Review & Giveaway: Riders by Veronica Rossi

Teresa, Kelly, and I LOVED Riders by Veronica Rossi. We found ourselves talking about it so often over text and Facebook messages while we were reading it, that we decided to do a conversational review. This is a first for us, but we hope you enjoy the review and that it makes you want to read this incredible book. We all rated it 5 stars! WARNING: This is NOT a spoiler-free review, so please read through carefully! We are mainly sharing our thoughts but there may be small spoilers involved, no major plot is revealed.

We can’t thank Tor Teen enough for the review copy as well as the fun swag, so we will be sharing the love and giving away some of the beautiful bookmarks to a few of the commentators on this post! Open internationally!

 

Riders by Veronica Rossi

Category: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publication: February 16th, 2016; Tor Teen
Purchase: Amazon

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?

Conversational Review:

[book rating =5/5]

“I’m War, I want to say. I am War.”

Sara

One of the things I love about physical books is reading the description on the back of the book; when I have e-books, I visit Amazon to read the description. When I did this for Riders, I read a few of the reviews that were already there, and I was pretty surprised by the low ratings. One of the things I noticed, though, is that people said they had a hard time getting into the book. I actually had a hard time, too, even though it’s so well-written and engaging. Did either of you have a hard time?

Teresa

No way! Literally in the first couple of pages I knew it was a great book. I liked the fact that it started in the middle of action. Then again, I am one of those people who read the first chapter, then the last couple of pages, then go back and read the rest of the book. So I was a complete sucker for the structure of the book.

Sara

Teresa, do you do that with every book you read?

Teresa

No, Sara, not every book, but if a book seems a little slow to start, I read the end to see if it is worth the read. Lol, [I am a] little quirky.

Sara

I can’t explain why it took me a little while to get into it, because I loved Gideon immediately. I love how he kept referring to Cordero as he was recalling events. Like, “And I’m telling you, Cordero, this was not what I expected.” Lol. I really think it’s just because I had other things on a tighter deadline. Once I sat down and actually focused, I was sucked into the story.

Kelly

My review that I started literally says that I was sucked right into the story immediately. It spoke to me right off the bat. And I want to make a snarky mistake with the idiom, like “right off the ball!”, in honor of Bas.

Sara

YES! How much did you love Bas? He was my favorite character, other than Gideon.

Kelly

Bas was clearly the comic relief. Amazing.

Sara

Yes, he was. So sweet. I loved his mixed metaphors and his “calm under pressure” attitude.

Kelly

I also stated [in the review that I started earlier] how much I wanted to just hug Gideon….clearly he gives good hug.

Sara

I love his snark.

Here is one of my favorite lines from Gideon (he was talking about Wyatt, Anna’s douchebag ex):

“Wyatt pushed a hand through his preppy hair. As a general rule, I didn’t like guys who styled their hair like they just woke up. Messiness should never be a goal. It should be a consequence.”

Teresa, what did you think of Gideon as a character? Kelly and I clearly adored him.

Teresa

I LOVED Gideon! Then again I my hubs is military, so order and all of that reminds me of my own “Gideon” at home.

Kelly

Teehee!!! It sums up his personality right away. He’s all about order and purpose.

Sara

Yes! So it makes me wonder, was he always like that because he was going to end up being War, or was he CHOSEN to be War because he is like that?

And who chose them? I need the next book now!

Kelly

Those questions haven’t been answered. I really wanted to know, I mean they can’t be the only four who died on that day.

Teresa

I think he was chosen to be War because he was like that already, even before the Army. It was just who he was.

Kelly

One of my friends messaged me wanting to know how religious the book was and I highlighted four total references. For a book about the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse and demons, it was very toned down.

Sara

It was toned down. Veronica Rossi dealt with that pretty early on, and pretty neatly, saying that they were an interpretation of the horsemen in Revelations. I liked that.

Teresa

I really admired the way that she made religion the undercurrent of the book rather than the theme. It makes it more accessible and relatable.

I also thought Bas was amazing. Definitely the yin to Gideon’s yang.

Sara

I love that line, the yin to Gideon’s yang!

You know what else I loved? All the Pearl Jam references. That’s a surefire way for authors to earn my love.

Kelly

I liked Daryn’s Pearl Jam confession, that she really doesn’t like them (me either, much respect to them but not my thing) but that since they listened to that tape over and over she now can’t not relate it to Gideon and therefore loves it.

