Blog Tour: Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin [Review + Exclusive Giveaway]

As a big fan of all things science-fiction and fantasy, I was super excited to get my hands on Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin–an upcoming, Filipino-inspired, young adult fantasy novel about an orphaned teenage girl who must step up to bring peace to a war-torn world.

Set in a lush, vibrant tropical world–one where dangerous beasts roam the earth and humans are forced to build entire villages and cities amidst giant spreading trees—Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin follows a young girl named Seri, who is hired as an assistant for Eshai, a battle-hardened legendary commander whose life is dedicated to protecting humans against the attack of beasts.

However, Seri’s world quickly turns upside down when she runs into Tsana, a mysterious girl who can communicate with these wild beasts and seems to be in league with them.

Dauntless By Elisa A. Bonnin

Ratings: 4 out of 5

Release Date: 2nd August, 2022

Trigger Warnings: Death, violence and gore, loss of a parent

~ Book Review: Dauntless By Elisa A. Bonnin ~

I’ll admit, that diving into this book wasn’t easy. Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin is a sapphic fantasy novel that tells the story of a very complicated, strange and practically an alien world–and as such, there’s quite a lot of information to process to understand this world, its history and backstory, the magic system and the culture represented.

And yet somehow, Elisa A. Bonnin guides the reader through this strange world masterfully; through the eyes of Seri, and eventually Eshai and Tsana, we discover a world that is set in a wild, humid rainforest, where people survive by building “settlements” around giant trees and rely heavily on the protection of the valiant–explorers and warriors who discover new territories in the “unknown world”, fight off the violent beasts who live there and create magical armors from their remains.

In other words, the world-building in this book is absolutely phenomenal and I loved how the author balances the world-building while also unfolding the plot. Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin is a very action-packed novel; there’s never a dull moment in the story. And each of the fighting scenes was spectacular–it’s quite rare for me to come across a book that depicts battles so brilliantly and with such lush details.

I particularly loved every fighting scene that had Eshai at the forefront, because that’s when we truly understand why she is called Eshai Unbroken, and why she is regarded as a hero of legends by her people.

Speaking of Eshai, the characters in this book absolutely stole the show. Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin features not one, but three incredibly strong, brave, and admirable female characters that you cannot help but fall in love with.

Our main character and protagonist, Seri, is an awkward, quiet girl who learns to find the courage to face violence and death head-on. Her love interest, Tsana, is fiery and passionate. And of course, then we have the legend herself, Eshai, whose dedication to protecting innocent people is awe-inspiring to say the least. I loved watching all three women grow and evolve throughout the course of the story.

The plot itself is quite intriguing–I loved learning the intricate, complex politics portrayed in the novel, and how, in many ways, they mirrored real-life politics too.

However, I do have a few small criticisms to share about this book. For a novel that is being pitched as a ‘Filipino-inspired fantasy’, Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin could have done more to deliver. Aside from the tropical setting and the food references, there isn’t much Filipino representation in this book.

Even the physical description of our characters felt a little too vague for me to imagine them as Filipino characters–to me, they simply seemed to be people of color rather than people of any particular ethnicities. I make this judgment by comparing Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin with other novels where diverse people and their ethnicities are described more accurately–think about the characters in The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco or The Young Elites by Marie Lu.

One other thing that I didn’t quite like about Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin was the romance. I absolutely love sapphic novels, but the romance in this book was underwhelming and underdeveloped, and it was more on the side of “telling” rather than “showing”.

These small criticisms aside, Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin is a fantastic novel, and if you are looking for a refreshingly new sapphic fantasy novel to pick up, I highly recommend this book.

~ Meet The Author: Elisa A. Bonnin ~

If you enjoyed this review and you believe this book is for you, then please consider supporting the author by getting your copy of Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin from the links below! <3

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, and I am not an affiliate. I do not receive any financial gain from promoting this book.

Enter The Giveaway & Win A Paperback Copy of Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonin [US Only]

~ Tour Schedule: Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin ~

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own (my opinions are not for sale anyway). Thank you so much to Elisa A. Bonin, SwoonReads, NetGalley and Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours for having me on this blog tour. <3

Do you enjoy sapphic fantasy? Share your top, favorite sapphic fantasy recommendations in the comments below, and let me know what you think of this book too!

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