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A review by bookish_royal
Heat of the Everflame by Penn Cole
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Started: 18 February 25
Finished: 21 February 25
“I could look at you forever, and it wouldn’t be nearly long enough.”
I have no words (she lies because here’s all of them - good and bad)
I still love the narrator for these books, Amanda has such a pleasing voice that it makes the book enjoyable as well!
1020 pages felt like they flew by, I absolutely inhaled this book!
It was good, it was meh, it was exciting, it was repetitive. I just don’t know how to feel as a whole. Like yes I’d read the fourth book and hope for more but I don’t think this would be a series I’d return to.
Diem started the first book semi sheltered and kind of naïve and she had a little growth and then had no more. She’s becoming a more powerful character and still isn’t willing to make the tough decisions. She doesn’t listen, she has elsewhere to be during important information talks and when someone’s trying to tell her something she keeps talking so they can’t get a word in edgewise. I did really like her character in 1 and 2 even when she was trusting the wrong people, giving the benefit of the doubt to others because I knew how she had grown up and what her underlying thoughts and feelings were, but when you’ve been betrayed and then still doing that same thing in book 3 I just don’t get it.
I do still love Luther but he just became a little bit of an accessory in this book. [SPOILER] like why could he not just kill Vance when he was threatening children just because he knew Diem wouldn’t like it? You clearly see he’s got a screw loose but willing to let her let him go. I’m sorry but how are these characters going to fight in a war, nevermind trying to win one? (With the power of love probably.)
There were some enjoyable parts, I liked going to the different realms and I love the side characters a lot, wish we had more of them in this instalment. I also think the ending was really shocking and my flabbers were gasted. I do want to see where this goes and how things are going to turn out.
I will say, the flow of the book was really good though, I didn’t feel like I was reading 1020 pages so I don’t feel like the pacing was much of an issue.
FULL ON SPOILERS:
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Perthe’s death got me so emotional!
Luther becoming like one of those side characters who get injured and don’t tell anyone until the final battle has finished and he can die in the hero’s arms had me laughing, like girl you’re so dramatic, get up lol.
Diem not killing Vance got on my last nerve. He’s gonna keep trying to kill and you’re not willing to stop that now? How is she meant to be the face of a war. He was literally in a school ready to kill and she still let him go. He’s shown time and time again if he gets the chance he’s going to kill your family/friends/you and you don’t want to just nip it in the bud now? Luther should’ve just killed him.
She acknowledges herself that there are some good and bad descended and some good and bad mortals - please fucking kill the worst mortal you've come across before he kills one of the characters I like!
Her woe is me attitude had me getting angry, like yes your blade was full of mortal blood (at one point in the book) because they were trying to kill you, what are you expecting to happen during a war? No blood shed and peaceful talks? (I wish) it’s not going to happen, so she needs to buck up and see that yes lives are going to be lost and that’s really sad but to hope for a better future, the one she’s pictured is going to come with having allies on both sides willing to fight with and for you, she just needs to decide whether she’s willing to fight for them, because again, the way she let Vance go scot-free, not even imprisoning him? I can’t get behind her decisions.
Also, her mum wasn’t my cup of tea.
I also feel like she lets people walk over her a little (her mum, Remis, some mortals).
I also feel like there was a lot of “he’s your dad, he’s your brother, I’m your mother” talk as well as if being family diminishes the abuse/emotional abuse/grief/loss the characters have gone through. Just because someone’s your dad doesn’t mean you have to be friendly/forgiving/kind - this talk is bad for abuse victims because why should you be forgiving to someone because of who they are to you, when who they are to you didn’t stop them being abusive?
I just, don’t even know how to feel, I do like the characters, I like the concept but the execution hasn’t been here. I feel like it could’ve been a trilogy and this book could’ve been first half doing the travelling to kingdoms and doing the learning for her and the reader and then the second half being the final battle.
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Perthe’s death got me so emotional!
Luther becoming like one of those side characters who get injured and don’t tell anyone until the final battle has finished and he can die in the hero’s arms had me laughing, like girl you’re so dramatic, get up lol.
Diem not killing Vance got on my last nerve. He’s gonna keep trying to kill and you’re not willing to stop that now? How is she meant to be the face of a war. He was literally in a school ready to kill and she still let him go. He’s shown time and time again if he gets the chance he’s going to kill your family/friends/you and you don’t want to just nip it in the bud now? Luther should’ve just killed him.
She acknowledges herself that there are some good and bad descended and some good and bad mortals - please fucking kill the worst mortal you've come across before he kills one of the characters I like!
Her woe is me attitude had me getting angry, like yes your blade was full of mortal blood (at one point in the book) because they were trying to kill you, what are you expecting to happen during a war? No blood shed and peaceful talks? (I wish) it’s not going to happen, so she needs to buck up and see that yes lives are going to be lost and that’s really sad but to hope for a better future, the one she’s pictured is going to come with having allies on both sides willing to fight with and for you, she just needs to decide whether she’s willing to fight for them, because again, the way she let Vance go scot-free, not even imprisoning him? I can’t get behind her decisions.
Also, her mum wasn’t my cup of tea.
I also feel like she lets people walk over her a little (her mum, Remis, some mortals).
I also feel like there was a lot of “he’s your dad, he’s your brother, I’m your mother” talk as well as if being family diminishes the abuse/emotional abuse/grief/loss the characters have gone through. Just because someone’s your dad doesn’t mean you have to be friendly/forgiving/kind - this talk is bad for abuse victims because why should you be forgiving to someone because of who they are to you, when who they are to you didn’t stop them being abusive?
I just, don’t even know how to feel, I do like the characters, I like the concept but the execution hasn’t been here. I feel like it could’ve been a trilogy and this book could’ve been first half doing the travelling to kingdoms and doing the learning for her and the reader and then the second half being the final battle.
[i’ve found rating this book really difficult because at first i was like 5 stars because I think that ending had me shocked, but then as I was thinking on it, I was like I don’t think this is a 5 star read, so I changed it to 4 stars, but then I wrote my review out and as I was writing it - which I also normally write my review straight after reading and me having left it 1/2 days to actually review is questionable in my case - I’m actually thinking a 3 or 3.5 rating and this is because all the points I made in my review made me aware of what I read]
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Sexual content