Book Review: Allegiance by Cayla Kluver

Allegiance by Cayla Kluver

Paperback

Expected publication: February 28th 2012 by HarlequinTeen

from NETGALLEY

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Only I saw Narian for who he truly was: a young man with courage and an independent mind, and made to pay for what was outside his control. He couldn't help his past any more than he could help the way those intense, deep-blue eyes pierced me and held me captive. 

An eighteen-year-old queen in love with the enemy as their countries pass the point of no return... 

Bound to a man she cannot love, Queen Alera of Hytanica must forget Narian, the young man who holds her heart. For Narian is destined to conquer Hytanica at the behest of his master, the powerful magic-user known as the Overlord. Alera doesn't truly believe Narian will fight against Hytanica-until Cokyrian troops attack with Narian commanding the charge. 

Faced with the greatest betrayal a heart can know, Alera must set aside personal feelings and lead her kingdom through its darkest time. And when all hope, will and courage seem lost, she must find strength and remember that even the blackest night must have a dawn....


MY THOUGHTS:

   There are so many things to say about this book. First, the beginning started where “Legacy” left off, about a few months after. Mostly, I liked where the story headed to. The political aspects of the book is one of the things that intrigued me and kept me going. The twists and turns the story delved into was both surprisingly unexpected but there were also lots of things that were pretty predictable. There were a lot of revelations and questions answered from Legacy. And believe me, when you reach that point in the story where you’ll find the answers to one of the major mystery in the book, you’ll be contented. I was! haha.

   On to the characters. I have to first mention Steldor. I don’t know what happened but I think my syndrome has something to do with this. I seem to have the knack for choosing the “other guy”. I was okay with Steldor’s character in Legacy, but I totally flipped my side in Allegiance! I’m like head-over-heels in love with him here! He’s a changed man! Well, though he has that temper at times, but it’s okay with me because I understand his reasons. Plus, he’s really in love with Alera but he just doesn’t know how to express himself at times. Then, he doesn’t even hurt her physically even if she totally deserves one. I have to say I hate how Cayla Kluver showed that there could be something between them, then she doesn’t end it properly. I really hate it when I’m manipulated into believing something’s happening but then in the end my heart is crushed. I’m not going to expound much on this but I’m going to say why Alera bugged me a lot here. Oh, yeah, Alera grew up a lot more and matured, she’s tougher and braver, and more responsible in a way. However, many times she acted not rightfully as a queen. I hate how emotionally attached she still is with Narian where she’s already with Steldor. I mean, I wish her relationship with Steldor went further deeper so as to have a real love triangle, don’t you think? She didn’t really gave Steldor an chance to love her, she’s so close minded and I really wanted to strangle her stubborness most of the time, if not all. And everytime Narian is mentioned, I don’t know why I seethe inside, but I do. Then when Steldor was in the brink of death, I was like “NOOO, don’t let him die! he’s not gonna die!” . I was so hysterical with what’s happening. There was a point where the story was going downward as in the mood is so gloomy, you can feel the depression of the people oozing out of the book. I love how I easily adapted to the setting. Another character I love and adore is London, he’s like one of the best and I love him! He’s so smart and brave and the independent man I like! haha. (if he wasn’t just so much older).

   I think the fans of Legacy will love this second book, Allegiance. There’s so much political issues, sexist biases, kingdom benchmarkings, actions and mysteries that will make you laugh and cry. The drama was there, and I just wanna say I hated Alera most of the time in the book.(you know why). There’s so much things that happened that will leave you entertained and engrossed. :) Ooh, and the ending was really good.

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