Synopsis from Goodreads
Flight. Hyperspeed. Clairvoyance. These are some of the powers gifted to the Rhodi, an ancient sect of assassins who defend Crescentia, a dystopian world with a dying hope.
Dyliana Fairsson is one of them. After losing her parents to a suspicious accident, she and her twin brother, Devin, join the Rhodi to avoid starvation. Under the direction of her master, Dylan struggles to learn the strength of her magic …as well as hide the growing scars on her wrists. Can Dylan become the warrior, the hero, she’s destined to be? Or is she fated to fall from the light into the darkness?
The first installment in an epic fantasy series by young adult author Megan Linski, Rhodi’s Light is an action-packed thrill ride that will leave readers begging for more.
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Published by Gryfyn Publishing; 4 Sept. 2016
Series: Rhodi Saga
Source: E-book Provided via Netgalley in Exchange for a Honest Review
Review 2.75 Stars
I obviously liked the sound of this book when I first requested it from netgalley, however I put off reading it for quite a while. I finally decided to pick it up and - as you can see from the number of stars I have given it - it wasn't my kind of book.
Even from the first chapter I stared to notice things that weren't to my taste. Although this first chapter was great for introducing the mystery of the characters family history - something that I think will have some greater impact in the sequels??. It also repeatedly laboured that Dylan was pretty, Dylan was beautiful, which really got on my nerves in the first chapter, thankfully this suddenly stopped at the end of the first chapter.
As the story progresses the is a small group of more secondary characters which are introduced. These characters to me however felt flat. The only character which I felt any kind of tie to was out main character Dylan, and think that connection was only due to her character having to open up more. My favourite part of the book was reading the friendship and bond grow between Dylan and her master.
Despite this book being (I think) marketed as a Young Adult book, the storyline felt more middle grade level, slightly too simplistic at this stage in the series -with little world building - for a YA in my opinion. Although the YA genre does seem to be increasingly encompassing a wide range of literature levels.
I think the thing which brought my rating down the most was the way in which the author -in my eyes- as the story continues tries to make the Rhodi increasingly "cooler". Firstly, they were a group of assassin/ninja/heroes, then they had magic, which then not only did one thing but allowed them to do an range of impossible things (keeping it vague, so I don't ruin any surprises). In some ways it almost felt like the author stared with a contemporary/ urban fantasy setting which they tried to change into a fantasy world, by adding things that were increasing unrealistic.
I never enjoy writing such a negative review, however some books just aren't to everyone's taste. Rhodi's Light was one of those that just wasn't to my taste.
