It doesn’t happen often that fantasy books are standalones. These can be hit or miss, because worldbuilding and character development can be tricky in one book. Warrior of the Wild is a fantasy standalone and sounded really good! Was it able to capture everything a book needs to in one book? Keep reading to find out what I thought!

How do you kill a god?

As her father’s chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: to win back her honour, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.

 

 

 

 

 

Review

Warrior of the Wild is a book you don’t want to put down once you start! Tricia Levenseller has a way with words that keeps you wanting more. We start out with Rasmira, who wants to become a warrior. In their village, everybody does a trial for the profession they want to work in. It’s clear that there is a group who will be testing with Rasmira, who are intimidated by her. There is a big case of betrayal and she is banned from her village. Rasmira can only return if she kills the god who has been torturing the villages.

Rasmira has an interesting relationship with her family. So it’s hard for her to leave, but it also makes her want to prove that she can do what they ask of her. I loved how determined Rasmira is. You would expect most to just give up after being thrown out. Nothing is going to stop her from killing the god. Rasmira is strong and determined and those are my favorite kind of characters in these types of books.

It’s not long after she is banished that she runs in to two others who have been banished as well. Before Rasmira is banished, we hear how awful it will be once banished, but these two have created a home for themselves. The characters we meet are very interesting. Soren was banished because he actually let himself fail, so he could be with his friend who failed the trial. He felt like it was his fault. Iric is an interesting one and is great at creating things they need to survive. Even after being banished, he stil keeps in touch with his boyfriend by writing letters. I thought that was so sweet. They loved each other so much, not even being banished would stop them from communicating.

Once all three get together, things start rolling. I loved the banter and teasing, but also seeing these characters learn to trust each other. All of them want to go home, so they decide to help each other complete their tasks. I think that was my favorite part of this book. Seeing Rasmira, Soren and Iric start training and preparing. While doing these they start dealing with what has happened. I loved seeing how strong their friendship becomes.

Besides the strong friendship, we get a bit of romance. At first I was kind of disappointed that romance was added to this story, but as it developed, it fit the story a bit better. At least it’s the kind that makes you smile, haha.

Once they start preparing and going after the task of completing their tasks, we meet a lot of interesting creatures along the way. Warrior of the Wild gives us an unique world and I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like this. Reading about the tasks is really interesting, but I don’t want to give away too much. It’s more fun when you read it for yourself. At times I felt things maybe went a bit fast or easy, but I suppose that happens faster in a standalone.

In the end I really enjoyed Warrior of the Wild. For a standalone, this author gives us the perfect balance of worldbuilding and character development. I felt I knew and read enough to be able to understand what has been going on! The writing was amazing and I didn’t want to put it down. I can be at peace with this being a standalone, but after growing to love the characters I definitely want more. I can think of a few things I wouldn’t mind having a companion novel about!

After reading Warrior of the WIld, I definitely have more hope for fantasy standalones! Have you read Warrior of the Wild? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.