Name: Ignite the Sun
ISBN: 9780310769736

Hanna Howard

Sixteen-year-old Siria Nightingale has never seen the sun. The light is dangerous, according to Queen Iyzabel, a witch who shrouded the kingdom in shadow. But what Siria discovers at the Choosing Ball sends her on a quest that could bring back the Light ... or doom the kingdom to shadow forever.

Ignite the Sun

Tatiana Alvarez 

This book is definitely not one I would have finished without the help of an audiobook. It is your standard, old school young adult novel, which is refreshing, but no longer something I look for in a story. 

The writing was good and suited for middle to high school students. The storyline was relatively basic and nothing new, but it kept my attention. The pacing was a little strange, I felt like we were either constantly jumping from place to place or simply staying in one place for far too long. 

Overall, this book was okay and kept me entertained. I just wouldn’t recommend it to many people.

laura

*I got this book for publisher for my honest thoughts* 
I really wound up loving this read. It been awhile since i read a book with a "chosen" one myth. I also really loved the main romance in this book was a my favorite type of romance ever. A slow burn romance since childhood. I also really liked how this world was built with so many different creatures and how it made the world so magical. I really liked how the author tackled the 'darknesss" as a enemy and found it be prefect analogy for anxiety and depression. I also really liked the rag tag bunch of characters that had to save the world. This was a solid standalone but one that could be expanded if needed.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Ignite the Sun

Author: Hanna Howard

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: fantasy, chosen ones

Publication Date: August 18, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (slight violence and gore, romance)

Publisher: Blink

Pages: 352

Synopsis: Sixteen year-old Siria Nightingale has never seen the sun. The light is dangerous, according to Queen Iyzabel, an evil witch who has shrouded the kingdom in shadow.

Siria has always hated the darkness and revels in the stories of the light-filled old days that she hears from her best friend and his grandfather. Besides them, nobody else understands her fascination with the sun, especially not her strict and demanding parents. Siria's need to please them is greater even than her fear of the dark. So she heads to the royal city--the very center of the darkness--for a chance at a place in Queen Iyzabel's court.

But what Siria discovers at the Choosing Ball sends her on a quest toward the last vestiges of the sun with a ragtag group of rebels who could help her bring back the Light ... or doom the kingdom to shadow forever.

Review: Overall, I really liked the book. The plot was intriguing and the book engaged me from beginning to end. The book was paced right and I really liked the world building that was done as well. The book is definitely rememberable and worth the read.

However, I did have a problem with the characters. There were a lot of problems for me. Some weren’t detailed enough, the romance felt forced, some characters did some things that were questionable and the constant questioning from our main character was really annoying to be honest. I think it would have been better if the author took time to develop the characters and have them grow.

Verdict: Worth the read!

A decent debut - somewhere between 3 and 4 stars.

This is a nice YA fantasy. Nothing too innovative. The writing style is simplistic but not dull, which makes reading this book a quick task. The style reminds me a bit of Shadow And Bone trilogy - not that it takes inspiration from it, it just has some similar vibes. I did like it. It almost felt nostalgic, as if I was reading a tale I used to love.

 I have received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Samantha Bass

This was a surprisingly quick read, even though the book is 352 pages long. Though this book is a quick read, it is not an "easy" or "light" read. This book discusses some serious topics like genocide, parental neglect, and war. But, there are some moments of light in this book between Siria and her newfound family, Yarrow and Linden.

From the beginning, I was interested in the Darkness covering their town. There is no sunlight, only lamps and a heating spell to keep everyone from freezing. I couldn't imagine living in a world of pure darkness, controlled by an abusive Queen. All the magical creatures locked away or slaughtered to make sure she stays in power. The only thing people had were stories of the time before and even then they were just viewed as stories.

Once we get into the thick of this book, I found that I got some information about the world of the sunchildren and other mythical creatures, but not a complete picture. I wanted to learn more about the culture and the world, but we mostly learn about their powers and how to use them. While helpful, and cool, I felt like I didn't have the full picture of this world. For one, it sounds like the sunchildren are like genetic mutations - it's not a group of beings, they can be born to humans or nymphs, and some siblings can be sunchildren while others aren't. Which, I don't understand how that happens and it's not explained much.

