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The Ages of Avarath #1
A Trinity of Chosen
379 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 12, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 12, 2026
Overall, this was a rather fun if somewhat frustrating effort. The rather strong storyline, taking a look at his early lifestyle, to the point of making him feel like a genuine kid with the extreme interest in fantasy worlds through his love of video games and books, sets everything up early on so that his gradual appreciation to get away from the real world and into the fantasy realm is a solid one. Much with his gradual build-up, the work done on the other girl living in the mall when he runs away is all handled well enough, which brings about the kind of adventure scenario this turns out to be, as he gets to meet up with the bizarre characters who have their own personalities and quirks to make them identifiable and relatable.
This section, involving the group going through the fantasy world and trying to help bring peace to the various realms they travel through, has a lot to like, but it also manages to be the main stumbling block here. Far too much of this is based on the characters going around in the wrong mindset, where the main hero is immensely trusting to a fault, with the shifty and shady figures he meets along the way being given free chances that his friends aren’t given, as they’re targeted and questioned repeatedly. It’s a bit forgivable due to the age of the character at the time, especially with the lack of corrective figures involved with everyone here presented as somewhat equal figures, and with the world-building on display also helping to hide this somewhat, as it’s the main issue within this, compared to the other enjoyable factors.
4/5
This section, involving the group going through the fantasy world and trying to help bring peace to the various realms they travel through, has a lot to like, but it also manages to be the main stumbling block here. Far too much of this is based on the characters going around in the wrong mindset, where the main hero is immensely trusting to a fault, with the shifty and shady figures he meets along the way being given free chances that his friends aren’t given, as they’re targeted and questioned repeatedly. It’s a bit forgivable due to the age of the character at the time, especially with the lack of corrective figures involved with everyone here presented as somewhat equal figures, and with the world-building on display also helping to hide this somewhat, as it’s the main issue within this, compared to the other enjoyable factors.
4/5
May 12, 2026
A Trinity of Chosen by JP Behrens
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
When this landed in my inbox from one of my favorite horror authors I was pumped. A YA coming of age fantasy series? I’m in!
This was such an amazing YA fantasy novel. JP has been known to jump genres and I am ALL for it! As with all his projects, he absolutely killed this one!
It had me in tears one minute and laughing the next. The amount of emotion this invoked within me was insane! JP’s writing style is very well crafted and sophisticated. You could feel that bleed through the pages.
While it is a YA fantasy story at its core there are some heavy themes such as depression and graphic murder sequences so definitely something to keep in mind.
This one had some dark villainous spots that were brutal to read. As to be expected from JP there had to be a bit of dark with this series.
The only reason is felt YA to me was due to the MC’d being preteen age and the coming of age storyline. So if YA puts you off I would still recommend giving it a chance!
I am very excited for book two!
Thank you so much for the ARC JP!!!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Review: How I got here is varied but glad I did. This novel had some of the best world building in terms of the vivid descriptions of the differing realms that transition within the quest. The story line is very compelling and structured in a way that embraces movement while building the characters.
Billy is a doink but he means well. Miranda must confuse everyone that interacts with her. She is approximately 12 ish years old but has been living in a mall for 50 years. How is she not insane? Does her stunted physical development embrace the psychological as well? What we get is a 12 yo, behaving like a 12 yo. This misses the mark as does Billy's constant self-recrimination and wholly trusting nature. The people he should trust, he questions and attacks, and the one whom he should suspect, gets the soft hand.
I dunno. I am a bit split on this one. I looked forward to reading this YA drivel yet was frustrated by the obvious bad choices to make an easy story line. Good writing as the whole novel flowed nicely.
I received this ARC for an honest review.
Billy is a doink but he means well. Miranda must confuse everyone that interacts with her. She is approximately 12 ish years old but has been living in a mall for 50 years. How is she not insane? Does her stunted physical development embrace the psychological as well? What we get is a 12 yo, behaving like a 12 yo. This misses the mark as does Billy's constant self-recrimination and wholly trusting nature. The people he should trust, he questions and attacks, and the one whom he should suspect, gets the soft hand.
