Penn Cole

Spark of the Everflame

Quite slow but enjoyable. Just felt quite predictable 

Nicole Mills

Danielle Silverman

An agonizingly slow burn, but the writing is exceptional. Diem is rash and makes the kinds of decisions we all remember making in early adulthood, but her desire to be a better version of herself, even if it’s hard, is something most can relate to. I can’t wait to see how book 2 progresses. 

Kristen Savage

Not enough Luther and diem moments for me and but I will be reading to see what happens next. This has all the components of a fast paced angsty YA novel filled with drama I love. Highly addictive and filled with magic and suspenseful action 

“Do it,  kill me if that’s what you think I deserve but if you do give me one favour before I go .” 

“Let me die with the taste of you on my lips.” 

That ending! 

Not enough Luther and diem moments for me and but I will be reading to see what happens next. This has all the components of a fast paced angsty YA novel filled with drama I love. Highly addictive and filled with magic and suspenseful action 

“Do it,  kill me if that’s what you think I deserve but if you do give me one favour before I go .” 

“Favour?” 

“Let me die with the taste of you on my lips.” 

Entirely too addictive 

I found the overall pace quite slow and draggy, but the last few chapters intrigued me enough to try the second book in the series!

Hill

very YA vibes, at first I hated henri because he was annoying to me so I thought I wasn’t going to like it but the ending really got me and I like the romance now

fris🐝

So unbelievably good. Fantastic pacing, amazingly written characters, a different way of approaching this plot than other fantasy novels. I’m in love with these characters. The scenes were so vivid in my mind’s eye. i’ve been dying for the moment I got my hands on another series that struck me like this.

Some of the plot points (and the magic system at times) seemed a little rudimentary. Would have loved some complexity or surprise (it was a little predictable) but I’ll read the second book to see where this all goes 

Monserrat Navarro 

Ooooo this is gonna be a hell of a fantasy series… Diem is gonna be such a badass and the tension with Luther 🥵 there is so much hinted in the first book that makes me want to pick up the next immediately just to find out the answers.. very excited to continue on to the next soon 

Jordan Leatherdale

A.L.L.

Almost done. 48 mins left on audiobook.

So far I am surprised how good this book is. The pacing and exposition so far is refreshingly good. While the book is your typical fantasy (romantasy?) with all the tropes that entails, it better written than many of the popular titles flooding bookstagram right now. 

The character motives make sense, character interactions seem genuine, the dialogue is believable and flows well, and the tropes are well deployed. 

I am not a fan of the enemies to lovers trope, mainly because it’s currently saturating romantasy books and is rarely done well, but this one so far is being executed very well. This is one of the places where the exposition shines. Unlike many enemies-to-lovers stories where the “enemy “ part feels flimsy at best and is usually just a lot of cheap interactions where the FMC just balks and gets uppity about perceived slights or dangers that are never shown to have grounding, in this book the reasons for distrust and hatred between the FMC and MLI are well established and shown in the story rather than just talked about, and they are good reasons. It doesn’t feel forced or like the plot demands- which I can’t say even for other books I enjoyed like Court of Thorns and Roses or Fourth Wing (Fourth Wing I actually hated for the romance because nothing about it makes sense to me and it’s extremely forced and flimsy, but I like the dragons and how the book does dragons. And I love me some Rhysand but Feyre’s end of their interactions is tiresome). It’s really refreshing. 

While I do find Diem’s (? It’s an audiobooks so I don’t know how her name is spelled) actions extremely labile, it doesn’t bother me as much as other books with labile FMC’s. I think that is because the exposition sets up reasons why she is being so ridiculous. Some spoilers here so if you don’t want them stop reading now. 
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The fact that her family holds so much privilege and Diem was sheltered while still having an idea of what was really going on, but also being drugged for an entire decade of her life that suppressed her feelings and development, as well as the reeling loss of having a missing loved one and working for the people you see inflicting so much misery, makes Diems extremely stupid decisions make sense to me. Unlike Feyre from ACOTAR where all her life experiences should have made her smarter and more street smart in the situations she was in where she made really stupid decisions, Diem making stupid decisions makes sense. Anyone who has come down off a personality suppressing medication would understand how topsy turvy that transition can make you, and her position of privilege allows her to get away with rash decisions unscathed. It’s the good exposition of the story that makes me not hate Diem for being an idiot most of the book. 

I also deeply appreciate how well this enemies to lovers arc is going so far. I appreciate that Diem’s denial is grounded in over a decade of her mother’s conditioning of her that she is still grappling with, and that it’s a larger struggle of her coming to terms with her identity that her mother hid from her and what his position (and the blood on his hands from that position and the blood on her hands from her recent actions) really represent rather than some flimsy perception of propriety (looking at you again Feyre) that has her denying the chemistry between them. 

I also appreciate the depth and nuance of her relationship with Henry and how their interactions play out. 

Some books rely on characters being lovable enough to ignore huge gaping plot holes or plot armor, others rely on the world building and the concepts of the story being interesting enough to glaze over weak exposition or weak plot, this one is fully carried by masterful exposition that keeps your drawn in. There’s a lot of elements of this story that would normally bother me, and tropes I would normally hate, but I just can’t hate because the exposition was so good. It really carries the book. 

I am really sad the second book doesn’t appear to have an audiobook format available yet. I eagerly await the next one. I would just go get the physical copy of the next one to find out what happens next but I do t have time to actually read it so I am going to have to just be patient for the audiobook.

this is the start of a good fantasy series, i can just feel it 

anna haskins 

freya.nightwolf

What a book

This book has tension, secrets, courage, sometimes crazy bravery, and magic, touch her and you die, AND a pain in the ass that reminds me of Tamlin. I don't believe half of the things he says, and the rest is debatable :)) 

The book started really well, but somewhere in the middle, it felt a little slow or gave me the impression of "yes, but I'm still waiting for something big to happen, or the "enemies" to do something drastic, to get in the scene". The book has a lot of action, but somewhere in the middle, it felt like the action was on hold or had the same rhythm but wanted to burst into flames. This is the only reason for giving it 4 stars and not 5. For me, it felt like a little too much waiting. Yes, we have the testing, the fighting, and putting her life in danger, but something was missing there. 

Then comes a whole lot of action (the waiting was worth it). I wanted to strangle her for her final choice. What the hell was in her head???? Leaving like that!!!! THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!! But after that ending, well, I have a feeling the next book will be like ACOMAF. This book only prepared us for what's next. 

Diem is a force to be reckoned with. She has fire and a lot of tension buried inside of her. I was so glad when she took control in front of her father. She has a mouth and a mind of her own, and she's not afraid to speak her mind. I can't wait to see how she will cope in the next book, and hopefully, that son of... will stay away from her, and our dear Luther will help her properly. 

I loved Luther from the beginning. SHADOWS. YEEEES!!!!! And that scene where they looked at each other in pure shock!!!! I was so happy about what that meant!! But of course, she has to be stubborn. Let's just say I love every scene where Luther is involved. ACOTAR, FBAA, TSATWON fans, be prepared to add a new book boyfriend to the list. 

The secrets in this book. I am so pissed at parents when they don't tell the truth to their kids. I need to know more about our mystery, forgotten man!! Why do I have a feeling I will like him?? 

Penn Cole, thank you so much for eARC. This series will be amazing, and I can't wait to read every book in it and every book you will write.

Spark of the Everflame

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