Review: Wings of Arian Blog Tour + Giveaway!

Wings of Arian by Devri Walls
Solus #1
Publisher: Stonehouse Ink
Release Date: April 24th, 2012
Source: E-book
Date Read: 7/8/14 to 7/14/14
371 Pages
Rating: ✰✰✰

Kiora thought she had never heard a lie until she was sixteen. But she was wrong. Her entire existence was based on nothing but. She thought that evil did not exist. Lie. That magic was not real. Lie. And that the land of Meros was all there was. One more lie.

With Aleric telling her that evil is knocking on the door and that she is the only one who can stop them she has a choice to make. Refuse, or start the wildest most painful ride of her life.
She reluctantly dips her toe into her new existence of magic and threads, dragons and shapeshifters, and the person who wants to take control of it all: the evil Dralazar.

However, this journey was never meant to be hers alone. She will be accompanied by a Protector. To her disbelief, and utter irritation they name the hotheaded, stubborn, non -magical, (albeit gorgeous) Prince Emane. They will have to trust each other with their lives, but right now Kiora would settle for a non hostile conversation.

And now it comes down to this, If you had never heard a lie, would you know when you heard one? Is knowing good from evil innate? Kiora finds herself having to decide who lives and who dies on those very questions.

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Devri Walls lives in Kuna Idaho with her husband and two kids. She has worked as a music teacher and currently, a preschool teacher. She majored in theater and her love of a story still drives her today. Thankfully, she has finally found an outlet for all the voices in her head.

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Truthfully, I signed up for my first blog tour due to the amazing banner design based off of the cover of the last book in the series, Wings of Lomay, which is actually what this blog tour is promoting. Other than that, I didn't have a specific reason for signing up for Wings of Arian, but luckily, it turned out to be pretty good. It wasn't super special or anything, but I didn't find any reason to hate it!

The beginning of the series starts out with discovering who the Solus is, in other words, Kiora, who not only has the ability to control magic, but is part of this huge prophecy that states that she will save the world from darkness and unite all species. But, unfortunately due to the humans and the King, all non-magical beings have no clue that 1) magic exists, and 2) other species besides humans exists. Sure, there's history books and stuff, but who believes in that?

Enter Prince Emane. He hardly paid attention to his history lessons, and now when he's called to protect the Solus against an evil strong enough to destroy them all, he's clueless. But regardless, he still chooses to be Kiora's Protector anyway, no matter what his father, the King says.

Like I said before, Wings of Arian didn't really leave a memorable mark, but I did enjoy some of the unique features of the story. LIKE PEGASUSES! 

But more serious. This whole book is serious honestly

And then also, each living being having a their own individual thread. Which is pretty cool in a way. OH and did I mention Shapeshifters? Basically, everyone is either on the side of Kiora and her "guardians/teachers", or on the side OF EVILLLLLLL (aka this main villain dude called Dralazar), or just completely oblivious because they're human.

EVILLLLLLLLLL

Unfortunately, I did have a couple of problems with the book. It wasn't perfect. First off, much of the storytelling is in the form of dialogue. As in both Kiora and reader discover new information through the conversations she has with her teachers, the Ancient ones, Arturo the Pegasus, and then the main love interest (can you guess?). It was fine in the beginning, but over time, it got a little boring.

Plus most of the conversations between the two lovebirds were very typical, like "I don't want to stand by without doing anything!", or "I will not allow you to get hurt!" It really felt like the main characters were just really, immature. 

And then lastly, I was not a fan of the villain. Honestly, this book felt like a children's movie to me. Dralazar wasn't as powerful as he was said to be, and he was constantly outwitted by Kiora and Eleana, one of Kiora's "guardians". Like really. Eleana, being extremely powerful, managed to sneak into his "lair" and pretty much turn off his "magic pool of water that lets him track Kiora". And then while she leaves, he curses her and yells out. Like what? HOW DID HE GET BEATEN SO EASILY?? I don't understand!

KIND OF REMINDS ME OF THIS GUY BUT WORSE

And of course Kiora meets him some point along the way, and he's super handsome and tall.

But an idiot...

Haha ok I'll stop. But that's really how I felt about the so called evil side. I thought the sides were so unbalanced, that it ended up really bothering me. Obviously, I don't know what happens in the sequels, but for now, this is how I feel.

In conclusion, Wings of Arian has great potential as the first in its series. Even though there were some things here and there that could be better, I still enjoyed reading it. AND, AS PART OF THE BLOG TOUR, WE HAVE SOME GOODIES!

The first giveaway is for an ebook copy of ANY book in the Solus series which is part of my blog only. And then the second is the tour-wide one. Feel free to enter both or either!

FYI: This e-book is actually FREE on Amazon

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