Tag Archives: shanna bosarge

Devian by Shanna Bosarge: A Review

1 Reply

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!

January TBR

4 Replies

For those of you not familiar with the bookish vocabulary, TBR stands for To Be Read. Last year I read 40 books, much to my own surprise. This year, I have a goal to read 44 books. So, for my TBR each month, I plan to try to read four books, so that will give me a month margin of error.

Of course, being who I am, I love to categorize and label, so I thought I might try to do that with me TBR. I want to read a classic, an adult fiction, an young adult fiction/middle grade, and a nonfiction book. I have a lot of books on my shelf that I haven’t read yet, so I’m hoping to read one from each category.

This month, here are my hopeful books I will read:

The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath. I have had this book since college. I’ve tried to pick it up and read it twice but something has always come up to pull me away. I’m hoping third time’s the charm.

It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way by Lysa Terkeurst. I love her work. I got this book as soon as it came out last year. I’ve already begun it, and it is SO good so far.

Devian by Shanna Bosarge. This was an impulse buy at the end of last year. The author was selling her book at a farmer’s market. There is a lot of world-building and people who can control the elements. I’m excited to jump in.

Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness. Her All Souls trilogy is one of my favorites. This book is a continuation of the story more than a sequel. I have already read a few pages into the story and I’m loving it.

So those are the four main books I am reading this month. Of course, that didn’t stop me from going to the library last week and picking up a few more books that piqued my interest. But we shall see how fast I get through these four first.

What are some books you are reading this month?