<a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2018/09/11/phoenix-unbound-by-grace-draven/" target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart</a>

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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4.5 hearts
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I wanted to read <strong>Phoenix Unbound</strong> from the first I heard about it. The fantasy romance genre made me surprised by how grim dark it was. It felt much more heavy on fantasy with little focus on the romance. I read fantasy so this didn't bother me, especially with the well-developed characters and the rich crafting of this world.

Gilene and Azarion are strong individuals with courage to do their duties, work hard to survive, doing what they can to better their futures while protecting those they love. While neither likes their situation, they bear it honorably.  Their adventures are exciting and suspenseful.  They take some risks to improve their own lives and those of many others.

Because the romance has only a small start, I wonder about how this series will continue. Specifically, if they will continue as main characters with their efforts further protecting and building the world. Or will a new couple take the next installment?  My impression is it will be different couples since on Grace Draven's website it talks about the power of three women and the men devoted to them.  Either way, I am enthusiastic about continuing in this <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/225747-fallen-empire" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><strong>Fallen Empire series</strong></em></a> world.

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Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven is the 1st book in her new Fallen Empire series. This is my first book by Draven, and I really enjoyed this well written fantasy themed ‘enemies to lovers’ romance. Phoenix Unbound is a slow built romance, but that is strictly in the background as the story takes center stage; filled with violence, betrayal, battles, and sacrifices.

Gilene, our heroine, lives in a small village which is part of the Empire. Every year, all the villages have to send a woman to the capitol as a sacrifice to the Gods, as part of the Rites of Spring. For 5 years Gilene, who is a secret fire witch, saves the women in her village, by representing one of the women each year who are burned alive. She has the ability to not burn from the fire, and also is able to create an illusion changing her looks. She survives each year, suffering scars along the way. Her village does not treat Gilene with appreciation, expecting her to do her duty, despite the danger and terrible toll it takes on her.

Azarion, our hero, is a gladiator, who was sold to the empire by his cousin, and is also the best gladiator. But he must endure the cruelty as a slave, especially to the Empress who uses and abuses him sexually. He desperately wants to escape and return home to his family, and reclaim the crown of his clan, which was stolen by his evil cousin. The last few years, Azarion has been able to see through the disguise of this young lady who is able to return, and comes up with a plan to escape.

Azarion will force Gilene to help him escape, using her ability to use illusions to change how she looks. He threatens to reveal her town’s trickery to the Empire, if she doesn’t help, but he does promise to let her go and keep her secret if she works with him. When Gilene once again walks away from the burning fire, and helped Azarion escape, she runs to return home, only to have Azarion kidnap her. He needs her to help him return home, and win back his rightful title. What follows is an exciting, dark & action packed adventure filled with danger and violent situations. When Azarion finally gets home safe, there is still the danger of his cousin, and proving to the fire witches that Gilene is indeed one of them.

In the beginning, Gilene hates and does not trust Azarion, but over time, especially after the dangerous and harrowing adventure travelling to his home, and when she meets and gets to know his family, her feelings begin to change. Azarion, despite his growing feelings for Gilene, plans to honor his word to help her return home. Will Gilene go home to a town that used her, or will she stay with those she has come to care for, and Azarion?

I thought that Gilene was a great heroine, strong, brave, loyal and her powers were great; something she will learn to increase in time. When the war escalates, it was amazing how awesome she was. Azarion turned into a wonderful hero, who suffered horrible cruelty as a captive of the Empire. When he began to fall in love with Gilene, it was wonderful to see how sweet he was to her; this was a beautiful enemies to lovers story. Everything does change for the better when Azarion rises up to his true destiny, and must find a way to save his people and fight the Empire.

Phoenix Unbound was an excellently written fantasy that kept your attention throughout, with a bit of everything from wonderful heroes, romance, danger, cruelty, great characters and an exciting adventure all the way through. If you enjoy fantasy, I suggest you start with Phoenix Unbound.

