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rogue_lurker's review
4.0
4.25
Ignis is a great romantic suspense that tells the backstory of two of the supporting characters from KJ’s previous books – the enigmatic Tal and the intimidating Felicity. I’ve only read one of KJ’s books prior to this – but I do remember Felicity Davis as the wickedly smart, sophisticated and tough as nails principal of an all-girls Boarding School. Getting a book all about her made me very happy (I love an ice queen). After finishing the book I was impressed as how different this one was from KJ’s normal romances. KJ’s written a taut and compelling suspense novel that blends the darker elements and the smoldering romance between the two main characters.
There’s a dark undertone to the novel – a wonderfully creepy suspense that involves flashbacks of a young girl who is growing up in a rural religious cult, being groomed as a Gift. Told from the girl’s perspective, there are hints of what is going on, but as a sheltered child and young woman, she has more of a feeling that something isn’t right than any real knowledge. The flashbacks alternate with the story of a series of disappearances of young women from two Melbourne Boarding Schools. The juxtaposition of the two storylines creates tension and suspense as you become invested in both and how they are related. It also provides a fascinating development of the young and vulnerable girl into the indominable Felicity Davis.
There’s pretty much of an instant spark between the two mains. Both are phenomenally intelligent, strong-willed and confident in who and what they are – and won’t apologize or make excuses for their choices or actions. The dialogue is smart and sharp with the chemistry between them pretty much setting the pages on fire. The word smolder comes to mind as the attraction sizzles and builds. The story is focused on Felicity, so the reader is apt to forge a stronger connection (dare I say stand in awe ) with her, but Tal is well developed through their interactions with her. The mystery bring the two characters together keeps the plot moving, with an escalating suspense that keeps the pace brisk and pairs well with the escalating sexual tension between the mains.
RECOMMEND
Ignis is a great romantic suspense that tells the backstory of two of the supporting characters from KJ’s previous books – the enigmatic Tal and the intimidating Felicity. I’ve only read one of KJ’s books prior to this – but I do remember Felicity Davis as the wickedly smart, sophisticated and tough as nails principal of an all-girls Boarding School. Getting a book all about her made me very happy (I love an ice queen). After finishing the book I was impressed as how different this one was from KJ’s normal romances. KJ’s written a taut and compelling suspense novel that blends the darker elements and the smoldering romance between the two main characters.
There’s a dark undertone to the novel – a wonderfully creepy suspense that involves flashbacks of a young girl who is growing up in a rural religious cult, being groomed as a Gift. Told from the girl’s perspective, there are hints of what is going on, but as a sheltered child and young woman, she has more of a feeling that something isn’t right than any real knowledge. The flashbacks alternate with the story of a series of disappearances of young women from two Melbourne Boarding Schools. The juxtaposition of the two storylines creates tension and suspense as you become invested in both and how they are related. It also provides a fascinating development of the young and vulnerable girl into the indominable Felicity Davis.
There’s pretty much of an instant spark between the two mains. Both are phenomenally intelligent, strong-willed and confident in who and what they are – and won’t apologize or make excuses for their choices or actions. The dialogue is smart and sharp with the chemistry between them pretty much setting the pages on fire. The word smolder comes to mind as the attraction sizzles and builds. The story is focused on Felicity, so the reader is apt to forge a stronger connection (dare I say stand in awe ) with her, but Tal is well developed through their interactions with her. The mystery bring the two characters together keeps the plot moving, with an escalating suspense that keeps the pace brisk and pairs well with the escalating sexual tension between the mains.
RECOMMEND
lezreadalot's review
3.0
“I am my name,” she whispered under her breath.
2.5 stars. This was fine; didn't love it, didn't hate it. I felt the same way about the only other KJ book I read. They're pretty different books, though this is sort of a prequel. Sort of a romantic suspense about Felicity, the principal of a private school whose traumatic past is catching up with her, and Tal, the investigator looking into the disappearances of girls in the area.
The romance was probably my favourite part. Tal and Felicity had great chemistry and banter. Otherwise, I'm having trouble thinking about things to say about this book. The mystery/thriller aspects really didn't work for me, because absolutely nothing was a surprise. It's one of those books where you just have to put one braincell's worth of thought into it to figure out where the plot is going/who is responsible. And I mean, I don't think that that's necessarily a failing on the book's part; I can't imagine anything here was supposed to be a surprise or a twist. But it just wasn't really engaging to read. Super predictable, and the climax of the story went to the place that all thrillers seem to feel obligated to go. It was interesting reading about the cult, but also somehow flat? There were some things in Felicity's backstory that made me roll my eyes because of how neat and convenient it all was. And overall, idk what it is, but I just didn't gel with the writing. A lot of what I feel is nitpicky in the extreme, so I won't get into it. Suffice to say, there was nothing about the writing that I particularly enjoyed.
My feelings about the book are still largely positive? Mostly? Because again, it's not like it did anything wrong. Tal was a totally swoon-worthy love interest. I loved their simultaneous irreverence and protectiveness towards Felicity, and it's always nice to have nonbinary characters in romance. But the storytelling really didn't do anything great, and he book on a whole ended up not being for me.
Content warnings:
Spoiler
homophobia, religious zealotry and bigotry, misgendering, kidnapping, torture, death by fireannaavian's review
4.0
I liked the present-day thriller arc, it was fast paced and well executed. It took Felicity a while to catch up with the obvious perpetrator which wasn't very convincing in my opinion. The romance part was a nice addition, it isn't central to the plot, but it was executed well and it balanced the overall sense of uncertainty and danger.
queerlitloft's review
4.0
A new year and a new (to me) author, one that speaks deliciously to my dark and twisty side with Ignis.