Sara

There’s this one line that is so beautiful:

“Just breathe, like Eddie Vedder. Being a passenger in my car was weird.
Being a passenger in my life was weird, too. Where were we going?”

I’m like, I’m almost 37 and I feel that exact way.

Teresa

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Kelly

That breathe line – perfect. My life. Nail on head. Especially since I’m that way as a passenger, too. I hate not being the driver…not being in control. Maybe this is why I really loved Gideon.

Sara

LOL. See? And people say adults can’t relate to YA.

Also, did anyone else think of the guy from Frozen when they were retreating to their cabins in Norway? You know the one I mean, who owns the shop and says. “Yooo hooo, hello family!”

Teresa

Hahaha…. no but I will now!

Kelly

Never seen Frozen. (Sara, when reading this:  WHAT?)

Sara

I also loved how all the women in the book were really strong characters and how Gideon had so much respect for women.

Kelly

Yes!! Well I think Rossi is a genius at the male POV, so respecting women is something I have seen in all her work, especially in the Under the Never Sky series; almost all the good guys really have profound respect for women. Also, in her new adult contemporary collaboration series, Rossi wrote all the male characters and her co-writer wrote the females, and I was sooooo into the boys in that book. Like I wanted to be them!

Teresa

I did notice how ALL of the characters respected women. That always makes me happy.

I think the wife and mom in me has a soft spot for any author who makes it a point to give women their own worth and power in a book. Makes me all warm and fuzzy. I mean that could be the glass of wine…but I prefer to think it’s the story. 🙂

Sara

LOL, I love the line about the wine, Teresa.

I love when any author shows respect to wives and mothers.

Kelly

How about next we talk a little about the plot/storytelling device used?

I personally never read a book that ‘told’ me the story like this before. And I love unique when it’s done right.

I can see this book as being divisive, the way the story unfolds is very different, and that is one of the things I loved about it, but I can see that this non-traditional aspect could put people off. For me it only enhanced the feelings of intrigue and mystery, to be listening as the story is unfolding through conversational reenactment really worked for this story overall.

Which is why I love our review idea!

Sara

I loved this plot technique. I mentioned that above, when Gideon would talk directly to Cordero as he was telling Cordero the story (Readers: This will make sense to you when you actually read the book!); it cracked me up every time.

Teresa

Oh yes, that was the main thing that drew me in.

Sara

I loved how Gideon would come back to the present tense and be embarrassed about how much detail he’d given.

Kelly

Right?! So adorbs. Plus when Cordero notices how he changed his way of telling the story I was like oh shit it did change!!

Teresa

That reminded me of Hagrid when he would tell Harry too much and then say “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Kelly

YES!

Sara

Yes! Lol

“I need to sell this for it to work. I need to come across as the same old gut-spilling Gideon.
Bad way to put it. The Same uncensored Gideon.”

Teresa

Haha. Was I the only one who kept thinking Cordero was an older lady? With the perfume…it made me think of how older women practically bathe in it. Ugh, and when they hug you, you can’t breathe.

Sara

The perfume…I had a sympathy headache.

Kelly

Oh god I so loved Gideon’s temperamental stomach, but nothing is worse than strong perfume.

Teresa

I think his stomach was the comedic relief. Here’s the “man’s man” but he can’t go too far because his stomach…lol.

Sara

And yeah his stomach issues killed me.

I hope we get to learn more about Marcus and Jode in the next book.

Teresa

Fo’ shizzle.

Kelly

I know, I wanted more too, they (Marcus & Jode) were so squished into the end.

I love that Jode is an acronym.

Sara

Kelly, I did, too. I kept thinking to myself, What sort of name is JODE, even if he is British? And then we found out…

“James Oliver Drummond Ellis. No wonder he went by Jode.”

What did you guys think of Daryn?

Kelly

I thought she was a mystery and sad and so damn adorable.

Sara

Yes. Their (Daryn and Gideon’s) moments together…sigh.

Teresa

I went back and forth on Daryn.

Sara

I liked Daryn but definitely didn’t trust her. So, when I don’t trust a character, I try not to get too attached.

Kelly

Well, clearly I’m a sucker for romance and I wanted her to give in to Gideon, especially when on the plane and he’s like, just get your butt over here! But she didn’t go. Gah! So I loved Daryn and thought she was good right from the start even though I wanted more info and wanted her to snuggle Gideon more. I also was so worried about her the whole time.

