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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
First read: September 2013
Second read: September 2015
4.5 stars
The Burning Sky is one of those books with a premise and a cover that pretty much had me salivating. It sounded perfect for me. It hit all the right notes. And while I recognized many points on which the book could have been better, this was such an engaging and absorbing read that I loved it all the same.
Let's get the elephant out of the room: the romance. It is... amazing. Irresistible. Addicting. Iolanthe and Titus have a chemistry that drips off the page. It didn't take long at all for me to be head over heels for them. It was just the right kind of development for me: starting off with mild interest, turning to disdain, turning to fervently denying any affections and trying to resist... but it being inevitable and unavoidable. All around though, the slightest mention of any affection between the two main characters had my heart pounding. It was just so beautiful. And then you end up with irresistibly adorable quotes like...
The FEELS. I AM STILL OVERWHELMED.
This leads perfectly into my immense love for the main characters. Iolanthe, the elemental mage of prophecy, gets recruited to go on a quest to save the realm from the Bane, a tyrant mage of Atlantis, by the Prince, Titus. The book actually gets told from the alternating perspectives of Iolanthe and Titus. If you know me at all, you'll know that I'm not typically a fan of alternating perspectives. But, here it wasn't alternating chapters - sometimes they switched multiple times in one chapter, and each switch felt necessary. Not only because you see the two characters gradually falling for each other (which is irresistible, as we have established), but also because they have such different motives and perspectives during their mission. Their voices, in that sense, were also really distinctive. Titus, the prince, is absolutely charming in every way, even though he can act like a prick - and does that as an act to the outside world. But his bravery and dedication run so deep that I absolutely love him. Iolanthe starts off completely frightened by the situation, and then starts resenting Titus (due to spoilery circumstances). Over the story though, she develops and grows in a huge way, and by the end she is so courageous and confident, that it's almost like she's a totally different person. It's character development at its very best.
The plot itself had its ups and downs. The beginning was strong, with Titus coming to rescue Iolanthe and them running to safety while being introduced to the prophecy and the two wonderful main characters. The middle, however, could have been way stronger. While I liked reading more about the characters and the budding romance, the plot had its moments where I was wondering where in the world it was going. However, the end pulled it all together again. It was fast-paced, heart stopping action that I just loved, with magic, dragons, battles, political intrigue, etc. In short, it took a while to get there, but the plot was convincing too.
So while for most of this book I was so overcome by feels that I managed to ignore any prevailing negatives, I do recognize that this book wasn't perfect. Most of my qualms (in fact, all of them) related to the world building. See, young adult high fantasy is hard to accomplish. Younger readers are less tolerant of the long exposition sections typical to high fantasy: the info-dumps that create the world. However, in high fantasy, you're creating a world from scratch, so to be thorough, those info-dumps are almost necessary. The Burning Sky did not contain those info-dump expositions, so younger readers won't be scared off. But, this means the world was a bit underdeveloped for my taste, and I was left with a lot of unanswered questions.
For instance, there are different types of magic: elemental magic, subtle magic, and mind magic. What each type entails and where the boundaries lie remains extremely vague. Also, all throughout the book I was wondering whether the people in the human world knew about the existence of magic or not - because it's never explicitly stated either way. And I was also confused about the intersection between the magic realms and the nonmage realms - are they in the same plane, are they different dimensions, or what? I couldn't figure it out, and as a bit of a world building fanatic, that did bother me. I wanted a map (especially of the capital city in the magic realm) and I just wanted clarity, especially also in some scenes where magic was used and the descriptions were so rushed and vague that I couldn't picture it that well in my imagination. But, as a reader who obsesses over world building, the fact that I managed to ignore this issue so well, due to the overwhelming and beautiful feels, means that the book doesn't suffer so much from this. It's still an absolutely wonderful read. (Here's hoping this is cleared up in the sequel!)