Gilene is an extremely rare fire witch, capable of wielding both flame and illusion. Each year, the corrupt and brutal Kraelian Empire demands a woman from each village be sacrificed by fire to appease the gods. And each year, Gilene’s village expects her to disguise herself and go as the sacrifice to the Empire’s capital, as she cannot be harmed by the flames and can use her magic to escape. She’s beaten, starved, and raped each year in the process, but she saves another from death.

This year’s sacrifice is different. She aids Azarion, the Empire’s most notorious gladiator, in escaping the gladiator pits. He shows his gratitude by kidnapping and hauling her hundreds of miles to his homeland. DICK MOVE, BRO. But he desperately needs a fire witch, you see, to reclaim his rightful role as leader of his clan. He promises, cross-his-heart-and-hope-to-die, that he will release her, unsullied, once he’s confirmed as clan leader. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Gilene is NOT COOL WITH THIS PLAN. But you can’t have an enemies-to-lovers trope if the heroine doesn’t hate the hero’s guts at first, am I right? Thankfully they have their mutual hatred of the Empire to bring them together.

While this book was engaging, it wasn't nearly as good as some of Draven's previous work, most notably Radiance. Some scenes were awkward and choppy. The dialogue wasn't anything special, and it lacked the humor the author is totally capable of. And I struggled so hard with the kidnapping in the beginning. It was yucky. Azarion is written as such a noble, kind, majestic soul, so it is completely incongruous with his selfish, disgusting act of keeping GIlene against her will purely for his own gain. You want to like him later in the book, but how can you when you're constantly reminded that Gilene desperately wants to return home but can't until he says so? Surely the story could have been written in such a way to where there was a least a consensual bargain struck between them and not an outright captive situation.

So, that mess aside, this series still shows promise. Draven has constructed a diverse, detailed world. Much of the book takes place in a setting styled after the fascinating Mongolian culture (hence the above mare’s milk reference, an iconic Mongolian beverage and one profusely imbibed in this book). And Gilene and Azarion’s enemies to friends to lovers transition is gradual and realistic and sweet. You know, after he apologizes for that dickhead kidnapping business. A blurb for the Fallen Empire series implies that there are two more female leads to be introduced, and that together with Gilene they will use their powers to take down the Empire for good. Bring the pain, witches.

Wow! I have to say its been a while for me to find a fantasy romance that seriously left me wanting to do a re-read but Draven's writing and world building was fantastic and I so want more! This was my first introduction to Grace Draven and she totally has a new fan in me

Phoenix Unbound follows two very different individuals, Gilene a young woman who each year protects her village but sacrificing herself for the empire, she has the ability to not burn during the yearly sacrifice, with her being a fire witch. Though painful and a horrible thing to endure every year, but she will do it for her family and people. Then there is Azarion, a brave and fierce warrior, who battles others like him just to survive for the empires entertainment. He is a favorite of the empress to torture and uses a plat thing, but he has had enough and Gilene using her power is his way back to his people and his rightful place as their leader.

Both are flawed and beautifully at that, they each have ensured so much for others enjoyment, but neither realized that there is always another way. They are stubborn and would do anything to help others like them. But what I enjoyed the most is their journey together, Azarion's people believe women like Gilene who are fire witches are to be celebrated and honored, he believe he would be welcomed back with her by his side, after being sent off by his horrible relative to slavery. They make an agreement after a lot of arguing and soon Gilene sees the possibilities of herself being happy, but still the guilt if she cant help her people and family.

Together these two plan the impossible while also growing closer and really seeing each other for the first time. I loved watching these two fall in love, both despise each other in the beginning. The world building and Azarion's village were my favorites next to the romance. I loved his people, their beliefs and the Goddess they believed in. I couldn't get enough and really hope that they author comes back to this world and these character to catch up with them. Thankfully there is no cliffhanger and I was really pleased with who the author concluded everything. This is definitely now one of my favorite fantasy romance books, I highly recommend it.

