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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
This book is honestly entrancing in an entirely different way. Shifting between both Karis and Alix and hearing the echoes of their different perspectives drags everything deeper as they both try to tumble through the World and the lives that neither of them ever thought to be hurtling through. Karis is so real and obvious and entirely doubtful of every moment that it brings things into a very understandable light before Alix gives a blaze of something that you don't even notice until you are racing through ink and page to get to the end of something that could have never been seen through either of them
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Too young for me but I highly recommend to the younger folk.
!SPOILERS AHEAD!
After finishing the book my favourite aspect of this book definitely was how imperfect all the characters were especially Karis and Alix. I loved that when given a tough choice between saving ppl she cared for and doing what was considered "the greater good" she like most people would, made the selfish choice. It made her more personable to me at least. I also loved that her choice ended up being the wrong the choice almost damning everything, because how many times have we seen MC’s just magically making all the right choices and calling all the shots. Having Karis mess up and realize how dumb her choice really had been showed growth in her character. The cherry on top for me was Alix being unable to forgive Karis and wasn’t ready to trust her after being so heavily betrayed by the one person he trusted after his father. Seeing how hard it was for him to regain trust in Karis just made it all the more realistic and idk I just loved that it wasn’t a happy go lucky easy ending. All the characters faced their hardships and are in their own ways healing at the end as anyone would after an epic adventure like the one they faced.
Overall, I really did love the book and I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to find parts of themselves in the pages of a book and a new family to belong in. Karis and Alix’s story is one where you can easily see urself in and realize its ok to be lost and it may be hard but you will find yourself and your path one day ✨
Favourite quote:
“So just be you, because that’s enough. It’s always been enough”
After finishing the book my favourite aspect of this book definitely was how imperfect all the characters were especially Karis and Alix. I loved that when given a tough choice between saving ppl she cared for and doing what was considered "the greater good" she like most people would, made the selfish choice. It made her more personable to me at least. I also loved that her choice ended up being the wrong the choice almost damning everything, because how many times have we seen MC’s just magically making all the right choices and calling all the shots. Having Karis mess up and realize how dumb her choice really had been showed growth in her character. The cherry on top for me was Alix being unable to forgive Karis and wasn’t ready to trust her after being so heavily betrayed by the one person he trusted after his father. Seeing how hard it was for him to regain trust in Karis just made it all the more realistic and idk I just loved that it wasn’t a happy go lucky easy ending. All the characters faced their hardships and are in their own ways healing at the end as anyone would after an epic adventure like the one they faced.
Overall, I really did love the book and I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to find parts of themselves in the pages of a book and a new family to belong in. Karis and Alix’s story is one where you can easily see urself in and realize its ok to be lost and it may be hard but you will find yourself and your path one day ✨
Favourite quote:
“So just be you, because that’s enough. It’s always been enough”
A girl, a soldier, a pirate, and an automaton. The story revolves around Karis, an orphan who has been sold to work for the Scriptorium. She has been trying to find her brother who has been separated from her and escape her enslavement. One day she awakens an automaton that was hidden, and his name is Alix. Alix has his own conscience and when he wakes up... its been about 200 years since his creator/father has died and everyone thinks his father is a war criminal. He has no memories and now Karis and Alix go on an adventure along with Karis’s soldier friend Dane and the pirate that helps them Zara, to recover Karis’s brother Matthias and Alix’s memories.... and maybe even fight against the powerful Scriptorium that is controlling the country. The one thing I really enjoyed about the book was that there was an aroace character.... but the story fell flat for me and the plot didn’t hook me as much as I had hoped. It started out fine but dragged and fell flat as it went along. In the end it was just a meh and unmemorable read for me unfortunately. Don’t let my review stop you from giving this a try though, maybe it’ll work for you, but sadly it just didn’t for me.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed the casual diversity! To me, the ending wrapped up a little too nicely and neatly, and I don't think there was much in the way of world-building (plus, a mustache twirling villain) but I think there's potential here that I would read another book by Emily Victoria.
