Thursday, June 2, 2011

Review: Nia

Nia by Mella Reese
Released: March 03, 2011
Published By: Black Rose Writing
Pages: 224, Paperback
Young Adult
Source: Author/Blog Tour
|Author Website| |Author Blog|

Suddenly this kneeling, filthy man caused all of my attention to pivot upon him when he grabbed my hand. I was just opening my mouth to warn him that he would surely be killed...no one was allowed to touch me, Princess Nia, without permission. My protesting words were replaced with a swift intake of breath as the soldier produced a strange-looking dagger and drug it lightly over my finger. I stared in wonderment as he gently squeezed my fingertip to produce just one red ball of blood, my blood. Then the man kneeling before me swiped the blood from my finger with his own and plunged it into his mouth. "Your blood is now my blood. Your world is now my world. Your life is now my life," were the words he chanted... Via Goodreads  


My Thoughts:


Slightly reluctant to take on this book for review, I gave one glance to the synopsis and was sold.  I had to know what happened, what happened to the soldier, what his promise meant, and who Nia was.

In a historical setting, we share Princess Nia's journey as she discovers her worth to others, her self-worth,  love, loyalty, and what it means to be a Princess in a time which male heirs are more valuable and accepted by their kingdoms.

Princess Nia is an extremely likable character.  Even when others around her do her wrong she is willing to  over look their lack of loyalty or compassion and still give hers in return.  Despite the fact Princess Nia wants nothing to do with the throne and those around her want her nowhere near it, Princess Nia's smarts and level head becomes apparent and eventually lead to the domino effect of bad events that follow her, her love and fiance, Andras, and her sworn soldier Garreth.

Andras and Garreth both seems to have a similar goal at hand during Nia, to protect Princess Nia from any danger.  Too bad, despite both being likable characters and both seeming to break the molds in some ways for men of their time, one of them fails at their duties and leads to the downfall of Nia and the one who would stand faithfully by her side at the throne, in poverty, in any kingdom she may take shelter in.

Nia was a book of mystery, kingdom politics with an underlying tone of romance.  Each character did grow, whether it was a personal growth or one in which we were shown the true nature of their inner person.  All characters, main or secondary, built the story into what it was, even those I could not stand.

Nia was simply written though pretty complete.  It had a way of being vague enough to let my mind roam free, building the world and characters around me, and giving me enough that I knew what the product of my imagination was supposed to be.  I did find my ability to picture Nia herself a little hard but I was easily lost in the story and almost felt like I was watching the story unfold through her eyes, so it didn't really bother me beyond the beginning when the foundation was still being laid.

With two more books slated to be in Princess Nia's story, I will be excited when I can get a copy of number two and hope the romance is a little more thick.  I'd like to tell you who I'm wondering about but unfortunately that would give the end of the story away and that would completely ruin the story should you read it.  



I recommend Nia to those who enjoy their historical young adult fiction with a side of romance.

Purchase Nia |Amazon|

-----------------------------

Mella Reese is a native Nevadan and proud survivor of Cushing's Disease. She attended Brigham Young University in Utah and Hawaii before completing her decree in Special Education at The University of Nevada Las Vegas. Ms Reese lives in Southern Nevada with her husband, son and daughter.


3 comments:

  1. My sincere thanks for taking the time to read and review "Nia"! Thank you for mentioning the character developement as it was very important to me as I wrote this book. :)

    Warm Regards,
    Mella Reese

    ReplyDelete
  2. I personally love historical! I'm going to add this to the TBR! Great review!

    ...and you're blog is a changing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just noticed you put your review on Amazon---thanks! That was truly very thoughtful of you.
    Warm Regards,
    Mella

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment, I love comments! Make sure to follow my blog if you like it. Also, make sure to leave a link to your blog so I can return the favor.