Title: The Beholder
Author: Anna Bright
Pages: 429
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 4th June 2019
Rating: 4/5 stars

*spoiler warning*
 
The Beholder follows our main character Selah, the daughter of the Seneschal of Potomac. She has recently turned eighteen and the pressure is on for her to find a husband to help her lead her country. It’s her engagement night to her childhood friend Peter, who she has loved all her life. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as planned, and he refuses her proposal in front of the whole court. Selah’s scheming stepmother Alessandra has been planning behind the scenes to send her across the Atlantic in search of a husband. She boards the Beholder and begins her journey across the sea to Europe. Selah’s travels take her from the lush gardens of England to the cold northern lands of Norge to the dreaded Imperiya Yotne; where once you enter, you never return. Selah is determined to avoid the Imperiya if it’s the last thing she does so she can get back to her sick father. Not everyone is who they seem to be, from her own crew to the people she grows closest to. Throughout the course of the book, Selah experiences heartbreak, secrets, love and lies and comes out the other side a stronger person who will do anything she can to save the people she loves.
 
My thoughts:
This book was one of those that you just can’t put down. I stayed up half the night because I desperately needed to know what happened next. I also didn’t want to read it too fast because I knew it would end and I wouldn’t know what to do until the next book came out. Having to wait until 2020 is so painful! Haha 😀
 
What I liked:
> Selah’s character development. She starts off as a very quiet person who mostly keeps to herself. When her stepmother tells her that she will be leaving her home to go find a husband she doesn’t put up much of a fight. Throughout the course of the book, she begins to stand up for herself and has a pretty badass interaction with the King of Norge.
> The relationship between her and Torden. She let’s go of any worries/doubts she has and decides to just be herself.
 
What I didn’t like:
> Too many side characters. I sometimes forgot who was who and had to refer back a few times to recall a name or description.
 
This book is incredible! I absolutely loved it. Anna did an amazing job writing these characters. I cannot wait for the second book; The Boundless, which will be hitting the shelves sometime in 2020.

Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of The Beholder. If you haven’t read it yet I would highly recommend doing so as soon as possible 😀 Bye guys, happy reading! xx

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