Review of Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller (physical arc)

 

 

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

 

As her father’s chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: to win back her honour, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.

 

My Review:

 

I have to admit that this was my first time reading anything by Tricia Levenseller.  I know, I know.  What have I been waiting for?  I have her other books, but I haven’t gotten to them yet.   They are now moving up on my massive TBR.

 

Rasmira is a badass.  She is the youngest daughter of the village leader.  He had no sons, but Rasmira’s good with an axe, so he planned for her to become a warrior and take over.  There are trials that everyone warrior in training must participate in.  Rasmira is expected to do great, but things don’t go as planned.  Any warrior that fails is sent into the wild with a mattugr.  These quests are given out, but they seem like a death sentence.  Rasmira’s is to kill the God, Peruxolo.

 

Rasmira expected to be alone in the wild, but she quickly finds two boys that were banished from their own village.  As much as she tries to avoid them, she finds that it’s helpful to have others around.  Rasmira is struggling with trust issues, but she cant’ help but become friends with them.  She is the strongest warrior and helps save them more than once.  But they also help save her, too.

 

Each scar marks me as a survivor.  A warrior of the wild.

 

Soren and Iric were raised as brothers in the same village.  Soren talked Iric into the trials and when Iric failed, Soren decided to fail on purpose.  He couldn’t let Iric go into the wild on his own.  Their friendship was having issues because of this, but Soren was determined to keep Iric safe.  They have been living in the wild for a year.  Neither had even attempted to complete their mattugr.  Iric won’t give up on his love that is still in their village.  But other than that, they mostly just try to stay alive.

 

The wild is full of dangerous creatures.  This was one of my favorite things in the story.  The ziken really stand out to me because they’re venomous, regenerate lost limbs, and love human flesh.  They have a hard exoskeleton and big, bug eyes.  They’re also 2-3 feet tall.  Ziken can only be killed by beheading.  There are other equally creepy animals, too.

 

I loved the banter between Iric, Soren, and Rasmira.  Iric was a favorite of mine quickly.  While Rasmira is awesome because she’s tough, Iric is funny and kind.  Soren was my least favorite, but he really grew on me.  He was loyal and loving.  Rasmira starts having feelings for Soren and their growing relationship is sweet and doesn’t feel rushed.

 

“A man who finds his masculinity threatened by a powerful woman is no man at all,” he says.  “You want someone who lifts you up, not tries to bring you down.”

 

Rasmira decides to push the boys and make sure they all finish their quests and stay alive.  The pacing is good and the book was hard to put down.   There honestly wasn’t anything negative for me.

 

Warnings for brief talk of rape (nothing descriptive).  A woman from a village is given to the god each year as a sacrifice.

 

I gave this book 5 stars.  Thank you to the publisher and goodread for my copy (giveaway win).  Quotes are taken from an arc and may change before final publication.

 

 

Have you read Warrior of the Wild yet?  Is it on your TBR?  Do you like books that are fast paced with quests the characters must complete?  If so, please recommend some others for me.