Reviews

Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto

zimbarzimbar's review against another edition

5.0

But remember, child: greatness comes in many forms. Elysia was great. Avalkyra is great. And you too will be great. It is up to you to choose how.

Reading middle books are tough.

Especially when the series is yet to be finished, and be it the conflict that arises, questions unanswered, it leaves a hollow feeling in your stomach, almost painful that you don't have the conclusion.

But sometimes a chain of events happens that satisfies whatever itch you needed from the first book, with new developments and surprising twists, and you find you can wait.

Because you know the final book is going to be good.

Also, can we get more books like this where homophobia/transphobia is not apart of the world building? Please?

mamasaurus94's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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

4.0

oakamoore's review against another edition

2.0

Extremely repetitive narrative; characters come to the same conclusions after engaging in actions they already known the outcome of. The same old "revelations" are repeated as though they're new, and those that are new are made painfully obvious before their reveal.  

Nothing seems to actually be happening, viewpoints are being shifted between, but no discernible progress is being made. Half of the viewpoints themselves feel peripheral and unimportant, unless they somehow loosely involve the protagonist. 

Same pacing issue the previous book suffered from, due to the incessant (and mostly irrelevant) inner character monologues. 

lacellej2012's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

mels_reading_rook's review against another edition

4.0

I'm somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars on this book.

lulu15river's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

This book is a really great read for other fantasy romance readers and a great sequel. Heart of Flames is fast paced  and has lots of action/adventure scenes. I enjoyed how as the reader, we get to learn a lot more about the characters and their inner thoughts, I also loved the romance. It didn’t seem forced or too quick, and I was thrilled to see how Veronyka & Tristan’s bond and interconnectedness united them even more. Also great continuation of Sev & Kade’s story. I was so excited to read more about them. I like how I got see more of Sparrow too. I can’t wait to read the next book and see what’s to come! 

molobs121's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

kimcat's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

heycheline's review against another edition

4.0

this was better than the first one! It’s a 4.5 rating for me. I enjoyed it immensely and I thought I could not hate Val anymore but that is very much not the case. I wish for her to endure extreme pain for what she has put Veronyka through. And Tristan’s and Nyka’s blossoming relationship was just so sweet

evamadera1's review against another edition

4.5

I'm glad that I was able to quickly ease back into the narrative after over a year between reading book one in the series. After the reveals in the first book, Preto includes an additional perspective in this book which I found quite intriguing. Preto made this point of view work whereas other authors struggle with making this type of character one that the reader can empathize with without completely changing that character. (I am avoiding details to also avoid spoilers.) Preto also balances the multiple points of view extremely well, so much so that I did not want more or less of any of the perspectives; she hit the goldilocks zone. I marvel at how much she fit into this book and wonder how she will wrap everything up in the conclusion.