Rori

While I don't remember much of the first book, I remember enjoying it enough to be annoyed I had to wait for the sequel. However, upon reading the first few chapters I started to think maybe I had suffered a head injury to think it was fun as this book was starting to seem not good at all. Thankfully, it started to pick up around the 30-40% mark and I started enjoying myself. While still not a ground-breaking piece of writing, I like Ciccarelli's lore building and characters. The story had relatively good pacing, I just wish the ending and other characters were a bit more fleshed out.

I fear this book is another victim of publisher's pumping out the same stories, tropes, and "romantasy" writing. I don't remember the first book being this cliche and for a lack of a better word "cringey" in it's writing but maybe I'm misremembering it or I was kinder back then. And as previously hinted at, the ending was also so incredibly rushed. Very "and then the bad person was defeated and they all lived happily ever after, goodbye!"

I still had a good time, truly. It is a fun read! The first part of my review reads quite harsh but I'm just so sick of good concepts being ruined by predictable twists, tropes, trying to emulate the same angst as other series, and all because of capitalism. Bring back authors taking ages to bring out the next book! It was horrible but I'd prefer it over this!

I bought the American release of this book in November 2024 because I didn't want to wait until February to get the Australian release.. and here I am... finishing it in September, 2025. A feat only achievable by me as I'm yet to finish another book I started in 2016 🤭

Anyway, onto this book.

Truly, I have never read a book so scared of how the ending may go. HOW was Tasha Suri going to wrap this thang up?! Beautifully. That's how. And heartbreakingly as all good endings are.

I cannot get over how engrossing Suri's Burning Kingdom is (only just clocked why it's called Burning Kingdom lol). I constantly rave about the world building and the depth of the characters, even minor side characters with one chapter or no chapter at all! An incredible talent.

This one is for Tasha... PLEASE JUST ONE MORE CHAPTER, I BEG YOU!!!!!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this dark fairytale book! Some of the writing is so poetically beautiful that it drove me to rant my friends ears off countless times and it is also at times hysterically funny! The characters are lovable beyond belief and the main character, Marra, is just so relatable with her commentary (it's not 1st person but you know what I mean). 100% recommend for classic fairytale vibes with a side of creepy and funny antics!

Once again, another beautifully written book by Tasha Suri with vibrant world building and rich characters. Suri continued on her trajectory of writing one of the most captivating, heart-warming, and gut-wrenching stories I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I wish I could come up with smarter words to describe this sequel but having just finished the book, my head is screaming “AAHHHHHHH GIVE ME THE NEXT BOOK!!” while my heart sits in the corner and cries.

I fell in love with this book the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once. As my first cozy fantasy book with low stakes, I was apprehensive due to the fact that “not a lot happens” but boy oh boy was I wrong! It did take me a while to get into the rhythm and I will say that the writing is a little janky at times (hence the 4 stars, otherwise this would be 5/5, I was so happy reading this book!) but the characters are so loveable and I loved the fact that you're literally just watching someone accomplish their dream of opening a coffee shop and honestly.. that was enough. It felt like having a nice warm cup of coffee while you sit by the window and watch the birds play in the tree outside. I thoroughly enjoyed my intro to cozy fantasy, and I can't wait for the next one! However, I do hope Travis writes a sequel as well as the prequel. I don't know what the book would be about, but honestly, I just want the characters back in my life ☕️

I thoroughly enjoyed Tasha Suri's writing. It was fast paced enough that I felt enwrapped in what was going to happen next but was peppered enough with slower scenes that made you have a breather. The world building was intriguing and Suri's description of the nature of Ahiranya's magic was delicious. Few authors I've read have been able to capture the feeling of the magic of their worlds. When characters talked about how they could feel the land and the power from the earth, I could feel the land and the power from the earth.
The complex character relationships was also wonderfully well done. I always get frustrated with dialogue in books where they seem unrealistic or certain dialogue is/isn't said purely for plot (such as miscommunication tropes) but Suri always made the characters say exactly what should have been said and it was so satisfying. That may not make sense but once you read the book you'll understand. There are some truly satisfying scenes that make you go “Yes! Finally! Somebody said it!”
The fact that the main characters were realistically complex and flawed made them even more likable. Even when characters made decisions I didn't want them to make, I was eating it up.
As someone who's read a lot of fantasy, it was refreshing to read a story set in a rich world that isn't set in a European Centric environment. I learnt a lot about ancient Indian culture for which I am truly grateful for. A fantastic read and one I will be recommending to everyone I talk to.

Story is compelling and the relationships are dynamic and complex. The art is also quite nice.

The art is so cute and I like the relationships between the trio but I have no clue what is going on. I feel like the author thinks they've explained the lore to us but they didn't and I'm so lost.

A bit slow, felt like the author was trying to draw it out far too long instead of making up more plot. But I liked the main character and the story overall.

I like Sarah J Maas' lore and world building, but this book didn't need to be 800+ pages long. I don't know if her editor sucks or if she just doesn't listen to her editor, but this book didn't need to be this long. I went on a 3 month reading slump in the middle of this book because I was so bored. And, oh my god, don't get me started on how cringe the relationship gets. I'm happy for you if you liked it and if you were shocked by the incredibly predictable twist at the end, but it was infuriating for me. I don't know if I'll read the next one because I'm sure it'll be 800+ pages again when it really could be at least 400 pages, if not less.

I loved this so much

Merged review:

I loved this so much

Another book I thoroughly enjoy although slightly stressed out by it, but that is the go with war, I suppose. I believe I have the same criticism for this book as I did with A Court of Mist and Fury. Repeatative writing, etc. However, I did notice a shift in this book. Not sure entirely what it was but it was a good shift.

Way more POC and LGBT representation. It's nice to see when an author gets criticism and listens to it.

This book was insufferable to begin with. I liked the direction of the story but it was hard to swallow at the beginning. Sarah J. Maas has an idea of where she wants to get the story to but she gets there too quickly, leaving the reader a bit whiplashed and mourning of what's been ripped away (and not in the good way). She unpacks it all later, which is when the book becomes much more enjoyable and I gobbled it all up but some of that information or thought process from the character would have been appreciated much earlier on. Plots and characters from the first book being dropped is fine but when it all happens in the first few pages, it feels like I wasted my time reading the first book. I like where the story went and I liked that it was challenging and confronting. That IS good in a book but needs to be done correctly. I see what people mean by Maas' writing being repeative and some of her word choices were annoying (for lack of a better word) but overall I enjoyed the writing. Maas is clever when it comes to reveals. Some of them are a bit cliche but that's not to say that I wasn't sitting there going “OH MY GOD NO WAY” still. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

While a some what predictive storyline and annoying, nonscensical decisions made by the main character, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was an easy read and I devoured it. I loved the imagery from the perspective of a protagonist who is a painter. It was very refreshing.

Literally the worst book I've ever read. The thought processes are all over the place, the sentences are barely coherant. Evident that the writer never studied writing because this is the worst piece of literature I've read. Hours I'll never get back. Obviously the writer just wanted to think they were cool and failed miserably.

So many emotions.. I wish I could see it on the stage! It would be amazing!! And intense... Yeah for warning for those still yet to read it... It is IMMENSELY intense!!! I bought chocolate after finishing it.

Also kind of spoilers but not really (you just won't understand if you haven't read it).
Page 307 what a plot twist (not of the actual plot but like a “WHOA PLOT TWIST!” kind of event/revelation) and also .... Page 317 was... I'm going to say unnecessary... As in I don't recommend reading it in public because it's beat-the-tears-out-of-your-heart painful... But I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the wizarding world once more..

I would give it 4 stars because it broke my heart but since it was able to make me feel so much it deserves 5 stars.

My dad brought home this book for me to try out so I did.. And absolutely ADORED it!!! I was immediately immersed in this incredible world!! Some people might think that it has a lot of “jargon” such as “beforetime”, “oldtime”, “misfits”, and “herders” but I loved it! It's a different world so of course it'll have a different language! It made the world so much more believable and it drew me in even further. The mystery behind Obernewtyn made is SOOOOO intriguing!! Ah!! I loved this book so much and the books following are even better!!!