Airabeth by Jojo Bee

MAIN THEMES:
- Forced Proximity
- Psychological Warfare
- Enemies to Maybe-Lovers
- Powerful FMC
- Unlikely Alliances
- Deadly Trials

Huge shoutout to Jojo Bee for sending me an eBook of Airabeth for review!

This book really surprised me! The story revolves around Nadia, one of four siblings whose parents were killed by the Sacred Seven - the ruling Masters of Earth who enter the minds of the humans to force them to do their bidding/unspeakable things. Nadia and her family are rebels, still recognizing the rightful rule of the Emperors, who the Sacred Seven defeated in battle and banished into another realm. The seven Masters are Warfare, Cruelty, Sickness, Fear, Doubt, Obedience, and Addiction. Each can enter the mind of a human and make them believe they are tortuously ill, they need to hurt someone, etc. However, Nadia and her family are Flames - those with mental shields strong enough to resist the Masters’ powers, and the Masters don’t want them to exist.

Nadia’s older brother, Sasha, becomes the victim of an unfortunate slip-up and Nadia is taken captive by Warfare to try and save herself and her remaining two siblings. To do so, she must complete seven deadly trials - one for each Master. The trials are traumatic, her body breaks, her mind is on the verge of breaking… yet, she pushes through with the help of a couple of friends (one VERY unexpected one).

There is no spice in this book and could even be listed as YA (but older due to graphic violence). There is a slow burn enemies to maybe-lovers, but the powers-that-be seem hell-bent to keep them apart. There are many twists and turns, especially toward the end of the book, that kept me intrigued. It was to the point that I read the last 25% of the book in one sitting, because I just had to know what was going to happen!

Jojo’s writing is well-paced. I was able to visualize the world she created clearly without needing to add extra pages or be overly descriptive. I’ve found that the first book in a series is usually longer to allow for the world-building, but that didn’t seem necessary here, which I appreciated. Not only are there not too many fillers, but it was an easy read with the chapters going by quickly without me questioning any plot holes or “how did I get here?” moments.

Character-wise, there wasn’t a whole lot of growth per-say in this book. However, there were many revelations about Nadia, her siblings, and even the Masters that drove the plot and kept me guessing at every turn. The main villain in the book is Sickness and he doesn’t really have any redeeming qualities (his looks even embody his powers), and I rather enjoyed that I just hated him more and more as the story progressed. The side characters were also foundational, and every single one served a purpose. Whether they were for companionship, to lead to a plot twist, or to guide Nadia along her path, I felt the relationships were genuine and I would really like to know where tf Tuesday is at the end of the book - JOJO, IS SHE OK?!?!

The only downside is there isn’t a release date set for Book 2, so it appears we will be waiting a while to find out what happens next. Good news is she didn’t leave us on so massive of a cliffhanger that the wait is anxiety-inducing (and this is coming from someone with hella anxiety). Just enough of a “wait… what?” moment to keep me in anticipation for Book 2 but not keep me up at night.

Overall, I give this book a 5/5 stars - it’s definitely up there with my favorite reads of the year! In a world full of fantasy and romantasy lately, I’ve found quite a few books seem to run together and my brain can’t keep them straight, but the psychological aspect of Airabeth really made it stand apart, and I know I won’t be accidentally inserting characters from other series or confuse plots. Maybe it’s because psychology is one of my special interests, I don’t know, but this book really grabbed me in a way only 1 or 2 others have so far this year and I HIGHLY recommend you give it a read!