Week 4 Reviews: Legacy, Allegiance

From Goodreads:
I noticed his eyes. They were blue, sharp and intense. Despite the youthful glows of his suntanned face, his eyes were cold and unfriendly, suggesting he had great experience in the world and was now expecting the worst.

In her seventeenth year, Princess Alera of Hytanica faces one duty: to marry the man who will be king. But her father's choice of suitor fills her with despair.

When the palace guard captures and intruder—a boy her age with steel-blue eyes, hailing from her kingdom's greatest enemy—Alera is alarmed…and intrigued. But she could not have guessed that their clandestine meetings would unveil the dark legacy shadowing both their lands.

In this mystical world of court conspiracies and blood magic, loyalties will be tested. Courage won't be enough. And as the battle begins for everything Alera holds dear, love may be the downfall of a kingdom.

From Goodreads:
Only I saw Narian for who he truly was: a young man with courage and an independent mind, and made to pay for what was outside his control. He couldn't help his past any more than he could help the way those intense, deep-blue eyes pierced me and held me captive. 

An eighteen-year-old queen in love with the enemy as their countries pass the point of no return... 

Bound to a man she cannot love, Queen Alera of Hytanica must forget Narian, the young man who holds her heart. For Narian is destined to conquer Hytanica at the behest of his master, the powerful magic-user known as the Overlord. Alera doesn't truly believe Narian will fight against Hytanica-until Cokyrian troops attack with Narian commanding the charge. 

Faced with the greatest betrayal a heart can know, Alera must set aside personal feelings and lead her kingdom through its darkest time. And when all hope, will and courage seem lost, she must find strength and remember that even the blackest night must have a dawn...

My Review:
*This is a spoiler review, because I'm reviewing books 1 and 2, so don't read it if you haven't finished both books because it'd take too much highlighting to read the full review then to just have it there and have people not read it. Just warning you*

Oh, wow. I LOVED THESE BOOKS! Allegiance just a tad more because the story had already been set up in Legacy, and there was a bit more action, and while I was reading each one, I wanted to read the next book, but Sacrifice isn't up on NetGalley yet! I want to read it so badly! Because Allegiance ended in a pretty great place, that some characters were plotting something, ahh! I just want to read more!!!! I don't want to wait for September for it to come out, or whenever it's going to be up on NetGalley! I want to read it now!!!!!!! These books are definitely going on my best of 2012 list!!!

Legacy really introduced the characters, the world, and the plot, while Allegiance built upon it, and the characters grew, and made them even more loveable, especially Steldor, who I really didn't like at the beginning of Legacy by how crappy he was acting towards Alera, but they both grew up a bit during the course of these books, with him, well, not acting like he was, and being more kind and considerate, and her sacrificing for her country for the sake of her country. And Narian, poor Narian, having to conquer his homeland because it was his homeland, and not the land where he'd been raised since he was but a week old.

These books were full of difficult choices, and they were balanced with some really funny moments, like when Narian was teaching Alera how to fight, and how she had to were pants, and she was totally unprepared for that, growing up in a society that was dominated by men, while Narian grew up in a female dominated world. Like the author pointed out, equality is better then either one, because then the world just might be a little bit more fair. Yep.

When I was reading Allegiance, I was about 200 pages in, and I just wanted to read Sacrifice at the same time as reading Allegiance, I just wanted to gobble up the story, and the characters, and the world, and I kept wondering about what the characters were doing, and what would happen next, and how they would even survive, and I was kind of hoping that Alera and Steldor would get together, that's how much he improved! Besides the beginning, with the whole horse thing, and the biting, and well, the dad getting it into with Steldor, that was really funny, the Queen, then the King, without escorts or guards, and being helpless and such, that was so funny!  Anyway, it would've been nice for them to get together, but the story didn't go there, it went where it was supposed to, and then it's going to keep going in Sacrifice, and I hope someone good ends up with Steldor! He really deserves it! And that Alera and Narian will be happy! Allegiance left off at a really great spot, so I'm really scared to read Sacrifice, but at the same time, I want to see the characters right now!

These were 2 awesome, wonderful, amazing, incredible books that I absolutely loved, so check them out NOW!!! Or when Allegiance comes out, but you can at least get Legacy right now!!! So get them now!!!! They're so good!!!! Yep.

Author: Cayla Kluver
Series: Legacy #1, 2
Read: January 21st, 21st-22nd, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: They sounded really interesting, and they're both A-Z book challenge books!
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: March 10th, 2010, March 7th, 2011

Legacy:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Allegiance:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars