Flames of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms, #1)

by Amelia Hutchins

[Caitiebelle]

So before I write anything at ALL - I've actually read some of the reviews for this book and some of them rated it really bad because of well..the usual complaining about the heroin/hero being dicks, controlling, pervasive, the violent sex and so forth - I think one person called it "rapey" (whatever that means), despite the fact that there is a clear difference and a line in this book in regards to what is indeed rape scenes, and what isn't and how our characters feel about these things etc.
I actually urge you to continue on to book 2 as you will be introduced to some things there that might make you change your tune or possibly see that our dear Aria is absolutely capable of holding her own and in her own words - Kneels to no one. She's actually a very very strong woman with a very clear good compass.

So I want to put in my own footnote regarding these things in the book! :D

STOP PUTTING HUMAN EMOTIONS AND MORALS AS A COMPASS WHEN READING THIS BOOK!
Doing so will most likely disappoint you - because..news flash? NO ONE IN THIS BOOK IS HUMAN!!
Ergo putting HUMAN into this world is just...wrong. This is a completely different world, and a completely different set of rules depending on what species we are talking about.
Also, there is a very good example of the moral compass that Aria follows, when it's explained how the Werewolves packs function and the females' role there. And why Aria has issues with this. /shrug

Phew. Ok, I got that out of me. :D Sorry, but I just had to yell it from the rooftops. I can't help it.


I waited quite a while to read this book, I waited until the 2nd one was released, because I already knew there was going to be a fantastic cliffhanger at the end in true Amelia style - and I wanted to be able to just simply open the next one. hehe.
But also because I invested so much time into the Fey Chronicles universe that I needed to let it rest a bit so as not to accidentally compare the two.

Saying that I do feel I recognize a little bit between for example Few Chronicles and Playing with Monsters series. I feel like I can see a bit of both main characters from those books - in this book here. What I mean by that is that I see a lot of Lena + Synthia in Aria and I see a lot of Lucien + Ryder in Knox.
It's a good combination I feel and I welcomed it, it doesn't stand out so if you haven't read any of the other books from Amelia, you would ofc. not notice, but I have read the other books so many times now that to me I felt there were many similarities. But I welcomed them.

This book series is Fantasy, and the world-building for Legacy of the Nine Realms series is just as epic as I felt it was in the Fay Chronicles.
The fighting is very good, though we don't see too much of this (spoiler - we see a fuck tonne in book 2) on a large scale, rather we see many...shall we call them....duels? Disagreements? Fight for your life? But on a smaller scale, not so much huuuuuge battles.

Arias is a very very strong heroine, at times she does annoy me a bit, but she is quite young for a Witch, she's 24 years old - and because she's very young, along with some of her sad life experiences by the hands of her own mother, she can be a little jaded, but it all builds on her character. She's fierce and loyal and she loves deeply. She also has no problems putting you to death should you break the law and so forth, hehe.

The book is mostly set in the 10th realm, which is our human plane in a smallish town full of the supernatural. It is the home base for this 10th realm. The "nine realms" refers to their homeland, aka the lands of "Fantasy".

When Knox is introduced we quickly find out that he's something completely different to what everyone is used to. He's dangerous and extremely powerful.
Knox is from one of the so-called "beast" realms - I think that would be accurate, but we don't know what *kind* of a beast he has inside him. Together we find out that Aria is also an "unknown" but her inner beast is similar to his, and his and her beast? They kind of like each other. hehe

The sex is full throttle in this book, there's fighting, battle - there's "I want to fuck you then eat you" type of sex, I mean we are talking about besties here after all. ;)

But the book also has a lot of good humour, I found myself laughing quite a bit. There are some sad parts, Knox's past is def. one of the things that made me cry. He's a man that's lost everything, and he is so full of rage and set for vengeance that it is negatively impacting him - and it is standing in the way of happiness.

Their love story is a very clear love/hate relationship, where most of the time they are arguing and throwing mud - love is not really ever mentioned, but it is through actions we can clearly see that feelings are involved. However, neither of them are ready to see that. Knox is on a mission, Aria is on a mission, and it is sadly - not the same one, so heads def. collide! hehe

I could go on and on about this book, but I could not put it down. I found it fun, heart-wrenching, incredible, sexy and so forth.

It's a def. 5* from me, and I am currently finishing up the 2nd one. Def. continue the series, even if you are on the fence. The 2nd book really does bring more to the table.