[Review] 'The Last Namasara' by Kristen Ciccarelli

"Jarek's eyes narrowed. "Did I ask for your opinion, scrublander?" Roa's hawk puffed its white chest. its silver eyes glared at the commandant. "In the scrulands," said Roa, "no one needs to ask for a women's opinion. It's expected that she gives it freely."

""You can kill me a hundred times," he said, raising his last arrow from her shoulder, taking aim at his master. "If I can't free you from him, I'm not leaving him alive.""

""It's as if you believe them when they look at you like all you're good for is being used. Like all you're good for is destroying things." She frowned at him through her dripping-wet hair. "That's not what you are, Asha. And it's not how you should be looked at.""

"The Last Namasara is a book about deadly dragons, badass girls, and enemies who save each other." - Kristen Ciccarelli

I don't even know where to begin. Having finished The Last Namasara less than five minutes ago, my emotions are still all over the place. I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I raged. This book made me feel every emotion there is to feel and more. Though I think Kristen managed to put it into words for us perfectly.

SYNOPSIS

In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer. These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl. Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

It's a rare thing for a book to grasp you from that very first sentence but The Last Namasara did so. From that very first sentence, Kristen pulled me right into her story of warriors and dragons. The Last Namasara is a lush tale, rich with culture and powerful with badass characters for girls to look up to. It shows that no one is what they've been told they are but are what lies within them and I think that is one of the most beautiful messages a book can carry.

Kristen has a way of cleverly weaving ever piece of the puzzle perfectly into the story to be revealed at the perfect moment. It leaves you needing to turn that next page to find out what happens next. There is never a dull moment, always something happening that makes you hold your heart as it beats erratically. Its story of dragons and fierce warriors awakens your adrenaline like the main character, Asha, awakens dragons with her stories. It's the most thrilling feeling.

And then there is Kristen's writing. From that very first page, I was immediately pulled under its spell. Her writing is beautifully enthralling and has a way of immediately emerging you deep into the story as if you're a character among them. It is the most beautiful and dazzling prose that seared deep into my heart and soul. To me, beautiful writing is one of the main factors to make me fall in love with a book and I fell, so hard.

Not only is the world building simply divine, the character development is also spectacular, especially that of Asha. She starts out as a princess, hunting dragons to fall back into the good graces after bringing ruin to her people. She sees only her mistakes, her shortcomings, the vicious scars marring her skin are a daily reminder of those. But in truth, she grew up believing a lie. And when you've lived so long believing the lie that has ruled over your life, it's hard breaking away from that. But Asha does so in her own time. She stops believing blindly all that is told her and starts following her heart, fighting for what she believes is right rather than what her kingdom beliefs. Asha's character development is written so beautifully that I can only admire it.

Another thing I absolutely love is Asha's appearance. In today's books, the main characters are often described as stunningly beautiful. But this isn't the case for Asha. Half her body is scarred with vicious burning marks, causing her and her mistakes to stick out at all times. But even more amazing, her appearance, the fact that she isn't considered beautiful according to the standards, does not make her any less compared to others. On the contrary, it makes her more. It makes her fiercer, more badass, stronger. Her scars are worn with pride and she doesn't cower away from the stares. This alone, sends such a strong message to girls, telling them that beauty is not the most important thing. It is what lays beneath you, what you are made of, that matters most. It is the way you treat others and the way you treat yourself that is important. You decide how powerful you want to be, this cannot be decided for you.

So if you're not convinced yet whether you should pick up The Last Namasara, let me give you a quick recap of all the things that make this book so phenomenal and unique from the others.

- Badass warriors

- Great character development

- Dragons!

- Cleverly twisted villains

- Thrilling action scenes (seriously the entire book is packed with them!)

- Beautiful romance

- A rich and cultural world like never seen before.

- Both hilarious and heart-wrenching scenes.

- Beautiful writing

So there you have it. The Last Namasara is a phenomenal book and deserves a thousand stars and more. If you haven't already, add this book to your tbr, go buy it, go read it and thank me later.

Meanwhile, I'll be here anxiously awaiting the release of book two; The Caged Queen coming September 25th.