I loved this fantasy series starter. Sepora has escaped from her father, the king, who is bent on conquering all the countries. He wants to use Sepora's gift as a forger of a valuable metal to accomplish this. She doesn't merely work the metal/living element; she produces it from her own body. Unfortunately, she is captured on her escape and sold at the Bazaar in the neighboring country. She ends up into palace and the new young king is fascinated by her, of course. :) Preventing war is Sepora's primary purpose, but the plague that is killing the people is something she could help fix also.

I liked the world building, the characters, and the differing cultures. I am definitely going to be following this series. ( )

This was for the most part a really good book.

The world was amazing! It was very Egyptian, which was really neat! I mean, how many Egyptian inspired fantasy worlds have you read? SO cool! And it was super well developed, and the descriptions were amazing! Seriously, I LOVED this world! The political side of things was fascinating, the cultural side was so interesting, the magic was wonderful, the serpens (cool dragonlike things) were awesome, and the landscape was so vividly described. This was one of the rare books in which I felt I could see the world it took place in.

The plot was super interesting too, and I loved it. The political tension was amazing, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Plus the whole thing about the plague, and the Spectorium was fascinating too!

The characters were great too... most of the time. Sepora took some warming up to, but she grew on me. She was naive. She was a bit of an idiot. She was sort of spoiled. But she also had this strength to her. She was super feisty (which was great, even if it DID lead to some idiotic actions). She was kind and caring (which also lead to some idiotic actions, but still made me like her a lot).

Tarik was... I really liked Tarik... in all but one scene. For the most part, Tarik was a really great character. I really liked him, especially in scenes like when he was playing with the kids in town. He was SO nice. Except for ONE scene, which was super problematic, and also completely disregarded everything we knew about his character. But in this one scene, he said to Sepora how he was never letting her go. Which is like, super creepy and possessive, and problematic. It was really not cool, and certainly not romantic. I also really felt like it wasn't in character... Later in the book he literally gives her the Serpen, and lets her fly away. It never even occurred to him to do otherwise. ...Like, he's NOT actually possessive of her, but that one scene really bothered me, and is the reason this doesn't get a full four stars.

Still though, I loved so many aspects of this book, and I'll definitely be continuing with the series. ( )

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. This story takes place an ancient Egypt like country and is about a young girl named Sepora who is running away from home where her father is the king of Serubel. She is running away because she is the last of the forgers, a person who can create spectorium, an element which her father wants to weaponize and use against the country that borders theirs. She is quickly captured and sold as a concubine to the newly crowned king of Theoria who is dealing with a deadly plague that is making it's way through the city. When he finds out that they can no longer get spectorium which is used for everyday purposes like lighting and possibly a cure for this disease he is stuck with the dilemma on how to save his people. Unbenounced to him and his court the only person who can provide them with the much needed spectorium is in their very own court. Will she help the king she feels an immediate attraction to and betray her own country? Read the book to find out!
The book ends on a huge cliffhanger and I will definitely be reading the next book in the series. Very unusual characters and plotline make the story quite captivating. #NetGalley #YoungAdult #Goodreads ( )

Just a note to white writers: the thin veneer of a fantasy world isn't enough to obscure the fact that you modeled your society on an extant non-white society and yet somehow everyone in your world is white.

Telling stories that aren't yours is bad. Telling these stories using only white characters is a thousand times worse.

White writers: please. Take a moment. Ask yourself if your book could possibly be harmful in any way to marginalized communities. Be honest with yourself. Listen to marginalized voices. Please. It saves everyone a lot of hurt and trauma. ( )

3.5 Stars

I thought Nemesis was a good story although it started off a bit slow. It was certainly engaging, entertaining, with just the right amount of romance, action, mystery, and an interesting plot line. Good world building with lovable characters in Princess Maya Sepora of Serobel and King Tarik. It was a fast paced plot that left me turning the pages finishing it in two days.

I can already tell this will be a series to watch out for and I can't wait for book two.

Jack Murphy ( )