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jane_underground's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Violence, Ableism, Xenophobia, War, and Grief
alexisreads1's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A king whose reign is coming to an end.
An heir who can’t hold the power of the rulers.
An ex assassin who desires freedom.
A prophecy that threatens them all.
I don’t know how to put into words how much I loved this book. It was amazing. It’s my new favorite book. If I could give it more starts I would. It has everything that I love in it.
It has badass women. Morally grey characters. It’s a fantasy world with sci-fi elements. It’s got political plotting and enemies to lovers and slow burn romance. The magic system in this books is also so interesting. It’s also inspired by Indian Mythology with so cool, and this world is so interesting.
The characters are all amazing. There are so many sides of them that you get to see and it’s done on such an amazing way. They’re all so interesting. They have their own stories and character arcs. None them are simple either they all have different layers and parts of their characters. I love them all so much.
“If there was one thing he could claim, it was this: that even in the darkness of death, he would know her.”
The world building is fantastic. I loved that it’s kind of entwined throughout the entire story. You don’t get an overwhelming amount of information all at once.
The twist and turned and surprises are so good. It keeps you guessing the entire time.
TW’s: Violence, torture, grief, death, fire/fire injury
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Aparna Verma for this arc in return for an honest review. All of the thoughts in this review are my own!*
An heir who can’t hold the power of the rulers.
An ex assassin who desires freedom.
A prophecy that threatens them all.
I don’t know how to put into words how much I loved this book. It was amazing. It’s my new favorite book. If I could give it more starts I would. It has everything that I love in it.
It has badass women. Morally grey characters. It’s a fantasy world with sci-fi elements. It’s got political plotting and enemies to lovers and slow burn romance. The magic system in this books is also so interesting. It’s also inspired by Indian Mythology with so cool, and this world is so interesting.
The characters are all amazing. There are so many sides of them that you get to see and it’s done on such an amazing way. They’re all so interesting. They have their own stories and character arcs. None them are simple either they all have different layers and parts of their characters. I love them all so much.
“If there was one thing he could claim, it was this: that even in the darkness of death, he would know her.”
The world building is fantastic. I loved that it’s kind of entwined throughout the entire story. You don’t get an overwhelming amount of information all at once.
The twist and turned and surprises are so good. It keeps you guessing the entire time.
TW’s: Violence, torture, grief, death, fire/fire injury
*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Aparna Verma for this arc in return for an honest review. All of the thoughts in this review are my own!*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Moderate: War
concretecorn's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
spoilers ahead & ALL personal opinion
let’s do the good first—
i love own voices stories, i am so glad to see representation in fantasy/scifi. this book is creative and not taken directly from indian lore so it’s cool to see it developed into a story that is inspired by my nation. i liked the depictions of kurtas and lehengas, i thought the kingdom politics had potential, and i liked the attempt to make the desert sort of its own character. i thought the internal lore was very well done, and though it took me a little bit to get it, the internal rules of the world ended up working out too.
i liked samson a lot. he’s the type of guy i’d hang out with. i thought yassen’s background story was shaping up nicely. liked the bits and pieces dangled for us to consume so we stay interested and invested in a trilogy since that’s what this is gonna be.
now the bad, and please remember this is just my opinion.
i legitimately was excited for this book, so it’s a shame how it turned out. at first, i thought i was just being harsh when i didn’t like the characters. i thought the point was that they’re flawed, and have bad relationships with one another. for example, i don’t understand king leo’s character at all. i mean, at all. his relationship to his daughter is so confusing because sometimes he’s mean, and other times his inner dialogue is filled with sweetness and love for her. elena was so uninteresting as a character that i didn’t learn her name until like, the 17th chapter. yassen was also similarly extremely boring, while spouting randomly “deep” one liners that make no sense. for example, at one point when he saves elena from an attack on her life, he is asked by king leo why he saved elena’s life. he says, “raveni or not, the desert does not claim me as it’s own. i am only what i am.” what does that mean?!?!?! he says things like this throughout the whole book. by the way, why was it supposed to be out of character for him to save elena? he is literally a part of her guard. they distrust him so much, yet give him unyielding access to the future queen, which literally sets them up to be betrayed in the worst possible way so easily. oh, also, there is no “slow burn” at all. the romance is injected randomly towards the end, and it really gives off “they are together because they are a male and female character traveling together.”
