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A review by nikkisbooknook
Firebird by Juliette Cross
dark
emotional
reflective
4.0
Tropes: Dragon shifters, Empathic powered FMC, Touch Her and Die, Fated Mates, Alternative ancient history timeline
Malina has endured trauma after trauma at the hands of the Roman Empire. She lost her family, then her adopted Celtic clan. But when she is saved by the one person she has ever felt a connection to - she grasps onto that little light of hope.
Julianus may be the feared conqueror but he is nothing like his image. He's strong, determined and a feared warrior. But he takes no enjoyment from his job, he does not enjoy killing or seizing lands from the so-called enemies of her uncle, the Emperor. He is well aware of the evil his uncle is spreading and is determined to somehow rid the empire of him. He is slowly amassing allies but his plans almost unravel when he comes upon Malina fighting off the advances of some of his men. Men who he had directly ordered NOT to injure, assault or otherwise harm the survivors.
His dragon sends a clear message and whisks Malina off to safety.
There is no glossing over of the politics in this book, it paints the Roman Empire, even one with dragons, as the corrupt society it was. That even those who tried to do good were also guilty of some other "sin" themselves.
This is not your average Romantasy. It is darker in tone and even though it has a power imbalance between the two MC's (something I usually loathe) due to the setting of the storyline, there could really only ever be an imbalance unless it was two MC's from the same strata of society. But there is no time when Julianus uses his "superiority" as a weapon against Malina, in fact he only uses his elevated status as a way to save people. Does he work within a corrupt and evil-tainted system, yes. Does he have to do bad things to protect his proto-rebellion? Also yes. But as an actual ancient historian, I can vouch for the fact that as with any "empire" through history, just because you work within the system, does not mean you blindly obey the system. For a modern illustration - look no further than the current politics of the world!
So even though there are some elements of the book that might make you squirm or feel uncomfortable, they are there for that very reason. To make sure you know how privileged you are to be able to dissent, pick at, and hold accountable those very systems. There are many scenes, especially with the Emperor and Cipranis, that are uncomfortable and downright hard to read, especially as a SA survivor myself. But they are also cathartic as I raged, swore and plotted their ends in my head.
I'm now awaiting book 2 to see how Trajan furthers their rebellion.
Malina has endured trauma after trauma at the hands of the Roman Empire. She lost her family, then her adopted Celtic clan. But when she is saved by the one person she has ever felt a connection to - she grasps onto that little light of hope.
Julianus may be the feared conqueror but he is nothing like his image. He's strong, determined and a feared warrior. But he takes no enjoyment from his job, he does not enjoy killing or seizing lands from the so-called enemies of her uncle, the Emperor. He is well aware of the evil his uncle is spreading and is determined to somehow rid the empire of him. He is slowly amassing allies but his plans almost unravel when he comes upon Malina fighting off the advances of some of his men. Men who he had directly ordered NOT to injure, assault or otherwise harm the survivors.
His dragon sends a clear message and whisks Malina off to safety.
There is no glossing over of the politics in this book, it paints the Roman Empire, even one with dragons, as the corrupt society it was. That even those who tried to do good were also guilty of some other "sin" themselves.
This is not your average Romantasy. It is darker in tone and even though it has a power imbalance between the two MC's (something I usually loathe) due to the setting of the storyline, there could really only ever be an imbalance unless it was two MC's from the same strata of society. But there is no time when Julianus uses his "superiority" as a weapon against Malina, in fact he only uses his elevated status as a way to save people. Does he work within a corrupt and evil-tainted system, yes. Does he have to do bad things to protect his proto-rebellion? Also yes. But as an actual ancient historian, I can vouch for the fact that as with any "empire" through history, just because you work within the system, does not mean you blindly obey the system. For a modern illustration - look no further than the current politics of the world!
So even though there are some elements of the book that might make you squirm or feel uncomfortable, they are there for that very reason. To make sure you know how privileged you are to be able to dissent, pick at, and hold accountable those very systems. There are many scenes, especially with the Emperor and Cipranis, that are uncomfortable and downright hard to read, especially as a SA survivor myself. But they are also cathartic as I raged, swore and plotted their ends in my head.
I'm now awaiting book 2 to see how Trajan furthers their rebellion.
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death of parent, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism