Title: Raksha Author: Frankie Rose
Published: April 30th 2013
Genre: YA Dystopian
Link: Goodreads
Blurb:
She has no name.
She has her knives; her training; her halo.
The first and second give her the tools and the skill to defeat the opponents she is pitched against each month. The third frees her from pain and fear. From any kind of emotion at all. Everything is as it should be. Everything is as it should be, until…
FearPainAngerHappinessDesireGuilt
Love.
When a newly-named Kit escapes the Sanctuary after killing her best friend, the last thing she needs is another knife in her hand. Or Ryka, the damaged, beautiful blonde boy, who she refuses to let save her. Still learning how to process the onslaught of her new feelings, the sights and sounds of Freetown are overwhelming and strange. There are a hundred differences between her old home and her new one, but one thing remains starkly similar: the matches. Yet where the blood in the Sanctuary landed only on the colosseum floor, Kit will quickly learn that a river of red runs through Freetown’s very streets.
Freed from the oppression of a society who stole her right to feel, the true horror of her old life leaves Kit wondering if she really has been freed at all. Would she be better off without the crippling horror of all the blood on her hands, or is the love of one boy worth living through all the pain?
Raksha is the call of the dead. The rumbling chant for fresh blood from the other side, the demand for sacrifice. The colosseum is behind Kit. The fighting pits await.
You have been called to the fights.
5/5
Frankie Rose truly has a way with words. This was an utterly brilliant and captivating read.
Raksha is the story of a girls fight to gain control over her life. To choose how she lives and what she feels. To not feel like a collard animal. I loved the world we are introduced to in this book. Even though it does have similarities to The Hunger Games and is reminiscent of so many dystopian books it still stands out in its own way. Many people have described it as Hunger Games meets Gladiator and that is exactly how I would describe it. Fighters are pitted against one another in a fight to the death in a Colosseum. People watch on cheering for blood. This is not a book for those with a weak stomach. There is no shortage of blood and gore and the way the author so thoroughly writes it will definitely leave you with a sick feeling to your stomach.
The characters I think is what makes this story. Especially Kit. She has made my list of favourite heroines. She is one bad-ass chick. A force to be reckoned with. She is not one to takes things lying down and will fight till the very end. I loved being with her as she tried to come to grips with all these new emotions assaulting her system. She deals with them in such a realistic way. After being a hollow shell your entire life you aren't going to be able to handle this new life all that calmly. She reacts the way I expected someone in her position to react. And I especially loved the way she acts with Ryka. Ahh Ryka *happy sigh* He gave me warm fuzzies :) I loved loved loved the romance in this. There was no insta-love to be found. Yay! Thank you Rose! The relationship between Kit and Ryka progressed at a nice pace, they way you would expect it to. They start of weary of one another, not quite trusting each other. But that slowly grows into friendship and then something more. It was perfect. And please please please! Don't let there be a love triangle in the sequel. Pretty please? Don't ruin it.
The story was quite exciting. You didn't know what was gonna happen next. The one thing I really liked were the fight scenes. The author really knows how to write a great fight scene. You could easily picture it in your mind as if a movie scene was playing out before you. The story isn't all about blood and violence though. It really makes you think and gives you pause. The difference in ideology between The Sanctuary(where Kit is from) and Freetown (where Ryka is from) was quite fascinating. It made you wonder who really was worse?
I'm not gonna go into anymore so I will just leave it there and tell you to read this book! If you loved Hunger Games, Divergent, and Under the Never Sky, then you will love this. A must read!
~ About the Author ~
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Raksha-Blood-Fire-Series-ebook/dp/B00CKBJR2E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367468171&sr=8-1&keywords=raksha+frankie+rose
Website: www.frankierosewrites.com
Twitter:
@byfrankierose
Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/frankierose101/ 
Lovely review! Kit is a bad ass chick and I think Raksha is Rose's best work yet. Can't wait for more!
ReplyDelete