Beyond the God Sea: Betrothed

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So, even though I loved the first book enough to give it five stars, now I am torn... because if the first book was five stars WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ONE? Cause it's more than five. Envy of the other girls, Zaria was born for the sea. Nobody questions her fate as the chosen braenese to marry Keroe, God of the Sea -- least of all her. We already knew Zaria’s "hate to love" chemistry with Kirwyn was *chefs kiss* in Book I but there are definitely certain characters that can take run for his money!

Until a curious boy washes up on her palm-fringed paradise, and Zaria defies sacred law to hide the unconscious stranger.

Meeting Laz, I hated him. I still do. I could see the author subtly writing attraction into his interactions with Zaria which was honestly UNCOMFORTABLE, given how absolutely horrible he was to her. I love a good villian, enemies to lovers kind of story, but to me, Laz was just too mean and I had a hard time believing she could like someone who said/did such horrible things. Don't get me wrong, Laz's character was interesting but I largely found him unforgivable. It will be interesting to see if we learn more about him in book 3. Jul's was nice...but lets agree that nice is a bit boring. Basically, both brothers paled in comparison to Kirwyn. Although Aslan was more of an immediate presence to Narnia than the Emperor, he and his father worked in perfect unity. The Emperor was often referred to as "Aslan's great Father, the Emperor-over-the-sea" and other such titles. He was greatly respected by his son and all who honoured the Lion.

There have been countless meals since your arrival, little queen. Don’t you think I could have gotten my hands on one of them by now?” Please be advised: In this dystopian series the protagonist grows in a manner similar to characters such as Sansa Stark. She begins as sheltered/naive and does not become a strategist until Book II when the story darkens and matures. There is no spice/adult content until Book III. I don't think this story would make sense if Zaria wasn't at least a bit naive. I mean, she's been told, along with her entire island, lies all her life. It's literally in the blurb. She acts juvenile because she is quite literally a teenager. It's part of her growth as a character for her to realize how much she's taken for granted. I'm halfway through the second book in this series as I write this, and I can say that she doesn't stay naive. Her growth takes a natural pace, and she has a lot of learning to do, but it's realistic. How many of us would just know everything and be good at everything without first making mistakes? Especially as teenagers?Betrothed: Beyond the God Sea is a work of fiction in the dystopian, science fiction, and romance sub-genres, and was penned by author Elora Morgan. The work is intended for the young adult reading audience and contains no explicit content. Our protagonist is Zaria, a young woman born into a position of privilege on her island, who is told that she is bound by fate to marry the sea god Keroe in a dangerous ritual. So when a new boy washes up on her island and threatens everything that she and her people believe in, Zaria must re-examine who and what to put her faith in. What results is a thrilling and enveloping start to the God Sea Trilogy.

That being said I am so glad I waited it out and continued. This book was truly amazing. It took me by surprise and I actually didn't predict the "truth" and twist of the story before it happened. I was literally reading the last couple chapters of this book on the edge of my seat. There are characters I want to hug and ones I want to STAB WITH A RUSTY SPOON, but I won't leave spoilers behind. The one thing I didn't like - being left on such a cliffhanger! I want to know what happens next soooo bad, and it's killing me that we'll have to wait to continue this story. Everything tied off well to the first book, but there's still so many unanswered questions (that I won't go into because of spoilers). Work against the Emperor's Magic?" said Aslan, turning to her with something like a frown on his face. And nobody ever made that suggestion to him again." ―Susan and Aslan [src] I finally understood why his cruelty hurt so much. Because I knew Laz was poison, yet a foolish, naïve part of me wished he wasn’t. If I'd read this book at 13 or 14, I'd have said it's nothing special but it's fine. Being older than that, I struggled getting through it. A couple of small, intriguing mystery elements appear early on, though, and were enough to keep me reading.I'm also intrigued by the dystopia/fantasy setting. Though it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, the story gives off more of a fantasy vibe in the sense that it doesn't feel like the world these characters live in is anything much like our own. There's some modern technology (so far) but it's pretty low-key.

I eagerly and probably very impatiently await the last book. I have high expectations, which I am sure is so much pressure for an author, but with how well the first two books went I have all the faith in the world that the third will be everything. Everything from the synopsis to the book cover, and even the first 1/2 to 3/4 of the book, gives the impression this is fantasy. It isn't. It's dystopian. And the transition is neither smooth enough nor clever enough to make up for that broken promise. Just because someone wants what you want, doesn’t make them your ally. Just because they don’t, doesn’t make them your enemy.” In the first book of Beyond the God Sea: Betrothed, we see Zaria preparing for her month-long ceremony to marry Keroe, the God of the sea. Her world is turned upside down when a boy washes up on shore claiming to know more about what the land that lays past the sea, if there is such a thing. As the story progresses, Zaria becomes more and more interested in what happens after she is sent into the sea for Keroe and in Kirwyn the boy trying to convince her not to marry him. Somehow Elora Morgan was able to create a sequel I loved even more than the first. From start to finish, I was completely intrigued by the plot and the new characters that we meet in this book, Juls and Laz especially. I found every detail help paint a vivid picture of this dystopian world that seems so fantastical at times, especially seeing everything through Zaria’s point of view. We didn’t get to see much of the world outside Elowa in book one, and i think she does a great job of world building and bringing the new world to life in book two.

Customer reviews

While Zaria questions Kirwyn’s survival she is introduced to 2 brothers, Young King Juls and Lazlian. Without giving spoiling too much, they certainly have the very different views of Zaria when she is involved. Emotional Breakdown: YES BECAUSE THAT FREAKING CLIFFHANGER AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT IN BOOK TWO!! I AM DYING. I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. I am a high school student who doesn't usually read any sort of fantasy or dystopian books, but there was something that drew me to this series - and I don't regret it for a moment!