Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Broken Flames

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Broken Flames by M.K. Ahearn

11 reviews

lindsm94's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really loved this story. The world building was clear and easy to fall into. I really enjoyed getting both main characters points of view and slowly watching them put the pieces together and fall for each other. I also adore the friendship of Koraine and Nyla. I’m excited to see where the story goes next and especially what happens with Nyla.

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nero_nash's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad 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

5.0

Attention all Zutara fans 🗣️📣 this is the damn book for you!

The female MC does remind me of Yue... But I'm not complaining 😂
The prince has been served my heart on a gold platter. Seriously Bellamy, take it, it's yours.

Both Koraine and Bellamy are incredibly caring and strong willed characters. Their past and their growth in this book is truly something special. I'm quite proud of both of them and how far they have come.

All in all they both stole my heart and I'm DYING to have that second book😭

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princess_sara_sparkles's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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britanyisreading's review

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The setup: Koraine is sent to the kingdom of Abelon as a bride for the prince, Bellamy. Their marriage will barter peace between their two kingdoms - fire and water. Abelon’s king is watching everything Koraine does and puts pressure on Bellamy to control his future wife. Their peoples have been enemies for years, but Bellamy and Koraine will have to find a way to get along as they are bound together. Unfortunately, the peace among the four elemental kingdoms is tenuous at best and war seems inevitable.

My thoughts: There is a lot to like about Broken Flames. The pacing is quick, and the premise is interesting. I love seeing the relationship develop between Koraine and the people she meets in Abelon. The slow burn between Koraine and Bellamy was a little hard to follow. I didn’t see even a friendship being built between them so it was a little difficult to buy into their relationship. The language used is quite modern which can kind of take you out of the story, but also I feel like I’m seeing more and more in new adult books. The political tension and behind the scenes scheming was also somewhat difficult to follow. I could tell who was not trustworthy, but it didn’t all add up even when things were revealed toward the end. I saw it all coming, but the motives were still so unclear. Something that I feel was lost in the quick pacing was a deeper understanding of the world and the characters’ motivations. Bellamy felt the most fleshed out to me, but Koraine was sort of unpredictable. I really disliked the story trajectory with Cyrus, and after reading I’m still kind of like… what was the point of that? I think I expected more from the story, but it did a good job of introducing us to the world, setting up the main characters, and ended on a surprising twist. I will definitely be picking up book two.

The vibes:

dual POV
enemies to lovers
slow burn
elemental magic
“my wife”
“touch her and die”
dragons
sea serpents
griffins
Zutara vibes
marriage of convenience
ATLA type kingdoms

*I received this as an ARC, and my review contains my honest thoughts and opinions.*

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griffieclark's review

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I was very into the storyline of this book at first glance…but it could use another round or two of editing.

Inspired by Zutara (the fan made relationship of Prince Zuko and Katara from Avatar the last airbender). This story follows Korraine and Bellamy, a nobleman’s daughter of the water kingdom and the prince of the fire kingdom, as they are set in an arranged marriage. This is described as the story that Avatar fans always wanted.

My two main critics are wanting more world building and character descriptions. We hear of Korraine’s moon white hair (which later is referred to as blonde?), her curvy figure, and blue eyes. As for Bellamy, is was hard for me to build his appearance in my mind. Brown hair? Dark eyes? Some scars acrossed his arms, but that’s about it. I would have liked to be painted a picture of the water kingdom beyond it being surrounded by water at all times. As for the fire kingdom, a black stone castle with a fire gate, one pool in the garden, and some very confusing hallways is what is told.

This may be contradictory to my 2.5 stars but i think this book could be a little longer. Maybe drag out the friendship with Cyrus, have them get closer and have him gain Korraine’s trust so his betrayal hits harder. Have Korraine really find some love for this kingdom before it all comes crumbling down. The book just felt like a race and in the end, i wanted more to be expanded upon. Make me fall in love with these characters and feel for them.

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renreadsbooks's review

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Thank you to the author for sending me this ARC! I was super excited to read this because I was a hardcore Zutara shipper in my fandom days and it sounded amazing.

