paperprivateer 's review for:

Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge

4.0

adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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If you ever feel like you love fantasy but would like different creatures from your run-of-the-mill dragons or what have you, maybe consider a book about phoenix racing. 

I love the worldbuilding in this book. If you have creatures like phoenixes surrounded by flame, it’s going to cause problems. This book explains that well. Phoenixes are dangerous but important, surrounded in complex controversy and some different opinions of how they should be treated. We don’t get much of the world outside of phoenixes, but considering that Kel’s world revolves around them, it works. I occasionally wished we got more of the world (like what is the billionaire tech guy doing with tech other than with phoenixes), but what we got was intriguing and exciting. I also love the personality we get from Savita.

The racing is exciting and intense. None of them are the same, and the team coming together to strategize or worry or whatever they need to do works well. I would have loved to learn a little bit more about how a typical race team worked because it’s clear Kel and the Howlers are different (give me a rivalry or a name here and there!). I loved the found family nature of their team and how racing brought them together even when there is some animosity between them. 

This is marketed as an enemies to lovers book. I sort of saw it, but I never completely understood why she hated Coop so much. It seems like from her complaints about him, it should be more dislike than the vitriol she had for him. Like a lot of enemies to lovers books, I’m afraid this one doesn’t quite deliver because it goes very quickly from despising him to being very into him instead of it feeling gradual and earned. I love a grumpy sunshine (especially when the girl gets to be the grumpy side!), but I needed more to show why she changed her mind about them.

The ending is great. It surprised me in a good way, and I loved how the elements came together to explain things and make parts of the world feel more relevant and important. 

Overall, I thought this was a fresh new take in the world of fantasy. It’s a fun ride from beginning to end. I wish some of the character development and the world had been more fleshed out, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I got and hope for a sequel.