Reviews

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

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emilymoore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

ok I’m going with like a 4.5-4.75?? this was amazing but it is the first book in a fantasy series so the first book always has a little drag at the beginning but BOY DID IT PICK UP

With the exception of only a few moments that had a similar trope to other romantasies I’ve read this book felt so unique? The only comparisons are really through similar vibes but the world this takes place in and the characters are much their own. The amount of times Diem’s one liners or comebacks or sass had me CACKLING, your honor I love her. And my sweet Prince Luther I’m obsessed with you.

The vibes are comparable to fourth wing, some similar character dynamics as acotar, and surprisingly hunger games but mainly the capital vs districts part

I’m so excited to read the second book, about 90% through I realized I was going to NEED it immediately and thanked god the first THREE are already out!!

jessietee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

kathrynjonesreads's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.0

Found this a fun read, but quite predictable. I will carry on with the series.

indigowolf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

5.0

Whoa! I went into this knowing absolutely nothing and was blown away. The world building is excellent. The magic system seems really cool. The action was fast paced and easy to follow. I found the fmc to be trying at times, but I think that’s on purpose.

marianaram's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

jyb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This was generally fun to read, and it didn’t piss me off <i>too</i> much! (Low bar, I know.) However, the more that I think about this book, the more I'm disappointed with it, which is unfortunate. I think this could've been an extra 100-200 pages and it would've been far better with the pacing. This had a good amount of wasted potential.

One of the few things that were pissing me off was Diem’s attitude: there were so many times she should’ve just kept her mouth shut and head down. In any other book with actual consequences for insulting the (powerful) upper class repeatedly, she would’ve been in chains. Absolutely shocked how many times she mouthed off to literally everyone and was REWARDED for it. Or when she wasn’t rewarded, all the consequences for doing so are EXACTLY her fault! Can she just be not stupid for one second? Made no sense and made me so angry at how much of an idiot she is.

The other thing is (though I’m not surprised) is how… this basically isn’t enemies to lovers. People keep advertising their books as enemies to lovers when they’re really not. It’s basically just miscommunication and him being a little bit of a dick, sometimes, but not really. When are we going to get enemies to lovers that has actual ENEMIES? Moreover, there really wasn’t much of a slow burn. While I thought it was going to be slow initially, it started ramping up the pace pretty quickly and it was obvious the MMC felt something towards Diem (she was already attracted to him physically, which she couldn’t stop repeating in her thoughts), so… yeah. Not really that slow.

Actually, now that I think about it... there's literally no substance with the supposed romance between Luther and Diem. He, for some reason, enjoys her presence or likes her, but it's never explained why. They kiss, but they've genuinely interacted maybe about one hour in this entire book? Like, why is he the romantic interest when we know nothing about him and they don't have any kind of relationship? It's absolutely nonsensical and I'm hoping for some explanations in the next book.

The more I think about it, so much of this book feels like a nothing burger. The romance is barely there, we know she's obviously not getting with Henri, and she

joins the rebels then immediately leaves them

. The only thoroughly written part of this book is Diem's character arc. It doesn't help that she's constantly stupid. This book feels more like a build up than an actual plot... which is unfortunate. I really think this book had a lot of wasted potential and it could've been really good.

I still had a good amount of fun reading this. I wanted to see what would happen with Diem's

powers

, and I basically just wanted to see what would happen next. I kind of finished the book a little bit confused based on the lack of development with the romance. And as I said, pretty predictable. The romance is obvious, the group of rebels is repetitive, her not being a mortal is obvious, the ending became obvious… so if you’re looking for something surprising and mysterious, this is probably not your best bet. But for some reason, I still had fun. Overall, I’d give this 3.25 stars.