Resonant by Jeremy Jacobson

I firstly want to thank NetGalley and Bindery Books for granting me access to this amazing ARC.

I went in not really knowing what to expect and was absolutely blown away! I thoroughly enjoyed this read and will definitely be adding it to my re-reads when I grab the physical copy.

Resonant by Jeremy Jacobson.

The story follows three individuals: Ranian the hunter, Elva the bell maiden, and Imebron the light-borne scholar. Whose lives change when the Firesong passes through them. A Firesong that has not been heard in millennia. What does it mean? It means that immense danger is approaching and a resonant has been sounded, and three strangers need to abandon everything they know and do to fulfill their calling to protect the realm.

As I started reading, I honestly had no idea what this book was about, and soon found myself engrossed in the pages. I haven’t read much with this style of fantasy, so this was a little introduction to it, and I loved it. This is the start of what I am assuming is a series and is only the beginning; however, it was full of action and character development, and the world-building was so vivid and in-depth that I felt like I was there through the terrain and scenery. As the story begins with Ranian as he ventures through the swamp to slay a scaled beast, I was already sucked into the world. The fact that these monsters are reptilian creatures made for an interesting and intriguing concept that really sold me on this book. While the villain is represented as a ruthless and controlling godlike regime that holds authority and dictates everything, serving as an oppressive systemic antagonist, I really like the idea of this being represented by scaled beasts. These beasts really gave me the creeps and added to the overall experience of the book. As you follow the heroes through the pages, you get to know just how diverse and unique each character is. Starting with Imebron, who is a lightborne scholar and one of the most powerful characters in the book, as his people hold immense power and influence. He starts off as a prickly character and somewhat above his peers, but as you get to know him, he is a vital part of the team and a great character within the book. Elva is a bell maiden along with her sister, who is trained in the art of being a skillful assassin, fighter, and spy, and is part of a secret elite team. She is a friendly soul and highly intelligent. She comes off as openly friendly and shows an interest in the different people she speaks with. However, she is trained to do so as she is always gaining information to use and to gain a better understanding of the person she is speaking with. She is deadly in her skills, even if she doesn’t look like it. Lastly, Ranian, a hunter paying for his father's sins, works off the debt by hunting scaled beasts. He is quiet and keeps to himself, not wanting to burden the others as he is much younger than they are, with less experience. He feels like he has to prove himself, and that gets in the way when danger arises.

Together with their helpers, they trek to where danger is imminent. As they go deeper into their journey, they must choose between saving the world or choosing freedom.

I cannot wait to dive deeper into the lore and world-building further when more books come out, as I truly enjoyed all aspects of this story.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy and enriched world-building with unique characters and plotlines. Thank you to the author for such a fantastic journey in Resonant.