Book Review
Title: SeQuence Aligned
Author: Lorraine M. L. M.
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance
Rating: ****
Review: After reading SeQuence book 1 and the events there I was very excited to read the second book. The preface of this book introduces the idea of death and how death is personified in this series. The first chapter returns us the peace and tranquillity of Zeneshia and catching up with Alessia and Dante’s live after the events at the end of the previous book. Alessia seems to have a much better grasp on Zenesh customs and understands better what a sequence entails, although she still doesn’t understand entirely what sequence means to this place. Alessia is going to begin training to grasp her powers and strengthen the shield protecting her people but in order to do this she must leave her family behind, but to her delight Dante will be coming with her.
When Alessia begins her training the Ralda, everyone is shocked by how much power she wields and how easily she can control it, although at times she does switch from one extreme to another for example, from freezing cold to boiling heat but she manages to find her balance and maintain it. The events in this book seems to be moving at a faster pace, while the first book focused on a lot of world building and character development this book seems to be more plot based. Not long into her training Alessia is kidnapped by some unknown people, the last thing she sees is Dante injured and un-moving. The next thing she sees is the inside of her prison cell, the people that have taken her are nowhere near as civilised as the people she has grown accustomed too. As I suspected the kidnapping was all a ploy to aid Alessia in her training, although it was a bit extreme for Ralda to imprison Alessia for over 21 days while she learns to control her emotions and channel her energy.
After returning from her captivity Alessia wants nothing more to see Dante, but Ralda sent him away as he couldn’t bear Ralda’s training methods. She is told that Dante is bed-ridden with a fever so she travels to see him but she has been tricked and led into a trap set by the Tregtarians (Dante’s people). We learns a little more about where Dante comes from and what his past would have been like through the eyes of De-Deganon’s servant, and we see that De-Deganon has targeted Alessia for what her mother did in embarrassing and rejecting his marriage advances. Alessia is presented to Lord De-Deganon and is taking to the dungeons and we see very clearly in this scene that Alessia’s looks remind De-Deganon of her mother who he was to wed before she fled to Earth. De-Deganon wants Alessia to take him to Earth to recover her mother but he doesn’t know that she died before Alessia even came to Zeneshia.
I really liked the fact there new perspectives were introduced in this novel, during Alessia’s captivity she must learn the ways of the almost barbaric land and with the help of Jadherey, she again begins to slowly learns but this is also a test of her strength and resolve in this harsh and unforgiving place. After a month with little sign of De-Deganon or anyone else, Jadherey begins to talk about helping Alessia run away because the Tregtarians want to stop her accessing her full power and possibly destroying them, but they are caught by De-Deganon’s sister which leads to them both taking a fair whipping.
Things take an ever stranger turn when Alessia is held by three men trying to break into her mind and find the passage to her world but her new friend Jadherey is coming to free her and so she must be strong. As we pass the half way mark in the novel the pacing is better in this book but the things that happen are far stranger and is it quite hard at time to keep track of what is happening, it confused me slightly as a reader but I am hoping there will be some clarity in the second half of this book. Jadherey and Alessia makes their getaway and escape but Jadherey has sentenced himself to death by helping Alessia return to the shield. As he himself cannot cross through it he has no choice but to go back and face his fate at the hands of the Tregtarians.
Once they return to Zeneshia Alessia helps Jadherey cross the shield into her land but she for the first time enters Dante’s mind only to find he has been captured by the Tregtarians and she has to once more go back in order to save him. We then jump back slightly as see what led to Dante going back to the place he was born alone and all the while everything seems out of sync but are slowly being brought together again, into alignment. Dante unexpectedly get some help from his father who despite their checkered past seeks only to protect him and preserve the memory of the woman he loved so dearly and her death is a burden he has carried for years. Dante begins to head towards De-Deganon’s home to get Lessi, still unaware that she isn’t there. Alessia and Jadherey manage to rescue Dante from the arena of death with a little help from Tan and Erza, but in doing so she uses a lot of her power and is temporarily blinded. As they reach Zeneshia once more their family ride out to meet them unaware of the condition of the two most important people in the land.
After they all return home safety Jad struggles to settle in but with help and time I am sure he would grow to love Zeneshia just as she does. Dante also proposes to Alessia making their love official in her becoming his wife. The final scenes of this novel were breathtaking filled with love, joy and admiration for the strength and the beauty in others. It was a perfect ending for this novel after all the pain and sadness both Alessia and Dante suffered at the hands of others it was beautiful to see them heal and find solace in each other. I would highly recommend this series to any and all YA lovers looking for a slightly different story and I can’t wait to read book 3 later on this year.
This book was sent to me for review consideration by the author.
Buy it here:
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Also see: Sequence by Lorraine M. L. M.
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