Unproven Book Review

This is another title I got from Netgalley. This one is called Unproven and it is by Drew Briney. This book was published on March 9, 2018. I got a free copy of one of Unproven through kindle EBooks in exchange for my honest review.

This book is about a state, country, or the world (not sure which because wasn't specified) which is split into two main parts. One of these parts is governed by the Hiwalani, who believe mainly in magic, or the Trayki, who believe more in technology. A few generations ago, there was a huge war between these two sides and the tension never seemed to die down. This book follows a young Hiwalani mage, who has almost no power. He, when about to voluntarily exile himself to insure not to bring shame to his family due to his weak powers, sees something absolutely horrendous. He sees Kotrakoy being unearthed. This is terrifying to him because Kotrakoy are basically dragons on steroids. The have four wings, they can read minds, can turn invisible, are ginormous, unpredictable and violent, and to top it all off, they have a pallet that includes human. On his way back to his hometown to warn everyone about the evil Kotrakoy coming back, he finds a young girl who is badly injured and from Trayki lands. With a war now looming overhead and evil Kotrakoy out to get everyone, Shadow must try to stop it all with his measly powers.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was engaging, and you really feel for the characters. The author is a very good writer too. He describes things well and makes it feel like you are really there yourself. I also love how creative Briney was. He created something totally original and made a whole new world unlike anything I could ever think of but still makes it clear to the reader how this world functioned. There was only one problem I had with this book, and that was the names. The things are supposed to be like from another language which is cool and works well for the Trayki names, but the problem is the Hiwalani names. The nicknames are great, Shadow and Bliss, but those are the only two nicknames. The others are usually quite long or way too similar to some of the other names. For the first half of the book, whenever I started a new chapter, I would read a few pages wondering who it is they are talking about and then when I realized I would have to go back to reread it to make sure I understand it. A lot of times though it would switch between nicknames and real names which made it even more confusing. Despite this though the book really was a great read and I recommend reading it when it is published. One thing I would do though, and I greatly recommend this and I wish I had, and this is because of the names, keep a character chart. Write down someone's name, exactly the way as spelled, and write something that can spur your memory of who they are. Do go read this book though because it is a great read.

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