A dark night. A clandestine mission. An unshakable premonition.
Taliver is a peaceful community. After rigorous training and relentless hard work under the studious mentorship of Taliver’s Seer, Daia is entering a new stage in her life and preparing for her induction ceremony as Taliver’s new Commander of the Forces.
Just days before her ceremony, Daia discovers dark secrets in Taliver’s past, and the Ruler begins to make strange, questionable decisions that leave Daia suspicious and concerned for her people. Daia bravely takes matters into her own hands as the soon-to-be Commander and seeks answers for herself.
However, she suddenly finds herself caught in a web of lies and deceit that runs deeper than she could ever have imagined. Little does she know, an even greater challenge awaits her. Struggling to distinguish truth from lie, Daia is forced to face an ultimate test that no amount of training could have prepared her for.
A dark night. A clandestine mission. An unshakable premonition.
Taliver is a peaceful community. After rigorous training and relentless hard work under the studious mentorship of Taliver’s Seer, Daia is entering a new stage in her life and preparing for her induction ceremony as Taliver’s new Commander of the Forces.
Just days before her ceremony, Daia discovers dark secrets in Taliver’s past, and the Ruler begins to make strange, questionable decisions that leave Daia suspicious and concerned for her people. Daia bravely takes matters into her own hands as the soon-to-be Commander and seeks answers for herself.
However, she suddenly finds herself caught in a web of lies and deceit that runs deeper than she could ever have imagined. Little does she know, an even greater challenge awaits her. Struggling to distinguish truth from lie, Daia is forced to face an ultimate test that no amount of training could have prepared her for.
I puff hot air into the cold and watch the small cloud dissipate. I take another breath in and release it. Out goes the condensation, before it disappears.
It’s cold, and my body shivers and shakes like a leaf trembling in the wind. I try to stop it, but the freezing cold has reached my bones. My hands grip the blanket around me as I huddle by the fire for warmth, my jaw noisily banging my teeth together.
The cave is pretty dark, but the icicles glisten in the dancing light from the flames. They dangle sporadically from the ceiling, but none hang precariously above me. Layers of ice cloak sections of the rocky walls.
The Ruler of our people stands farther toward the mouth of the cave and watches the storm. The loud wind whirls blinding snowflakes in a symphony of death. How can something so beautiful be so dangerous, so lethal?
The Ruler isn’t fazed by the frigidity. He has that special blood in him that I wish I had—the warm blood of a direct descendant of our tribal ancestors. They were accustomed to the cold. They wound up migrating from a land like this—of dangerous creatures and treacherous storms—to the place of paradise that our community lives in now: Taliver. They intermingled with the natives of the community and created people like me, who are not so resilient to the cold.
Still, the Ruler wears his heavy brown coat of furs, which hangs down to his knees. He just stands there, staring … just staring … out into the deadly cold.
“We have more wood for the fire,” Petrus says. He drops five more logs beside the ones already keeping the fire ablaze.
I look up at his large brown eyes and strong, sharp facial structure. They contradict with one another, bouncing between innocence and maturity. In the end, the contrast manages to blend nicely under his short, dark hair.
Petrus also wears a thick, dark brown coat of furs down to his knees. He is not as cold as I am either. He’s also a direct descendant of our tribal ancestors and a soldier of our community.
I wear moderately warm attire with thick, brown garments, but it’s clearly not warm enough. I didn’t prepare for this kind of weather. Even if I did, I’m sure I would still be cold, since I’m of mixed descent. The Seer warned me against coming out here. He told me that the weather was treacherous, but I was too stubborn. I believed that I could beat the storm, but he was right. The weather is rougher here than in most regions—certainly rougher than in Taliver.
It tackled me harder than I had anticipated, throwing me several feet and through the ice of a frozen lake. I was fortunate that the Ruler and Petrus had already caught up enough to see what happened and pull me out before any large, fanged aquatic creatures got to me. There are stories … and they tell why we are not supposed to leave the safety of our community.
Remembering the treachery of the howling, dangerous storm outside makes me shudder.
“Oh, whoa,” Petrus says. He shakes out another blanket I didn’t notice a few yards away. He swings it around me and drapes it over my shoulders. The warmth manages to mitigate the shivering, removing some of the chill from my bones. I’m grateful for it.
The Ruler glances back from where he stands.
“There.” Petrus sounds relieved, noticing my body stilling. He sits on the other side of the fire. “You’re fortunate we found you when we did—”
“Fortunate?” the Ruler jumps in.
Petrus and I turn in alarm to look at the Ruler, and he holds our gazes for a moment. He slowly strides over to us, taking heavy, deliberate steps.
