Firstborns rule society. Secondborns are the property of the government. Thirdborns are not tolerated. Long live the Fates Republic.On Transition Day, the second child in every family is taken by the government and forced into servitude. Roselle St. Sismode’s eighteenth birthday arrives with harsh realizations: she’s to become a soldier for the Fate of Swords military arm of the Republic during … Republic during the bloodiest rebellion in history, and her elite firstborn mother is happy to see her go.
Televised since her early childhood, Roselle’s privileged upbringing has earned her the resentment of her secondborn peers. Now her decision to spare an enemy on the battlefield marks her as a traitor to the state.
But Roselle finds an ally—and more—in fellow secondborn conscript Hawthorne Trugrave. As the consequences of her actions ripple throughout the Fates Republic, can Roselle create a destiny of her own? Or will her Fate override everything she fights for—even love?
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I picked this up after seeing it a few times on Instagram, and BOY am I glad that I did. The prose was good, the characters were great, and the story kept me flipping pages long past when I should have gone to bed. And then I read the second and third books back to back… if you’re looking for your next great YA romance/fantasy read, grab this right now. 🙂 (Warning: Pg-13+ rating: I would let my older teen read, but not my younger ones… It’s not MATURE, but there’s some “adult” content, especially in books 2&3)
Such a great, page-turning read. Amy Bartol never disappoints!!!
This book was seriously amazing. A reread to prepare for the upcoming sequel Traitor Born.
Amy Bartolalways gives it to you good. She can create these beautiful worlds that leave me in awe of her. Secondborn is no different. The dystopian society she created in this story is extremely vivid, with so much attention to detail and complexity.
In this story we have firstborns, secondborns, thirdborns, and so on. Firstborns are the kings and queens of society. The secondborns are more used as servants or soldiers. Thirdborns and beyond are always killed since they have no use.
Our Roselle St. Sismode is secondborn. We follow her life after she transitions to serve her and fight in the front lines of an ongoing war.
This book ends onna major cliffhanger in preparation of Traitorborn.
Seconborn is book one in a trilogy.
Well done Ms. Bartol. Another one for the win.
Amy is such a great story teller!
Such a good book/series. This book made me an Amy A. Bartol fan.
3.5
While I was very excited to start this series, I have to admit that I struggled to get into this book. I put it aside and read something else a few times throughout the first half of the story before pushing through. There was an interesting combination of being rushed and drawn out and I found it very hard to develop a connection to the MC. As the book progressed, it did hook me and the last quarter or so convinced me to continue the series. There are very strong Hunger Games connections and I would recommend giving the series a try if you enjoy dystopian fiction. I’ve begun Traitor Born, the second book in the series, and am finding it to be more enjoyable early on.
What every great heroine should be. Amy, I bow to you.
“It outlived its usefulness, so it was killed. There’s something to be learned in that.”
“Never outlive my usefulness?”
“Never, ever trust the pack.”
I just don’t know. I’ve read it and I’m still semi on whether I liked it enough. Main character was constantly pushed somewhere: go here, come here, stay here, come with me, go there, you can’t go back, this is your place now, etc. Killed my buzz.
I love this story. It has truly creative world-building in this plot where all first-born children are fated to rule and second-born are denoted as fodder for war and menial tasks beneath them. But one girl may change all that. Roselle is the second child to greatest military strength in the nation and she is also version loved by the nation. Her mother fears that, so when Roselle turns 18yo, she makes sure she is enlisted and sent to the front lines hoping that is where Roselle will die. But Roselle has allies, more than she knows. She also has enemies around every turn. Will she be used or will she make a change? Watch out for that cliffhanger because this series is going to be a doozy!
An Excellent Plot That’s Full Of Deadly Friends & Foe!!
(Read using Kindle Unlimited)
I’ve hit the reading jackpot over the past week – every book has been a 4-5 star read, This was no exception!!
The world building is exceptional, so full & imaginative. The characters either leave you enamoured or terrified, well except for Gilad – I couldn’t pin him down!! The main character, Roselle, is a bad@ss who holds her own, physically, mentally & strategically, even if she is ‘only’ Secondborn & therefore deemed expendable by her family, if not an out right danger to her Firstborn sibling!! That is how most families view the Secondborn.
The sector’s are embroiled in a civil war because there are many that don’t agree with how things are being run and want to make world wide changes in how they are governed!! It’s a deadly game that’s being played with Roselle at its it centre, yet initially, she has no idea & is stoically trying to do her duty, even as she feels like she’s dying inside!!