This was great! It reminded me a lot of all the parts I enjoyed about Spartacus (the TV show) paired with a high fantasy element that was unlike anything I've read in a long time. Enemies to lovers is also one of the romance tropes I'm unabashedly fond of and I thought it was done well here, especially as a slow burn (no pun intended) between a strong gladiator hero and a fierce witch heroine. This is a world I definitely want to step back into at some point, so I hope this is going to be part of a series! Content warning: there is a disturbing rape scene early on with the hero on the receiving end of an assault, so if that might be tough for you then just a heads-up.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Grace Draven is one of my favorite writers, and has been ever since I devoured Radiance a couple of years ago. I was super excited to be granted a chance to read the ARC of her new book by NetGalley (thank you! thank you! thank you!) and it did not disappoint. I would say Phoenix is a little more mainstream than some of her other works, but it doesn't suffer by comparison. I devoured it at warp speed, reading at every chance and during every stolen second, and was left hungry for more. I hope the "#1" designation and series title means that there will be more to come. If not, however, I can be satisfied with the way this ended.
While reading this, I kind of pictured Azarion as a less tattooed - and less eyelinered - Khal Drogo type. I really enjoyed both Azarion and Gilene as characters, and I appreciated the message that no gain comes without some loss or sacrifice. I'm tired of main characters having everything handed to them on a plate, and conveniently "powering up" every time new or better skills are required. These two had to work for it a little harder. The ending, perhaps, was a bit convenient, but I'll take it, and happily.
Thanks again to NetGalley, Ace Books, and Ms. Draven for a chance to read this a little early. I'll be recommending it to my library for purchase and gladly.

Adding to 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge in category: a book that you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift. (Thanks again NG!)

Grace Drave writes an epically romantic fantasy of enemies-to-lovers in a world of gladiators, fierce warriors, and fire witches fighting for their freedom against a tyrannical empire, setting the story in a lush backdrop of the grassy steppes where tribes honor a fire goddess and warriors battle from horses forces both human and magical.

Fantasy romance is one of my favorite genres to read and it's that perfect balance of the two that makes for such an exciting story to escape to and characters that linger in your mind long after you put the book down.

With Gilene and Azarion, Grace Draven creates two complex and captivating characters to fall for. Beautifully written, their relationship and its transformation from enemies to more is undeniably romantic and fierce. I loved the slow buildup between them.

Readers who want their worldbuilding to feel real and authentic are going to love Phoenix Unbound. Woven into this story of enemies-to-lovers is a backdrop that reminded me of the ancient tribes of nomadic warriors known as the Scythians.

I found the bits and pieces of history Draven took inspiration from fascinating. Knowing how these tribes lived day-to-day while incorporating an exciting mythology kept me intrigued.

The writing pulls you into the story while the characters keep you there until the very last pages. Phoenix Unbound, the first book in The Fallen Empire series, is definitely a must-read for fans of fantasy romance.

LIVE: 09/24/18 @ 8:00pm EST
Lexi’s Thoughts:

Draven’s writing shines in Phoenix Unbound, a well executed high-fantasy romance reminiscent of Vaughn’s Warprize.

Wow, did I love this novel. Draven crafted an empire ruled by a ruthless woman. This cruel villain receives little page time yet the hate you will feel for her and the desire you have to see her crushed is immense. Those intense feelings stem from the compassion and love you’ll develop for Azarion, the would-have-been-chieftain turned slave.

Azarion sees Gilene for who she really is, a servant of the fire goddess. And he uses her. Its one of those situations where there is no good choice and your heart aches for both of them. But Azarion does have honor, he protects Gilene and fulfills his promises to her.

Gilene fulfilled her yearly duty and sacrificed herself to the empires demand for a woman to represent her village and burn at the stake. Gilene lives year after year because of her ability to call fire. It’s this magical ability that Azarion uses to escape from the capital. And there you have it, a friends to lovers tale.

That makes their love story sound simple but it is anything but. Azarion and Gilene have to dodge patrols and travel through enemy territory. They battle the supernatural and face dieties. In short, Draven will astound you with her world building and ability to make you feel Azarion and Gilene’s emotions.

Phoenix Unbound is fantasy romance at its finest and lucky for us this is book one in the Fallen Empire series. Don’t miss this book!

