[A quick note: A huge thank you to Inkyard Press for sending me a physical ARC. I was so thrilled to receive a copy. I had to exercise lots of self control not to read this months and months in advance, since I know many publishers prefer the review to be posted closer to the release of the book. Well, I couldnโt wait any longer! So here it is, yโall! Oh, and an we take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous the cover is?!]
โ๐๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฟ๐นโ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ, ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐, ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐, ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ.โโAlexandra Overy
Magic requires payment. When twin heirs are borne in Tourin, their fates are decided from a young age. Izaveta will remain in the palace learning how to rule, while Asya must become the mysterious firebird to ensure magic remains balanced throughout the world. When the queen suddenly dies, the two sisters are thrust into their roles before they are ready. They must discover who to trust, but more importantly, who killed their mother.
The firebirdโs flames burned brightly in this gorgeous fantasy. Princesses preparing to rule a queendom. Court intrigue. The weight of duty. Twin sister bond. Magic that comes at a price. Betrayal. F/F romance. Beautiful world building....I could go on! This has everything that makes todayโs YA fantasy books so diverse. Asya is skilled with a blade. She understands what it means to exact a price. While Izaveta wields her mind like a weapon. Both sisters are so different but fundamentally similar. This story was beautiful, full of twists and turns, and so many parallels between two sisters with very different upbringings. It illustrates the lengths they will go to protect each other.
The romance was not what I hoped, but thatโs okay. I just like a lot more romance in my books. It was pretty muted in the grand scheme of things. While it is f/f enemies-to-lovers, and enemies-to-lovers is my favorite trope, it just didnโt get much page time. So if youโre looking for a heavier f/f romance....
Can we just take a moment to worship the fact that this is a firebird retelling?! How often do you see this kind of a retelling done so elaborately? The plot was detailed and richly layered. It worked great with the world building. Each sister handled different aspects of the story. Izaveta death with all the politics while Asya dealt with the challenges of being the firebird.
โ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ. ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ป๐ผ๐. ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.โ
I loved the level of political intrigue, so elegantly woven into the pages. The moves in Izaveta political game were often turned into analogies of her playing a form of chess, original to this world. It added so much to the world building. And in parallel with that was the magic and how it always required a price to maintain balance.
โ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ? ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐. ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐ป, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐โ๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ. ๐ฆ๐ผ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.โ
And the sister bond! They were taken from each other at a young age and hadnโt seen each other for seven years. In that time, they both changed. They became so different and unique. Each with her own duty. I enjoyed seeing them navigate the challenges of their sister bond. It was clear that they struggled between duty and their love for each other. This added a lot of internal conflict.
โ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฒ, ๐ป๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐. ๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟโ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ต. ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ.โ
The writing was beautiful, evidenced by so many quotes I piled into this review. I love when prose fits elegantly with the plot and story. I had so much fun reading this one. The chapters were short and often switched between each sister, keeping things fresh. The story captured me and I will definitely be reading the next installment. ๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐: ๐ฐ/๐ฑโญ๏ธ
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