Crown of Oblivion

by Julie Eshbaugh

In this mesmerizing YA fantasy mash-up of The Road meets The Amazing Race, one girl chooses to risk her life in a cutthroat competition in order to win her freedom.     

In Lanoria, Outsiders, who don’t have magic, are inferior to Enchanteds, who do. That’s just a fact for Astrid, an Outsider who is indentured to pay off her family’s debts. She serves as the surrogate for the princess—if Renya steps out of line, Astrid is the one who bears the punishment for it.

But there is a way out: the life-or-death Race of Oblivion. First, racers are dosed with the drug Oblivion, which wipes their memories. Then, when they awake in the middle of nowhere, only cryptic clues—and a sheer will to live—will lead them through treacherous terrain full of opponents who wouldn’t think twice about killing each other to get ahead.

But what throws Astrid the most is what she never expected to encounter in this race. A familiar face she can’t place. Secret powers she shouldn’t have. And a confusing memory of the past that, if real, could mean the undoing of the entire social structure that has kept her a slave her entire life.

Competing could mean death…but it could also mean freedom.

• ISBN10: 0062399314
• ISBN13: 9780062399311
• Publish Date: 26 December 2019 (first published 12 November 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 February 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: Quill Tree Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[tweetybugshouse]

This story is a heart pounding delight of a read. Our main character Astrid is the surrogate of a spoiled princess. Basically that means she gets punished, whipped, starved etc anytime the princess disobeys her parents. The thought is you can’t beat royalty and if the princess cares about the surrogate she more likely to stay in line. Her brother Prince Lars also has a surrogate but instead of learning to be kind of behave he delights in seeing not only his surrogate be beaten but also his sister. In fact he drawn into and participates in the beatings.

One day the princess is able to achieve the unthinkable and offer Astrid farther the chance to get better health care cause in this world you have those who are enchanted and those who are outsiders. Outsiders have no magic and are forced to be indentured to the enchanted. Astrid wants to only see the lives of her family get better. Things go horribly wrong and as a result Astrid enters what is known as the Race of Oblivion. If you enter and win this race you and your whole family are granted Citizenship and all the rights that the enchanted have.

Now you maybe thinking well we all ready heard this story in books like the hunger-games. It is a dystopian with some of the same concepts you read in those books but this one is unique and original with magic being held by enchanted, outsiders entering this crazy race, then of course you have the drug Oblivion which literally steals your memories and eventually can kill you. The drug is a huge part of the race and the weaving of the story with the missing memories really adds up to some great plot twists. I not sure if this is going to stay a stand alone or if we get more story. This is also on the longer side for most novels that i read recently. It comes in at a whopping 480 pages. Plenty of room for it to be a stand alone guess we have to wait and see.

Pick this up this November 12, 2019.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
4.5*

Crown of Oblivion was pretty much all the things I hoped it would be: a high stakes adventure in a terribly dangerous world. I asked, it delivered, I'm happy to report!

What I Loved:

• • First, this should be a movie. Or a show, I shan't be picky. But everything about both the world and the race itself would translate incredibly onscreen. Someone make this happen, please and thank you.



• • It's an adventure, and also, they take your memories, and also also, you could die. And if you're Astrid, I think the chances are even higher that someone's trying to kill you, tbh. Seriously, put yourself in Astrid's (and the other racers') shoes: You sign up for this Death Crawl, but when you wake up, sans memories, you have no idea why you would sign up for such a thing! That in itself is worth the read! But it's even more precarious than that, because Astrid is trying to save her family and herself at the same time, while fending off all kinds of enemies and brutal conditions.



• • Loved the characters, of course extra loved Astrid. Okay but how did I fall in love with a character who's missing her memories for half the book? Easy, she's awesome. She cares so deeply about her family, that's clear from the start. But even when she no longer remembers that they even exist, she works so hard to survive. She's smart, she's brave, and she just has a ton of heart.



• • The world had so many problems that are mirrored in our own society. So much of the inequality that people experienced were for such garbage reasons. Just like real life, naturally.



• • There really just wasn't anything I didn't like. It's fast paced and compulsively readable. Once I got going, I didn't want to stop!

Bottom Line: An incredible adventure in a very messed up world, with a main character you simply can't help but root for!