“‘Fortunate’ doesn’t even cut it,” he says. “You could’ve been hurt—injured—obliterated. You could have been killed!”
His anger is to be expected—even in front of one of my soldiers. To Taliver’s subjects, he is the Ruler—always faithful, always true. And I just violated community guidelines despite my looming position as Commander of the Forces, putting my life at risk. Of course the Ruler should be troubled. I had my reasons, though. And the Ruler knows it, although he won’t say that in front of Petrus.
“Why would you come out here?” Petrus looks at me with pleading eyes, searching for a reason why his soon-to-be Commander would do something so irresponsible. That’s the hard part—seeing that doubt in one of my soldiers, in someone who should be confident in my leadership. But I have to do this for them … even if I can’t tell them why yet.
The Ruler interjects. “There is no valid reason for sneaking out of Taliver and defying orders. What you did was foolish and reckless.” He glances at Petrus before gazing out at the blizzard, seeming to regain composure for the sake of the respect still owed to my position. “When the morning breaks, we take her back.”
Petrus doesn’t move.
The Ruler glances at me again, meeting my gaze for a brief moment, before he walks away.
Maybe I went too far. Maybe I shouldn’t have wandered into the night in the first place and should have just left things alone. But I didn’t have much of a choice. I knew that something was wrong. There are clearly lies and suspicious mysteries within Taliver, and I don’t know what they could mean for my people. I have to protect them, but I can’t do that unless I know the truth.
I must find the one man who can help me sort it all out. I have to fulfill the mission I was sent on. Little does the Ruler know, I have my own objective. I will uncover the truth, I will protect my fellow citizens, and I will make sure there is justice for my people. That is my duty as the next Commander of the Forces. No, I don’t regret coming out and facing the Tundra. But now I have to find a way to sneak out again. The fate of Taliver and its citizens depends on it.
Everything Daia thinks she knows is about to go up in smoke… or blow away on the howling wind of an icy storm in DJanée’s riveting and compelling tale of suspense, lies, treason, and murder.
On the eve of her induction ceremony into the Commander of the Forces of the community of Taliver, young Daia finds herself in the middle of the bitter Frozen Tundra, facing into the teeth of a raging blizzard as she carries out a direct order from the Ruler. But is there more to the secret mission than meets the eye? Furthermore, only direct descendants of the tribal answers are immune to the raging storms outside Taliver. And Daia isn’t one of them.
Daia soon wonders if “Always faithful, always true” as applied to the Ruler may not be all it’s cracked up to be – or perhaps pretend to be – in this gripping suspense tale.
Meanwhile, in a society that values balance, the position of Ruler is held only by direct descendants of the tribal ancestors. With secrets swirling like snowflakes, Daia soon finds herself caught between the Ruler’s orders and her sense of duty to the community of Taliver.
More questions begin to whirl. Is there more to the Ruler than meets the eye? If so, why? Will the citizens’ lives be jeopardized by lies and manipulations? Have the citizens put their trust in a lie? If they have, then what?
The tradition of “pure tribal ancestry on the throne” and a “tainted bloodline wearing the crown” is a recurring theme. It’s one of the ways the author skillfully builds tension in this taut and tightly written tale of suspense and double-crosses, where all is not what it seems to be.
Reading The Blizzard’s Secrets is like peeling an onion. Just about the time you finish peeling one layer, you find another. And another. And secrets a-plenty. In fact, you don’t really know who’s telling the truth and who isn’t. So when the Ruler sends Daia out into the Frozen Tundra on a covert mission, you’re soon wondering along with Daia what she’s really after - and why.
The author’s world-building skills are impressive. Fully immersed in this story from chapter one, you’ll soon find yourself moving soundlessly through a grove of trees under a bright moon or shivering and reaching for another blanket.
The author’s ability to craft a subtle but distinct rising line of tension shines throughout the storyline. The plot keeps readers dangling like a fish on a hook and reels them in slowly with just enough bait to keep them biting. And guessing. Or in this case, shivering. The pacing is brisk. The author does a great job of doling out just enough clues to keep readers wondering about what’s happening and why without giving away too much too soon.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked up The Blizzard’s Secrets. But sometimes when you take on chance on an unfamiliar author with a brand new title, it pays off. In spades. Like The Blizzard’s Secrets.
The Blizzard’s Secrets is sure to be a hit with its target audience of young adult readers, and anyone who enjoys a well-told story.
And talk about a cliffhanger ending! I’m hanging on by my fingernails! More, please!
My Rating: 4.5