(Blog Tour) Book Review: Odriel’s Heirs by Hayley Reese Chow

Today I’m excited to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for Odriel’s Heirs an amazing fantasy book and one which was a finalist in BBNYA (Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Awards) and came 5th in the competition. 🙂  A huge thank you to The Write Reads and BBNYA for a chance to read this and review.  I loved this from the moment I first read an excerpt of it, and now having read the entire book I can say it’s just amazing!…

Title: Odriel’s Heirs
Author: Hayley Reese Chow
Cover design: Dominique Wesson
Map design: William G. Reese III
Publisher: Self published
Genre: Fantasy
Book format: Digital
Sweet Strawberries: 

Description:  The brave, burning with fire, harnessed the Dragon’s Rage….
As the Dragon Heir, seventeen-year-old Kaia inherited the power of flame to protect her homeland from a godlike necromancer’s undead army. But after centuries of peace, the necromancer has faded to myth, and the Dragon Heir is feared by the people. Persecuted and cast out, Kaia struggles to embrace and control her seemingly useless gift while confined to her family’s farm.
But when the necromancer’s undead terrorize the land once again, Kaia runs away to join the battle.
With the help of her childhood rival, the handsome Shadow Heir, and a snarky, cursed cat, Kaia must figure out how to control both her fire and her confidence in time to save Okarria. If she fails, she will sacrifice her family, her new friends, and the enchanting world she has only just begun to see.
And time is running out.

*Free copy provided by publisher for review…

Review:  Oh my this book!  This was such an amazing adventure I can’t believe how engrossed I was in this story from the start!  Kaia is the Dragon Heir, born with the power to summon flames in her hands to attack the undead creatures which threaten to walk the land.  As one of Odriel’s heirs she has a duty to protect everyone, but the people fear the dragon heir and their hate and fear makes it hard for Kaia to live her life.  When the village is attacked during a festival, Kaia must summon the flames to help destroy the undead creatures that roam, but their appearance is just the start of an invasion, one Kaia doesn’t feel strong enough to face.

This is such an amazing story and I was gripped from the first pages!  We’re introduced to Kaia and a few other characters in her family near the start and I love how the descriptions of all the sights, sounds and smells as well as what was happening, instantly made me feel like I was in the story.  Kaia is seventeen, and just wants to experience a normal life, but she is hated by the villagers as they fear the power she has.  As this adventure takes off, Kaia goes on a journey to find her father, and I like how interesting and exciting this adventure became.  I don’t want to spoil what happens, but it’s an amazing fantasy adventure with some very creepy undead creatures called the Lost.  I love how eerie and creepy this story became with the descriptions of these undead people/creatures and how I never knew what was going to happen next.

I love the relationships between all of the characters especially Kaia’s relationship with Klaus, their constant bickering, and how things develop between the two later in the story.  I also enjoyed Shad’s character, somehow a talking cat just made this story all the more interesting and perfect.  Although this story is exciting, there were also some very emotional moments.  There were times when I was shocked, especially with some of the descriptions of what happens to some of the characters near the start of the adventure.  This story also tugged me emotionally, making me feel like crying at some shocking and sad moments.  But I also smiled so much towards the end.

The story wraps up nicely but there is still a hint of what is to come in a following book.  I like the epilogue and now can’t wait to read the next book in the series, I’ve already bought it!  There are a few moments that might shock some people including some mentions of death and a few creepy descriptions including a few more gory ones that some readers might want to be wary of, but there is nothing else offensive in this story and the way the book is written, just made this an amazing read that I couldn’t put down!

Overall this is an amazing fantasy adventure.  I love what happens to all the characters and how emotional I got at certain moments.  The ending is just perfect but makes you want to pick up the next book to see what happens in the future.  There’s just something so brilliant about the writing in this story.  I love how I was instantly swept away with all the descriptions and how much I felt sucked into the story.  It’s definitely one of the best fantasy books I’ve read and one I’ll definitely re-read again.  And of course it’s one I’d recommend to anyone interested in a good fantasy adventure with some good and creepy dark twists.

Buy the Book

Buy from Amazon UK    Buy from Amazon US    Buy from Amazon Canada

About the Author

Hayley Reese Chow is the author of Odriel’s Heirs, the 2020 winner of the Florida Author Project. She also has short and flash fiction featured in Lite Lit One, The Drabble, Bewildering Stories, Teleport Magazine, and Rogue Blades Entertainment’s anthology, As You Wish. Until recently though, she’s  mostly done a lot of things that have nothing at all to do with writing. Her hat collection includes mother, wife, engineer, USAF veteran, reservist, four-time All American fencer, 100 mile  ltramarathoner, triathlete, world traveler, book inhaler, and super nerd.
Hayley currently lives in Florida with two small wild boys, her long-suffering husband, and her miniature ragehound. But at night, when the house is still, she writes.
To find Hayley’s other stories and see what she’s working on next, check out hayleyreesechow.com. You can also find her on Twitter or Instagram @HayleyReeseChow.

Visit author’s website    Visit author on Twitter    Visit author on Instagram

 

About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website www.bbnya.com or twitter @bbnya_official.
The sign-ups will soon be open for the 2022 BBNYA competition, be it for authors to enter their books, or for bloggers wanting to be part of the new panel, so keep your eyes peeled!!

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What do you think of this book?  Do you like fantasy stories?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