#NAAugust Week Four, Day 24: Beyond The Contemporaries - Daybreak Rising by Kiran Oliver

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Torquere Press pre-order link

So today is a lot like Sunday, and my next recommendation is actually a review. I actually had the pleasure of reading this book at multiple stages, and watched it nourish and grow each time I read it.

Daybreak Rising was actually one of the few books I read that was speculative fiction, New Adult and inclusive all in one, three of my favorite things, but sadly, rarely done together.

It's taken me a long time to review it for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to create as much buzz as close to the publication date as possible. Two, I wanted to take my time and assess how I really felt about it. Three, I forget ;p(JK)

But at a time where I was looking for a book with F/F representation that was New Adult and fantasy, it was the only one I knew of, that I couldn't wait for publication =D

I loved it for more than the reasons above, but their just the obvious ones, considering the event and the week I placed it XD

I'm going to try my best to make this as spoiler free as possible, as I've been horrible about that in the past, and I'm trying to do better =D

Here's why Daybreak Rising was one of my favorite reads this year:

~The Romance

I'm always going to look out for some kind of romance, even if it's a backdrop. I can read fantasy without it, but I love cute, and nothing's cuter than falling for someone <3

The story follows the exploits of Celosia, or Daybreak, a moniker she's earned for herself after a mistake from her past. By the way, that's not a good thing.

A lot of things happen in the book, but I was looking forward to getting a load of how the romance would be handled between Celosia and her leading lady Ianthe. 

There was an extremely slow burn type kindling between them, and it left just enough to allow the fantasy elements to shine without losing the fantasy part. 

I think I had two favorite characters, and Ianthe was definitely one of them, I just wish we could've seen some boom-chica-wow-wow scenes ;p

I think it blended the romance and fantasy setting well enough to satisfy faatasy fans who don't normally read romance, and romance readers who don't normally read fantasy!

~The action

Okay, so this is where I get all avatar status on you. Elemental magic is the ish. It's always been around. Avatar The Last Airbender made it revolutionary, to the point we ain't even calling that ish magic anymore, it's just bending XD

Anytime you're adding a bunch of people who can manipulate elements, you're bound to have a good time.

But it isn't just the magic. There are some pretty epic points that weren't magical, if that makes any sense.

Their world dealt with a lot of oppression and politics, and since it had a military backdrop(read next reason below) there was one scene I remember in particular(I read it months ago, forgive me for forgetting a few XD) that had me thinking "yo...where your crew at?"

~The world-building

When i started the book, I felt like I was immediately drawn into a world that reminded me of a mix of Fullmetal Alchemist and ATLA/LOK. I don't think I love three shows more than those, so I don't compare much to them, because they're too flippin amazing.

However, the more you read, the more you're pushed into a world that stands on its own. I usually find whenever there's military themes involved in a fantastical story, it's hard to follow or I don't enjoy the way they handle things, often unprofessional that I'll question whether it comes off realistic to me. The military backdrop was the first thing I noticed that brought back major feels, since I always hated finishing FMA for the first time.

I felt DBR blended technology, magic and military themes well enough with the fantastical theme, where it didn't feel like a book that'd bore me.

~The inclusivity

Biggest part about this book. Aside from like, two characters, nearly all the major characters are LGBTQ+, as well as identities many don't often educate themselves about, like demisexuality/romantic. I don't think people realize how cisnormative/heteronormative we're raised as a culture, and you have to make yourself aware of it before you can dismantle and unlearn all of it. 

A story that blends so many things at once made it seem effortless, that it kinda felt like we should be living in a world like this, so it's kind of sad that we're not =(

Disability representation reveals itself in multiple forms in this story as well.  Not all disability you can see from first glance, so I'm glad I read a story that incorporated a survivor of PSTD(after my LOK rewatch, I totally realized I didn't appreciate that narrative the first time around) as well as someone blind.

I'm kinda hoping we see a little more Adan should things go further, but that's my personal opinion. Outside of Ianthe, I always loved reading when he was on screen =)

I haven't fancasted in a while, but then again I haven't reviewed in a while since Sunday, so I'll try my best to cast them how I saw them.

 I kinda saw actress Kat McNamara, since she has naturally vibrant ginger hair. You'd be surprised how many redheads in Hollywood aren't natural XD But she's one of the few I'm familiar with that I know to be born with the trait.

 Actress Amanda Setton used to be on Gossip Girl, and I thought I read a while back that she had Armenian descent, but she's actually part Syrian and Ashkenazi Jewish. Since I didn't know that until re-looking her up, I pictured her the whole time, since I'd always thought her to be an ethnic minority who wasn't Black, Latinx or Asian.

The pre-order link literally just went live, so do yourself a favor and hit that link up! It should be out soon so stay tuned =)