Grace Ashley's Reviews > Belvedor and the Four Corners

Reviewed by Maureen Dangarembizi for Readers' Favorite

Belvedor and the Four Corners (Belvedor Saga, #1) by Ashleigh Bello is a fantasy novel which begins in The Four Corners of the once magical land of Olleb-Yelfra. The Four Corners is a prison for those who are slaves, with only one way in and one way out. Arianna Belvedor is number 22 in the Warrior district and is set to win her freedom on Free Fall day when she turns 18. But all her well-laid plans go awry when she takes up an ill-advised challenge. Death doesn’t take her, but it strips away everything she ever believed. The world that she thought she knew is a lie and the freedom she’s worked for is false. With the help of her friends, Arianna must escape The Four Corners and restore the Golden Age.

I absolutely loved Ashleigh Bello’s blending of fantasy, a Hunger Games like scenario and adventure. This is a well-written book that is literally 'unputdownable.' There was so much action and unexpected twists in this story that I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time. There is nothing predictable about the sequence of events that leads Arianna to her friends and their dangerous trip to freedom. Ashleigh Bello knows how to set up a mystery. It was so much fun discovering things that had been laid out for future revelation from the beginning. The world of Olleb-Yelfra is a well-developed and fascinating place, at least the little I’ve seen so far. I can’t wait to read the next two books in this series. One of the things I loved about Belvedor and the Four Corners is the inner strength of those who were viewed as weak slaves. It made the main character's victory so much sweeter in the end. An awesome book by a truly talented writer. Great work!