An interesting & at times, horrifying story. It’s full of a coldness, uncaring & callousness from the Firstborn’s yet it’s tempered by the loyalty, friendships & even forbidden love that the bleakness of the Secondborn lives have to endure!! This book has heart
Debbie, 1970, UK
This is the story of Roselle. She grew up the second child in a very powerful family. In her world, all secondborn children on their “Transition Day” are taken by the government to be servants on several levels for the Fatedom. At the age of 18, Roselle is slated to beomce a soldier for the Fate of Swords. She has been training her whole life to be an elite soldier, and her mother is finally glad to see her go.
While in the military, Roselle gets several allies. People have watched her grow up in the public eye her whole life, and there are many who believe she should be the next leader – not her first born brother. There are many that would do anything to protect her to see her mother and brother fall out of power. But is that Roselle wants?
This was a pretty good book. It is the first book of a trilogy, so I am going to have to make it a priority to read the next two whenever I need a break from my current challenge. It did have a lot of “Hunger Games” type aspects with the female protagonist, and how she is viewed. It was pretty well written, so I think it will be worth reading the next two books. It is a quick read, and many of the characters are likable, so I want to see this play out.
Book source ~ Kindle First
Roselle St. Sismode is the secondborn child of the Fate of Swords. Firstborns, depending on their family, may rule their Fate. Secondborns have to go into military service. Forget thirdborns – they’re killed if found. Fourth thou shalt not count and fifth are right out. Hehe I paraphrased a Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail tidbit there. I couldn’t help it. Ok, moving on…
The book begins with Roselle’s Transition Day. Most secondborns are taken younger, but Roselle is 18 when her mother sends her to do her military duty. Even though Roselle is basically royalty and the whole Republic has pretty much watched her grow up on some kind of Truman Show-like program, her life in the military will be brutal and most likely short. Everyone knows her face and secondborns from privileged families are hated by the other less fortunate secondborns. And there lies the danger to her. But others are manipulating her life behind the scenes and Roselle must stay alive long enough to change the Republic. Whether she wants to or not.
The beginning of this story is confusing as the world gets laid out for the reader. It took me awhile to grasp all the families, structure, terminology, and relationships. About the time I got all that down the story started to take off down the tracks and I was belted firmly in and definitely along for the ride. The characters are well-developed, the plot intriguing and Roselle is no slouch though she may have a touch of Mary Sue-ness about her. Just a touch though. There’s intrigue and danger and even some romance in this intricate tale of rebellion. The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger. Well, more of a transitional slope than an actual dive off a cliff. Roselle’s journey is far from over and it’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
After finishing this book, I have to say I am at a loss for words. At first, I thought this book would be like Hunger games (which I enjoyed reading), but as the story went on it took on a life completely different. Roselle is a strong character. I had a hard time putting the book down, as I just wanted to see what was going to happen at the end. The story building and character development are spot on. I am very much looking forward to reading Traitor Born.
This was my first experience with Amy Bartol’s books and I loved this! I have to admit that I’ve never read any Dystopian series before so it was kind of challenge for me too. This book had shattered my heart into pieces – those rules of that world done it to me. I’m a firstborn and I’m a protector to others and I’m a mother of 4 so it was really hard to read about those cruel barbaric and violent rules though I really enjoyed reading this book. Great world building to the very detail, amazing characters. Roselle is a wonderful character, at the beginning seems a little too perfect, but she’s been raised the way she has to be a great warrior even if she didn’t understand it fully.
Going straight to the second book is a bonus now.
It’s definitely a must read!
I absolutely LOVED this book and series. I could not put Secondborn down! The characters are amazing. Roselle is a wonderful and complex character. I was so in love with Secondborn I went immediately to Traitor Born in the same night.
SO GOOD. This is one of those books that transports the reader into another universe, allowing a person to escape reality until she comes to the end of the book. It’s similar to the hunger games, but the premise for war and an expendable class of people at the mercy of a frivolous, power-hungry authority is more believable. I loved the characters, especially Roselle. Complicated and real. And so satisfying that she can extinguish the threat of unhealthy male attention without batting an eye. The love story woven throughout is top notch. Can’t wait to read the next one; it will have to wait until I have a block of time to read the whole thing because I know I won’t be able to put it down.
I really liked the storyline. Lots of action.
great story don want it to end;)
Once you read this you will be reaching for Traitor Born (the second book in the series) and then crying because you have to wait for the third book.
It’s certainly not a unique dystopian YA novel (although at least it’s not about powers, which I feel is where everybody’s going), but it kept me reading, so the characters are likeable enough and the story is interesting. I hope that the next ones continue to improve upon the story. The one drawback is that the world isn’t super well-built; I don’t understand why some of the things are the way they are, so I’m also hoping that the author continues to world-build throughout the series.