Summing Up:
Seriously, this is a favorite. This is a Debby Bookâ˘. This beautiful story, and especially the romance, had me flailing around on my bed, seriously stifling sobs and squeals. It struck me in the heart like Cupid's arrow. I will be rereading this so often, and the world building issue is almost negligible at this point. I just love it! I will go crazy for an ARC of the sequel, because I need that in my hands as soon as humanly possible.
GIF it to me straight!
LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Recommended To:
People who like FEELS (AKA everyone), and fans of Throne of Glass and Shadow and Bone.
**An electronic ARC was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for an honest review. Thank you!
Second read: September 2015
4.5 stars
The Burning Sky is one of those books with a premise and a cover that pretty much had me salivating. It sounded perfect for me. It hit all the right notes. And while I recognized many points on which the book could have been better, this was such an engaging and absorbing read that I loved it all the same.
Let's get the elephant out of the room: the romance. It is... amazing. Irresistible. Addicting. Iolanthe and Titus have a chemistry that drips off the page. It didn't take long at all for me to be head over heels for them. It was just the right kind of development for me: starting off with mild interest, turning to disdain, turning to fervently denying any affections and trying to resist... but it being inevitable and unavoidable. All around though, the slightest mention of any affection between the two main characters had my heart pounding. It was just so beautiful. And then you end up with irresistibly adorable quotes like...
Now he could work her likeness into any story of his choosing.
Now he could fight dragons for her.
And now he could kiss her again. - The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
The FEELS. I AM STILL OVERWHELMED.
This leads perfectly into my immense love for the main characters. Iolanthe, the elemental mage of prophecy, gets recruited to go on a quest to save the realm from the Bane, a tyrant mage of Atlantis, by the Prince, Titus. The book actually gets told from the alternating perspectives of Iolanthe and Titus. If you know me at all, you'll know that I'm not typically a fan of alternating perspectives. But, here it wasn't alternating chapters - sometimes they switched multiple times in one chapter, and each switch felt necessary. Not only because you see the two characters gradually falling for each other (which is irresistible, as we have established), but also because they have such different motives and perspectives during their mission. Their voices, in that sense, were also really distinctive. Titus, the prince, is absolutely charming in every way, even though he can act like a prick - and does that as an act to the outside world. But his bravery and dedication run so deep that I absolutely love him. Iolanthe starts off completely frightened by the situation, and then starts resenting Titus (due to spoilery circumstances). Over the story though, she develops and grows in a huge way, and by the end she is so courageous and confident, that it's almost like she's a totally different person. It's character development at its very best.
The plot itself had its ups and downs. The beginning was strong, with Titus coming to rescue Iolanthe and them running to safety while being introduced to the prophecy and the two wonderful main characters. The middle, however, could have been way stronger. While I liked reading more about the characters and the budding romance, the plot had its moments where I was wondering where in the world it was going. However, the end pulled it all together again. It was fast-paced, heart stopping action that I just loved, with magic, dragons, battles, political intrigue, etc. In short, it took a while to get there, but the plot was convincing too.
So while for most of this book I was so overcome by feels that I managed to ignore any prevailing negatives, I do recognize that this book wasn't perfect. Most of my qualms (in fact, all of them) related to the world building. See, young adult high fantasy is hard to accomplish. Younger readers are less tolerant of the long exposition sections typical to high fantasy: the info-dumps that create the world. However, in high fantasy, you're creating a world from scratch, so to be thorough, those info-dumps are almost necessary. The Burning Sky did not contain those info-dump expositions, so younger readers won't be scared off. But, this means the world was a bit underdeveloped for my taste, and I was left with a lot of unanswered questions.
