Review: Simply Captivating!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 27, 2013
Imagine being bound to serve for the rest of your immortal life, your powers and wills forever under the command of one ruling family. Then imagine falling in love with the one who holds that command over you, knowing that he would die long before the end of your time and be forbidden to return those feelings. That's the main idea of the story behind ASTARTE'S WRATH, plus touches of humor, adventure, fun, and magic.One thing you should know about this book is that it's mainly a romance book. And if you've read my reviews or blog for a while, you probably know that usually this is a book no-no in my book. In this case, however, I loved the sweetness (and not to mention major hotness - think BATH SCENES) of Star & Xarion's relationship. It's probably that their childhood-friends-to-lovers relationship is the type that I'm always weak for, but it was also that they seemed to have such great chemistry together. Therefore if you're usually a big romance junkie, you'll probably fall in love with their story!That's not to say though that the story didn't have its conflicts. Regarding Star & Xarion's relationship, you have the problem that Star is supposed to serve Xarion for eternity, and is forbidden by Kythan law to be with Xarion. You also have the stirring war between Cleopatra and Octavian, and the mystery of the newly created Kythan race controlled by Octavian. And on top of that, there's the fact that Egyptian Guardians are tired of being slaves and start to lean towards the Octavian side. This combination of plot lines made it so the story wasn't only focused on the romance, but also on the problems of their world at the time, which just pulled me more into the story.I also liked the heroine, Star. On the surface, she's the type of strong, warrior-type heroine you see so often in YA - strong, smart, caring, etc. Over the course of the story, though, I feel like you're really able to get into her head and her heart to learn her strengths and vulnerabilities, which made me care more for her character. For one, she's totally loyal to those that she cares about, which I really admired. Star is also the one people around her depend on in order to make some of the harder decisions, even if they may be a bit rash.The world and magic were also fascinating! In case you don't know, this book is set in Ancient Egypt, which is a setting that I was already fascinated with. Unlike most books though, Wolfe didn't choose to focus on the gods, but rather the Guardians and their different magics, which is something I didn't really expect. Rather, it still incorporated parts of Egyptian mythology, but also added sparks of the author's own imagination. I can't wait to see how this magic plays out in the futuristic world of DESTINY'S FIRE, too!And the ending! I commend Trisha Wolfe for doing that, since I know that so many other authors might have ended it in an... "easier" way. I don't want to give the ending away, but I'll just say it's a near perfect balance of sadness and hope, and really tugged at my heart.ASTARTE'S WRATH was in one word, captivating. The romance, magic, characters, plot and ending all captured my mind, pushing me to read on until I came to the last word. If you're a fan of romance, YA fantasy, Ancient Egypt, or of this novel's predecessor DESTINY'S FIRE this is a must read!