the world building is fine, the lore is fine. i mean, i think the writing could have more intricately woven elements of the story together. it didn’t escape me that the main conflict— the identity of the prophet— was missing from basically the last half of the book because king leo was driving that conflict and he dies. the twist about the gender of the prophet i saw coming from a mile away, and the eventual last twist was not big enough to counter for the unsurprising and mediocre middle.
elena learns to wield fire like, halfway through, and then that conflict becomes a background element in the overall story. the characters are fundamentally underdeveloped. the best characters were the yumi and samson, who disappear from the book halfway through. they’re not even main characters (though i assume samson will be in the next book).
also can we just talk about how yassen literally planned to betray elena from the very beginning, and sort of just became attached to her, and then was like “oh no! the princess! she’s broken!” and then randomly falls in love with her and she with him? and she just casually forgets that he was a) an assassin who was very good at what he did and b) participated in killing her father and betraying her at the highest magnitude? love how she’s like “i don’t trust yassen” at the beginning but then is like “oh he betrayed me in the worst way possible so now i love him.” i didn’t like the character’s actions, which would be fine, if i had understood why they were doing anything, ever. like, elena has a minor conflict moment when she remembers the jantari are, in fact, humans, but then decides to burn down their mines anyway.
the arohassin are not developed well. why are they doing what they do? i wish we got more of yassen’s time with them because i honestly think it would have been way more interesting.
the political commentary on how the kingdom doesn’t take care of its own is overshadowed by the way-to-long scenes with the king nonsensically obsessed with destroying the prophet.
and just as a point of personal conflict for me, the names were boring. elena and leo? i didn’t really care for the character names.
all in all, pretty disappointed.
let’s do the good first—
i love own voices stories, i am so glad to see representation in fantasy/scifi. this book is creative and not taken directly from indian lore so it’s cool to see it developed into a story that is inspired by my nation. i liked the depictions of kurtas and lehengas, i thought the kingdom politics had potential, and i liked the attempt to make the desert sort of its own character. i thought the internal lore was very well done, and though it took me a little bit to get it, the internal rules of the world ended up working out too.
i liked samson a lot. he’s the type of guy i’d hang out with. i thought yassen’s background story was shaping up nicely. liked the bits and pieces dangled for us to consume so we stay interested and invested in a trilogy since that’s what this is gonna be.
now the bad, and please remember this is just my opinion.
i legitimately was excited for this book, so it’s a shame how it turned out. at first, i thought i was just being harsh when i didn’t like the characters. i thought the point was that they’re flawed, and have bad relationships with one another. for example, i don’t understand king leo’s character at all. i mean, at all. his relationship to his daughter is so confusing because sometimes he’s mean, and other times his inner dialogue is filled with sweetness and love for her. elena was so uninteresting as a character that i didn’t learn her name until like, the 17th chapter. yassen was also similarly extremely boring, while spouting randomly “deep” one liners that make no sense. for example, at one point when he saves elena from an attack on her life, he is asked by king leo why he saved elena’s life. he says, “raveni or not, the desert does not claim me as it’s own. i am only what i am.” what does that mean?!?!?! he says things like this throughout the whole book. by the way, why was it supposed to be out of character for him to save elena? he is literally a part of her guard. they distrust him so much, yet give him unyielding access to the future queen, which literally sets them up to be betrayed in the worst possible way so easily. oh, also, there is no “slow burn” at all. the romance is injected randomly towards the end, and it really gives off “they are together because they are a male and female character traveling together.”
the world building is fine, the lore is fine. i mean, i think the writing could have more intricately woven elements of the story together. it didn’t escape me that the main conflict— the identity of the prophet— was missing from basically the last half of the book because king leo was driving that conflict and he dies. the twist about the gender of the prophet i saw coming from a mile away, and the eventual last twist was not big enough to counter for the unsurprising and mediocre middle.
elena learns to wield fire like, halfway through, and then that conflict becomes a background element in the overall story. the characters are fundamentally underdeveloped. the best characters were the yumi and samson, who disappear from the book halfway through. they’re not even main characters (though i assume samson will be in the next book).
