Review Elementas: Yamay by Haley Anna Marie
4.5 out of 5
Hello, my sycophants and fanatics, I have decided to come down from my high place, temporarily, to grant the lesser authors the privilege of my great and might opinion on there, obviously, lesser works. This is the first but not the last time I will do this, now on to the book.
For a dollar, this book is a steal 4.5 out of 5
Here is a link
Characterization 3
Description 5
Dialog 5
Pacing 5
World building 5
It is kind of a slow start but give it a chance and you may start to really find it interesting.
I thought characterization was a bit of a weakness of this book but, in retrospect, it actually isn't. It's the weakest part of the book but it's not weak. Garan was frustrating to read, he felt like a deceitful and inauthentic man. Yamay wasn't frustrating, most of the time, just boring. Drayker was the only character I felt was interesting. My only pet peeve is how she handled Drayker at the end. He, to me, was the most compelling character in the whole story. I'll go into detail on the spoiler section about what I think.
Descriptions were very evocative. I could actually see what was going on. I didn't have any of that white room feeling.
Dialogue was as smooth as butter. I had no problems being drawn into the story as far as the dialogue was concerned.
The pacing and sense of progress in the book is really good. At no point did I ever feel like I didn't have enough time to really process what was going on and get a character's feelings on a situation.
World building is very well interwoven in the story. The author never gives you too much information. A little here a little there. Enough so that I understand broadly what's going on. There were a few times where I was a little confused but as I read more it started to become easier and easier to understand.
As far as Grimdark romanticies go this is pretty good and I'm not a big fan of those. I'm not a big fan of power fantasies either and this really starts to reak of one at the end. If you're also not a fan of those sorts of things you might want to rethink this one although it is only a dollar, and I had a lot of fun in chapters 4 to 6.
Pass this point is the spoiler section where I give you my feelings on a chapter or group of chapters as I have been reading them.
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Prologue
the prologue is weak. the only thing it really communicated is that the gods are real and have plans for Yamay. I don't think it was even necessary for the book.
Chapter 1 to 3
This is basically the reader getting to know Yamay, her family and Drayker taking her. When she's at Drayker's Castle it's basically just him abusing her all the time. In Chapter 2 he promised her a dragon and instead of giving her one in chapter 3 he gives her a gigantic scar on her back.
Chapter 4 to 6
This is where things finally got interesting. Drayker takes the collar off of her, gets her addicted to drinking blood, kills her brother, and feeds her his blood. She kills her mother for betraying her and giving her to Drayker. When she started to cleave to Drayker and embrace being the lady of the West I was all in. Unfortunately, this wouldn't last too long.
Chapter 7 to 8
These were not a particularly interesting chapters. I was willing to read it to figure out what was going on. The part that I found to be the strangest is that a mythical humanoid, that prince Garan finds, he just takes with his Griffin to Ramos and then offers his own blood to her. This made very little sense especially because of all the stories he heard about her people. I would have thought it made more sense for him to simply take the shackles that she had with her put them on her neck a second time and throw her in a jail.
She gets over being brainwashed by Drayker too quick, I think. She got brainwashed quickly by Drayker but at the time that isn't much of a problem because what she ends up doing was really fun. Her attachment to Garan made Garan less likeable and interesting immediately. I think a better way to handle it was to have her hate him deeply at first that should have lasted for at least two or three chapters. This isn't because her being in a relationship with Garan is a bad thing. It's obviously a good thing, but it gets in the way of the most interesting part of the story, her relationship with Drayker. It also makes her affection for Garan feel unearned.
Chapter 9 to 11
The only marginally pleasant chapter is nine. All the other ones basically were boring.
Chapter 12
Maybe this is intentional by the author, but I went from disliking Garan to outright hating him. He judged Lord Florst for having the same feelings about his sister, which is not appropriate, that he has for Yamay which, according to their laws, are also not appropriate. Garan then punishes Lord Florst when he finds the rare purple and black flowers. I think the author does realize that Garan's behavior is hypocritical.
Chapter 13 to 14
The other shoe drops in chapter 14 for Garan's Behavior. At this point I'm pretty sure the author knows the hypocrisy of Garan and is making a point of showing it. Yamay's suggestion of killing Lord Florst is telling. As a reader I already know the real reason Garan did it. It's because he didn't like Lord Florst. This may mean on a deep level that he feels guilty and doesn't like himself.
