Legrand wanted to tell a tale where girls are pressured into behaving a certain way, but instead are "messy" and "decide [to be] unapologetically themselves." In one way, she succeed: this series sure is messy, but I don't think it was the kind of messy she intended.
The concept is quite ambitious: an expansive yet intimate story that primarily focuses on two young women, each of whom live in different time periods within the same world. I found it very easy to tell Rielle's time period (Second Age) apart from Eliana's (Third Age), which is a good thing, but that's mostly thanks to the fact that by Eliana's time the Big Bad had made almost all of the world his own. True, there are some superficial details such as guns being in use and some fashion differences, but there could've been more thought put into the differences between the two time periods.
That said, I found the world of Avitas compelling: the history, the landscapes, the people and creatures that inhabit it. While the setting is pretty typical for the fantasy genre, Legrand makes up for it with the excerpts she includes from various In-Universe academic books, folktales, religious texts, quotes, and personal letters. These epithets start the beginning of each chapter and make the world feel lived in with its own quirks and intricacies.
The characters that inhabit this world though...? There's quite a few I fell in love with and one or two that felt pointless, but there's one character in particular who I have very mixed feelings about. I can't go into too much detail as to why without bringing up some heavy spoilers, so I'll try to make this short and to the point: most of the trilogy's problems are rooted in this character, from how they're set up to what actions they do and don't take and so on. Not all of the series's problems are their fault, of course, but the disappointing ways in which the plot progresses past Furyborn is in no small part thanks to them.
Which brings me to the ending. There are parts of the ending that I like, but I found its overall execution quite lacking. I think Legrand pigeonholed herself into being symbolic, which wound up having the negative effect of giving a large majority of the cast unsatisfying conclusions.
Still, there is some truth to the phrase "it's not about the destination, but the journey". While I have my issues with where it went, I've found myself returning to Avitas so I can immerse myself again in Rielle's world of magic and Eliana's character arc. If you like YA fantasy at all, I'd definitely give this one a shot.
Loved the Journey, but Not the Destination
Legrand wanted to tell a tale where girls are pressured into behaving a certain way, but instead are "messy" and "decide [to be] unapologetically themselves." In one way, she succeed: this series sure is messy, but I don't think it was the kind of messy she intended.
The concept is quite ambitious: an expansive yet intimate story that primarily focuses on two young women, each of whom live in different time periods within the same world. I found it very easy to tell Rielle's time period (Second Age) apart from Eliana's (Third Age), which is a good thing, but that's mostly thanks to the fact that by Eliana's time the Big Bad had made almost all of the world his own. True, there are some superficial details such as guns being in use and some fashion differences, but there could've been more thought put into the differences between the two time periods.
That said, I found the world of Avitas compelling: the history, the landscapes, the people and creatures that inhabit it. While the setting is pretty typical for the fantasy genre, Legrand makes up for it with the excerpts she includes from various In-Universe academic books, folktales, religious texts, quotes, and personal letters. These epithets start the beginning of each chapter and make the world feel lived in with its own quirks and intricacies.
The characters that inhabit this world though...? There's quite a few I fell in love with and one or two that felt pointless, but there's one character in particular who I have very mixed feelings about. I can't go into too much detail as to why without bringing up some heavy spoilers, so I'll try to make this short and to the point: most of the trilogy's problems are rooted in this character, from how they're set up to what actions they do and don't take and so on. Not all of the series's problems are their fault, of course, but the disappointing ways in which the plot progresses past Furyborn is in no small part thanks to them.
Which brings me to the ending. There are parts of the ending that I like, but I found its overall execution quite lacking. I think Legrand pigeonholed herself into being symbolic, which wound up having the negative effect of giving a large majority of the cast unsatisfying conclusions.
Still, there is some truth to the phrase "it's not about the destination, but the journey". While I have my issues with where it went, I've found myself returning to Avitas so I can immerse myself again in Rielle's world of magic and Eliana's character arc. If you like YA fantasy at all, I'd definitely give this one a shot.