Foretold (Daughters of Saraqael #3) by Raine Thomas

Foretold (Daughters of Saraqael #3) by Raine Thomas

Publisher: Iambe Books

Release Date: July 2011

Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance

Source: Author

Format: Paperback

Goodreads Summary:

Centuries before she was born, Skye Tomaganuk was a subject of the most important prophecy in Estilorian history. As one of three half-human daughters born of the Corgloresti, Saraqael, she is part of the fulfillment of Knorbis’ Great Foretelling. What she doesn’t know is just what the Foretelling entails for her and her sisters.

As Skye and her sisters continue their training and visit each of the Estilorian class homelands, they soon learn how much impact their human emotions have on their father’s kind. Skye is particularly interested in the effect of emotions on her Gloresti, Caleb. Although she wants their relationship to progress beyond just that of protector and assignment, he proves particularly resistant to the idea.

She’ll soon have much more to worry about than a lack of romance, however. With the help of a traitor, Grolkinei infiltrates the Estilorian stronghold, imprisoning Skye’s mind and putting all Estilorians at risk. It leads them all toward the greatest battle of their kind, and puts Skye’s faith to the ultimate test.


My Review:
If I had to use one word to describe Foretold I would have to say that it is absolutely enthralling and a perfect ending to the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy. I say this because I felt it had all of the elements that make a final book in a fantasy/romance series work. Foretold was captivating, it had a lot of action, intensity, romance, and great world building as we continue to learn more about the Estilorian world. Estilorians being beings with powers who used to share the world with human beings and who later became the stuff of what human legend and myth are based upon.

What I loved the most about Foretold is that it is a complete study on emotion. A study that started in Becoming which is the first installment in the Daughters of Saraqael series and continued flawlessly through Foretold. Why do I say this? Well, because through the Estilorians and interactions with the main characters in this series who are half human we get to witness how the lack of emotion can affect a being (estilorians in this case) and why emotions are important in a society (human or not) and I have to say it was completely fascinating. I really feel like this book delved into what makes a person good or evil which honestly is not the easiest subject to tackle but Raine does an amazing job at exploring this which leads me to our main characters.

The character development in this book is fantastic. Raine Thomas always delivers in creating incredibly well developed characters be it primary or secondary characters because she always makes sure to give them a specific dilemma to tackle and the reader just finds themselves immediately engaged  in what is challenging these characters lives. Skye who is the lead female character and main focus in this novel is an incredibly fun, honest, and lovely character with so much enthusiasm that you can't help but like her because she is innocent and has a playful mischievousness to her. Caleb who is the male lead in this book embodies everything that Skye is not. He is stoic, calm, and collected and when you put them together in a scene it is like magic because they contrast yet compliment each other so well and honestly share some of the most  funny and romantic scenes in the whole series. Their misunderstandings are just beyond adorable because Skye exhibits a lot of emotion but Caleb doesn't always know how to express himself so it takes them a bit to figure each other out and that they like each other and it was fun to read about.

In Foretold we also get a lot of world development. Raine Thomas has an incredible imagination because the descriptions of the Estilorian world are so vivid and creative and I like how she uses some traditional fantasy elements in the story and gives them a twist and creates such an intricate world with it's own politics and complex societal structure. It was really interesting to read about as were the battle scenes that take place in this novel which really were incredibly surprising because there were so many twists and schemers in this novel. And the villain. Boy was he evil, manipulative, and ruthless. He gives Voldemort a huge run for his money and truly had not even a shred of decency, just a lot of hate and jealousy in his heart.

My advice: If you love fantasy and romance you have to check this series out because it has both by the bucket-loads. For me Foretold had all the elements that a great Young Adult fantasy/romance novel needs to possess in order to be credible and compelling. And beware because you will also find yourself lost in love with these characters and story, as well.


My Rating: 5/5