also can we just talk about how yassen literally planned to betray elena from the very beginning, and sort of just became attached to her, and then was like “oh no! the princess! she’s broken!” and then randomly falls in love with her and she with him? and she just casually forgets that he was a) an assassin who was very good at what he did and b) participated in killing her father and betraying her at the highest magnitude? love how she’s like “i don’t trust yassen” at the beginning but then is like “oh he betrayed me in the worst way possible so now i love him.” i didn’t like the character’s actions, which would be fine, if i had understood why they were doing anything, ever. like, elena has a minor conflict moment when she remembers the jantari are, in fact, humans, but then decides to burn down their mines anyway.
the arohassin are not developed well. why are they doing what they do? i wish we got more of yassen’s time with them because i honestly think it would have been way more interesting.
the political commentary on how the kingdom doesn’t take care of its own is overshadowed by the way-to-long scenes with the king nonsensically obsessed with destroying the prophet.
and just as a point of personal conflict for me, the names were boring. elena and leo? i didn’t really care for the character names.
all in all, pretty disappointed.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Gore, Grief, War, and Xenophobia
otiliasae's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and War
vaniavela's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.0
An heiress who does not know how to wield fire, a skill that defines her family's dominance.
A former assassin who desires freedom.
A king whose reign is coming to an end.
When a prophecy threatens them all, what will they do to save their kingdom?
Let's start with the cover. The color palette is incredible, despite being somewhat dark colors, they blend perfectly and capture the reader's attention.
The Child of Fire is filled with Indian-inspired mythology, high technology and intricately written characters. In addition, we can find themes of colonialism, genocide and racism in a thoughtful way. If you are not used to reading science fiction, you may find this book difficult to understand (at least that's what happened to me).
I found the romance to be a bit fast paced. It was categorized as an enemies to lovers, but I couldn't notice the signs that would give me hints of a possible future romance. I feel it lacked a bit of development, especially since it felt a bit forced at the end.
I follow Aparna Verma on TikTok and the idea I had of this book was totally different than the one I had when I finished reading. In many ways, I say this in a positive way, but in others I felt something was missing.
A former assassin who desires freedom.
A king whose reign is coming to an end.
When a prophecy threatens them all, what will they do to save their kingdom?
Let's start with the cover. The color palette is incredible, despite being somewhat dark colors, they blend perfectly and capture the reader's attention.
The Child of Fire is filled with Indian-inspired mythology, high technology and intricately written characters. In addition, we can find themes of colonialism, genocide and racism in a thoughtful way. If you are not used to reading science fiction, you may find this book difficult to understand (at least that's what happened to me).
I found the romance to be a bit fast paced. It was categorized as an enemies to lovers, but I couldn't notice the signs that would give me hints of a possible future romance. I feel it lacked a bit of development, especially since it felt a bit forced at the end.
I follow Aparna Verma on TikTok and the idea I had of this book was totally different than the one I had when I finished reading. In many ways, I say this in a positive way, but in others I felt something was missing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
lainiereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
THIS BOOK!! THIS BOOK! I am in so much pain.
The worldbuilding? The politics? The characters? The quotes? SO GOOD!
This book has a slower start, there's a lot of worldbuilding and character introductions that take up a bit of time in the beginning, but it was written so well that it was still interesting the whole time. Even while the story was being set up, I was intrigued and constantly trying to guess where the plot was going (surprise surprise, I guessed everything wrong every time!).
Speaking of the plot, THE TWISTS! THE TURNS! THE DRAMA! I went into this expecting lots of plot twists, which meant I was actively paying attention to details to try and figure out where it was going, but man I still got everything wrong! I also have no idea how the next book is going to go (mainly because I've learned I can't predict anything), and I think that's part of what made this book so intriguing. You just had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next!
Another major positive is the characters. There is so much depth to every character, so even when they do the wrong thing, they're still lovable. Which, yeah a lot of wrong things are done! If you are a fan of morally gray characters, or you like characters who want to do the right thing but life just doesn't let them, then these characters are for you! Every character is so great (especially Yassen, he has my heart) and Verma does a great job of showing the struggle that each person goes through internally and how they justify their decisions/actions. I really connected with the characters (even though they had me yelling at the book to "stop!" or "please don't do that!" at times). Each character also spends a lot of time reflecting on themself and what they've done, which creates powerful quotes that I will definitely be reflecting on the next time I have a mental crisis. I mean the first line alone is great: "To be forgiven, one must be burned".
If you like reading about characters with a lot of depth, the political conflicts that come with leading a kingdom, and being kept on your toes the WHOLE time, then you will love this book. Plus some things that I didn't cover in-depth, like a wonderful slowburn romance, a strong female lead, conversations about religion and the dangers of fanaticism, and beautiful worldbuilding.
Okay, I am going back to reflect some more on that ending.
<3 Aparna Verma, u are a queen.
The worldbuilding? The politics? The characters? The quotes? SO GOOD!
This book has a slower start, there's a lot of worldbuilding and character introductions that take up a bit of time in the beginning, but it was written so well that it was still interesting the whole time. Even while the story was being set up, I was intrigued and constantly trying to guess where the plot was going (surprise surprise, I guessed everything wrong every time!).
Speaking of the plot, THE TWISTS! THE TURNS! THE DRAMA! I went into this expecting lots of plot twists, which meant I was actively paying attention to details to try and figure out where it was going, but man I still got everything wrong! I also have no idea how the next book is going to go (mainly because I've learned I can't predict anything), and I think that's part of what made this book so intriguing. You just had to keep reading to see what was going to happen next!
Another major positive is the characters. There is so much depth to every character, so even when they do the wrong thing, they're still lovable. Which, yeah a lot of wrong things are done! If you are a fan of morally gray characters, or you like characters who want to do the right thing but life just doesn't let them, then these characters are for you! Every character is so great (especially Yassen, he has my heart) and Verma does a great job of showing the struggle that each person goes through internally and how they justify their decisions/actions. I really connected with the characters (even though they had me yelling at the book to "stop!" or "please don't do that!" at times). Each character also spends a lot of time reflecting on themself and what they've done, which creates powerful quotes that I will definitely be reflecting on the next time I have a mental crisis. I mean the first line alone is great: "To be forgiven, one must be burned".
If you like reading about characters with a lot of depth, the political conflicts that come with leading a kingdom, and being kept on your toes the WHOLE time, then you will love this book. Plus some things that I didn't cover in-depth, like a wonderful slowburn romance, a strong female lead, conversations about religion and the dangers of fanaticism, and beautiful worldbuilding.
Okay, I am going back to reflect some more on that ending.
<3 Aparna Verma, u are a queen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Ableism, Blood, Racism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Xenophobia, War, and Suicide
Minor: Cursing
sarahmreads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I received a copy of this book as an e-ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Elena Ravence soon must rise to the throne in this world at war. However, unlike her ancestors before her, she is unable to wield the Eternal Fire without being burned. Insert an ex-assassin that must earn his freedom and the threat of a foretold Prophet threatening the king's rule, and Elena must come to terms with the real world that she will need to rule.
I heard so much about this book while on Booktok and as much as the idea and the advertisements enticed me, I felt like the book lacked in a few departments. But I would like to start with some of the elements that I found enjoyable.
Although the world-building and mythology behind the kingdom is a bit dense, I really enjoyed it. I really liked the Phoenix and the Eternal Fire and the overbearing feeling of fear and destruction that comes from it. Yet it still maintains this sacredness to it, and almost makes you feel like you are intruding on specific scenes that involve this religion. I also really liked that you could tell the culture and traditions from what was told, like the kissing of three fingers and placing it on someone's forehead. Things like that really did immerse me into the story.
I also really liked that this is a fantasy with a lot of science fiction elements to it, like pulse guns, holopods, just everything from my sci-fi dreams. It brought a new depth to the story that I don't think would have been achievable otherwise. In a way, I feel it elevates the story to that of a modern fantasy than anything, while still retaining typical fantasy elements. Even though this story did have a glossary at the end (that I didn't realize until I got through the e-book), I do wish that there had been a map, which would have helped me navigate the different lands discussed in the book. The only one I could really figure out is Jantar being above the main city where the story takes place.
Now let's get into some of the other parts I wasn't a huge fan of. First, the characters. I went into this expecting to love all of them, and left only really liking Yassen. Even then, I wish we saw more of him and Elena, or just more of him in general. To me, it almost was like we didn't see much of him when other characters had POVs. I just wish we saw more of these characters and their interactions with one another. Instead, we got a lot from King Leo and what he was doing. His parts felt kind of boring, and the author advertises him a lot as a DILF villain. He didn't even read off as a DILF to me. He was just a corrupted villain, and most of his stuff I would have loved to see it be discovered by Elena on her own while she's also focusing on wielding fire and discovering more about her mother. Also it bothered me that Elena calls her parents by their first names half the time, not really mother or father. It read off to me as disrespectful, especially since she's royalty, and detached me from the story. Overall, I was detached from all of these characters and didn't find a reason to really root for them.
Going off of my rant on the characters, because I felt like we didn't see much of them, there were some huge plot twists that, as a result, didn't really leave me with much impact. Except for one thing at the end that I was completely shocked by and was also pissed after thinking it over, which I won't get into because of spoilers. Also this whole ploy to find the Prophet? I had my hopes set on one specific individual only TO BE COMPLETELY PROVEN WRONG? AND I'M SO MAD ABOUT IT! It felt like there was so little foreshadowing leading up to it that it hurt to have that ending. And the worst part? I didn't really care about who the Prophet ended up being. It just felt like a giant plot to make you think it's one person only to have you fall over the edge at the last possible second.
The Boy with Fire is a slow-paced fantasy novel with great world-building potential but lacking in the character department.
Elena Ravence soon must rise to the throne in this world at war. However, unlike her ancestors before her, she is unable to wield the Eternal Fire without being burned. Insert an ex-assassin that must earn his freedom and the threat of a foretold Prophet threatening the king's rule, and Elena must come to terms with the real world that she will need to rule.
I heard so much about this book while on Booktok and as much as the idea and the advertisements enticed me, I felt like the book lacked in a few departments. But I would like to start with some of the elements that I found enjoyable.
Although the world-building and mythology behind the kingdom is a bit dense, I really enjoyed it. I really liked the Phoenix and the Eternal Fire and the overbearing feeling of fear and destruction that comes from it. Yet it still maintains this sacredness to it, and almost makes you feel like you are intruding on specific scenes that involve this religion. I also really liked that you could tell the culture and traditions from what was told, like the kissing of three fingers and placing it on someone's forehead. Things like that really did immerse me into the story.
I also really liked that this is a fantasy with a lot of science fiction elements to it, like pulse guns, holopods, just everything from my sci-fi dreams. It brought a new depth to the story that I don't think would have been achievable otherwise. In a way, I feel it elevates the story to that of a modern fantasy than anything, while still retaining typical fantasy elements. Even though this story did have a glossary at the end (that I didn't realize until I got through the e-book), I do wish that there had been a map, which would have helped me navigate the different lands discussed in the book. The only one I could really figure out is Jantar being above the main city where the story takes place.
Now let's get into some of the other parts I wasn't a huge fan of. First, the characters. I went into this expecting to love all of them, and left only really liking Yassen. Even then, I wish we saw more of him and Elena, or just more of him in general. To me, it almost was like we didn't see much of him when other characters had POVs. I just wish we saw more of these characters and their interactions with one another. Instead, we got a lot from King Leo and what he was doing. His parts felt kind of boring, and the author advertises him a lot as a DILF villain. He didn't even read off as a DILF to me. He was just a corrupted villain, and most of his stuff I would have loved to see it be discovered by Elena on her own while she's also focusing on wielding fire and discovering more about her mother. Also it bothered me that Elena calls her parents by their first names half the time, not really mother or father. It read off to me as disrespectful, especially since she's royalty, and detached me from the story. Overall, I was detached from all of these characters and didn't find a reason to really root for them.
Going off of my rant on the characters, because I felt like we didn't see much of them, there were some huge plot twists that, as a result, didn't really leave me with much impact. Except for one thing at the end that I was completely shocked by and was also pissed after thinking it over, which I won't get into because of spoilers. Also this whole ploy to find the Prophet? I had my hopes set on one specific individual only TO BE COMPLETELY PROVEN WRONG? AND I'M SO MAD ABOUT IT! It felt like there was so little foreshadowing leading up to it that it hurt to have that ending. And the worst part? I didn't really care about who the Prophet ended up being. It just felt like a giant plot to make you think it's one person only to have you fall over the edge at the last possible second.
The Boy with Fire is a slow-paced fantasy novel with great world-building potential but lacking in the character department.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, War, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, and Blood
Minor: Medical content
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