Review: Relic

Relic by Heather Terrell
Grade: A
Release date: October 29th, 2013
This book was an ARC provided by Read Between the Lynes in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: When Eva’s twin brother, Eamon, falls to his death just a few months before he is due to participate in The Testing, no one expects Eva to take his place. She’s a Maiden, slated for embroidery classes, curtseys, and soon a prestigious marriage befitting the daughter of an Aerie ruler. But Eva insists on honoring her brother by becoming a Testor. After all, she wouldn’t be the first Maiden to Test, just the first in 150 years.

Eva knows the Testing is no dance class. Gallant Testors train for their entire lives to search icy wastelands for Relics: artifacts of the corrupt civilization that existed before The Healing drowned the world. Out in the Boundary Lands, Eva must rely on every moment of the lightning-quick training she received from Lukas—her servant, a Boundary native, and her closest friend now that Eamon is gone.

But there are threats in The Testing beyond what Lukas could have prepared her for. And no one could have imagined the danger Eva unleashes when she discovers a Relic that shakes the Aerie to its core.

*Warning* The following review contains spoilers.

The Good: I went into this thinking it was a fantasy and then quickly realized it was futuristic, which I thought was so cool.  It's so different that your average dystopian book.  The setting, the Arctic lands, is definitely new to me.  How Eva slowly found out everything was definitely cool.  I enjoyed how blind the Aerie were to reality.  It was interesting to see how far a society could reel back into archaic methods. The way they treated our technology was amusing, as if it were evil and could do them harm.  The book overall was an interesting analysis of how our present society uses technology, medication, clothing, etc.  In some ways, those things are gods to people.  But to others, they are just means of communication.  It also made me wonder what people from, say, the medieval age would think of us.
Anyways, I enjoyed how the book started off and how we still don't know who let Eamon die.  Eva and Lukas were great characters, although we didn't truly see much of anyone but Eva.  This book is obviously going to be part of a series, so it introduced the main plotline that will carry throughout but also had its own definite plot point.  We were also left with a bit of a cliffhanger and several unanswered questions at the end.

The Bad: Some of the words go undefined, and I would've liked a little clarity on the words that create the world of Relic.  I also felt a bit unclear on the different positions/jobs and what they did.  A little more explanation would've been nice.

The Ugly: Not much of anything really.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The Verdict: Overall, a great read.  I actually liked it more my second time over.  I highly recommend Relic.