For instance, there are different types of magic: elemental magic, subtle magic, and mind magic. What each type entails and where the boundaries lie remains extremely vague. Also, all throughout the book I was wondering whether the people in the human world knew about the existence of magic or not - because it's never explicitly stated either way. And I was also confused about the intersection between the magic realms and the nonmage realms - are they in the same plane, are they different dimensions, or what? I couldn't figure it out, and as a bit of a world building fanatic, that did bother me. I wanted a map (especially of the capital city in the magic realm) and I just wanted clarity, especially also in some scenes where magic was used and the descriptions were so rushed and vague that I couldn't picture it that well in my imagination. But, as a reader who obsesses over world building, the fact that I managed to ignore this issue so well, due to the overwhelming and beautiful feels, means that the book doesn't suffer so much from this. It's still an absolutely wonderful read. (Here's hoping this is cleared up in the sequel!)
Summing Up:
Seriously, this is a favorite. This is a Debby Bookâ˘. This beautiful story, and especially the romance, had me flailing around on my bed, seriously stifling sobs and squeals. It struck me in the heart like Cupid's arrow. I will be rereading this so often, and the world building issue is almost negligible at this point. I just love it! I will go crazy for an ARC of the sequel, because I need that in my hands as soon as humanly possible.
GIF it to me straight!
LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Recommended To:
People who like FEELS (AKA everyone), and fans of Throne of Glass and Shadow and Bone.
**An electronic ARC was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss for an honest review. Thank you!
I enjoyed this book. It started off quickly then went slowly and finally went fast again. A few times I asked the book to "get to the point" but it was an overall great novel.
The love story was hard to fathom at first but it got better as the book went. I liked both Titus and Iolanthe and I enjoyed the Archer Fairfax elements.
I definitely enjoyed the magical elements and I liked the book enough to give it 4 stars. It wasn't the greatest fantasy novel I've ever read but I liked it.
The love story was hard to fathom at first but it got better as the book went. I liked both Titus and Iolanthe and I enjoyed the Archer Fairfax elements.
I definitely enjoyed the magical elements and I liked the book enough to give it 4 stars. It wasn't the greatest fantasy novel I've ever read but I liked it.
Source: Received an ARC through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
When I first saw this book (with its old cover, I think), I wasn't much interested. Nothing personal, I just didn't think I wanted or needed any more YA fantasy at the time, preferring to explore more contemporary offerings. Then I started seeing reviews for this and actually read the synopsis, only to realize that I actually really did want to give this a read--and I'm so glad I've had a chance to do so!
The part that most intrigued me was the promise of Iolanthe as an elemental mage, based on my love of Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Mage series. There's just something so interesting to me about directing power through the four elements. Don't think this is a copy though-the rules here are very different. I think I have a grasp on everything but I bet there are still a lot of new magical surprises to come in the rest of the series.
Add in the meticulous plannings of Prince Titus and Iolanthe's disguise as a boy at Eton (some of my favorite moments took place during those times) and I was quickly sold in mind. My heart took a bit longer as I really struggled with the writing. It took me two days to read about 150 pages, which is rather long for me. Seeing that the imprint is one from HarperCollins, I assumed I would be able to get into the story really fast and fly through it; previous experiences with Balzer + Bray books (such as Everneath and Unraveling) have been exactly like that. Maybe it was the third person narration that sometimes zoomed in on Iolanthe in her boy disguise as Archer Fairfax, sometimes on Titus, and sometimes zoomed out for a macro perspective. Perhaps there were my struggles to become acclimated to this fantasy world; one of the reasons I love contemporary is that you don't need much world-building because so much is already familiar to me. Maybe I was a bit distracted. Whatever the reason, though I was enjoying this book and desperately wanted to finish it, I did not make good progress on it until finally something clicked and I was frantically turning the pages to finish the book.
As I mentioned above, Titus is a planner. He has contingencies for his contingency plans but oddly he never planned for the mage he would protect to be female. This throws him for a loop but he adapts, leading to a burgeoning romance. Though both try to fight it, there are so many little hints and tingles for the reader as we are privy to knowledge that the other is not. And when they do give in to their feelings, it's small and subtle compared to romance novels but it brought the swoon for me. This may also be because I'm a planner and I appreciate that in other people.