2025 reads: 60/300
2025 tbr: 27/111
karis wants nothing more than to find her brother, the only family she has left, but she’s forced to serve in the scriptorium, where the officials don’t care about family ties, only about unlocking the magic of an ancient automaton army. in her search for her brother, karis accidentally awakens one of these automatons…now, the scriptorium is hunting karis and her not-so-human companion, alix. together, they go in search of her brother, uncovering their country’s centuries-old secrets along the way.
i enjoyed the automaton aspect of this book. this is something i’ve seen in only a few other books, so i was excited to see how it’d play out here. karis didn’t care about the scriptorium, but since she awakened alix, she has to at least care about him. i really enjoyed their dynamic and how they stayed friends throughout the book. (no explicit labels were used, but karis is aro/ace.)
overall, this was a pretty interesting book. i’m interested in reading more from the author!
‘This Golden Flame’ is an excellent debut novel that blends humanity, machine and magic. Essentially, a group of characters - with slightly different agendas - is thrown together by happenstance. They unite to take down a corrupt leader.
Through Alix, an automaton, Victoria explores what defines a person in a manner that is accessible and interesting. Alix’s existential crisis reflects the human condition and will resonate with the novel’s target YA audience.
Victoria refreshingly avoids romantic entanglements between the narrators, Alix and Karis. The book passes the Bechdel test with top marks! I didn’t pick up that Alix and Karis are depicted as asexual until after I’d completed the book, when I read more about the it. Frankly, it works whichever way the reader interprets the characters. Equally pleasing was Victoria’s matter-of-fact approach to inclusion and representation. Different cultures, faiths (if scriptwork is imagined that way), classes, sexualities and genders are effectively woven together as part of the characterisation and the plot.
The dual narrative was tricky... The voices of Alix and Karis aren’t distinctly different so the split first-person narrative seems unnecessary. Maybe this was deliberate - showing how Karis is different to other people and how similar Alix is to her? But then it feels like the narration often focuses on internalisation and perhaps misses the chance to depict Tallis and Valitia more convincingly. Victoria is clearly a skilled writer and I’d have enjoyed more time with her world building. Moreover, the book feels like it has three protagonists: Alix, Karis and Dane. Despite this, only two narrative perspectives are included.
Really, that’s my only gripe. Unless you count wishing it was longer so I could find out more about Zara and her crew! There was so much to enjoy about ‘This Golden Flame,’ particularly for a younger YA audience. I look forward to Victoria’s future work.
Through Alix, an automaton, Victoria explores what defines a person in a manner that is accessible and interesting. Alix’s existential crisis reflects the human condition and will resonate with the novel’s target YA audience.
Victoria refreshingly avoids romantic entanglements between the narrators, Alix and Karis. The book passes the Bechdel test with top marks! I didn’t pick up that Alix and Karis are depicted as asexual until after I’d completed the book, when I read more about the it. Frankly, it works whichever way the reader interprets the characters. Equally pleasing was Victoria’s matter-of-fact approach to inclusion and representation. Different cultures, faiths (if scriptwork is imagined that way), classes, sexualities and genders are effectively woven together as part of the characterisation and the plot.
The dual narrative was tricky... The voices of Alix and Karis aren’t distinctly different so the split first-person narrative seems unnecessary. Maybe this was deliberate - showing how Karis is different to other people and how similar Alix is to her? But then it feels like the narration often focuses on internalisation and perhaps misses the chance to depict Tallis and Valitia more convincingly. Victoria is clearly a skilled writer and I’d have enjoyed more time with her world building. Moreover, the book feels like it has three protagonists: Alix, Karis and Dane. Despite this, only two narrative perspectives are included.
Really, that’s my only gripe. Unless you count wishing it was longer so I could find out more about Zara and her crew! There was so much to enjoy about ‘This Golden Flame,’ particularly for a younger YA audience. I look forward to Victoria’s future work.