Of Silver and Beasts

****

4 Stars/5

In the sand covered country of Cavan, when she is a child Kaliope’s father injects mercury into her, but she is saved by the goddess Alyah. Now as a 19 year old she is chosen as the head of the Nactue Guard, sworn to protect the Empress, but her first mission is to protect Prince Caben, heir of the neighbouring kingdom. When Cavan is attacked by the feared Otherworlders, Caben and Kaliope, along with hundreds of other citizens, are taken. Kaliope and Caben, and the strongest are forced to fight in a caged arena to become free. While trying to keeping them both alive and defending her heart from Caben and to save her empress’s life which is linked to a stolen relic, Kaliope discovers she is linked to Bale, the banished goddess of chaos but is she is able to stop her from awakening.

Of Silver and Beasts is a really good New Adult book, but I cannot figure out what genre it is, a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy, which is action-packed, romantic and with a dark atmosphere, though not what I was expecting. This book has an interesting mythology, and I wanted to find out what was going to happen next.

Kal has a fierce, strong and resilient exterior but this covers up a scarred interior that protects her heart but she is devoted to her friends and empress. Caben comes across at first as a spoiled prince but as we get to know him we discover he is brave, clever and has a bit of a fragile ego. The romance developed fast but considering the situation they were in it was not unrealistic.

I really liked this book and had a cliff-hanger ending and I hope the next book, Of Darkness and Crowns, is just as good. I would recommend Of Silver and Beasts to fans of NA sci-fi/fantasy books.