Ignis is the starting point for Felicity and Tal’s relationship and centers itself on Felicity’s origin story, which is told as flashbacks in so called ‘Before’ chapters from the perspective of ‘The Girl’. This is one aspect of Ignis that i thoroughly enjoyed, at times i forgot i was reading fiction and not someone’s actual life story. The reader is drawn into this Before period, when most would struggle to comprehend it, and yet under the author’s deft words it’s as if the reader is right there beside The Girl.
The author, KJ, has a poetic way of using words to help the reader visualise what it would be like to live the type of life that The Girl does.
Throughout every inch of the story there is a level of scrutiny and explanation of human behaviour that gives you goosebumps. The author has a unique talent to add layer upon layer of emotion and meaning to even the simplest look or gesture – mundane interactions are taken to a depth that i didn’t even know were possible. And that’s before you even consider the way KJ builds sexual tension between Felicity and Tal – who knew intellectual conversation and pure silence could ramp up the heat level so much! In amongst the lessons on human behaviour and how to smoulder, is a story of a past lived in a religious cult, that collides with a well ordered and successful, but loveless present day.
Whilst i enjoyed the majority of Ignis, i did struggle with Felicity’s inability to see the seemingly more and more obvious clues. As a character whose personal history is portrayed to the reader in a very palpable manner, it was a struggle to believe in Felicity’s denial of what was happening and why. This feeling deepened when Felicity finally made the connection, but subsequently couldn’t come up with a potential culprit, despite the Before chapters doing a resounding job of making the reader feel the leer of said culprit. Whilst i suspect some of this could be put down to Felicity’s internal denial of her past catching up to her present, there wasn’t enough to justify Felicity’s lengthy delay in putting the puzzle pieces together.
That being said, I adored that KJ gives us a non-binary character in Tal and that the inclusion of their gender identity isn’t just covered at the surface level, the story includes discussions on Tal’s pronouns and an instance of being misgendered. It is always a pleasure to read stories from authors that continue to strive to provide readers with both high quality writing, whilst incorporating more diverse characters and inclusive storylines.
Ignis is the starting point for Felicity and Tal’s relationship and centers itself on Felicity’s origin story, which is told as flashbacks in so called ‘Before’ chapters from the perspective of ‘The Girl’. This is one aspect of Ignis that i thoroughly enjoyed, at times i forgot i was reading fiction and not someone’s actual life story. The reader is drawn into this Before period, when most would struggle to comprehend it, and yet under the author’s deft words it’s as if the reader is right there beside The Girl.
The author, KJ, has a poetic way of using words to help the reader visualise what it would be like to live the type of life that The Girl does.
Throughout every inch of the story there is a level of scrutiny and explanation of human behaviour that gives you goosebumps. The author has a unique talent to add layer upon layer of emotion and meaning to even the simplest look or gesture – mundane interactions are taken to a depth that i didn’t even know were possible. And that’s before you even consider the way KJ builds sexual tension between Felicity and Tal – who knew intellectual conversation and pure silence could ramp up the heat level so much! In amongst the lessons on human behaviour and how to smoulder, is a story of a past lived in a religious cult, that collides with a well ordered and successful, but loveless present day.
Whilst i enjoyed the majority of Ignis, i did struggle with Felicity’s inability to see the seemingly more and more obvious clues. As a character whose personal history is portrayed to the reader in a very palpable manner, it was a struggle to believe in Felicity’s denial of what was happening and why. This feeling deepened when Felicity finally made the connection, but subsequently couldn’t come up with a potential culprit, despite the Before chapters doing a resounding job of making the reader feel the leer of said culprit. Whilst i suspect some of this could be put down to Felicity’s internal denial of her past catching up to her present, there wasn’t enough to justify Felicity’s lengthy delay in putting the puzzle pieces together.
That being said, I adored that KJ gives us a non-binary character in Tal and that the inclusion of their gender identity isn’t just covered at the surface level, the story includes discussions on Tal’s pronouns and an instance of being misgendered. It is always a pleasure to read stories from authors that continue to strive to provide readers with both high quality writing, whilst incorporating more diverse characters and inclusive storylines.
ghostlycreature's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
teddysoftpaws's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing
Such a great story! It was nice to see more of Felicity and how she works as a person. I loved also learning the past of another favorite main character from the series. Big
Such a great story! It was nice to see more of Felicity and how she works as a person. I loved also learning the past of another favorite main character from the series. Big
penandpages's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Minor: Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Confinement, Torture, and Sexual content
ctamingo's review
4.0
I devoured this in about two seconds flat. Ok maybe I’m exaggerating a little but I hated putting the book down. I was so intrigued and just couldn’t wait to see what happened next. This is the second book I’ve read by the author and I am not disappointed *adds more books by KJ to TBR list*
emilyjwrites's review
5.0
This is the first book I've read by K J... and I utterly love it. I gather it follows characters that pops up in K J's other book(s) but is a story all on its own.
It was amazing! K J writes so well, that you're just pulled along with the story. I absolutely love Felicity, she's a fantastic character, with such force and drive. K J has written the chemistry between her and Tal superbly. I'm also definitely crushing on Tal, they are
It was amazing! K J writes so well, that you're just pulled along with the story. I absolutely love Felicity, she's a fantastic character, with such force and drive. K J has written the chemistry between her and Tal superbly. I'm also definitely crushing on Tal, they are
eiverlit's review
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0