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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
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
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
such an impactful take on realising the ones you love might not love you the way you love them. i don't have coherent thoughts but this was beautifully done and there were witches and it was very gay!!
adventurous
emotional
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
The Ones We Burn is a story about a witch, who has been chosen to marry a prince for a treaty that has tentatively managed tensions between the ordinary people and those with magic for years. Ranka, a bloodwitch, does not want this fate. So when her people suggest that she play along with the ruse, only to kill the would-be king, Ranka jumps at the opportunity, both to give her people back some power, and to investigate a mysterious illness that has been slowly infecting witches further and further North.
If you know me, you know I love worldbuilding, and this book is one of the best worlds I have ever seen to be created from scratch. It's imaginative, inventive, consistent, and delivered to us not as a dump, but slowly, as we traverse the world. I honestly loved uncovering it, and felt really immersed in the land that Ranka was living in and discovering at the same time. The world was also super diverse, which was both refreshing and really interesting, I liked reading about how power could be linked to gender while still making space for trans, NB, and other genderqueer witches.
The plot fell right alongside the worldbuilding. It was fleshed out, consistently interesting, and was just so tense. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and really did not want to put it down. It was so easy to get sucked into it.
Character wise, everyone felt so real and important. Never just there to further the story, people developed and changed in the background, and Ranka developed so many relationships, not just the one between her and her love interest. A romantic subplot, for sure, with just enough that left me wanting more.
My only criticism on that front was that we didn't see enough of Ranka and her love interest to fully grasp their complex relationship and how those emotions changed, ebbed, and resurged. We needed to really trust that a lot of that development happened between the lines, it wasn't given to us immediately.
I hover right between 4.25 and 4.5 stars for this book.
The worldbuilding bumps it up immensely: if you're a fan of an intricate and in depth world, this is a great book for you. But what sort of gives me pause on pushing it all the way to 4.5 is what the book tackled, and how I didn't respond to it.
There's a lot in here about abuse, being used by those you love, manipulation, and really needing to rediscover your own worth. So many times, the characters would speak and say things that were so kind, so sweet, about putting yourself first, about not needing to be what everyone else has shaped you into. Ranka got to choose her own path, something she desperately needed to do. I unfortunately, just didn't resonate with what they were saying as much as I wanted to. It was a personal gripe with it, but it keeps me from giving it that full 4.5 stars, because it just wasn't as powerful as I wanted it to be.
It's a great book, that I think all fantasy fans should give a try, especially those who love a good sapphic romance.
If you know me, you know I love worldbuilding, and this book is one of the best worlds I have ever seen to be created from scratch. It's imaginative, inventive, consistent, and delivered to us not as a dump, but slowly, as we traverse the world. I honestly loved uncovering it, and felt really immersed in the land that Ranka was living in and discovering at the same time. The world was also super diverse, which was both refreshing and really interesting, I liked reading about how power could be linked to gender while still making space for trans, NB, and other genderqueer witches.
The plot fell right alongside the worldbuilding. It was fleshed out, consistently interesting, and was just so tense. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and really did not want to put it down. It was so easy to get sucked into it.
Character wise, everyone felt so real and important. Never just there to further the story, people developed and changed in the background, and Ranka developed so many relationships, not just the one between her and her love interest. A romantic subplot, for sure, with just enough that left me wanting more.
My only criticism on that front was that we didn't see enough of Ranka and her love interest to fully grasp their complex relationship and how those emotions changed, ebbed, and resurged. We needed to really trust that a lot of that development happened between the lines, it wasn't given to us immediately.
I hover right between 4.25 and 4.5 stars for this book.
The worldbuilding bumps it up immensely: if you're a fan of an intricate and in depth world, this is a great book for you. But what sort of gives me pause on pushing it all the way to 4.5 is what the book tackled, and how I didn't respond to it.
There's a lot in here about abuse, being used by those you love, manipulation, and really needing to rediscover your own worth. So many times, the characters would speak and say things that were so kind, so sweet, about putting yourself first, about not needing to be what everyone else has shaped you into. Ranka got to choose her own path, something she desperately needed to do. I unfortunately, just didn't resonate with what they were saying as much as I wanted to. It was a personal gripe with it, but it keeps me from giving it that full 4.5 stars, because it just wasn't as powerful as I wanted it to be.
It's a great book, that I think all fantasy fans should give a try, especially those who love a good sapphic romance.
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
World building fell flat flat flat. sudden switch in romance was??
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-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 had a hard time getting into this book primarily because of the audiobook narrator (she didn’t do a bad job, necessarily, I just didn’t vibe with her voice for the characters) but the story was quite good. I do love a useless himbo lesbian.
It took me sometime to get into this one but I overall really enjoyed it. Pretty much all the main characters are gay. So this is definitely a good book if you are looking for some lgbt representation. I like how the book was broken into like days leading up to the coup. It helped keep the timeline straight in my head.
I’ve read some comments saying this is reverse racism and it’s definitely not. I’m assuming the people saying that haven’t actually read the book because the “plague” actually has nothing to do with the royalty and in no way are the black royalty oppressing anyone.. There’s this whole huge plot twist you have to read to find out and everything to make sense.
T saw that the author doesn’t plan on making this series which is fine because this definitely stands on its own. It’s great world building and has a very clear cut ending. But if the author did ever want to make this series or give us a book set in the same universe I would read the hell out of it.
A quote that really got me:“I am not weak because I loved you," she whispered to Ongrum.
"I am strong because I survived you. I am strong because after all the hurt, still I love. Still I trust. My strength is not owed to the wounds you gave me, but my willingness to let them scar."
I’ve read some comments saying this is reverse racism and it’s definitely not. I’m assuming the people saying that haven’t actually read the book because the “plague” actually has nothing to do with the royalty and in no way are the black royalty oppressing anyone.. There’s this whole huge plot twist you have to read to find out and everything to make sense.
T saw that the author doesn’t plan on making this series which is fine because this definitely stands on its own. It’s great world building and has a very clear cut ending. But if the author did ever want to make this series or give us a book set in the same universe I would read the hell out of it.
A quote that really got me:
"I am strong because I survived you. I am strong because after all the hurt, still I love. Still I trust. My strength is not owed to the wounds you gave me, but my willingness to let them scar."
Let me give this book the review it deserves!
This book was truly amazing! For the first book an author released I am widely impressed! I was hooked from chapter one page two!
Ranka may now sit in my favorite heroine category. Yes the book was about witches and magic but the author took real like situations that our characters felt and used that to shape our hero’s, to push and drive them to becoming the leaders they where all meant to be. Ranka was just a girl with the darkest of magic but we rooted for her the entire time! The twins were so well written and developed, Mix developed their story so beautifully! All three of our main characters truly went through to much pain at a young age and rose above their situation!
The magic of this world was so interesting! How witches and humans have different kinds of magic! How witches where in their own right different tribes through out the lands!
There where some twist and turns that where unexpected AND well placed, they had you gasping at times!
You truly must add this to your must read next year!
This book was truly amazing! For the first book an author released I am widely impressed! I was hooked from chapter one page two!
Ranka may now sit in my favorite heroine category. Yes the book was about witches and magic but the author took real like situations that our characters felt and used that to shape our hero’s, to push and drive them to becoming the leaders they where all meant to be. Ranka was just a girl with the darkest of magic but we rooted for her the entire time! The twins were so well written and developed, Mix developed their story so beautifully! All three of our main characters truly went through to much pain at a young age and rose above their situation!
The magic of this world was so interesting! How witches and humans have different kinds of magic! How witches where in their own right different tribes through out the lands!
There where some twist and turns that where unexpected AND well placed, they had you gasping at times!
You truly must add this to your must read next year!