Markswoman (Asiana #1) by Rati Mehrotra

🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Kyra is the youngest Markswoman in the Order of Kali, a highly trained sisterhood of elite warriors armed with telepathic blades. Guided by a strict code of conduct, Kyra and the other Orders are sworn to protect the people of Asiana. But to be a Markswoman, an acolyte must repudiate her former life completely. Kyra has pledged to do so, yet she secretly harbors a fierce desire to avenge her dead family.

When Kyra’s beloved mentor dies in mysterious circumstances, and Tamsyn, the powerful, dangerous Mistress of Mental Arts, assumes control of the Order, Kyra is forced on the run. Using one of the strange Transport Hubs that are remnants of Asiana’s long-lost past, she finds herself in the unforgiving wilderness of desert that is home to the Order of Khur, the only Order composed of men. Among them is Rustan, a young, disillusioned Marksman whom she soon befriends.

Kyra is certain that Tamsyn committed murder in a twisted bid for power, but she has no proof. And if she fails to find it, fails in her quest to keep her beloved Order from following Tamsyn down a dark path, it could spell the beginning of the end for Kyra--and for Asiana.

But what she doesn’t realize is that the line between justice and vengeance is razor thin . . . thin as the blade of a knife.

I was really impressed by this book. It sounded so interesting when I read the blurb. I was intrigued by the idea of numerous orders of women that are warriors with telepathic abilities as well as blades that are connected to them. It sounded like such a novel idea that I had not heard before. I am a sucker for strong heroines as I have mentioned before in previous reviews so to get the chance to read a book with so many strong female characters was really exciting for me! I am so grateful that I was lucky enough to win an advanced copy through Goodreads before it comes out at the end of the month.

The author's descriptions were so well done that I was pulled into the book right away. She begins the book by throwing the reader right into Kyra's first kill as a Markswoman. It is a very tense and thrilling beginning that easily helps the reader to understand what kind of Markswoman and person Kyra is. She had qualities that I loved and hated but overall was an interesting character dealing with a lot of pain from her past. I appreciated her flaws because it gave the author somewhere to go with her character arc so that her growth as a character would be clear to see. I would have liked to have had the chapters clearly marked so that I knew right away whose point of view it was but it wasn't horribly confusing. The majority of the book is from Kyra's point of view anyway.

I wished that the ways of the Markswoman were explained more because there were still a lot of things that confused me. I would have liked to have had more information and background on the different Orders rather than being given snippets. I did like the brief short chapters where the author explains some of the rules that the Markswoman is supposed to follow as well as some of the history. It was a good way of explaining things without having Kyra or another leader have to go through something in order to explain it to the reader.
I also had an issue with the insta-love. They didn't fall in love as soon as they met like it happens in some books but there was no basis for the relationship. The author did not manage to establish any basis for the two main characters having feelings for each other. There are no conversations between the two of them that include anything of substance. I would have liked to have seen conversations as well as feelings being shared about different topics...something to make it clear that they had a connection.