Book Review – Selfsame
Book Review: Selfsame (Lower Earth Rising #1)
Author: Eden Wolfe (Goodreads Author)
ASIN: B08HS9VQ1H
Publisher: ESN Ink (first published September 3rd 2020)
Format: Kindle
Pages: 382
Blurb:
The Fall of Man. The Rise of Women.
Can Aria win against the new order’s turn to tyranny?
Four hundred years after the Final war, eighteen-year-old Aria is poised to claim her birthright – the throne of Lower Earth.
It’s one of the last pieces of habitable continent left. Men are dying off from the after-effects of the war and women are genetically altered to survived.
But Aria’s blood is more advanced than any of them; she was designed from the genetic sequence of the settler queens.
Queen Maeva, Aria’s pseudo-mother, crushes all opposition. She has no fear of blood on her hands.
And she’s not afraid to do the same to Aria.
The threats multiply from within and beyond Lower Earth’s borders as destruction and colonization by the old men of Upper Earth approach their shores.
Aria has spent her lifetime preparing to take over the throne. Just as she is ready to fulfill her destiny, she’s blindsided.
My Rating: 4/5
Review: Selfsame is the first dystopian novel that I picked up in early 2020. The main character – Ariane (Aria) is quite similar to Arya Stark from Game of Thrones Series (my POV). Aria is a teenage princess, daughter of Queen Maeva, who is being prepared to become the next queen of Lower Earth. Maybe she believed that she is next inline to be the Queen. She has been kept in isolation and trained by the priestesses (Batrasa). Aria has the ability to sense things from far away and gauge the heartbeats and thoughts of people. However, she could never figure out, why her mother has been hesitating about Aria being the next Queen.
Selfsame is the story of a world where biological men are dying out, and women are soon to be the only human inhabitants of Lower Earth. The plot switches across multiple POVs, almost too many to keep track of, with some people only appearing once, and others repeatedly returning throughout the book. Mainly focusing around Aria and Queen Maeve.
Queens died, like Queen Idia. Queens disappeared, like in the ninth generation. Queens deteriorated, like in the second generation. But no Queen in Lower Earth had ever just handed over the throne
Queen Maeve
Aria thought about every possible way to reach to the throne. Yet, her mother was not convinced enough to let her crowned. The Queen kept a close watch on movements of Aria, who she met or even she tried to protect her from Upper Earth. The Queen had some secrets to keep.
The secrets were starting to weigh heavily. She feared
she would give something away.
Queen Maeve
When you start reading the book, you would wish really hard for Aria to be the next Queen. While the plot progresses, Queen Maeve and her fears for Aria would make you wish for the opposite.
The dystopian novel is quite interesting, and if you are a reader looking for a dystopian series, you can excitedly pick this one.
Some fav quotes:
Willing Women are always asked
Fear is a powerful driver to an enemy
The throne is never gifted, the throne is an outcome.
Thank you to the author and Booktasters for the free copy
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