Every year the Krael Empire performs the Rites of Spring, and in doing they sacrifice one woman from each village. The village of Beroe is a little different, in that they secretly have a woman who not only can wield fire, but who is immune to it, and whose task it is to go every year and pretend to be burned so that everyone else in the village is safe. That woman is Gilene. We start this story with Gilene being picked up by the slavers and brought to the city to be sacrificed the next day. But, just to add to the Empire’s cruelty to these women, before they are sacrificed, the local gladiators have their choice of the women, and this particular year, the Gladius Prime, Azarion, gets first choice.

Though she disguises herself with illusion magic year by year, Azarion chooses Gilene, because he can see through her illusion, and he knows her. He’s seen her come to this and get burned for the last three years. Back to his cell they go, but not for the reason she thinks.

Azarion is a slave of the Empire, and is used not only to fight but for any other pleasure the Empress can think of, and the Empress is usually a very cruel woman. Azarion was once the son of a chieftain of one of the Savatar clans of the steppes known as the Sky Below, until his treacherous cousin tricked him and sold him into slavery to take his place as heir just as the chieftain fell sick. Now it’s ten years later and Azarion wants nothing more to escape and return to the Sky Below to regain his birthright. Gilene, with her illusion magic, is the perfect person to help him escape, and she agrees as long as he keeps her secret.

But on his way out of the city, he takes Gilene captive, as his people are known to worship a fire goddess named Agna, and those who are her chosen handmaidens, the agacin, are revered in his country. So, if he has an agacin with him, even one that isn’t Savatar, his claim on the title of chieftain is more assured than ever.

And so off they go to the Sky Below, through cursed cities, and barrows, and walls of fire, and all kinds of adventures are had.

This was a very hard book to put down, first of all! Very well written and with lovely prose. I really ended up liking Gilene and Azarion and I cared what happened to them, even when they were heartily opposed to each other.

That, and while it was obviously going to resolve itself into a relationship between the main characters, the way it got there was up in the air, and I enjoyed the mystery of it. Azarion is largely indifferent to Gilene for a good chunk of the story. She is a means to an end to him, though he does feel bad for what he feels he has to do. Gilene doesn’t necessarily want to go back to her village, because she is more or less a scapegoat to them and not much more, but she feels it is her duty to be sacrificed every year, and so fights her captor the whole way, until he promises her that he will return her before the next year’s rites.

The plot twisted and turned and, as I said, it was really difficult to put down because I just needed to know what happened next. There’s nothing quite like rooting for antagonists you don’t like to get their comeuppance, and this one has a couple of antagonists that I really wanted to see get theirs.

All told, this was another great story from Grace Draven, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes a good fantasy romance novel, or enjoys a romance where the pair start off as more enemies than not and grow into something. I didn’t end up loving this one as much as I loved Radiance… but only because Ildiko and Brishen’s relationship is going to be really difficult to top for me. All the same, this one is definitely 5 stars!

Thanks to the author, as well as Ace via NetGalley for the review copy. :)

I read my first Grace Draven story in an anthology and really really REALLY liked it. So when this bad boy came across my radar, I was all fired up to read it.

BOY, did it not disappoint.

Gilene and Azarion are circumstantial adversaries when they first meet. He's the arena champion and she's the woman dying by pieces to protect her village. He needs her to escape, while she needs to do everything she can to stay free so she can protect her village next year when this all happens again. They're very much at cross-purposes and that leads to a rocky start.

Being forced into close proximity lets them see that they're not necessarily adversaries in the strictest sense. They both hate the Empire and what it's doing to its people. They both have reasons for their animosity, but they a grudging respect springs up between them and then that respect turns into something more. *heart eyes*

I'm seriously smitten with this book and these characters and pretty much everything about the story. When things are at their worst, Gilene and Azarion keep fighting. They're wily and smart and they don't know how to back down when everything they care about it as stake. THINGS HAPPEN and I'm excited to see where the next installment takes us.

Phoenix Unbound was refreshing. I love Draven for her hot and heavy romances and was a bit surprised to find that this book was light on the interactions. I wonder if this is Draven's first take into YA.

