Play Book Tag discussion

Year One (Chronicles of The One #1) by Nora Roberts
4.5 stars (round down to 4)

Nora Roberts and her publisher have made much ado about how this book is so very different for the author. They both have put in much time and effort prepping die-hard fans and managing their expectations.

And it is new ground for Nora but also not at the same time.

The genre is definitely different. This is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel covering the year after The Doom (a highly lethal virus) begins to effect people. The novel follows a couple different people as they form small groups of survivors and eventually find themselves at the same place at the same time. Very The Stand. This novel is darker than Nora's other stuff (though Sign of Seven was also fairly dark, just not dystopian/post-apocalyptic).

The other big difference is that I would not call this a romance novel. There are some people who fall in love but that is not the central focus of the story, and there is actually very little sex. I can think of one small scene. Maybe two.

But, despite some broad stroke differences, this is the same Nora that I love. She weaves in fantasy elements of witches and elves and other supernatural beings, which is not new for her. And there is the common theme for her of good versus bad, light versus dark.

And the relationships—romantic or otherwise—are still full of heart and I absolutely loved that this allowed her to explore more types of relationships. Some were friendships, some were family relations, some were new romances, some were establish couples, some took a while to bubble to the surface. This was my favorite part of the book by far.

And she wasn't afraid to kill off characters. It was not Game of Thrones level, but many people died. Some we barely knew and others we were really rooting for. Not everyone was happy. My one complaint is that we didn't revisit some of the character leads before this installment was wrapped up and I want to know what happened to them!

But, most importantly, it felt like Nora Roberts. It sounded like Nora Roberts. And I loved it, perhaps even more than any of her books since The Bride Quartet (damn, I love those books). And, in typical Nora fashion, she forced me to read this book at breakneck speed because I couldn't wait to see what happened next, but now I have to wait til the next installment to revisit these great characters!

Kudos, Nora, for taking a chance and making it work so well.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

This one sounds interesting, I will have to look into it!

Relieved to read your review after hearing about how different this book was going to be from her usual. Looking forward to reading it myself now!

Great review, Nicole. I was looking forward to hearing what you think about this one since it does seem so different than normal Nora. Really glad to hear that it feels like Nora- some of her latest stuff has definitely departed to feel more "trendy"

I was super interested in this book until this-
Nicole R wrote: "She weaves in fantasy elements of witches and elves and other supernatural beings, which is not new for her. "
As one who is really NOT interested in fantasy-does this distract/detach from the main plot a lot? I liked the Innsboro trilogy, but rolled my eyes at the ghost stuff. Hoping it's just nods to fantasy in a similar fashion.

Also shout out to the Bride Quartet. Fav Nora ever!

Joi, the fantasy elements are a central and very integrated part of the plot. Comparable to The Guardians, Cousins O'Dwyer, Three Sisters Island, and other trilogies like that.

If fantasy is not you jam, then this is not for you. The ghost in Inn Boonsboro was very fantasy-light (I would not even call that real fantasy) compare to this.

That may discourage you from reading it, but it is honest!

And just like that, removed from my TBR. Maybe I'll consider it for a halloween/October read in the future, but nope probably not for me. Which makes me sad, lol.

Thanks for the honest opinion, that is exactly what I was looking for.

Joi wrote: "And just like that, removed from my TBR. Maybe I'll consider it for a halloween/October read in the future, but nope probably not for me. Which makes me sad, lol."

If it is any consolation, Nora has a new book coming out in the spring that doesn't look like it has any fantasy elements in it! Shelter in Place