5 Word Review: Duty, responsibility, danger, magic, secrets.

Oh Victoria Lamb, how I have missed you.

This YA fantasy was exactly what I needed.

The setting is vaguely historical, in the sense that you couldn't pin it down to any certain period that we would know. As a fantasy world I loved the depth, the differences between the settlers in the citadel that Fiamma was used to and the more nomadic people she came across.

The writing is alive with detail - by the end of the first chapters, my own muscles and feet ached, I could feel the hunger and exhaustion of the main characters. Warning: this book will make you hungry. Whether it's Fiamma and Hurth sharing bread or a tribe of nomads sharing spiced meats and sweets, you will be drooling.

I love Fiamma - I think she was brilliantly complex and I especially loved how she was unafraid of pushing herself. The back and forth between her and Hurth was excellent, and it filled my heart with glee every time she exceeded his expectations. She was definitely a lot tougher than everyone else though, and sassy with it too.

This book has it all - magic, adventure, danger, and a tantalising slow burn that will have you rooting for the main characters. It is perfectly woven together and feels almost epic in scale.

I have to say that as much as I raced through this book, and it's around 350 pages, it felt much longer. There is so much packed into the story, so much going on, that it was easy to get lost alongside the characters. Their journey is epic and dangerous and the pace is almost breakneck. I'm almost exhausted, but in the best of ways.

And after that ending? I'm going to need more, thanks.

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