Review: Legacy

by Cayla Kluver
publisher: Harlequin Teen
date of publication: June 28, 2011
format: egalley
pages: 496
source: Netgalley
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N

From Goodreads:

The first boy disappeared on the day of his birth, on a night when the pale yellow moon of the nighttime sky turned red and bathed the heavens in the ghastly color of blood, on the same night the Kingdom of Cokyri abruptly ceased its merciless attack.

Across the land of Hytanica, under the shadow of the crimson moon, infant boys continued to vanish. Not until the blood had faded from the sky did the disappearances stop and the bodies of the murdered infants were found outside the gates of the city, a final word from the greatest enemy Hytanica had ever known. For the next sixteen years, peace reigned, but one mystery remained unsolved. The Cokyrians had abducted forty-nine newborns, but returned only forty-eight bodies.

Now, as seventeen-year-old Princess Alera of Hytanica is besieged from all sides by suitors vying for the Throne, a teenage Cokyrian boy, Narian, is encountered within the walls of her Kingdom, a boy who will show Alera a world where women serve a purpose and not just a husband. As Narian helps Alera find her voice, she struggles against an arranged marriage that will shatter the life she has scarcely begun to live. And when Narian's shocking past is uncovered, and war with Cokyri looms once more, he must fight to defy a fate ordained at his birth.

What I Thought

Legacy is a interesting mixture of fantasy and historical fiction. Taking place in the fictional, medieval era-like kingdom of Hytanica, Legacy focuses less on magic (which is alluded to but doesn't manifest in this book) and more on the life of Alera, the crown princess who is caught up in a web of duty, tradition, and lack of personal rights. Added to all of this, there is danger on the horizon in the form of the threat that is Cokyri, the land Hytanica had been at war with sixteen years prior and who had been responsible for the deaths of forty-eight infants, as well as the disappearance of another. When a mysterious Cokyrian boy is captured and brought to the palace, Alera's world begins to transform as she learns about choice and struggles to make a difficult decision: duty or love?

Alera was a slightly difficult character to grow accustomed to, at first. This is a girl who has been raised in a world where women have little to no choice in the way their lives turn out. This can be a bit difficult to reconcile with the 20th/21st century mindset, but it is well worth sinking into the world that Alera lives in just so you can see the impact of the transformations Alera is going through. She is at the onset of a major change in the way she views herself and the women surrounding her. Without the context of the Hytanican mindset, the whole point would be lost. What Alera goes through is frustrating and, in many ways, sad. I grew to really feel for her and rooted for her until the very end. As for the other characters, there was a great variety on offer. The diversity of the different guards made for interesting interactions. The guards range from serious and authoritative to bumbling and foolish. This kept the story from stagnating and, at times, provided for a little comic relief.

There is a bit of a love triangle in Legacy, though not in the sense that one might typically find in a YA romance. First, there is Steldor, the man Alera's father wants her to marry. This man represents duty, as her father believes that he will be a good king, but Alera finds him to be insufferable and, at times, cruel. Second, there is Narian, the man who represents love amongst Alera's choices. He is respectful of Alera, but also a hard nut to crack. At times she is unsure of him, which is a problem when combined with her lack of confidence in herself. As she struggles with the depth of her feelings for Narian and her loathing for Steldor, Alera is faced with the difficulty of gathering enough courage to stand up for what she wants. This made for a compelling story that I could not put down once I became fully immersed.

The setting of Legacy is, at first sight, the stuff of a young girl's dreams: a fairy tale palace with princesses, a king, and a queen. However, there is more to it than that. Hytanica is a kingdom in turmoil. The threat posed by Cokyri is menacing indeed, giving the events that took place sixteen years previously. The things that happened to the Hytanican families during this time were horrific and atrocious and fully set the scene for danger that will play a big role later in the story. In addition to that, the Cokyrian threat is part of the catalyst that leads to Alera's burgeoning awareness. As she learned more and more about the war and saw first-hand what the Cokyrians were capable of, Alera is forced to grow up a bit faster than she would have liked. While the action involved wasn't front in center, there is promise for more in the upcoming installments of this series, which I will definitely be looking forward to.

Legacy is one of those books that is very easy to get lost in as you are taking into a world outside your own. I had a great time reading about Alera's world and getting to know her as a character. It is a great start to this new series and I will be looking forward to Allegiance, the second book in the Legacy series. I give Legacy 4 hoots!

Obligatory legal statement: This egalley was provided to me free of charge by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.