This is a hate-to-love story with a very slow burn which is characteristic of a lot of the author's novels - Radiance being a great example of this. Our heroine, Gilene, has resigned to her fate as the yearly sacrifice to the empire. Every year for the past 5 years she has burned alongside her fellow flowers but Gilene has a secret. The flames don’t harm her. Azarion is the prized fighter in the coliseum. He dreams of escaping back to his tribe and gaining revenge on his cousin who sold him into slavery. Every year Azarion wins the cage fights but not his freedom. But not this time. This time he recognizes the Agacin in Gilene or fire witch and has hatched a plan to escape. Without her consent. Love blooms between the pair even though the heroine is reluctant. Despite the machismo, Azarion is caring, patient and thoughtful man. So his actions are redeemed throughout the rescue and after.

Overall I would give this 4 stars for a sweet YA romance. The heat that I was expecting was missing but I still really enjoyed the action and romance.

What a fantastic story! Draven pulls you into this world so thoroughly, it's hard to leave it. The book appealed to me as a fan of YA fantasy with strong world building and an epic battle against an oppressive empire that disregards the good of its people. It was a refreshing change of pace that the characters understood that life doesn't always offer good choices and adults have to make the best of bad situations without complaint. There was drama of the good kind, not driven by hormones and angst, that made me sympathize and root for good to overcome evil.

4.25 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy fantasy with sweeping adventurous plots with a bit of romance.

Gilene has the ability to summon fire. When the empire culls girls and women as slaves for the Rites of Spring, they will be given to the gladiators for a bit of fun, and later burned as a sacrifice to the gods. Gilene attends each year out of duty and to save another from her fate. This year, she is recognized (despite her disguise) by the gladius prime, Azarion.When Azarion explains his goal to escape the arena, she must help him or risk her secret being exposed to the empire. Upon escape, however, Gilene is taken Azarion's prisoner and whisked across the world to his plainland home. He needs her help, and her gift of fire.

I loved the way this novel was set up, the world building was pretty cool. I specifically loved the Savatar section of the book. The culture was so interesting and unlike what I have read before in fantasy novels. It reminded me a wee bit of the Dothraki in GoT, but way less brutal, and way more culturally fleshed out (at least from the show). I became so attached to that whole world and all of those characters. I loved that while this book has romance, it's not really the center of the plot. The world building and character development are much more central. However, I did love the romance, and holy cow, Azarion is such a gentleman, lol! I thought the ending of the book was just a bit rushed, BUT I really like what the author did with it! I cried a little bit, and found the ending SO satisfying. I will 100% read the next books in this series!

Grace Draven's new series is set in a world living under the shadow of a cruel empire. Gilene, the heroine, sacrifices herself each year to be burnt as an offering, and due to her fire magic, she is able to withstand the flames, disguise herself, and return each year in order to spare the women of her village from being sacrificed. Azarion, the hero, is a gladiator ripped from his clan who kidnaps Gilene in order to reclaim his rightful place with his people. Draven does a great job of presenting the perspectives of both of her characters and why they are mistrustful of one another initially, before slowly falling in love. The world building is great, and Draven leaves enough questions unanswered about the characters' magic that readers will be eagerly anticipating the next book in this series.

I got lucky and received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I had already pre-ordered it, but couldn’t pass up a chance to read it before it got published.

The story is about a gladiator slave, Azarion, who hatches an escape plan which relies on the cooperation of a mysterious woman, Gilene, who uses illusion and fire mastery to survive the yearly sacrifices forced upon women of all the surrounding villages. Her sense of obligation to save the women in her village by taking their place each year is her own form of slavery. But she sees it as her duty to protect her family. So he has to use blackmail to get her to help him. As you can imagine, she’s not happy about the arrangement which results in a slow building enemies to lovers romance arc — my favorite! It’s very well done and believable as they grow to respect and care for each other.