I dunno. I am a bit split on this one. I looked forward to reading this YA drivel yet was frustrated by the obvious bad choices to make an easy story line. Good writing as the whole novel flowed nicely.
I received this ARC for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
My first Behrens was Portrait of a Nuclear Family which was, understandably, a very different kind of book. I enjoyed Portrait and jumped at the chance to read this one.
I am a lover of horror that exists in the middle grade or YA space and feel it's an area we can and should build up. That being said, I think this book would fit nicely into that space.
It's fantastical horror that introduces us to an interesting world, a large liminal pocket, where children are ripped from reality and forgotten by their loved ones and thrown into immediate danger where they'll be consumed or on the run... Until, maybe, they aren't.
I found the characters interesting and flawed and enjoyed the juxtaposition of a 12 year old whose been stunted, the same age, for decades. In some ways she's older and wiser. In other ways she's still, very much, a little girl.
For me, this was a quick read with solid action and decent character building along the way.
I am a lover of horror that exists in the middle grade or YA space and feel it's an area we can and should build up. That being said, I think this book would fit nicely into that space.
It's fantastical horror that introduces us to an interesting world, a large liminal pocket, where children are ripped from reality and forgotten by their loved ones and thrown into immediate danger where they'll be consumed or on the run... Until, maybe, they aren't.
I found the characters interesting and flawed and enjoyed the juxtaposition of a 12 year old whose been stunted, the same age, for decades. In some ways she's older and wiser. In other ways she's still, very much, a little girl.
For me, this was a quick read with solid action and decent character building along the way.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is absolutely the kind of book I would have devoured when I was younger. I really enjoyed all the characters and got attached to Tuac and Swift the most.
It definitely took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but once I hit chapter 10 or so I was really into it.
However it does have a few problems. This is my first ebook arc so I'm not sure if it's because of that but the formatting was off with huge gaps between lines.
It could also do with another round of editing, as I found multiple cases of words being missed out, or the wrong word used (through instead of throw was one example), and in the case of Madam Mayor it swapped between Madam and Madame.
It definitely took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but once I hit chapter 10 or so I was really into it.
However it does have a few problems. This is my first ebook arc so I'm not sure if it's because of that but the formatting was off with huge gaps between lines.
It could also do with another round of editing, as I found multiple cases of words being missed out, or the wrong word used (through instead of throw was one example), and in the case of Madam Mayor it swapped between Madam and Madame.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Thank you to the author for sending me this book. I really appreciate it. I end up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. I really like the world-building, the magical creatures, and the concept of this book. The writing was easy to get through, and the ending was really satisfying. I didn't relate much to the main character, Billy, but his love for the bookstore did speak to me. I really like his friendship with Miranda and Swift, and the found family was sweet. The writing was easy to get through, but I didn't connect to it much, so it did take me some time. The adventure was fun, and I love Billy's character development in the end.
May 14, 2026
A+ world building and it flows pretty smoothly. The characters are firmly YA but there are parts of the story that pretty dark. The story is fantasy but there are elements of horror. The mother and father characters are just plain creepy and I wasn't prepared for it. Despite being blindsided by some of the surprises I am looking forward to further installments in the series.
#ATrinityofChosen #AgesofAvarath #NetGalley #BudgetShakespeareAspirations
Thank you to Budget Shakespeare Aspirations for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#ATrinityofChosen #AgesofAvarath #NetGalley #BudgetShakespeareAspirations
Thank you to Budget Shakespeare Aspirations for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book was everything I loved when I was younger when it came to reading fantasy books. It had such great world building and characters that you connected to right as soon as you met them. The story worked so well, and didn't feel like it was over done or needed just a little more. There never felt like a time during reading that the action was stalled or the story was stalled to put more focus on one or the other. I know it says book 1, so I will be waiting for book 2.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews