In a land of fire and ice, love is considered a weakness.
Princess Valkyrja has always been deemed “pretty and useless” by her family, who rule the kingdom of Fjordlandi. Though she has the same magical Blessing over ice and snow as her brother, sister, and father, she can never seem to use it for the brute-force ruling they require, choosing instead to make art that makes her people smile. But when a horrific attack shakes their whole world, she has to step up…and find a strength she didn’t know she had.
Nikanor has lived his life under the greenhouse domes, a commoner with no opportunities to do things he most desires—to study the Words or the law, to be something other than a farmer. When he and his best friend follow his father to the capital, he hopes only for a nice holiday. Instead, the attack throws him into the path of a princess, and his world is never the same.
But the Blessed aren’t the only ones with magic in Fjordlandi. There are others already Awakened in the volcano, those called the Cursed, with lava in their veins and rebellion in their hearts. And once the fires of revolution ignite, they won’t stop until all of Fjordlandi is Aflame.
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My Thoughts:
Ah, I’ve been waiting for this book! After reading the first in the series, Awakened, three times last year, I’ve been needing some new characters from this world to fall in love with. And this book definitely delivers that!
I really enjoyed the world-building and the creation of Fjordlani! Elements of it are similar enough to reality to make it an easy read, but different enough to make it also new and engaging. If you’ve read the first book, this one is set in a different region from the first, but there are still several moments of overlap that point back to things learned in it. If this is your first foray into Mrs. White’s romantasy novels, I think you could easily pick this one up and not miss too much from the first, though there are a few spoilers here.
As always, I adored the characters! Okay, not the villain(s), though I do have to say that they are pretty good villains to loathe. And then there was the character that I’m still not sure which category he fell into . . . and the surprise character that almost stole the show . . . But I also really loved Kyrja and Nik! All of the characters came to such vivid, colorful life within my imagination. From the very first chapter I was pulled into their world and definitely didn’t want to put it down for the mundane things like laundry (who needs clean towels when there are fictional people relying on me to finish their story???) and sleep.
And the plot! There’s a moment in the story where it seemed almost all wrapped up and I couldn’t figure out how I still had quite a number of pages to go, and then bam! The author drops this twist into the story and I couldn’t put it down! I just had to know what was going to happen. If you value sleep, may I suggest waiting until a free day and starting this book in the morning? Otherwise, you may find yourself like me and considering how much sleep is required to be a functioning human-being the following day and how much later you can read without great regret.
Overall, if you enjoy fantasy, romance, or are maybe just looking for a book outside your usual genre, I would highly recommend this story!
*My thanks to the author for my advanced copy of this book for my honest review! I was not required to write a positive review and have not been compensated for it in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.
I'm sharing my review after re-reading this book - that's right. I've now read it twice in about 2 months' time. My wonderful husband ordered me the paperback for my birthday, so I got to have it in its lovely printed-edge form for my second reading. And I still enjoyed it just as much! If you'd like to learn more or consider getting a copy for yourself, there are more links below!
As always, thanks for stopping by! I hope your day is ducky!