Another huge plus is her disguise as a boy at Eton. Given her dire need, it's no surprise that she would attempt with her utmost but due to some innate talent and acting experience (along with a pinch of magic), she is a very successful boy. I loved all the worlds we visited but have a soft spot for Victorian England so that was a special standout for me.
Overall: I would very much recommend this fantasy even to people who think they are tired of fantasy. What was a slow-starter turned out to be a very rewarding reading experience and I can't wait for book 2!
When I first saw this book (with its old cover, I think), I wasn't much interested. Nothing personal, I just didn't think I wanted or needed any more YA fantasy at the time, preferring to explore more contemporary offerings. Then I started seeing reviews for this and actually read the synopsis, only to realize that I actually really did want to give this a read--and I'm so glad I've had a chance to do so!
The part that most intrigued me was the promise of Iolanthe as an elemental mage, based on my love of Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Mage series. There's just something so interesting to me about directing power through the four elements. Don't think this is a copy though-the rules here are very different. I think I have a grasp on everything but I bet there are still a lot of new magical surprises to come in the rest of the series.
Add in the meticulous plannings of Prince Titus and Iolanthe's disguise as a boy at Eton (some of my favorite moments took place during those times) and I was quickly sold in mind. My heart took a bit longer as I really struggled with the writing. It took me two days to read about 150 pages, which is rather long for me. Seeing that the imprint is one from HarperCollins, I assumed I would be able to get into the story really fast and fly through it; previous experiences with Balzer + Bray books (such as Everneath and Unraveling) have been exactly like that. Maybe it was the third person narration that sometimes zoomed in on Iolanthe in her boy disguise as Archer Fairfax, sometimes on Titus, and sometimes zoomed out for a macro perspective. Perhaps there were my struggles to become acclimated to this fantasy world; one of the reasons I love contemporary is that you don't need much world-building because so much is already familiar to me. Maybe I was a bit distracted. Whatever the reason, though I was enjoying this book and desperately wanted to finish it, I did not make good progress on it until finally something clicked and I was frantically turning the pages to finish the book.
As I mentioned above, Titus is a planner. He has contingencies for his contingency plans but oddly he never planned for the mage he would protect to be female. This throws him for a loop but he adapts, leading to a burgeoning romance. Though both try to fight it, there are so many little hints and tingles for the reader as we are privy to knowledge that the other is not. And when they do give in to their feelings, it's small and subtle compared to romance novels but it brought the swoon for me. This may also be because I'm a planner and I appreciate that in other people.
Another huge plus is her disguise as a boy at Eton. Given her dire need, it's no surprise that she would attempt with her utmost but due to some innate talent and acting experience (along with a pinch of magic), she is a very successful boy. I loved all the worlds we visited but have a soft spot for Victorian England so that was a special standout for me.
Overall: I would very much recommend this fantasy even to people who think they are tired of fantasy. What was a slow-starter turned out to be a very rewarding reading experience and I can't wait for book 2!
Hard to get into and understand whats going on in the beginning but by the end I was loving it after I had a good grasp of the world and characters.
Real score 4.76. Cool worlds within worlds, sweet story.
DNF at chapter 5.
Hated the writing and everything was so flat and boring.
Hated the writing and everything was so flat and boring.
Very good, although the ending was a bit confusing. Can't wait to read the sequel.
Probably more 3.5 stars, but I'm rounding down cause that ending was... anticlimactic to say the least. Full review to come.
Re-read 1/1/23--this book still tickles my little nerdy-heart just so!
Oh man. I finished this book earlier today, and have been pondering over just how much I enjoyed it on and off all day. Excellent characters, witty dialogue, and what I thought was a fantastically clever story. Not to mention an endearingly sweet romance and bad-ass magic? Yes, please!
Oh man. I finished this book earlier today, and have been pondering over just how much I enjoyed it on and off all day. Excellent characters, witty dialogue, and what I thought was a fantastically clever story. Not to mention an endearingly sweet romance and bad-ass magic? Yes, please!