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A review by ladytiara
The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
4.0
The Burning Sky is the story of a young prince (Titus) trying desperately to save his country from an evil magical overlord and the young woman (Iolanthe) who is destined to help him in his quest. To protect Iolanthe from the evil forces threatening their country, Titus enrolls them both at Eton, and Iolanthe has to pretend to be a boy.
I'm sure this book will have people comparing it to the Harry Potter series because of the concept of a magical world co-existing with our world and the scary magical villain (and the characters "vaulting" between various locations is reminiscent of apparating), but I was reminded more of The Prisoner of Zenda for some reason (maybe it was the 19th century setting) and also of Jaclyn Moriarty's A Corner of White (Sherry Thomas' Atlantis reminds me a bit of Moriarty's kingdom of Cello).
I enjoyed this book very much. Thomas does a great job with world-building. Atlantis felt very real to me and I loved the concept of the Crucible, where the characters could enter stories (and meet Titus' ancestors). The parts that were set at Eton were equally interesting to me, and I enjoyed the contrast between the two worlds.
Titus and Iolanthe were both very strong characters. I felt a lot of sympathy for Titus, whose life is basically a lie. And Iolanthe is a strong, smart young woman who faces her destiny with courage. I loved how she was able to adjust to having to pretend to be a boy while at Eton. I enjoyed the other characters as well, particularly the Inquisitor, who was really frightening. Her scenes with Titus were very tense.
My only complaint about this book is that I felt that the romance between Titus and Iolanthe developed a little too quickly. But this is only a minor complaint, and the things that I liked about the book far outweigh this concern.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
I'm sure this book will have people comparing it to the Harry Potter series because of the concept of a magical world co-existing with our world and the scary magical villain (and the characters "vaulting" between various locations is reminiscent of apparating), but I was reminded more of The Prisoner of Zenda for some reason (maybe it was the 19th century setting) and also of Jaclyn Moriarty's A Corner of White (Sherry Thomas' Atlantis reminds me a bit of Moriarty's kingdom of Cello).
I enjoyed this book very much. Thomas does a great job with world-building. Atlantis felt very real to me and I loved the concept of the Crucible, where the characters could enter stories (and meet Titus' ancestors). The parts that were set at Eton were equally interesting to me, and I enjoyed the contrast between the two worlds.
Titus and Iolanthe were both very strong characters. I felt a lot of sympathy for Titus, whose life is basically a lie. And Iolanthe is a strong, smart young woman who faces her destiny with courage. I loved how she was able to adjust to having to pretend to be a boy while at Eton. I enjoyed the other characters as well, particularly the Inquisitor, who was really frightening. Her scenes with Titus were very tense.
My only complaint about this book is that I felt that the romance between Titus and Iolanthe developed a little too quickly. But this is only a minor complaint, and the things that I liked about the book far outweigh this concern.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.