Riders is the first book that I read which was written alone by Veronica Rossi. Remember Bounce? She also wrote that, but it was collaborating with another author.
Riders by Veronica Rossi
Publication Date: February 16, 2016 by Tor Teen
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy (Paranormal, Mythology)
Goodreads Summary:
Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.
While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.
They fail.
Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.
But will anyone believe him?
What I like about the Story:
Meet the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. Two weeks ago, I just watched X-men and a few days after I received the copy of the book. So Xmen Apocalypse’s Horsemen and the Four Horsemen here in Riders are different? That caught my interest. The first horseman is War aka Gideon Blake, the soldier wannabe and leader of the team who has an uncontrollable rage. The next horseman is none-other than the actor wannabe and the coolest pal in the group, Faminine aka Sebastian ‘Bas’ Luna (I love his name). The third horseman is the quietest and grumpiest huge guy, Death aka Marcus and the last one to complete the horsemen is the smartest and richest bloke, Conquest aka Jode or James Oliver Drummond Ellis.
Daryn, Handcuffs and the Kindreds… There is this mysterious girl name Daryn Martin, who has a silver chain on her neck and a key whom Gideon met at a party. Daryn is actually a Seeker who is looking for the Four Horsemen to fight an evil gang called Kindreds: Samrael (whose power I like most), Ronwae, Pyro, Raom, Alevar, Bay and Malaphar (his name is the creepiest). I admire Daryn because she very strong and she enjoys writing in her journal (like me!) One more thing is the hand cuffs and its purpose. Wow, I couldn’t believe that the significance of it in the story is more than it showed in the beginning!
The Unbelievable Connection of 2nd of August, Horses and the Horsemen special armors!
The Horsemen have their own unique horses like Gideon’s Riot who is a fiery and very temperamental horse, Bas’s Shadow is the cutest with its bluish mane, Marcus’s Ruin is all black which kinda scary and Jode’s Lucent is probably the loveliest of them all with its pale gray skin. When Gideon and Daryn met Bas, he was already using his armor: Scales that came in handy and piqued Gideon’s interest. Marcus released his Sycthe when Gideon asked for a fight with him. Jode who had difficulty calling his bow and arrow made Gideon jealous of his own armor: Sword. It was August 2 when Gideon’s Father died and… that same day also, all four of them almost died and got the handcuffs on their wrist. Coincidence? Perhaps it is!
Quotes to Remember:
‘I learned that when bad things happened, my Dad stepped forward first. I learned he was a hero. A real one.’
Daryn to Gideon
“There are times I catch you watching me, and what I see in them makes me forget everything. What I am, and what I do and I’m just a girl again. A girl who gets a million butterflies in her stomach over the boy with the prettiest blue eyes.” –Aww!
How it ends:
Samrael and Bas lost in a portal. Daryn and Shadow were missing. Gideon would never be in the army because of his right hand.
Verdict:
At the beginning of the story, it was slow-paced. If this would go up until the middle, I think I’m going to put this down for awhile, but when the searched for four horsemen started, I was excited. If you are not into fantasy teen novel, you might not appreciate Riders but its worth to pick and read this well-crafted book. I’m looking forward to its second book: Seeker!
There is an on-going give-away for the finished copy of Riders! PH residents only!
Open the link and join: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a38337fd4/
Perk's ratings: 4.5/5
Thank you TOR Teen for the review copy and Veronica Rossi Philippines for allowing me to be part of the blog tour!