Review: Fabulous Young Adult Novel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2014
Venture Untames by RH RussellMelissa Cushing's reviewMar 07, 20144 of 5 starsI give this book 3 1/2 stars. This is a great book for sure. R.H. Russell's writing was beautifully done and impeccably edited as well! I loved Venture and Jade's characters for sure because the author did a fabulous job developing them and I rooted for them the entire time, but I never felt truly satisfied with their love story. This book is written in a time and place of Crested's (rulers and the highest class of their lands)& Bonded Servants who are basically the lowest of their class. They are treated like dirt on a regular basis and have no choice but to accept this. Venture is lucky enough to be a Bonded servant to Grant Fieldstone, who is by far a step above all other wealthy citizens from their town, and is a wealthy man who has a heart and shows this by treating his Bonded Servants with common decency and respect. He almost was a surrogate parent to Venture, because he had lost both his Father and Mother before the story begins. I also need to state that I tried so hard to get caught up in the love story between Grant Fieldstone's daughter Jade and Venture Delving's character.... but things moved so slowly that I never really, truly felt the connection between the two. It felt more like 2 best friends more than a romantic chemistry. I loved the devotion and toughness of Venture's character.... he was such a champion in my eyes without actually being one (as of yet)... and was tough as nails and headstrong and you had to love that with him being a Bonded Servant and coming from such an insecure upbringing. He still seems to rise above the others. He is by far my favorite character out of this story and I will be reading book 2 for sure. I was able to read a sneak peek for Book 2 and LOVED what I read! It seems to move along from the beginning quite nicely and I HAVE to know what will be in store for Venture Delving and Jades characters.I hope Jade Fieldstone surprises me and wins me over in book 2! Great for lovers of Dystopian and Young Adult genres.Here is the synopsis from Goodreads for this book.... Check it out!Venture Delving is a bonded servant, a member of the lowest class in the world. Already fatherless, when he loses his mother, he veers from energetic to out of control. But when Venture's rage saves the life of Jade, his best friend and his master's daughter, Venture finds himself in the last place he ever expected—a center renowned for training young boys to be professional fighters.When Venture realizes he's fallen in love with Jade, he knows that the only way he'll ever have her, the only way he'll ever be free to live the life he's meant to live, is to defy convention, common sense, the trust of those he cares about most—and sometimes the law—and become the best fighter in the world, the Champion of All Richland. Venture must battle not only rival fighters, but the ghosts of his past and the members of a privileged warrior class who stand between him and his dream.