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A review by abookandchai
The Boy with Fire by Aparna Verma
2.0
2.5 stars
ambitious concept but did not live up to it for me.
i love prophecies and mythology inspired books so that aspect was definitely interesting to read about. the writing is beautifully worded to draw you into Ravence and the worldbuilding is intricately planned. particularly loved the setting of the desert brought to life by the author, like i felt the heat and the sand myself. the magic system, revolving around fire, is a unique addition and made the plot interesting. this is an indian inspired adult fantasy and i'm so happy to see books inspired by my culture! all the indian elements were included so well along with the themes of genocide and colonialism. if you like such fantasies, i'll definitely recommend it to you.
my main issue is with the characters and pacing. the first 50/60% were so slow with repetitive chapters, i considered dnf-ing it. i know it takes time to set up the world in an adult fantasy but there wasn't any significant action happening to move the story forward. the pacing and action get better later on but by that time we're near the end of the book.
i was really eager to see how the characters and the dynamics develop but i felt like we only got surface level development for them and i wasn't invested them or their backstories and motivations. this underdevelopment made me to not care about the interpersonal relationships either. the boy with fire is said to have an 'enemies to lovers romance' so i'm guessing it refers to elena and yassen's romance but there was no such vibes, especially because their shift in loyalties or beliefs were so quick. i was drawn to leo's character as he's a calculating ruler and his pov did not disappoint. ferma and samson, the characters i was actually invested in, did not get much depth.
then again, these problems could be very 'its not you its me' so i'll still recommend this one to people, especially as an indian inspired fantasy by a debut author. i do agree when people say this could easily be read as a young adult fantasy, the only difference being characters over 20. if you like themes of war, religion and politics then you should absolutely give this a shot.
thank you to the author and netgalley for the arc!
ambitious concept but did not live up to it for me.
i love prophecies and mythology inspired books so that aspect was definitely interesting to read about. the writing is beautifully worded to draw you into Ravence and the worldbuilding is intricately planned. particularly loved the setting of the desert brought to life by the author, like i felt the heat and the sand myself. the magic system, revolving around fire, is a unique addition and made the plot interesting. this is an indian inspired adult fantasy and i'm so happy to see books inspired by my culture! all the indian elements were included so well along with the themes of genocide and colonialism. if you like such fantasies, i'll definitely recommend it to you.
my main issue is with the characters and pacing. the first 50/60% were so slow with repetitive chapters, i considered dnf-ing it. i know it takes time to set up the world in an adult fantasy but there wasn't any significant action happening to move the story forward. the pacing and action get better later on but by that time we're near the end of the book.
i was really eager to see how the characters and the dynamics develop but i felt like we only got surface level development for them and i wasn't invested them or their backstories and motivations. this underdevelopment made me to not care about the interpersonal relationships either. the boy with fire is said to have an 'enemies to lovers romance' so i'm guessing it refers to elena and yassen's romance but there was no such vibes, especially because their shift in loyalties or beliefs were so quick. i was drawn to leo's character as he's a calculating ruler and his pov did not disappoint. ferma and samson, the characters i was actually invested in, did not get much depth.
then again, these problems could be very 'its not you its me' so i'll still recommend this one to people, especially as an indian inspired fantasy by a debut author. i do agree when people say this could easily be read as a young adult fantasy, the only difference being characters over 20. if you like themes of war, religion and politics then you should absolutely give this a shot.
thank you to the author and netgalley for the arc!