Book Review: CROWN OF OBLIVION by Julie Eshbaugh

Crown of Oblivion
Julie Eshbaugh
November 12, 2019
HarperTeen
eBook, Hardcover, 480 pages

BLURB
Astrid is the surrogate for Princess Renya, which means she bears the physical punishment if Renya steps out of line. Astrid has no choice—she and her family are Outsiders, the lower class of people without magic and without citizenship.

But there is a way out of this life—competing in the deadly Race of Oblivion. To enter the race, an Outsider is administered the drug Oblivion, which wipes their memory clear of their past as they enter a new world with nothing to help them but a slip of paper bearing their name and the first clue. It’s not as simple as solving a puzzle, however—for a majority of the contestants, the race ends in death. But winning would mean not only freedom for Astrid, but citizenship and health care for her entire family. With a dying father to think of, Astrid is desperate to prevail.

From the beginning, the race is filled with twists and turns. One of them is Darius, a fellow racer Astrid meets but isn’t sure she can trust. Though they team up in the race, as Astrid’s memories begin to resurface, she remembers just who he was to her—a scorned foe who may want revenge. Astrid also starts to notice she has powers no Outsider should—which could help her win the race, but also make her a target if anyone finds out. With stakes that couldn’t be higher, Astrid must decide what is more important: risking her life to remember the mysteries of the past, or playing a cutthroat game in order to win her—and her family’s—freedom.

My Review:

Four years ago Astrid's brother Jayden ran away, escaping his indenture as the prince's surrogate. Astrid, Princess Renya's surrogate nearly died from the beating she took that night.

Now, with her father sick and needing medical attention and her younger brother depending on her, Astrid is thisclose to getting the King's decree allowing her father to get the treatment he needs.

But when tragedy strikes, Astrid is pushed to enter the Race of Oblivion, a life-or-death dangerous race/scavenger-like-hunt across the kingdom where the entrants are given a memory-erasing drug and the final outcome is death, a longer indenture to the king, or - for one lucky winner - citizenship for the winner's whole family.

When Astrid awakens in the race amid competitors who would kill her as soon as look at her, the unexpected help of a young man who seems so familiar to her, and a power she shouldn't have giving her an advantage the stakes are about to get a whole lot higher. 

Crown of Oblivion was so easy to get caught up in. I loved Astrid right from the start and was rooting for her all the way.

I thought the Race of Oblivion, it's memory-erasing drug administered by masked people, and the terrain the race spread across were really interesting and inventive.

There's nervous tension, danger, intrigue, magic, and adventure in these pages that will keep you riveted from start to finish. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Crown of Oblivion and highly recommend it to anyone seeking a strong female lead and a unique life-or-death adventure.

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

5 of 5 Stars!

Bookish And Not So Bookish Thoughts - 5 September 2019

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts is a Weekly Meme hosted by Christine @ Bookishly  Boisterous.

Hey Bookdragons! Today I'm doing something a little different. As you may know I'm a member of the street team for Julie Eshbaugh's upcoming novel, Crown of Oblivion. I just finished reading it and it got me to thinking about the memories I'd never want to forget and the memories I'd gladly give up (since entering the race in the book means you must purge all of your personal memories). Here are 5 events in my life I'd never want to forget...

1. When I was four my mom, grandmother, and great uncle went to Disney World. We took the train from Milwaukee and the kitchen on the train had no power from Chicago to Washington, D.C. so the only food they could offer were frozen hot dogs. When we got to D.C. I dropped my beloved stuffed animal, Baby Bop (the green dinosaur from Barney) down the escalator and a very mean woman behind us who was in a hurry said someone should throw it out. I got Boppy (as I called her) back and we got on the train to Orlando. At Disney, my great-uncle who was an older gentleman took the top bunk of the bunk beds in our hotel room and got his boxers caught on the ladder then later misheard one of the Disney employees (a little person) who wanted him to come forward in line and told the little man off. I'll spare you the exact thing he said but it still cracks my mom and grandmother and I up. Later in our trip we went to visit one of my other great uncles who lived in Florida and there was a black swan outside a restaurant and my second great-uncle was afraid I'd get bitten.

2. When I was about 9 and my sister was 3 we went to the Wisconsin Dells in the month of March. My sister, who was prone to coming down with illnesses had an ear infection and screamed well into the night. We had to walk her up and down the hall to wear her out. When she got back to our hotel room she got in bed with my grandmother bringing along a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine which she opened up and began showing my grandmother, yelling, "girlfriend! make-up! nail polish!"    

