Book Review: Enlightenment of the Rogue Emperor by Jana Klánová
Genre(s): Fantasy / YA
Book Synopsis:
Eugenie is a certified, double-vetted, regular, ordinary high-school girl living her best life someone more competent planned for her, in a perfectly normal world, where strange things don’t happen because that is simply impossible.
Or so she thought.
Right the second she graduates, the rug under her feet gets pulled and she, alongside a young, mysterious scoundrel, takes a wild tumble down a mountain of myths and hoaxes that her country has been built upon into a whirl of unknown, scary… but oh, so exciting.
Review:
I found Eugenie’s character to be interesting from the start. She seemed to have some neurodivergent characteristics that intrigued me. When she’s abruptly thrust into her new role, I was curious to learn how she’d adapt and move forward. The “scoundrel” mentioned in the synopsis is a boy named A.J., whose ultimate goals are a mystery at first. I’ll admit I didn’t trust him from the start; he’s a shifty sort with a lot of power and influence, should he choose to use it.
Eugenie and AJ were an unlikely pairing, and I really enjoyed how their friendship developed as the story progressed. She began to open up a bit and seem more real around him, while he started to trust her, when he isn’t used to trusting anyone.
I liked how the concept of mana was used in this book too. It’s like magic in a way, but it isn’t something people are usually born with. It’s something found in certain objects, which can then be transferred to a person—but there is, of course, some serious risk involved. And if the person “goes rogue” (the book’s term for losing control while using their mana-gifted powers), they run the risk of becoming desolate. It wasn’t clear right away what that meant, only that it wasn’t good.
There was one thing I struggled with in this book. There was some use of regional accents in dialogue; I had a tough time trying to figure out what some of the characters were trying to say based on the phonetic pronunciations employed in their speech. I understand that accents can add a certain level of depth to storytelling, but it’s a point I personally have a difficult time with. This is not a criticism of the author’s stylistic choice, but I wanted to mention it because some readers (like me) struggle with it.
Otherwise, this was a fun story. Between the mana concept, the desolates, monster battles (yes, there are monster battles!), and the journey of discovery Eugenie undertakes with AJ, there was a lot to like in this book.
Author website: janaklanova.com
Amazon link: Enlightenment of the Rogue Emperor
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