A review by mama_in_the_rye
Season of Fire by Cidney Mayes

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This Reviewer Received an ARC of this book courtesy of Book Sirens and Crow Quill Publishing in exchange for an honest review

My experience with this novel was very conflicting. Season of Fire feels like following Eloise Bridgerton after she has found out she is secretly a witch. The novel follows Rose a girl who loves her quiet life in the country and wants independence, but has found herself thrust into London society against her will. The beginning of this novel felt extremely rushed and I don’t know if we got to know Rose well enough before she is thrown into peril. I have to say the idea of this novel is a very good one and the magic system is such an intriguing one that I would actually care to learn more about.  I liked Rose and her friends. I enjoyed the Nightingales lore and even the mystery behind our main villian. However the execution of the book was not the best.  The writing felt extremely clunky and sluggish most of the novel and it felt like reading a decent fanfiction that someone added witchy elements from chatGPT to. The whole novel felt muddled and confusing; all around rushed. It is like the author knew where she wanted to begin and possibly end, but was not exactly sure how to get from point A to B. Even the romance scene felt stale and awkwardly rushed. I liked it, but I didn’t love it.