A Sapphic Adventure YA That You Need to Read Right Now #MatatagAtMatapangTour

Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin

Young Adult, Fantasy
August 2 2022, Swoon Reads
E-Arc, 384 pages
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“Be dauntless, for the hopes of the People rest in you.”

Seri’s world is defined by very clear rules: The beasts prowl the forest paths and hunt the People. The valiant explore the unknown world, kill the beasts, and gain strength from the armor they make from them. As an assistant to Eshai Unbroken, a young valor commander with a

near-mythical reputation, Seri has seen first-hand the struggle to keep the beasts at bay and ensure the safety of the spreading trees where the People make their homes. That was how it always had been, and how it always would be. Until the day Seri encounters Tsana.

Tsana is, impossibly, a stranger from the unknown world who can communicate with the beasts – a fact that makes Seri begin to doubt everything she’s ever been taught. As Seri and Tsana grow closer, their worlds begin to collide, with deadly consequences. Somehow, with the world on the brink of war, Seri will have to find a way to make peace.

My Review

5/5 stars

This is one of those books where I just knew going into it that I was going to like it. Dauntless has a lot of things I love in a fantasy novel, but it also introduced me to things I don’t think I’ve ever seen done before, or at the very least, not this well.

I honestly recommend going into this book knowing as little as possible, I think learning everything organically really helps this world feel real and grounded. And what a world it was. I love when fantasy worlds are dripping with history and legend, and Bonnin did such an amazing job crafting exactly that. All of this world felt believable, and the lore that suffuses everything about the way these characters interact with that world is excellently written.

The characters themselves were also top tier. Seri was such an excellent protagonist, and I really loved how she alone could be the central character of this story. From anyone else’s point of view, this would have been an insanely different book, and while I think it could have still been a good book, it would not have been this good. Seri is headstrong and wracked with guilt, but more than that she’s endlessly brave, and she doesn’t even really recognize it in herself.

The side characters were just as compelling. They each felt so fleshed out and well-rounded, with histories of their own that you learned slowly. It truly felt like getting to know someone as opposed to an infodump. I actually really loved Eshai, or more specifically getting to break down the walls around her identity and finding a real person underneath. Tsana was another favourite, I often felt just as frustrated with her as the other characters did but I think she really holds her own as a character and a love interest.

I think one of my favourite things about this book was the way that Tsana’s society was often more advanced than Seri’s (especially in regards to weaponry) but Bonnin never made Seri or Eshai or anyone else look less intelligent for being confused. This is something I see often in fantasy novels where one group has obvious advantages and the characters that haven’t been exposed to that written as though that makes them uneducated or dim-witted. I find it frustrating, and I really appreciate that Bonnin leaned into humanity’s natural curiosity.

The romance itself was also really well written in my opinion. Seri and Tsana had a really interesting push and pull to their dynamic that I thought was fantastic, I really could not help myself but ship them. Eshai and Lavit’s little secondary romance was also incredibly cute, I think the sweetness of it played really nicely with the seriousness of Seri and Tsana’s relationship and made them feel very different.

I really cannot think of a single thing I would change about this book. I loved the adventure aspect, court intrigue books are great and all (I read plenty!) but my heart lays with characters venturing off into the great unknown, in this case quite literally. I think Dauntless has something for everyone, and if it isn’t already on your TBR it definitely needs to be.

Blog Tour + Author Info

Elisa A. Bonnin was born and raised in the Philippines, after which she moved to the United States to study chemistry and later oceanography. After completing her doctorate, she moved to Germany to work as a postdoctoral scientist. A lifelong learner, Elisa is always convinced that she should “maybe take a class in something” and as a result, has amassed an eclectic collection of hobbies. But writing will always be her true love. Publishing a book has been her dream since she was eight years old, and she is thrilled to finally be able to share her stories. Dauntless is her first novel.

I just want to quickly give a huge thank you to Kate @ Your Tita Kate for including me in this book tour and allowing me to write this review! I absolutely adored this book, and I’m looking forward to reading everyone else’s reviews! The rest of the blog tour stops are as follows:

July 19 — Caitlyn @ teatimelit
July 20— Sage @ Sage Shelves (you are here)
July 21 — Eleennae Ayson @ Inkhaven
July 22 — Nessa @ Ness’ Utopia in Pages
July 25 — LY Jimenez @ LY Jimenez
July 26 — Lisette @ Lemmi Bookmark That!
July 27 — Shenwei Chang @ READING (AS)(I)AN (AM)ERICA
July 28 — Isabella @ Solace In Reading