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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-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:
N/A
challenging
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
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
adventurous
challenging
tense
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
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this book. It took me awhile to get into. Once I hit the 200 page mark things really started picking up, but then fizzled out again near the end. Still I enjoyed the middle so much that I had to give it a higher rating. Particularly due to Fox. I loved him. I loved how he was written and his interactions with Blaze. Overall, I think this series has a lot of potential and I will definitely be reading the next book.
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
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:
N/A
3.5⭐️
Thank you to Macmillan, Roaring brook press, NetGalley, and Lauryn Hamilton Murray for the eARC (all opinions are my own).
Fairly by the numbers YA fantasy (with some romance sprinkled in) but world is intriguing and definitely has potential as the series expands. As debut work I can look past many of my smaller complaints of the book as I assume they will improve in future books.
Blaze is one half of twin siblings destined to be heirs of the fire magic royal family. Except Blaze was born without any fire ability and is instead a Rain Singer (water gifts but also able to summon water which other water wielders cannot). In fact as she is born her gift causes devastating floods across the kingdom (killing many). She has lived a sheltered life with her grandmother until she is selected for the choosing rite. Every 25ish years 4 heirs are chosen from each magic ability (fire, water, earth, and heir) and have to partake in series of trials to determine who will inherit the throne. I’ll leave summary there so as to not give much away.
The book follows many standard tropes (rivals to lovers maybe?, lost magic, ancient prophecy, etc). While no of it is ground breaking I did enjoy the world building that we got and think there is lot of potential as the series expands beyond the trial setting. There is definitely a lot of potential in where the story seems to be going both in our main setting and abroad and has me intrigued enough to want to continue reading the series.
I think one of the flaws here is the combo of trials, lost/dormant magic, overcoming sheltered life which together are a lot and therefore I think world building that could have helped and provided a lot of context is kind of last in priority and there isn’t quite enough of and therefore ultimately hurts towards the end.
Wasn’t a huge fan of romance as it felt little too insta-love in many ways and we don’t learn nearly enough of the background of either love interest to make them seem attractive as partners. There is definitely intrigue but it’s left at that (hopefully comes as series progresses).
Again, I’ll be interested to see where the story goes after a fairly by the numbers first entry and I will read next entry. I hope branching out into the wider world provides for more original plots and ideas as series develops.
Thank you to Macmillan, Roaring brook press, NetGalley, and Lauryn Hamilton Murray for the eARC (all opinions are my own).
Fairly by the numbers YA fantasy (with some romance sprinkled in) but world is intriguing and definitely has potential as the series expands. As debut work I can look past many of my smaller complaints of the book as I assume they will improve in future books.
Blaze is one half of twin siblings destined to be heirs of the fire magic royal family. Except Blaze was born without any fire ability and is instead a Rain Singer (water gifts but also able to summon water which other water wielders cannot). In fact as she is born her gift causes devastating floods across the kingdom (killing many). She has lived a sheltered life with her grandmother until she is selected for the choosing rite. Every 25ish years 4 heirs are chosen from each magic ability (fire, water, earth, and heir) and have to partake in series of trials to determine who will inherit the throne. I’ll leave summary there so as to not give much away.
The book follows many standard tropes (rivals to lovers maybe?, lost magic, ancient prophecy, etc). While no of it is ground breaking I did enjoy the world building that we got and think there is lot of potential as the series expands beyond the trial setting. There is definitely a lot of potential in where the story seems to be going both in our main setting and abroad and has me intrigued enough to want to continue reading the series.
I think one of the flaws here is the combo of trials, lost/dormant magic, overcoming sheltered life which together are a lot and therefore I think world building that could have helped and provided a lot of context is kind of last in priority and there isn’t quite enough of and therefore ultimately hurts towards the end.
Wasn’t a huge fan of romance as it felt little too insta-love in many ways and we don’t learn nearly enough of the background of either love interest to make them seem attractive as partners. There is definitely intrigue but it’s left at that (hopefully comes as series progresses).
Again, I’ll be interested to see where the story goes after a fairly by the numbers first entry and I will read next entry. I hope branching out into the wider world provides for more original plots and ideas as series develops.
adventurous
mysterious
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
I was entertained throughout this, even if it wasn't always the best writing. It was one of those kinds of fantasy books where I could just turn off my brain and listen for a while. Plus, the narrator for the audiobook did a fantastic job overall! I'm always a sucker for elemental based magic, and that was probably the best aspect of this book for me. I could have done without some of the romance drama, but that's just par for the course when you're reading a romantic fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Bullying, Slavery, Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Cursing