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Foreign to You #2
Embers We Struck
A year after Finn Hail stabbed a god, Marshall Luth is plagued with visions of a future bathed in blood and fire. Haunted by hallucinations, Marshall is thrust into the battle to save Norsewood.
Adelaide, vowing to cull humanity and save the Forest, marches the fianna to war. Yet the Maiden herself is slowly unraveling as the feral’s curse consumes her.
As the Foreign to You duology comes to an end, humans and fianna will clash, death will rule, and a familiar devil will ascend a throne once made for a god.
Adelaide, vowing to cull humanity and save the Forest, marches the fianna to war. Yet the Maiden herself is slowly unraveling as the feral’s curse consumes her.
As the Foreign to You duology comes to an end, humans and fianna will clash, death will rule, and a familiar devil will ascend a throne once made for a god.
- GenresFantasy
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 16, 2021
24 people want to read
About the author
Jeremy Martin
3 books54 followersJeremy Martin, born and raised in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, considers himself to be a part-time writer and a full-time mess. If he isn’t nose-deep in a book, he’s obsessively playing video games, re-watching The Office for the umpteenth time, or lost in nature
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 5, 2023
This author was so freaking nice to me that he also offered me his sequel! A home run. To me this is an exemplary sequel. Honestly a beautiful showcase of how to up the stakes, up the world building, up the characters, up the chaos, up the action. Every page keeps you turning and turning and turning for more. And the character arcs are just *chef’s kiss*
I’d really like to highlight the author’s choice of multiple POVs in first person because that choice always amazes me. Not only are you fully fleshing out characters in a world all their own, but you’re becoming each one of them every time the novel gives them voice. It’s a choice that not every author can commit to and nail, and this is very much so a success.
I love the writing style in its young adult ease, but with the world crushing chaos that’s taking place, they’re all hit with just absolute violence. In many ways, both books are truly a coming of age story, but these characters get a baptism by fire. And talking about violence, this one amps up the body horror like you would not believe. At many points I even found it reminiscent of Nick Cutter style body terror, especially in the feral descriptions. It’s so descriptive that I so easily imagined it taking place on a movie screen, and I honestly wish it would become one. Fantasy/horror is not something we get to see!
Gods, devils, demons, ferals. When the stakes are godly, what exactly can humans do? Do they even deserve to do something? To change? This sequel shows us some political intrigue, unbeatable violence and war, betrayal, paranoia, and pain. Perhaps a small sliver of hope?
“And when you’re this low on the totem pole of human morals, those small differences strike harder.” I loved this quote from the morally decrepit character Hazel Golding, whom in being unbelievably terrible, is also lovable.
Once again, so totally worth your time, effort, and money to obtain and read these. The covers are so mind-blowing-ly beautiful that I had to order both to have for my collection. Have you read this or the first in the duology yet??? What are you waiting for?
I’d really like to highlight the author’s choice of multiple POVs in first person because that choice always amazes me. Not only are you fully fleshing out characters in a world all their own, but you’re becoming each one of them every time the novel gives them voice. It’s a choice that not every author can commit to and nail, and this is very much so a success.
I love the writing style in its young adult ease, but with the world crushing chaos that’s taking place, they’re all hit with just absolute violence. In many ways, both books are truly a coming of age story, but these characters get a baptism by fire. And talking about violence, this one amps up the body horror like you would not believe. At many points I even found it reminiscent of Nick Cutter style body terror, especially in the feral descriptions. It’s so descriptive that I so easily imagined it taking place on a movie screen, and I honestly wish it would become one. Fantasy/horror is not something we get to see!
Gods, devils, demons, ferals. When the stakes are godly, what exactly can humans do? Do they even deserve to do something? To change? This sequel shows us some political intrigue, unbeatable violence and war, betrayal, paranoia, and pain. Perhaps a small sliver of hope?
“And when you’re this low on the totem pole of human morals, those small differences strike harder.” I loved this quote from the morally decrepit character Hazel Golding, whom in being unbelievably terrible, is also lovable.
Once again, so totally worth your time, effort, and money to obtain and read these. The covers are so mind-blowing-ly beautiful that I had to order both to have for my collection. Have you read this or the first in the duology yet??? What are you waiting for?
November 7, 2021
"Such a mighty creature, such a fragile heart."
It's finally here! I loved Foreign to You so so much when I read it almost 3 years ago, that I couldn't wait to read to sequel. And it did not disappoint!
I really appreciated the inclusion of a list of characters and the summary of all the events that happened in book one. I wish more authors would do that. (Didn't stop me from binge re-reading the first book, though.)
"Oh, how similarly our fires burn against one another"
Embers We Struck introduces two new POVs than the first book. I must admit that I was wary of reading from Hazel's point of view first. But oh boy, I think that turned out to be my absolute favorite part of the book. She was given so much depth, so much character that I truly felt for her.
"I accept that this will not be the final human to fall by my hand. I smear the red along my face because spilled blood is who I will become."
Another character that suprised me was Adelaide. Experiencing her descent into becoming feral, that drastic change from her character as the maiden of the forest into someone capable of so much cruelty... Just. Wow. Especially the scenes with Adelaide and Hazel together, being rivals and hating each other, those were really powerful.