3. In January 2014, I received an email from a publisher I had sent my first manuscript to offering me a publishing contract. I was so excited I couldn't believe it was real.

4. Shortly before Christmas 2017 I received a package from UPS. Thinking it was a Christmas package I was expecting but not seeing a return address I opened it... and found an ARC of The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco. Sourcebooks Fire had granted my request and sent me an ARC! My grandmother thought I was insane as I jumped up and down and screeched in excitement.

5. In January 2018, only days after my book CurseBreaker released, I found out it had been shortlisted for a fantasy fiction award. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 2 September 2019

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.

Happy Labor Day Bookdragons! I hope you're relaxing and reading and enjoying the end of the three-day weekend! 

What I Read Last Week:

So I ended up DNF'ing this one less than ten pages in. I didn't like the first book so I don't know why I thought the second book would be better. *Sighs* oh well. Another book off my shelf at least. 

I read all three Scary Stories books (bound into one hardcover) last week. I was so afraid to read these books as a kid and now I wonder why. They weren't scary, they were actually boring and fragmented. 

What I Am Reading Now:

I started reading this book at the coffee shop on Wednesday and I'm really enjoying it so far!  As a street team member (and even if I wasn't) I highly recommend preordering this November release. And guess what? If you preorder from One More Page you'll get your book signed (and personalized if you wish) with an exclusive crown stamp on the page! To preorder visit: https://www.onemorepagebooks.com/crown-oblivion-julie-eshbaugh-signed-featuring-exclusive-stamp-nov-12th

Last week I also started reading Bloodleaf. I'm not very far into it and I might put off finishing it for a while because I have more than a few books going right now for me to really devote time to this one.

I still need to finish the audiobook of It's Always the Husband. I'm only about 20% in because with last month's writing schedule I was so tired by the time I crawled into bed I was too exhausted to focus on an audiobook and I didn't want to miss anything because I love this author's writing! 

Up Next:
With a new month comes a new TBR list and this month I hope to read...

This should be easy to get through because I can always read a story or two before bed while still reading other books during the rest of my free time.

I've been meaning to read this book since it came out and I think it's high time I got into it.

The book I've been waiting for all year... I can't wait to get my copy of Capturing the Devil and see how this series ends!

I blew off most of my ARC reading last month so I'm catching up this month. I've been wanting to start this one, I just haven't had the time.

One of the things I love most about Fall is the spooky reads. This is another ARC I have to get to and it is the perfect time of the year to get started on it! 

What are you reading this week? Do you plan out a TBR for the month or do you just wing it?

I Can't Wait For... CROWN OF OBLIVION

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.

I swear I've talked about this book before, but never the less I'm really excited for this November release! Did I mention it comes out on my boyfriend's birthday? Preordering it will be a gift for both of us because I'll get a book and he'll get peace and quiet while I read. Haha! 

Crown of Oblivion

By Julie Eshbaugh
YA Fantasy
eBook, Hardcover, 384 Pages
November 12, 2019 by HarperTeen 


Blurb

Astrid is the surrogate for Princess Renya, which means she bears the physical punishment if Renya steps out of line. Astrid has no choice—she and her family are Outsiders, the lower class of people without magic and without citizenship.

But there is a way out of this life—competing in the deadly Race of Oblivion. To enter the race, an Outsider is administered the drug Oblivion, which wipes their memory clear of their past as they enter a new world with nothing to help them but a slip of paper bearing their name and the first clue. It’s not as simple as solving a puzzle, however—for a majority of the contestants, the race ends in death. But winning would mean not only freedom for Astrid, but citizenship and health care for her entire family. With a dying father to think of, Astrid is desperate to prevail.

From the beginning, the race is filled with twists and turns. One of them is Darius, a fellow racer Astrid meets but isn’t sure she can trust. Though they team up in the race, as Astrid’s memories begin to resurface, she remembers just who he was to her—a scorned foe who may want revenge. Astrid also starts to notice she has powers no Outsider should—which could help her win the race, but also make her a target if anyone finds out. With stakes that couldn’t be higher, Astrid must decide what is more important: risking her life to remember the mysteries of the past, or playing a cutthroat game in order to win her—and her family’s—freedom.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository

What do you think? Will you be checking this one out?