"The Unfinished Song: Initiate" by Tara Maya

From Goodreads: "A DETERMINED GIRL...

Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan.

AN EXILED WARRIOR...

Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile."

In all honesty I am having a somewhat difficult time reviewing this book. While reading the first couple of pages of this book I was so confused as to what was going on because Tara had introduced so many different terms that I was unfamiliar with (ie. krall, aurochsen, etc.) and therefore I would have to reread sentences trying to use the words context in order to determine what they meant and a lot of the time I was unable to do so. Furthermore, in the beginning I was quite confused by the politics of the world/ how all of the different people were situated in comparison to all of the other, though this confusion did ease up with time. On the other hand, this story was super unique/ intriguing and unlike any fae-ish/ tribal story I have ever read before, the characters were quite believable and relate-able, and the cover? Super gorgeous (I think that I read that that Tara created the cover herself!).

Aside from Kavio, my favourite character was hands-down Gwenika (mainly because I can relate to her so much- hypochondriac/ major worrier much? You bet!). Kavio was such an interesting male character, he seemed to always be pulling a new talent out of his repertoire and I think that he can definitely be added to the 'swoon-worthy' list! And Dindi was also a very interesting character, she was so caring and patient with all of the people around her (I know I could never be as patient as she was).     

I loved how fast paced and action-packed the second half of this book was- I am looking forward to the next book in this series mainly because this book ended on a complete cliffhanger. 

Rating: 6.5/10

I received this book from the author, I was not compensated for my review.