Raelia (The Medoran Chronicles #2) by Lynette Noni

Blurb

“Life is full of crossroads, Alex. Full of choices.”

Returning for a second year at Akarnae Academy with her gifted friends, Alexandra Jennings steps back through a doorway into Medora, the fantasy world that is full of impossibilities.

Despite the magical wonder of Medora, Alex’s life remains threatened by Aven Dalmarta, the banished prince from the Lost City of Meya who is out for her blood.

To protect the Medorans from Aven’s quest to reclaim his birthright, Alex and her friends seek out the Meyarin city and what remains of its ancient race.

Not sure who—or perhaps what—she is anymore, all Alex knows is that if she fails to keep Aven from reaching Meya, the lives of countless Medorans will be in danger. Can she protect them, or will all be lost?

My Perspective

Raelia sees Alex back at the Academy for another year and this time she’s got a lot more experience under her belt. However it’s no where near enough to protect herself against Aven Dalmarta, the disinherited Elven Prince of Meya. Too much trouble comes looking for Alex so with a promise to the headmaster, Alex must find The Lost City of Meya, home of the Elves, to seek their help and to warn them of Aven’s plans.

Raelia is the sequel to Akarnae and follows on about two to three months after the end of Akarnae, starting at the beginning of the new school year.

There was a lot of fill in story at the beginning to tie the two books together, which I could see was necessary to some extent however there was quite a lot of information and it was a bit of a case where the author needed to “show and not tell”. I also found it quite hard to believe that Alex’s parents would have reacted the way they did. Certainly mine wouldn’t have!

I enjoyed getting to know the familiar characters a bit more and meeting the new characters. I didn’t find Alex as likeable as before though, and the brotherly affection she seems to have with almost every single male character started to irk me a bit. Also there’s a bit more sexual tension in this book and I’m sure it would appeal to YA female readers however it made me roll my eyes.

There was more adventure in this book and it really kept you on edge with the perilous situations they found themselves in. It was lighthearted and comedic however with a dark twist, and like the previous book, isn’t an epic – albeit still very interesting and full of fantasy adventure.

I found that I didn’t enjoy Raelia as much as I did Akarnae. There were quite a few corny moments however I understand it’s aimed at YA so I will let that slide. It was more that I found I had to suspend my disbelief even more than the previous book and without spoiling it, some things were just a bit too easy.

I have to say though that it kept me interested and I couldn’t put it down! Also I totally didn’t see the ending coming (I did before it happened but not like half way through or anything). I was quite surprised. I did feel like a part of the way the ending happened was so obvious and I was cringing the entire time however I didn’t see the twist that went with it.

Again, although it’s not the best written novel, it certainly takes you captive and I’m looking forward to reading the next installment in the series. This time I have to wait a bit longer though!

 

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