All Lord Florst is, is a old weak and ugly version of him. You may think no he's more like Drayker, but I deny this based on how he handles his affection of other people, as inappropriate as it is. Draker knowingly did not provide Yamay with a dragon instead he just gave her a scar. Florst is not a good man, but he only has as many flaws as Garan does yet is punished much more harshly for them.
This brings me to another point. I don't think Garan should have been a prince. It might have been a better idea to make him a woodsman or a person of lower status than Drayker. I think the theme of the story is that you can find love despite your negative experiences but after chapters 4 to 6. The themes are made murkier and closer to the implication that a man with enough money and power can fix you. I do not believe that is what the author wanted to communicate but this is the reason why I say he should have been of lower status than Drayker.
Finally, Ramos confronts him on what he's been doing and the true implications of his actions. Good to see the author has some awareness of how messed up this is going to be. From my perspective, as a man, even if I knew a woman was in an abusive relationship and she liked me I still would have demand that she divorced the man before we start dating.
Chapter 15
That chapter was handled very well, there was a lot of tension in it, and it looked like she was going to die.
Chapter 16
Garan continues to be unlikable to me. I do like his father though. I was sure Loria was going to tell her father. There's a lot of tension and interesting things happening.
Chapter 17
I don't think Drayker is a bad person. I just think he's mentally ill. From anybody else behavior like this would have been seen as marriage material but for him, considering everything he's done, it's just disturbing. I don't think he was always like this I think he's a victim of some severe trauma the very same he put Yamay through. I don't hate him at no point in the story nor did I ever honestly, I just pity him.
I actually feel sad for when he finally realizes she never loved him.
Chapter 18
That chapter has burrowed my resentment of Garan deep into my heart. What he did to that girl, Paisa, was just mean-spirited and malicious. He let his frustrations at what his father was doing out on that girl, and she didn't do anything to deserve that. Admittedly she was a 5-year-old emotionally, but she hadn't done anything to him to deserve the way that he had been treating her.
I do wonder whether or not Yamay biting him had an effect on him psychologically. Now that I think about it, probably not, he was kind of always like this. He just put on a good mask.
Chapter 19
This is both sad and yet ironically appropriate. The only reason she ended up getting recaptured by Drayker is because she sought to kill him. If she would have just went back into the portal she'd be gone. Strangely he knew about that portal and knew how it worked. It's almost like he has a light side and a dark side.
Chapter 20
It took me awhile to figure out, after getting to Ramos, that he was still in his homeland. The Dragon kind of makes the prologue make more sense but it still isn't necessary.
Chapter 21
I expected at some point for it to be explained why Drayker is the way that he is.
Chapter 22
The tension here is good but Drayker's characterization has really fallen flat here. Every time Yamay's life is put in jeopardy he goes out of his way to try and help her but now he wants to kill her. The characterization I think's fallen a little flat here. The shame about it is that Drayker is such a pivotal character with so much time in the book that it becomes annoying how inconsistent his characterization is. With the way he had been characterized up into this point it would have made more sense for Yamay to threaten to kill herself unless he surrendered. I'm very disappointed that I never got an explanation for Drayker's behavior. I kept expecting some explanation as to why he was so crazy.
Chapter 23
This is honestly kind of where it goes off the deep end for me. Hearing that they wanted to make her a goddess takes power fantasy to a whole new level. I'm not a big fan of power fantasies which this one always kind of felt like. In a weird sort of way with a bit of that Chosen One promise in the prologue.
Chapter 24
Not a big fan of power fantasy but I know some people do like it I'm just not one of those people. Watching the communications in the court system between the gods was kind of interesting. Okay, I finally got an explanation for Drayker's behavior. It's really sad about how little sympathy she had for killing him even after knowing. I knew there had to be something wrong with him. This makes me think that Drayker, for the whole time, was actually protecting her. If she stayed in the underground the god of death would have just possessed some random beggar to stab her. She seemed, understandably so, dismissive of all that he had to go through just to keep her alive.
Epilogue
There was not much there that i thought was interesting. I did think it was kind of ridiculous when the god of disguises decides he was attracted to her too. You think if a god, a prince, and a warden would do anything to have her that normal guys would just obsess about her all the time, like her bodyguard Styans. Why is it all the normal guys don't have any attraction for her?