In fact, there was a lot of missing information by the end and too many unanswered questions. Besides the obvious, what is a sunchild and how do they appear, I wanted to know more about nymph and elf powers. Mages were kind of explained, but it was basically "they have a magical item that channels their magic. The end" which isn't super helpful.

Plus, we're told that sunchildren have all of these great powers, and while we see some, it sounds like it's not even a drop in the bucket. It was actually really frustrating to read such an interesting plot only to have the world building lack. And the forced romance, while cute, felt off. These characters were friends for years, Siria barely spoke to him for four years, and suddenly she's in love? I just don't understand.

While I enjoyed the story a lot, those discrepancies and unanswered questions bugged me and made the story more confusing at times. So while I liked the characters and the overall book, I would give this a 3.5 // 5 stars.

Meg K

Thank you to NetGalley and Blink for granting me access to a digital eARC of this book.

In a kingdom ruled by an evil witch, the sun has been banished by darkness, and only a sunchild, a fire nymph, will have the power to "Ignite the Sun" and bring peace and hope back to a broken and desolate land. Siria Nightingale is a young woman of high rank who has always been different from her peers. She not only detests the darkness that they all spend their lives in, but she actively seeks out the forbidden tales, depicting a world of sunshine, told to her by her family's servant, Yarrow. She also spends a great deal of her time playing with Yarrow's young ward Linden as she grows up. Though all her actions are frowned upon in polite society, she constantly seeks the approval of her parents. This means that when she comes of age, she is expected to earn a place at court with Queen Iyzabel. However, as the choosing ceremony draws near, the darkness surrounding the royal city seems more oppressive than ever, and it seems this particular choosing ceremony is not what Siria had hoped it would be... Soon Siria finds herself in possession of powers she never asked for, on the run for her life and trusting her fate in the hands of those who have deceived her all her life. Filled with romance, action, magic and heartbreak, this epic YA tale spans the breadth of a kingdom, builds magical lore and brings colorful characters to life! 

I gave this book a strong 4 out of 5. There were some aspects that were a little frustrating to me. For one thing, we're left with quite a few loose ends for several character arcs by the conclusion of the story. (If there are plans for a future installment, then I would have no problem with where things left off, but I didn't get the impression that this story will continue) Also, much of the feelings and thoughts of the main character Siria are spoon fed to the reader, rather than allowing them to see it and interpret the moments for themselves. In my opinion, this story is something that requires some much bigger world building and fleshing out of characters over the span of several books. I felt that we were lacking in a lot of the backstory necessary to feel more emotionally connected to the characters and to be able to grieve over the inevitable losses along the way.

That being said, I truly enjoyed this book. Putting aside the critiques, the writing in this story is just excellent! The descriptions of the battles made everything more visceral and you could feel the tension and the heartbreak. The romance plot was quite nice as well and featured a "old friends to lovers" sort of trope, which I'm always a sucker for! I could not put the book down, and I think many fans of a hero's journey plot line will enjoy it!

Once upon a time, there was something called the sun… Sixteen year-old Siria Nightingale has never seen the sun. The light is dangerous, according to Queen Iyzabel, an evil witch who has shrouded the kingdom in shadow. Siria has always hated the darkness and revels in the stories of the light-filled old days that she hears from her best friend and his grandfather. Besides them, nobody else understands her fascination with the sun, especially not her strict and demanding parents. Siria’s need to please them is greater than her fear of the dark, and so she heads to the royal city—the very center of the darkness—for a chance at a place in Queen Iyzabel’s court. But what Siria discovers at the Choosing Ball will send her on a quest that could bring back the Light—or doom the kingdom to shadow forever. Accompanied by a ragtag group of rebels, she sets her course for the North, toward the last vestiges of the sun.

Ignite the Sun

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