So overall I think the concept is great and I enjoyed the two main MCs (because obvi they are inspired by Zuko & Katara). The slow burn was fantastic.
Unfortunately, I struggled a bit getting through this book. The beginning lacked some solid world building /explanations/ elaborations. It felt like there were times they would introduce a character and I spent the rest of the book wondering what they looked like/how old they were because there was a lack of description. A lot of antagonists (the Morwen princess, the Abelon king, Cyrus) felt so extremely one dimensional and predictable. and the smut feels like it smacks you out of no where. I love smut and i did see the warnings in the beginning but these MCs went 0-100 real quick and the dialogue from Bellamy threw me off in these scenes because I feel like he barely speaks/ thought like this so I was shook.

The biggest problem I think was the repetition in the characters thoughts. And I was not a fan of the repeated trauma Koraine had to go through and how this was the only opportunity for the MCs to bond. It felt very icky. Same with her having no solid/consistent support system. Her family: horrendous or absent, her HOME kingdom: terrible, the friends she makes: BACKSTABBY. so all she has to rely on is the love interest? gross. OH. and the tea loving Iroh inspired head cook. ugh.
The ending had me UPSET. I hope in the next book Koraine is handled with care and gets a happy ending.

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mikslitshelf's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

3.75

I received an e-arc from the author, for my honest review.

Overall, I liked the concept, plot, and characters.
The book was fast paced but the relationship between the MCs were so very slow. While I love a slow-burn, we didn’t see much between them until about 60-70% in. I liked the world and magic system, we read bits of Koraine’s kingdom as she’s longing for it while in the new fire kingdom. I would have liked to read more details, it could have been more descriptive for each kingdom.
I would have liked to seen more interaction between characters and their corresponding animals. They just felt kind of there. I hope to see this in the sequel.
Both MCs have character growth and I look forward to see them in the next instalment fully in their new-me era.
Bellamy has a complicated past and as we read on, we understand why he is hesitant to show his affection and get to know who his soon-to-be bride. Koraine is just trying to survive and starts to find herself in her new place.
I loved that Nyla, Bellamy’s sister, was so welcoming towards Koraine.
Abelon’s king is the biggest antagonist, I don’t get how his rule hasn’t been taken from him. Is he just power hungry or a crazy king? I think both.
The ending had me a bit confused and surprised. It has quite the cliffhanger.

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lenneth_books's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I was very lucky to come across this book and selected to be an arc reader. It was a very fun and easy read and I devoured it in two days. It's very Zutara coded with her own very unique story but had a lot of fun reading. There were parts of the book that I feel like jumped a little too quickly and I'm all for slow burn enemies to lovers but feel like they got there so fast and didn't have as much interaction as I would have liked to build more of their love up.

Regardless, enjoyed the read and ready to read the sequel.

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bail3ybee's review

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adventurous funny 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? N/A

4.0

I really liked this book. I loved the avatar vibes to it as someone who grew up with the show. I loved the slow burn of the relationships. Though I do wish is was more gradual, at some points it was a little whiplashy with the enemies to lovers. This book has some awesome quotes and found myself highlighting more than I normally would. I wish we got more background on the kingdoms and individuals so I hope to see more of that in the upcoming books. I also would love to see more of their creatures! Over all this was a fun and easy read and I look forward to reading the rest. I would recommend this book as a cozy romantasy

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kirstenpod_'s review

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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? It's complicated

4.25

Lucky I was able to receive the ARC of this book. I do wish it was longer, as the “slow burn romance” trope was a bit rushed for me, with the book being hardly over 300 pages. Falling in love over the course of one summer feels a bit rushed if they truly are from rivalry kingdoms. But I get it, they both are so pretty they have to fall in love with each other… It is set up perfectly for the next book in the series, with Nyla coming to bring Bellamy back or else. Some beautiful quotes about the stark contrast between fire and ice. Wish it included more world building and included the use of their powers more, but I’m sure we will get plenty more of that in the next book(s) during the probable war between the kingdoms.

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