Analiese Rising by Brenda Drake + Author Guest Post!

Analiese Rising by Brenda Drake is a YA Paranormal, Fantasy Romance story with a Mythological spin!

“Half-Blood meets Antigoddess in a thrilling, romantic new series from New York Times bestselling author Brenda Drake.

When a stranger gives Analiese Jordan a list of names before he dies, the last thing she expects to see is her own on it. Not. Cool. Her search for answers leads to the man’s grandson, Marek, who has dangerous secrets of his own. Both are determined to unlock the mystery of the list.

But the truth is deadly. Analiese is a descendant of the God of Death, known as a Riser, with the power to raise the dead and control them. Finding out she has hidden powers? Cool. Finding out she turns corpses into killers? No, thank you.

Now the trail plants her and Marek in the middle of a war between gods who apparently want to raise an army of the Risen, and Analiese must figure out how to save the world—from herself.”

I was really surprised with this book. At first, I thought the atmosphere of the story was more of a creepy, ‘we’re watching you‘ idea because, really, throughout the entire book, we find that the main character, Analiese, appears to be stalked by these random people around every turn.

But through it all, there is a ton of action scenes, journeys across oceans, and a quest to figure out why her name, and the name of her deceased relatives, are on a single piece of paper. But this is just the beginning of all the people that seem to know everything about her..

After the crazy discovery of an older man struck on his death bed from a hit-and-run, we follow her as this orphan is thrown into a new light of death versus life. Starting with the first scenes with the frog in science class. From that moment on, I could tell that there was something special surrounding Analiese as more and more events occur similar to what happened.

Then, we find out that she isn’t just an ordinary human: she’s a Riser.

If you are a fan of mythology, this book will not disappoint. There are so many different gods and goddesses that track Analiese in the entire plot. Since I have very little knowledge of all the different entities, it was very interesting to see who they all were and their roles set by their tales.

And, I won’t forget about the slow burning romance between two characters. I could tell that something may happen between them, but it was still fun to watch it all unfold.

The ending was satisfactory, but I could tell that there may be room for a possible sequel?

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. There are a lot of characters thrown into the mix which was a little bit hard to follow all of their roles, but I can say that it was still a quick, fun read.

Especially if you like real-world quests set in a fantasy setting with tons of mythology thrown in, this is a book you will want to try on your TBR!

“Brenda Drake grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).”

From the Author:

On the influence of Brenda’s grandmother and Irish Folklore has had on her writing..

“The most magical time of my life was spending it with my Irish grandmother. She was such an eccentric woman. She’d sing quirky songs, use fun Irish sayings, and tell stories. Many of them were filled with leprechauns, fairies, and other mythical creatures from Irish folklore.

Visits with my grandparents in Massachusetts was the highlight of my young life. I was the youngest of the girls and my sister and our cousin would ditch me often. Lonely, I would sit on the floor beside my grandparents’ bookcase. It was filled with books from my mother’s childhood. I’d read while my grandmother sat in her chair, feet resting on an ottoman, doing a crossword puzzle from the daily newspaper.

On one such day, I asked her how people wrote books. She said a good book comes from a great storyteller. I’d asked her if she knew any stories and she said she did. She told me several stories that day. Her voice changed with each character and her facial expressions were animated. I had so much fun listening to her. All her stories were mystical, full of magic and shenanigans. I remember bits of them, but I wish we had recorded them.

After a while, my grandmother, apparently getting tired of telling me stories, told me that she thought I had many stories in me and that I should write them down. I grabbed a notebook and wrote a very short and horrible story about a bunny rabbit who lost his carrots. In the end, a leprechaun had stolen them because he was hungry after carrying a very heavy pot of gold around all the time. My grandmother said it was the best story she had ever heard. That is how she had formed my love for storytelling and writing books with a bend toward the fantastical.

Encouraging a child’s imagination can lead him or her to follow their dreams. Is there someone in your life that inspired you to read or write?”

Published: 8 January 2019

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Pages: 350

How I Read It: eARC from Publisher

*Disclaimer: I requested a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All of my reviews are based on my honest opinion only and are not influenced in any way.*

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