The only character I couldn't really find myself connecting to was Marshall. Though I still loved the scenes with him and his mother and the journey he went through in the books.
Those last 20% of the book really had me. I love that this series doesn't shy away from violence and permanent deaths, but god, I'm still so sad. The ending certainly was bittersweet.
Also, look at that beautiful cover!
[Disclaimer:I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks again!]
It's finally here! I loved Foreign to You so so much when I read it almost 3 years ago, that I couldn't wait to read to sequel. And it did not disappoint!
I really appreciated the inclusion of a list of characters and the summary of all the events that happened in book one. I wish more authors would do that. (Didn't stop me from binge re-reading the first book, though.)
"Oh, how similarly our fires burn against one another"
Embers We Struck introduces two new POVs than the first book. I must admit that I was wary of reading from Hazel's point of view first. But oh boy, I think that turned out to be my absolute favorite part of the book. She was given so much depth, so much character that I truly felt for her.
"I accept that this will not be the final human to fall by my hand. I smear the red along my face because spilled blood is who I will become."
Another character that suprised me was Adelaide. Experiencing her descent into becoming feral, that drastic change from her character as the maiden of the forest into someone capable of so much cruelty... Just. Wow. Especially the scenes with Adelaide and Hazel together, being rivals and hating each other, those were really powerful.
The only character I couldn't really find myself connecting to was Marshall. Though I still loved the scenes with him and his mother and the journey he went through in the books.
Those last 20% of the book really had me. I love that this series doesn't shy away from violence and permanent deaths, but god, I'm still so sad. The ending certainly was bittersweet.
Also, look at that beautiful cover!
[Disclaimer:I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks again!]
November 2, 2021
I’m not the smartest person, so when I saw multiple sequels with the familiar taglines of “This was much harder,” I decided not to prepare myself whatsoever. BUT LET ME TELL YOU, writing a sequel is by far the hardest thing I have ever done.
This sequel is roughly three drafts and thousands and thousands of unused words. I thought maybe I would never actually write this book, but if you’ve made it this far, you know that isn’t the case. It took time. I never gave up. I kept scrapping pages and adding things that would eventually get trimmed. I kept going. And I hope that you, dear reader, don’t give up in whatever it is you love. Life isn’t always about the glamorous bits that happen out of pure luck, but the moments when your perseverance prevails.
This sequel is roughly three drafts and thousands and thousands of unused words. I thought maybe I would never actually write this book, but if you’ve made it this far, you know that isn’t the case. It took time. I never gave up. I kept scrapping pages and adding things that would eventually get trimmed. I kept going. And I hope that you, dear reader, don’t give up in whatever it is you love. Life isn’t always about the glamorous bits that happen out of pure luck, but the moments when your perseverance prevails.
April 4, 2022
I couldn't get enough of it.
No, seriously. I started reading Embers We Struck on my breaks at work before it quickly evolved into reading it each time my boss left the room. I don't even want to know how little work I've done during the time of this book's release.
Martin certainly rises up to the challenge with Embers We Struck by refining his craft and completely surpassing the initial publication of Foreign to You (as every sequel should). I couldn't help but find myself in awe at how expertly the author crafts prose to paint such vivid imagery. At times, it was like watching a Ghibli film or an anime.
And let me just say that it is a talent to be able to make such loathing characters redeemable and dare I say, damn likable. For someone who tends to sympathize with the "bad guys," it was a pleasure to discover that even the likes of Hazel could have a heart. Or on the flipside, how cold our heroine Adelaide's can be. Though my favorite character was our beloved, country-bumpkin Marshall. It was so interesting following the journey of a normal boy who believed he wouldn't amount to anything navigate a cruel fate cast upon him.
This dark fantasy is chock full of action and insane plot twists around every corner. Martin does a fantastic job of answering any open ended questions from the first book all while orchestrating the events of a war betwixt beast and men in excruciatingly, gory detail and I loved every second of it. Overall, Martin is able to wrap this duology up with a nice little bloody bow on top.
No, seriously. I started reading Embers We Struck on my breaks at work before it quickly evolved into reading it each time my boss left the room. I don't even want to know how little work I've done during the time of this book's release.
Martin certainly rises up to the challenge with Embers We Struck by refining his craft and completely surpassing the initial publication of Foreign to You (as every sequel should). I couldn't help but find myself in awe at how expertly the author crafts prose to paint such vivid imagery. At times, it was like watching a Ghibli film or an anime.
And let me just say that it is a talent to be able to make such loathing characters redeemable and dare I say, damn likable. For someone who tends to sympathize with the "bad guys," it was a pleasure to discover that even the likes of Hazel could have a heart. Or on the flipside, how cold our heroine Adelaide's can be. Though my favorite character was our beloved, country-bumpkin Marshall. It was so interesting following the journey of a normal boy who believed he wouldn't amount to anything navigate a cruel fate cast upon him.
This dark fantasy is chock full of action and insane plot twists around every corner. Martin does a fantastic job of answering any open ended questions from the first book all while orchestrating the events of a war betwixt beast and men in excruciatingly, gory detail and I loved every second of it. Overall, Martin is able to wrap this duology up with a nice little bloody bow on top.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews