Nemesis - Nemesis #1 - Anna Banks

15:44:00 Victoria 0 Comments

Princess Sepora of Serubel is the last Forger in all the five kingdoms. The spectorium she creates provides energy for all, but now her father has found a way to weaponize it, and his intentions to incite war force her to flee his grasp. She escapes across enemy lines into the kingdom of Theoria, but her plans to hide are thwarted when she is captured and placed in the young king’s servitude.

Tarik has just taken over rulership of Theoria, and must now face a new plague sweeping through his kingdom and killing his citizens. The last thing he needs is a troublesome servant vying for his attention. But Mistress Sepora will not be ignored. When the two finally meet face-to-face, they form an unlikely bond that complicates life in ways neither of them could have imagined.

Sepora's gift may be able to save Tarik’s kingdom. But should she risk exposing herself and her growing feelings for her nemesis?

The story starts with a young girl, Sepora, fleeing her home country after her father abused her by using her power to create weapons and start a war. Princess Sepora from Serubel is the last known Forger in the 5 kingdoms. The Forgers are kept secrets and only the royal family of Serubel knows their existence. Thus, when Sepora flees, Serubel cannot trade spectorium anymore, which greatly affects all the kingdoms. Because of the secret identity of Forgers, Sepora cannot risk being caught Forging, which she has to do every day if she does not want spectorium to accumulate in her body. 

But plans rarely go as planned. She ends up being kidnapped and traded in a bazar in Theoria. Theoria has just been taken over by Tarik after his dad died from a new plague still unknown to their healers. A Plague that wipes out Theoria and whose only salvation is spectorium. There, she finds out that she will become part of the King's harem. She meets the other girls and let's say she is obviously not fit to be a concubine. Horrified, she does her best to attract the King's attention to ask for her release. She runs away and accidentally disrupts the King's meeting.  The two finally meets and by the simple look of her and her impetuosity, he decides to offer her a position as the King's attendant. 

However, the more they stay together, the more their feelings grow. But they both keep secrets from each other. Secrets that could destroy them or save them both. 

Nemesis is a new young adult novel, which I think is really nice. I really liked that even though the characters were very young (Sethos was 15, Tarik was 18 and Sepora around the same age) they seemed to be more adults than children, which is also probably due to their royal responsibilities. 

I also liked that we have the point of view of Tarik and Sepora. It gives more intensity to their chemistry. They both have doubts about each other but it does not help them from growing feelings. It also made me really appreciate Tarik. He has such a sweet side, I just could not take it ;) His father just died and he is not sure on what to do. He won't stop comparing himself to his father but he is also impulsive, which helps him getting closer to Sepora. He may not be a fighter like his dad and brother but he is wise, empathic and smart. Throughout the book, we will see him grow and take tough decisions to save his kingdom despite his growing feelings for Sepora. He cannot forget that she comes from the kingdom that wants to destroy them. But he also broke my heart towards the end (you will understand when you get to the scene) and I felt my heart break for Sepora. 

I also felt that Sepora was a little selfish. She could save so many lives in Theoria but she did not do a single thing. She is too afraid if someone would discover that she is a Forger. I understand that she needs to hide because a selfish and powerful king would want to keep her power to weaponize it like her father, but Tarik is different. She is intelligent and she has a certain way of seeing Human Kind, which brought her to flee from her home. I liked that she was kind of stubborn and always stood up in front of Tarik. She flirted with danger and I loved it. She is totally driven by her heart and she follows what she thinks is the best despite the consequences. 

I liked this new world that Anna Banks created. I thought it was a simple and yet very interesting world. Every kingdom is very different and has its own beauty. I also liked the romance she created between the two characters. It started slowly and I grew as frustrated as the characters. They wanted to be with each other but they were so unsure and shy that they could not bring themselves to make the first step. I also liked that Anna Banks avoided the triangle love between Sethos, Tarik and Sepora. That would have broken the spell between Tarik and Sepora. 

Even though I really liked it and I highly recommend it to all the YA readers, I was very frustrated at the end of this book because I am not sure I totally understood the final dialogue between Tarik and Sepora. So I am not sure how this properly ends.