This is one of the books I was literally kind of dancing around at my local library for weeks. The cover and summary kind of spoke to me but on the other hand, I wasn´t sure if I should borrow and read it. Well, as you can see now, I changed my mind and it was somehow worth it. Good, I am not completely thrilled and it took some time to read this novel, but the idea behind it, and the way how the author created her own world with Dragons and Wolves in it, is very well created and described.
Elementals-Ice Wolves
by Amie Kaufman
Elementals Series #1
Publisher Harper Collins on March 27, 2018
Genre Fantasy
Pages 352
Format Hardcover
Source Library
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Everyone in Vallen knows that ice wolves and scorch dragons are sworn enemies who live deeply separate lives. So when twelve-year-old orphan Anders takes one elemental form and his twin sister, Rayna, takes another, he wonders whether they are even related. Still, whether or not they’re family, Rayna is Anders’s only true friend. She’s nothing like the brutal, cruel dragons who claimed her as one of their own and stole her away. In order to rescue her, Anders must enlist at the foreboding Ulfar Academy, a school for young wolves that values loyalty to the pack above all else. But for Anders, loyalty is more complicated than obedience, and friendship is the most powerful shapeshifting force of all.
Story
Rayna and Anders are living on the street. Each day is a fight and they sometimes struggle to get enough food or money to buy some. All that changes the moment when Rayna is forced to defend Anders and starts to change into a Dragon. In Vallen, their hometown, Dragons are the enemy and within no time the life Rayna and Anders knew changes completely. To save Rayna, Anders must join the Ulfar Academy to find his twin and get her back. But is that, what Rayna wants? And why is everyone making such a secret about the past and the Dragons at Ulfar?
Style
Not sure why it took me so long to read this book. It is a wonderful fantasy novel about two different creatures who live with many misunderstandings in the same area. Good, the idea with the dragons isn´t new. I´ve read other fantasy books that had dragons in their stories too. But in combination with wolves, it was somehow new to me.
The writing style is soft, easy to read and easy to understand. The twins Rayna and Anders try their best to survive each day in a town where life isn´t easy. What I loved most about this novel was the scenery the author had created. I literally saw the green roof gardens with all the flowers, herbs, and other blooming green Rayna and her brother loved to walk through to get from one side of the town to the other. The picture I saw before my inner eye was not only beautiful but also in some ways new.
Characters
For Anders, it becomes soon very clear that somewhen in the past things must have been different. Completely different. But why things are now the way they are is not clear to him. All he knows is, that he must learn as much as he can about Dragons and the artifacts and that the best place to do so is the Academy. The only big challenge is, he has never really learned how to read. Yes, he can read single words and most of his life he simply studied a map by memorizing it but reading huge books is a completely different number.
The way how the author tells the reader that Anders is dyslexic was not only told in a sensitive way but also made me become a big fan of the protagonist. He is not like all the others but in a positive way. He sees things differently, thinks differently and what others see as natural and normal, is for Anders anything but. So far, one of my favorite figures in this series.
Conclusion
A wonderful to read a book that shows you a fantastic fantasy world full of misunderstandings, hate, and secrets. The cliffhanger at the end was a shock and I hope that the next book will have not only an answer to some of my questions but also be as diverse and full of tension as this one has been.
Happy reading
Amie Kaufman
Amie Kaufman grew up just one block from her local library and took full advantage of that fact. She spent her childhood summers re-creating with her sister their favorite books by camping in the back yard, mapping their neighborhood, climbing trees and kissing the Blarney stone six times, thoroughly cementing her gift of the gab. She graduated with honors degrees in history, literature and law, and a master´s degree in conflict resolution. Today she´s a full-time writer and lives with her husband and her rescue dog in Melbourne, Australia.
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