What I think of Drayker and Garan
Note: I do not mean to make light of SA. This is a fictional character who has supernatural influences effecting his decision making.
Like I said I think Drayker was the most compelling character. This tends to be common in Grimdark stories and I think why a lot of people like them. We have an innate instinct to look for a gentler side in an evil person as well as a darker side in a gentle person.
It was surprising how heroic he was and yet how dismissive Yamay was of what he had to go through. If you don't think he was heroic let me explain it this way. The dude fights a God of death for 5 years to stop her from taking over his body and killing the woman he loves is pretty heroic. Especially the scene where she almost dies and he's staying at her bedside not getting any sleep. You only do those sorts of things for people you love as messed up as the death God made him.
You may say, “Hay he married an underage girl and forced her into sexual acts.” You’re right but I’m not sure how much of that was him and how much of that was the death god. Man, you’re doing a good job if you have a reader asking themselves if that is permissible.
If you use save the cat logic for this story, I should like Garan and hate Drayker, but it’s the opposite for me. I could kind of sense that Drayker was weird for an abuser. Well not really, many real-life abusers really do love their victims, in a sick way. It’s really tragic to see his love got twisted and considering how she saw him even after knowing the true, all the more heartbreaking and selfless. All the things Garan did were not really selfless. He knew that she loved him and would reciprocate that love. Drayker however was never really loved by her and sadly tormented her to keep the death god from killing her.
If you want a good idea of how “selfless“ Garan is then look at chapter 18. Ever if I’m forced into a marriage with a girl, I’m not going to be an ass to her about it. Basically, I hate Garan, and his chapters annoy me.
Drayker's constant physical abuse lessens the impact when Yamay tries to upset him by talking about his parents. I can't tell if any of those things had actually happened to him because he responds that way about everything she says. If he weren't a physical abuser but a manipulative and emotional abuser this would have had a massive impact.
Garan's role as a foil to Drayker highlights the contrasts between them. While Drayker's actions are driven by the trauma of the death god and misguided love, Garan's motivations seem sexual and more self-serving, adding to my frustration with the character. If Garan does not find you attractive he treats you with distain, if he does, he goes out of his way to help you. Drayker never even entertained a relationship with any women but Yamay.
It feels like the author just wants the reader to forget about Drayker but he would be the reason why I would read book two in the hopes that he comes back.
What I think of Yamay
On my first read through Yamay was, for the most part, quite boring. The author is a Psychology major so it's quite surprising she dropped the ball on characterization for two of her three main characters. I believe Yamay has disorganized attachment. Disorganized attachment is an attachment type where the person sees the parent/lover as a source of fear and, paradoxically, a source of love and safety. Yamay's actions are not consistent with a person with disorganized attachment.
I “had” disorganized attachment, I like to say had because it makes me feel better about it, and you always hate the person when you're away from them but then you remember the times they were good to you and when you're around them again you're begging for their approval and love. Yamay never did any of this, except for chapters 4 to 6, and, as a result, I couldn't relate to her as a character. Because of this Yamay felt inauthentic to me and not like a real person.
A better way to have handled this was to have Yamay, when she's away from Drayker, only remember when he treated her well and forget how crazy he is. The love triangle could have had real tension then, and it could have forced Garan into a place where he is on the back foot of the relationship. For Garan to symbolize a healthy relationship it was a very bad idea to make it easy for the two of them to end up with one another. That is supposed to be the trophy at the end of the book that the reader gets, and she gave it to me within the first 10 chapters.
I expected Yamay, at some point, to get aggressive and dangerous with Garan to the point where she's actually abusing him in ways that are not that different from how Drayker would treat her. That is the only way she would even understand relations with a lover, It's the only thing she's ever experienced.
Haley could have really put the heart in conflict with itself in this book and with Drayker, she did but with everyone else she didn't. If you're villain ends up becoming one of the most sympathetic characters in your stories it typically means that your characters are too successful and perfect, so it makes the villain the underdog. Garan should have been seen and treated more like a pariah by Yamay. That way she gives the reader space to root for him as opposed to simply trying to tell the reader “Root for this guy”.
In spite of that overall, I was into it. I'll be reading her next book too.