Hunted by the Sky (Wrath of Ambar #1)

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Hunted by the Sky
Tanaz Bhathena
Wrath of Ambar, book one
Kindle Edition, 384 pages
Audiobook, 13+ hours
Published June 23rd 2020 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ASIN B082GRKKXX


Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul’s mark is what caused her parents’ murder at the hand of King Lohar’s ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge.

Cavas lives in the tenements, and he’s just about ready to sign his life over to the king’s army. His father is terminally ill, and Cavas will do anything to save him. But sparks fly when he meets a mysterious girl—Gul—in the capital’s bazaar, and as the chemistry between them undeniably grows, he becomes entangled in a mission of vengeance—and discovers a magic he never expected to find.

Dangerous circumstances have brought Gul and Cavas together at the king’s domain in Ambar Fort... a world with secrets deadlier than their own.

It should be obvious now... my earnest attempt to support the YA book genre.

This story is about Gul, a girl branded by fate with a birthmark foretold to bring the demise of a king. She will rise from an outcast to an assassin. From a slave to a servant. From a free woman to one promised in marriage to a prince. This journey will take her ever closer to fulfilling her fate.

And possibly, bore you.

Despite this epic sounding evolution, I didn't love this book. Even in reflecting on the many changes Gul was brought through, I was rather bored with the journey and even Cavas didn't manage to thrill me. There's magic. There's gods. Er, goddesses. Aspects I adore. But, unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me but I could see it holding more appeal for those closer to the tween/early teen age range.

2 out of 5 stars.

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