My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summary from GoodReads
Riders. A new fantasy adventure from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Veronica Rossi.
For eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake, nothing but death can keep him from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.
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?
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REVIEW
Even since Veronica Rossi announced on her facebook page her inspiration pics for her new series, I was way beyond excited. Her "Under the Never Sky" series were the first books I've ever read, before I decided to start blogging. Needless to say those books maybe pushed me towards the blogging world.
"Riders" is quite different from her previous books. The story is about Gideon, a Ranger who after a death experience wakes up to find himself different and a gilr who needs his help so the Apocalyspe can stop.
Now you might think that this theme is told many times even from different angles. But Veronica Rossi succeed in delivering an adventure with funny dialogues, a very descriptive villain group and a romance that was slow burning and quite sad.
I liked that the POV was male. Gideon begins from the end and goes back and forth revealing how everything happened, how he met the other Riders of the Apocalypse and how his feelings for Darryn evolved.
The extra points of liking this book were the other Horsemen and their own abilities. Marcus is a dark skinned guy, Sebastian is a wannabe actor and Jode is a British golden boy. Lots of different characters so much funnier their interactions with Gideon.
I absolutely loved the horses. Any book that has horses in it (like "The Scorpio Races" by Maggie Stiefvater and "TITANS" by Victoria Scott) is a favorite. They have abilities, quite the intelligence and Gideon's horse is the best of all!
The final chapters felt too rushed for me though the action scenes repaid my patience. My only problem was how quickly Gideon trusted Darryn in the beginning of the book, though it was overcome by the refreshing male POV and Gideon's inner world.
It was a great read and I hope mostly to see more of all the Riders again. :)
About the author:
Her second series for young adults will begin with RIDERS (publishing February 16, 2016), the story of four modern day teens who become incarnations of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and the prophetic girl who brings them together.
Veronica completed her undergraduate studies at UCLA and then went on to study fine art at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She is a lifelong reader and artist. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she has lived in Mexico, Venezuela, and all over the United States, to finally settle in Northern California with her husband and two sons.
When not writing, Veronica enjoys reading (it’s worth repeating), painting, and running. She does NOT like anything involving numbers, the addition of them, subtraction of them, you name it. They terrify her. Her obsessions generally lead to fictional works. Currently, she’s delving deep in to Ancient Greece.
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