two more books in the trilogy, and in case you want to give the book a try for yourself, check out the author’s site here.
