BOOK REVIEW: Bewilderness by Kevin Cox
I’m always up for trying something new when an author reaches out to me. Well, typically if it’s within one of my more preferred genres, I’ll give a book a chance. That is how this particular book fell into my lap. Kevin reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested, and I said sure it sounded like an interesting premise. I started reading in December, and then with the craziness of the holidays, I have only just now finally wrapped it up.
Bewilderness had me a little bewildered for about the first 3rd to half of the book, so I guess I could relate to the main character, Ambrielle, who was completely bewildered throughout the majority of the book.
The quick synopsis goes like this: “When a young girl wakes up in an unknown world and encountered dark forces that threaten the universe, only she can change its destiny. Accessing portals to other realms, Ambrielle journeys across multiple worlds as she searches for answers to find her way home. Sixteen-year-old Ambrielle has no memory of her life. In fact, she doesn’t even know if her name is Ambrielle, the name her new alien friend gave her when she woke up mysteriously stranded in a desolate world with no humans. As she slowly cobbles together bits and pieces of her life, Ambrielle tries to fit in with the many alien species she encounters and settle their divisive conflicts, all while eluding shadowy entities from a realm beyond the universe as she seeks a way to return to Earth.”
There are three ‘worlds’ that Ambrielle travels between. There is the Desert World (Solsellion) which serves as the hub to all the portals to the various other worlds. We don’t know exactly how many portals there are because Ambrielle only runs through the deserts between three of them. The one she first finds herself at when she wakes, and the first one she walks to that takes her Antharia (a primitive society where two groups of human-ish species aren’t getting along very well), and a third desert oasis location that takes her to Elyravess (A super technologically advanced world that is created and being sustained by AI, drones and synthetic sentinels.)
When the story starts and Ambrielle is a confused mess, I found it hard to connect with her. It was a little difficult to see where the story was going. I just felt a little lost in that initial exposition. Then there were those moments when I thought things were a little simplistic for the situation and how the characters were reacting, speaking and interacting with each other. My uncertainty continued when she made her first portal jump to Anatharia. I really did enjoy the people she met, Maetha and the other Kavekkians. As these people where in conflict with the Darterrans, it helped to build the conflict between the two groups when Ambrielle only had the Kavekkians side of the story. When she finally comes back and meets and lives with the Daterrans, you see a whole different side. I did love the scene near the end when their conflict came to an explosive end.
My favorite of the many settings, however, was Elyravess. There was a sci-fi, futuristic creation to this world that I think was stronger in it’s development than that of Anatheria. The battle between these sophisticated sentinels was intense, and I was definitely engrossed throughout. Avo’Doria is probably my favorite character in the entire book. For an AI robotic type entity, she was compassionate and fierce.
By the end, I liked how all the world’s collided on Solsellion, and we are able to see characters from all the worlds come together. But to get to the end, there were definitely so ups and downs.
What I loved:
The different worlds and how she brings them all together
The conflicts between the groups
Avo’Doria and the Darterrans
The apartment Ambrielle had on Elyravess
Things that I struggled with a little:
Ambrielle - her character was too inconsistent for me. There were moments that situations and conversations were too easily acceptable and the dialogue was downplayed a little where it could have added more depth to scenes.
Gavian, the human, that she meets on Anatharia. I couldn’t connect with him, and struggled with his and Ambrielle’s connection.
Sidaire and Kazial - Even after finishing, I’m not super clear on who they are (beside inhabitants of Solsellion) or how they got to the same Oasis as Ambrielle. I was waiting the whole time expecting them to be bad guys.
For how smart Ambrielle is portrayed, she should have figured out the whole Earth thing WAY before she did.
I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but I’m still not exactly sure how she entered the portal to end up on Solsellion to begin with. There are so many questions still left unanswered, which I understand as this is only book one of a series, but I wish there was just a little more information given; some areas that were just a little more developed. With all this said, it is also a story about learning who you really are and what you are truly capable of. Ambrielle remembers very little about her life on Earth, and when those memories come crashing down on her, you realize at the same moment she does, that grief and trauma change who you are.
Where does this book land on my bookshelf?
I’m putting this on the middle shelf. Will I read book two? Yeah, probably. In some ways, I’m still confused about a lot of more underdeveloped aspects and have a lot of questions, so I want answers and clarifications. I definitely appreciate the cliff-hanging ending. I honestly think now that the worlds are created and the enemy is identified with motives in place, the plot and characters can have additional focus and development. By the halfway point in this one, the structure and style was making sense and allowed everything to fall into place better, so I’m sure that will continue into book 2. If you are looking for something a little different and enjoy that young adult, time travel, sci-fi/fantasy combo, check this out. It’s an easy read, and definitely picks up momentum in the second half!
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