It has been seventeen years since the Asterian Revolution, and all eyes are on Princess Aria and the long expected royal wedding. Having grown up in a world of royalty and wealth, Aria has been unable to imagine anything less than perfect for her life. But when an indiscretion threatens to ruin her reputation, the princess finds herself cast into a world of scandal. As rumors and heartbreak threaten to destroy her, Aria journeys to a distant seaport and sets sail on a merchant ship, hoping the voyage will give her the freedom she craves. Though the ocean holds promises of adventure and intrigue, the world may be too small for a royal to truly disappear. With her family desperately searching the kingdoms for her, Aria finds herself surrounded by strangers and realizes that her brashness may have been a deadly mistake…
I generously received an ARC from the author in exchange of an honest review, and that´s what you lovely people are going to get. Serpent which is a YA fantasy read, is somehow addictive, yeah, you heard me right, even though it is the second book from his trilogy, you can absolutely read it without reading the first one, you´ll get a little confused at the beginning but then you´ll catch up and you´ll understand it well. You can freely read this review because I won´t be bringing you any spoilers, i know, i´m a good person. Just let me start this saying that this book was by far better than the first one, in my truly opinion.
As i said before, the second book of Sarah´s saga or trilogy is much better than the first one, i must say. This trilogy starts with a book named Sapphire where we get to hear Layla´s story. In this book we get to know the history of Layla´s daughter, her name is Aria. This book deals with totally different characters that we didn´t get to know really well in the first book. As i already said before, you can read this book without reading the first one, but if you would like to know Layla´s story, and get a better grip of the characters and situation, i´ll recommend you read it before reading serpent.
Now, let me honestly tell you why i liked this book more than I liked the first one. In Sapphire i got the feeling that the author rushed things up. The love story went really quickly as well as every problem that appeared. In this book it is more well managed and i also liked the style of writing the author developed in this book. I would have liked to get to know the characters better before any problem appeared, but i think the author handled this more professional and it got a lot better. You can also see that Aria is really different from her mother, meaning that she didn´t took the choices her mom did, she makes her own, and that´s what i loved about Aria, that she´s unique and a strong character. This book shows us Aria´s evolution from an innocent girl to a powerful woman and that was really interesting to read.
Another thing you will love, well, at least i loved that part, are the point of views (POVS) the author brings us, i liked that each one of them had a strong voice. As Aria sets her journey to find a freedom she craves, it gets interesting, i think Sarah really evolved and make it even more catching than she did in the first one, i will truly recommend this book, even though i would have liked to get to know the characters better and getting a better grip of the situation, but in my opinion it was a good book. The writing style Sarah has makes it easier to go through this book, and you´ll get surprised with some of the things that are inside of this lovely book. Thanks Sarah for providing me this awesome book! And for all of you guys who got interested in reading this book, it comes out in March, 6th, 2017! I´m highly expecting the third book, till next time readers. Also please, subscribe to our blog, we´ve got some exciting things for you!!
About the author:
Sarah Fay Olson began writing her debut novel Sapphire during her senior year in high school. She enjoys reading young and new adult books that are full of adventure and romance. When she is not reading or writing, Sarah enjoys horseback riding, hiking, playing the violin, and watching movies. She currently resides in the beautiful state of Montana.
Ilian S.