“Painful. Every moment with her was awesome and painful.”

Sara

Yes! I was like, go snuggle! She definitely kept herself closed off and I worried that it would affect her relationship with Gideon.

Kelly

I thought she was holding a darker secret…but once the story unfolded I went back to loving her.

Teresa

I still don’t completely trust Daryn, but I really want to. I loved her by the end. But I definitely think she knows something deeper.

Kelly

Makes sense. It’s hard to trust anyone in this book!

Sara

Teresa, yeah, I agree; I feel like she knows something more than what we were told. I really liked the scenes she had with the other characters, particularly in the mountains when they were training. She was by far less guarded with Bas, Jode, and Marcus than she was with Gideon, so we got to see a different side of her.

Kelly

The mountain training sessions were by far the best parts of the book.

Sara

Yeah, they really were. I love how they all came together.

Kelly

They really did. And the horse races! So fun!

Teresa

I think the Mountains were a crucial part of the book. They had to learn to master themselves before they master working together. And I think honestly they are not four individuals, but four parts of a whole.

“Red, white, black and pale. A bona fide posse.”

Sara

Yes! Well said, Teresa.

I thought the descriptions of the horses were incredibly well written. I can still picture Bas’ beauty of a horse appearing with him astride.

Kelly

Seriously, I think the best part of the whole book was them training together with their horses.

Sara

Yes. The scenes with their horses were amazing. These scenes were really a vehicle for seeing the tender sides of the characters.

Kelly

So good.

Sara

His (Gideon’s) scenes with Riot…sigh.

“Caused a bloody riot, your horse.”

Teresa

It made me want to go in the yard and saddle up.

Kelly

I just re-read the scenes with Gideon learning to work with Riot last night. It’s so emotionally wrecking & and damn beautiful.

Teresa

Seriously though. My favorite part of the entire book was when he realized that Riot was a part of him, and that he is to forgive himself to move forward.

Kelly

Right. Wrecked me. WRECKED.

Sara

Yes!!!! Beautiful and epic and maybe a little tear-inducing.

“My relationship with Riot isn’t touching. Riot changed me.”

Kelly

The character I’m super interested in learning a hell of a lot more about is Marcus. He was quite the mystery.

Teresa

Oh gosh yes! I really want to know is what goes through Marcus’ head.

Kelly

Yes! Marcus was so quiet until the very very end.

Teresa

I really want to know more about Marcus, and Sebastian. What do y’all think about Sebastian? What secrets is he holding?

Sara

Bas was my favorite character, by far. I connected to his warmth immediately.

I feel like Jode and Marcus were like placeholders in the book. We didn’t get to know enough about them but I liked their presence.

Kelly

100% agree, Sara. We didn’t get nearly enough time with them.

Sara

I was really surprised about the turn of events at the end, in terms of Marcus and Jode’s…placement. That’s all I can say without giving much away.

Kelly

Right? Great ending. I also loved the setup for Seeker (book 2).

Teresa

Oh, I loved that ending.

Kelly

So do you think Seeker will be Daryn’s POV (but continuing the story) since that is the title of book 2?

Sara

I don’t want it to be. I like Gideon so much. I don’t want anything to take from his narrative.

Teresa

I actually really want to hear Daryn’s inner dialect. She knows soooo much more than she tells them. I want to know! And I cannot wait until the next one.

Kelly

Okay, update! Just read an interview with Veronica Rossi and Seeker is dual POV, Gideon and Daryn, and the series is a duology. So, Teresa, maybe we will get a little of Daryn’s “why”s and “what”s from book 1 from her POV in book 2! **fingers crossed**

 

We each gave Riders 5 stars and are eagerly awaiting Seeker, book 2! This book was a blast to read, imagine, and devour. Riders was so unique, unlike anything we have read before. While all of us agreed that we wanted to learn more about the other characters than what was given, we were all deeply immersed in this intricate tale of pending doom. Writing a review like this was challenging and fun, and we hope you enjoyed reading it!

 

Giveaway:

Be sure to leave us a comment about what you thought of our first conversational review, or leave a meaningful comment about the book and we will pick a five winners to receive Riders bookmarks! Open Internationally! Closes in 10 days from posting.