The Elemental Union: Book One Devian by Shanna Bosarge
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I got this book in a farmer’s market in Georgia while visiting family. It’s a fantasy with some elemental magic, a girl with a mysterious past, and a robust world. I was in.

I’m not familiar with this author’s web series, so I went into this world through this book. I have to say, the beginning was a bit overwhelming, with a lot of unfamiliar places, people, races, dates thrown at me. But I regained my footing around the 50-page mark.

The story is about a girl with silver eyes named Sterling. Her parents die when she was born and she is taken and hidden by a loyal slave named Hemi. On her twenty-first birthday, her origin is revealed to her and she begins an epic journey to find her family. She loses people that she loves along the way, is tortured, and generally shunned by society because those silver eyes mean she is part of an outcasted and hunted race.

There are some typos throughout the book, but they don’t take away from the story. The pacing is pretty good. The story, itself, is excellent. I’m going to keep my eye out for the next one to be released because there are a lot of questions left unanswered.

There is profanity in the book, but not much. There is also some sexual content. There is an instant-love story early on, but then the character basically disappears from the rest of the book. There is also a rape scene, which is then alluded to several more rapes that followed. But it’s not detailed, however, it may be triggering for some. There is violence, a lot of fighting. There is also torture and hunting. But again, it’s not overly detailed.

I think this book is definitely a diamond in the rough. The author loves this world and knows it very well. It definitely comes alive through the story. Interested in the next one!