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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Fantasy / traveling to other worlds / enemies to lovers
Single POV / slow burn
0.5/5🌶️
This is your warning that if you don't enjoy high fantasy and lots of world building, this book is not for you.
Romy finds herself trapped from being a thief for a gangster to now being ambushed by a strange woman and sent to a different world where she needs to carry out a mission, but there's too much deceit and everyone is scheming
Single POV / slow burn
0.5/5🌶️
This is your warning that if you don't enjoy high fantasy and lots of world building, this book is not for you.
Romy finds herself trapped from being a thief for a gangster to now being ambushed by a strange woman and sent to a different world where she needs to carry out a mission, but there's too much deceit and everyone is scheming
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
​​Method: ebook
Rating: 3/5 stars
H rating: 3/5 - Zander
h rating: 3/5 - Romy
Drama: 3/5
Thoughts: Great read, but I did skim a lot. I am so curious as to what is coming in book 2!
I received an ARC from Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review.
Romy Watts is a thief from New York City who gets transported to the Kingdom of Islor where magic rules. Romy wakes up in a body identical to hers - that of the Princess of Ybaris. The people of Islor immediately accuse Romy of murdering the King and Queen of Islor, her future father-in-law and mother-in-law. Zander, the newly crowned King and Romy's fiancé, hates her guts. But Zander also needs Romy's help to draw out the traitors within his kingdom. And Romy has no choice but to pretend to be Zander's fiancée in public.
This was a well-paced fantasy romance for the most part. The beginning and ending were a bit slow for me, but everything else in between was interesting. It took me a while to lose myself in this story, but I was hooked the minute Romy woke up in Islor. The final act dragged a bit for me; to be honest, the book was a bit too long. It got to the point where I was waiting for some action to happen. I found both Romy and Zander to be mature and likable, which seems to be a rarity in the fantasy romance genre lol. I really enjoyed their slow burn enemies to lovers romance, but I personally could have used some more steam.
As for the world building and the plot, they are both interesting enough that I want to find out what happens next. I still have so many unanswered questions and this book ended on a cliffhanger. A Fate of Wrath & Flame definitely feels like the first book in a fantasy series. The author basically spends a lot of time building the world, fleshing out the main and supporting characters, and setting up the major plotline. Romy spends a lot of time learning about this world she was dragged into. She is also trying to figure out why she was transported here and what her true purpose really is. We are basically learning alongside Romy as she discovers this new world. As such, there is not a lot of action or adventure. But given how this book ended, I am expecting book 2 to be packed with more adventure and action. And I'm really looking forward to that. I will definitely be picking up book 2.
Sidenote:
Haldi is used in this fantasy world for medicinal purposes. Haldi means turmeric in Hindi. It is unclear if the author believes she made up this word for her fantasy world or if she is borrowing the word. But based on what I have read, it appears that haldi is classified under "made up words for this fantasy world" because the author did not attribute this word to the language it belongs to. And this could have easily been done because Romy is from our world. Perhaps fantasy authors need to do research to check if the words they think they made up already exist in another language.
Romy Watts is a thief from New York City who gets transported to the Kingdom of Islor where magic rules. Romy wakes up in a body identical to hers - that of the Princess of Ybaris. The people of Islor immediately accuse Romy of murdering the King and Queen of Islor, her future father-in-law and mother-in-law. Zander, the newly crowned King and Romy's fiancé, hates her guts. But Zander also needs Romy's help to draw out the traitors within his kingdom. And Romy has no choice but to pretend to be Zander's fiancée in public.
This was a well-paced fantasy romance for the most part. The beginning and ending were a bit slow for me, but everything else in between was interesting. It took me a while to lose myself in this story, but I was hooked the minute Romy woke up in Islor. The final act dragged a bit for me; to be honest, the book was a bit too long. It got to the point where I was waiting for some action to happen. I found both Romy and Zander to be mature and likable, which seems to be a rarity in the fantasy romance genre lol. I really enjoyed their slow burn enemies to lovers romance, but I personally could have used some more steam.
As for the world building and the plot, they are both interesting enough that I want to find out what happens next. I still have so many unanswered questions and this book ended on a cliffhanger. A Fate of Wrath & Flame definitely feels like the first book in a fantasy series. The author basically spends a lot of time building the world, fleshing out the main and supporting characters, and setting up the major plotline. Romy spends a lot of time learning about this world she was dragged into. She is also trying to figure out why she was transported here and what her true purpose really is. We are basically learning alongside Romy as she discovers this new world. As such, there is not a lot of action or adventure. But given how this book ended, I am expecting book 2 to be packed with more adventure and action. And I'm really looking forward to that. I will definitely be picking up book 2.
Sidenote:
Haldi is used in this fantasy world for medicinal purposes. Haldi means turmeric in Hindi. It is unclear if the author believes she made up this word for her fantasy world or if she is borrowing the word. But based on what I have read, it appears that haldi is classified under "made up words for this fantasy world" because the author did not attribute this word to the language it belongs to. And this could have easily been done because Romy is from our world. Perhaps fantasy authors need to do research to check if the words they think they made up already exist in another language.
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Enjoyed the storyline and I will certainly continue with this series.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Okay wait this was actually so good????
Not that I’m dogging the author or anything—I know nothing about her or any of her other works—but Booktok has led me so astray lately that all its picks are tinged with heavy skepticism for me now. But this was such a joy to read!! I would have absolutely devoured it in one sitting if it weren’t for work!
It’s super heavy on the political intrigue and mystery, lots of scheming and plotting and wondering with very little actual action, so if that’s not your thing I could see it being a slog. But I absolutely loved it. No characters felt stupid or made out-of-character choices to further the plot. No plot holes or contrivances. No stupid trope checklist instead of an actual story.
And throw in that it’s actually an isekai, one of my favorite subgenres ever??? And an actual smart FMC who shuts up, listens, and learns?!?! Y’all this is my shit right here. If you liked Bridge Kingdom or Daughter of No Worlds or lean heavier towards political intrigue books, you need to read this yesterday.
Not that I’m dogging the author or anything—I know nothing about her or any of her other works—but Booktok has led me so astray lately that all its picks are tinged with heavy skepticism for me now. But this was such a joy to read!! I would have absolutely devoured it in one sitting if it weren’t for work!
It’s super heavy on the political intrigue and mystery, lots of scheming and plotting and wondering with very little actual action, so if that’s not your thing I could see it being a slog. But I absolutely loved it. No characters felt stupid or made out-of-character choices to further the plot. No plot holes or contrivances. No stupid trope checklist instead of an actual story.
And throw in that it’s actually an isekai, one of my favorite subgenres ever??? And an actual smart FMC who shuts up, listens, and learns?!?! Y’all this is my shit right here. If you liked Bridge Kingdom or Daughter of No Worlds or lean heavier towards political intrigue books, you need to read this yesterday.
I mean...wow. This book was SO MUCH better than I expected. Like I was unexpectedly hooked from the beginning (although it does start off a little slow). I think this author did a really good job of making this a book about faes, vampires, and witches but twisting everything you know about these supernatural beings. It was fresh and new and I greatly enjoyed it. Please give me the second book.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No