Book: Avielle of Rhia

Pages: 397 (Hardcover)

What Did I Think? Avielle of Rhia is about 15 year-old Avielle.  Avielle resembles her Dredonian great-great-grandmother, with her silver skin and silver hair.  Everyone thinks Avielle will turn evil, just like her great-great-grandmother, so she’s hidden away, and shunned by everyone around her, including her own family.

One night, though, the Bretgren of the Black Cloaks (evil wizards/priests) attack the castle, which kills the royal family and hundreds of other people.  Avielle escapes, keeping her identity secret since the Brethren want to kill her.

The book was just okay for me.  The people of Rhia don’t particularly like the Dredonians, and thonl they’re evil, and measures are taken against those with silver skin.  There’s definitely a theme of hatred and prejudice, and you really can’t miss it.  It’s not really explained why people don’t like the Dredonians- in fact, the only reason I can think of is Avielle’s great-great-grandmother, who accidentally killed the birds of Rhia, and so all people with Dredonain traits are considered evil.

While Avielle’s hiding, the High Council rules in her place, but in the end, she takes her rightful place as Queen, and everyone accepts her because she defeats the Brethren and brings the birds back to Rhia.

It wrapped up too nicely, but I wasn’t surprised that she became Queen and was accepted as Queen, because it was pretty clear that’s what her journey was.  I would have liked Calhoun to have gone deeper into the reasons why people didn’t like the Silverskins.

The ending was slightly ambiguous- if Calhoun wrote a sequel, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Rating: 2 out of 5.  It was just okay, and while I liked the concept, there was something…off about it.  The cover art was beautiful, and Calhoun is a good writer.