Charlotte the Book Sniffer: The Rhodi Saga

Welcome to my part of the Blog Tour for Megan Linski's new dystopian YA series, The Rhodi Saga!

I was given the pleasure of joining this blog tour through Xpresso Book Tours, and received a copy of the book from Gryfyn Publishing for reviewing purposes. You can follow the whole tour by clicking this link!

Rhodi's Light (The Rhodi Saga, #1), by Megan Linski
Published: September 2016 by Gryfyn Publishing
Length: 204 pages
Genres: YA, Dystopian

My Rating: 4 Stars!

Synopsis:

Flight. Hyperspeed. Clairvoyance.

These are some of the powers gifted to the Rhodi, an ancient sect of assassins who defend Crescentia, a dystopian world with a dying hope.

Dyliana Fairsson is one of them. After losing her parents to a suspicious accident, she and her twin brother, Devin, join the Rhodi to avoid starvation. Under the direction of her master, Dylan struggles to learn the strength of her magic …as well as hide the growing scars on her wrists. Can Dylan become the warrior, the hero, she’s destined to be? Or is she fated to fall from the light into the darkness?

The first instalment in the epic fantasy series by bestselling author Megan Linski, Rhodi’s Light is an action-packed thrill ride that will leave readers begging for more.

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On reading the synopsis of Rhodi's Light, I had high expectations of this book. It sounded like the sort of book that I would love to read and, luckily, it did not disappoint me.

From the first few pages of the novel, I had latched myself onto this story and could not wait to devour the whole of the book.
I loved the whole idea of Rhodi's Light. While parts of it were fairly similar to other books within this genre, I thought the story took a fresh perspective on the average literary hero. This book combined the action and adventure of a fantasy book with a sensitive nature usually only found in contemporary fiction and I think this was my favourite aspect of the story as a whole.

I also found myself connect a fair amount with the characters, Dylan in particular. I found it easy to read from her perception of this and understand what she was feeling at particular times, which I did enjoy. I also loved reading about the other characters such as Tavana and Talidin. I thought all their back-stories were really interesting and they gave the story a good level of tension and danger through their exposition.
I really appreciated the wide range of characters within the novel and how different they all were due to what each of them had been through. But I also appreciated how this drew many of them together.

As a novel, I enjoyed Rhodi's Light more than I expected to, and was easily captivated by the characters and their stories. The storyline was a little predictable from time to time, but overall I really enjoyed reading it and uncovering the mysteries held within the plot.

Being completely honest, I don't actually think the execution of this story was the best it could have been. The writing was good and made the book quick and easy to read, but there were times that I thought the dialogue seemed slightly too forced between the characters. There were some parts that felt a little too formal to be appropriate for the situation.

If there was any other slight complaint I would have about the book, it would be that it all progressed a little too quickly for my liking. The first book took place over the course of just under a year, yet it was squeezed into around 200 pages, which is fairly short for a book of this genre. I would have actually appreciated it to have been slightly longer with maybe a little more 'padding' and perhaps a slower progression of the story. I did feel that the story jumped mostly straight from one action sequence to another, and even though these were really enjoyable action scenes, I would have preferred a few other things to occur alongside them.

There were loads of aspects of the story that I really loved, however I felt that they weren't built up to enough, so when they were revealed it all just seemed slightly confusing and made me question the necessity of them. However, this scenario didn't really occur many times so it wasn't that big of a deal and overall, I really enjoyed the book.

Rhodi's Light was not only a great fantasy novel, it also dealt with really delicate topics, and dealt with them well. The book deals with things like depression and self-harm, which I think is one of its best qualities. I think it's really important for books these days to be addressing these situations as there are so many people suffering from mental health issues. I thought that Rhodi's Light dealt with these situations in a sensitive yet constructive way, showing positive help for the victims. So I thought this aspect of the book was important and was dealt with well.

I really, really enjoyed reading Rhodi's Light and ended up giving it 4 out of a possible 5 stars, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequels, Rhodi Rising and Rhodi's Lullaby. I would recommend the saga to anyone over the age of 13 (depending on maturity) who likes fantasy and dystopian books. I thought it was a great read for many ages to enjoy. There was a small warning at the start of the book regarding the aspect of mental illnesses and self-harm, so if you really feel uncomfortable reading about this, The Rhodi Saga probably won't be for you. However, even if you're unsure about how you'll deal with this in a story, I would recommend just giving it a go as I think it's a really important thing to be aware of.

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You can purchase Rhodi's Light through:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

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About the Author

Megan Linski is the owner of Gryfyn Publishing and has had a passion for writing ever since she completed her first (short) novel at the age of 6. Her specialisations are romance, fantasy, and contemporary fiction for people aged 14-24. When not writing she enjoys ice skating, horse riding, theatre, archery, fishing, and being outdoors. She is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness and suicide prevention, and is an active fighter against common variable immune deficiency disorder. She lives in Michigan.

Megan Linski also writes under the pen name of Natalie Erin for the Creatures of the Lands Series, co-authored with Krisen Lison.

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I've also been given the opportunity to host the international giveaway for The Rhodi Saga Blog Tour, which includes the following amazing prizes from Gryfyn Publishing: