Reviews

Of Flames and Fallacies by Courtney Whims

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dragonesspixie's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

This book kicks off with a strong hook, one of those opening lines that immediately grabs your attention and pulls you straight into the first chapter. Right from the start, I was intrigued and ready to be swept into an epic adventure.

As the world unfolded, the story gave me strong Eragon meets Veiled Kingdom vibes, blending familiar fantasy elements with a romantic undercurrent that had the potential to be something really engaging. The premise? Solid. The intrigue? Present. The execution? Well… that’s where things started to unravel for me.

Let’s talk about the writing style. It’s not bad by any means, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me personally. There’s a noticeable repetition in sentence structures that pulled me out of the story more times than I’d like. Instead of being immersed in the plot, I found myself hyper-focused on the writing itself, which is never a great sign.

Character development also felt like it needed more time to breathe. The relationships, dynamics, and even the dialogue all came across as a little too rushed, making certain emotional beats feel unearned. It was like watching characters go through the motions rather than truly evolving on the page.

And then there’s the dragons. Or, should I say, the lack of dragons? By 60% into the book, the dragon theming (something I was really looking forward to) only made up about 2-3% of the actual content. If you promise me dragons, I expect DRAGONS, not just war camps and passing moments here and there.

I can absolutely see how this could be a great romantasy pick for readers who primarily come from the romance genre and are dipping their toes into fantasy. But for someone like me, who comes at romantasy from a fantasy-first perspective? It felt a little too simplistic and underdeveloped to really hit the sweet spot.

Final verdict? It’s a solid choice if you got here from the romance section and don’t mind a more surface-level fantasy world. But if you’re looking for deep world-building, strong character arcs, and an immersive fantasy experience… this might not quite deliver.

s1de3ffect's review

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adventurous 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

4.25

miranda_reads_romance's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

jovanasara's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a debut novel, so my critique is softer. While it had a slower start and some areas for improvement, the MMC was so well done that I’d rank it with 5 stars just for the book hangover it (He) gave me. The story is neat, featuring a cute dragon, rebellion, a strong heroine, and nice side characters. The worldbuilding isn’t overly profound, but not every book needs to be epic in scale. It’s well-paced with engaging plot twists and well-written tension. I will be following Courtney’s next releases!

bethharbour's review

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adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Not bad for a debut author! Definitely could have done with a round of copy editing, and some of the plot was quite predictable, but this was a very enjoyable read and I’ll definitely pick up the second one when it’s released :)