Another self-published book for 2015 that I absolutely adore! When I mean I adore it I mean I cannot believe I was so hesitant to read this after only reading G-R-E-A-T things about it over and over and over again. I think I had a serious case of the too good to be true sickness. Furthermore Elisa Kova is such amazingly kind person I just want to hug her. I was tweeting her about anime and it just made my day that she was so down to earth and friendly. 
 If you enjoy high fantasy books like Throne of Glass and the Grisha series you'll love this new series. I just adore books that are magical, action packed, emotional and set in a deeply intricate world. Air Awakens is all of that and more. From an outsiders perspective when you read the description you might instantly think of Avatar the Last Airbender (or at least my boyfriend David did when I was describing the book to his mother.) Which I can admit sounds a bit similar but I can assure you this is an entirely different world. Unfortunately I can see how all books that have to do with the elements will always be even slightly compared to Avatar since it was so widely popular and our generation was obsessed with it, but don't let that steer you away from good elemental books though! 
 Seeing as this book is fairly long and a high fantasy I'm going to break this review down into sections. 
 World Building 
 The world inside Air Awakens is highly complex and although we don't get to view any of the other areas beside the capital during the first book you get tid-bits of information and facts about various places to keep you interested. Each part of the continent (North, South, East, and West) has a specific style and ethnicity. Place of origins are easily pointed out based on skin tone, hair color, eye color or speech patterns. At first this was confusing as all get out since Vhalla went around commenting on various ethnic origins without a lot of thought and until I finally understood the differences it was a bit overwhelming. Also, it takes a little bit to understand the role of magic in Vhalla's world and the hostility of common blooded people versus magic born folk but once we get to see the history of both I was quickly intrigued. 
 Romance & Friendship 
 The first book has a really nice slow pace in terms of romance. I love high fantasy books because their about things other than romance. This book allows you to look at the bigger picture while still getting some seriously swoon worthy scenes. It's also NOT an insta-love book. Can I get a amen?! Aldrik is not what you would expect given the terrible rumors we hear about him in the book. He's super angsty and brooding which are both hot in terms of book boyfriends but I was expecting this total tyrannical monster. (Ok, so he does do something super monster/heartless after he first appears but later he tried to make amends.) Watching Aldrik and Vhalla become friends was so nice, there isn't anything rushed or forced about it. 
 We also get to meet some important characters that follow Vhalla through the series. They are all super fun/adorable but I don't want to get anything away on who they are since that happens late in the book. 
 Tone & Emotion 
 The whole tone of the book is a weird mix of foreboding and suspense with a splash of exitement. (Sounds like a recipe to a really good horror movie.) The emotion however had me all over the place. You're happy, worried, scared, SOBBING and a whole slew of other emotions. Super emotional roller-coaster (the whole series so far honestly, but I find this a really good thing.) I like books that can evoke powerful emotions out of me. I can't really say what happens in this book but some seriously messed up things and my heart just bleeds for Vhalla. Life needs to give this girl a break. 
 Overall: I LOVE THIS BOOK GAHHHHHH 
 Would I recommend it? Absolutely. GO- Go read it now!