Review of The Ryn

The Ryn by Serena Chase

THE PREMISE:

DESTINED by prophecy. GUARDED by deception. PURSUED by Love.

Centuries ago, an oracle foretold of the young woman who would defeat E’veria’s most ancient enemy, the Cobelds. But after two centuries of relative peace, both the prophecy and the Cobelds have been relegated to lore—and only a few remain watchful for the promised Ryn.

Finally, a child is born who matches the oracle’s description, but a Cobeld curse accompanies her birth. Led to believe they succeeded in killing the prophesied child, the Cobelds emerge from hiding with plans to overtake the Kingdom.

But the child survived.

Secreted away and called “Rose” for the first nineteen years of her life, Rynnaia E’veri has no idea of her true identity until a chance meeting with an injured knight reveals not only her parentage and true name, but the task assigned her by the oracle: discover the Remedy that will destroy the Cobelds’ power.

Now, her time has come.

Offered the assistance of pirates, scribes, storytellers, a young woman who died centuries ago, and the knight who is quickly working his way into her heart, Rynnaia is fortified with friends. But if the Ryn is to complete her task, she must come to terms with not only who she is, but for whom she must be willing to die. For the kingdom’s survival depends on her.

MY REVIEW:

5/5 Stars.

I wrote a review of this book a long time ago but didn’t post it. I met the author, Serena Chase, at a young writers conference/workshop in Minnesota years ago. She taught a class on writing fantasy and science fiction and introduced me to terms like trope (basically cliches of a genre). I remember her being the only self-published author at the event, and its obvious why she was chosen to attend after reading her book.

Even now, I remember being awed by the writing. It was poetic enough to be captivating, but without losing its plot. This fairy tale retelling borrows all the elements you’d want it to, without giving up creativity. The Ryn was well written with great world building and likable characters. The dialogue was realistic and in a perfect ratio with description. I liked the plot and found it hard to put the book down. I can’t wait to read the sequel (The Remedy) and more from this talented author. (Bonus, her instagram features many pictures of her dog, a super fluffy goldendoodle named Albus).

The only complaints I had were that the protagonist cried a lot more than I thought necessary and I think the book could have been slightly more condensed towards the end, both of which I’m sure others would disagree on.