I really enjoyed the cultural world building done with Azarion’s clan. Once they reach his people, you are immersed in his world in such detail you feel like you are right there with them as they are dyeing clothes or trying to milk wild mares (lol on that scene!). Even the roaming free traders add that special spice of realism to the world. If you ever wanted to be immersed in more of Silhara’s people from Master of Crows, then you should really enjoy this story.

The side characters are also alive and distinct and have some good moments of their own. I enjoyed the interactions between Azarion and his sister and mother. I felt like each character had their own life and wasn’t just a name pasted in.

Sadly, the enemies are one dimensional without much intelligence or presence. I guess that’s probably the one weakness in the story. I was expecting more slimy backstabbing from one of them which never came to pass. On the other hand, you don’t know how the couple’s dilemma will be resolved since she’s still bound and determined to save her village which means separation. Gilene does see personal growth and makes a fateful decision based on that later on so I felt like there was enough other stuff going on to compensate for the lack of solid enemies.

When the ending came, it didn’t have an epilogue which made me sad. It seemed a bit abrupt without one. Don’t worry, the important things get resolved and there are no real cliffhangers. However, there are some lingering questions and I could see a book 2 or some short stories published later to address those.

Overall, this is a solid fantasy romance story and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Master of Crows or who likes the genre.

Grace Draven is one of my favorite fantasy authors and she hits this one out of the park! Gilene is a fire witch who also has the ability to form illusions. Every year, women are led to the Krael's capital as sacrifices to be burnt at the stake after serving a night as a prostitute. Because Gilene can put an illusion over herself, she selflessly goes every year to the capital so as that a innocent woman from her town doesn’t have to be sacrificed. The men, are gladiators that fight to the death. Azarion is a gladiator that has been serving the empress for 10 years now. He sees through Gilene’s illusion and see her as a means to escape and as a means to reclaim his birthright.

I love how selfless Gilene is, but also how much she fights to survive. I love Azarion. He is also strong and resourceful. While he originally plans to use Gilene because she is a fire witch, he does what he can to protect her and promises to get her back home once he accomplishes his goals. While the two start off not exactly liking each other, I enjoyed watching their relationship evolve into something more. I am always a sucker for those enemies- to- lovers stories and the author does a great job with the slow burn romance.

The hero and heroine in Phoenix Unbound are very strong, likable, and well developed. The book is told from a dual POV which is something that I always prefer because I like to know the thoughts and feeling from each of the main characters. There is a lot of action and of course romance, thus keeping the book moving at a good pace. It is amazing how the author is able to develop a world in such detail that you feel like you are actually there. It is obvious that while she builds a fantasy world, she clearly researches historical elements to add to her story. Phoenix Unbound is perhaps one of my favorite of Grace Draven's (although I say that about almost all of her books). It is one of the rare books that I will re-read because its as that enjoyable.

I received this book as an ARC through Netgalley and I voluntarily leave this review.

Loved this book. It was a bit slow at parts biut the overall story kept me entranced and led to reading until 2am to finish. I loved the main characters and would love to read more of them.

I requested this book because it was compared to Ilona Andrews, whose work I adore, but this didn't do much for me. I liked it enough to finish, but I found the plot slow, the world building not particularly interesting, and the character development obvious. Basically, there was nothing special about it. I did like the end much more than the beginning, but probably won't read any sequels.

Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven a great book of loss, love and magic. A fire witch from a small village who is sacrificed every year to the gods of the Empire, meets the best gladiator in the city who as a slave wants to escape. He sees her abilities as his way out. Will they be able to work together or will they clash.

Phoenix Unbound would not have been on my radar had it not been for my good blogging friend, Jess. I'm very grateful that she urged me to pick up this breathtaking read because what.a.ride. Adult fantasy novels with a strong focus on romance are rare but books like Phoenix Unbound demonstrate just how much potential the subgenre has. I hope this book opens the door to more fantasy romance being published.

Every year each village has to send a woman to the Empire's capital to be used as prostitutes for the slave-gladiators fighting and to be burned alive as a sacrifice to the Gods in the Rites of Spring. For the past five years, Gilene, a fire witch with the ability to manipulate her appearance has been participating in this callous event to protect the women in her village. This year, however, things are different because of Azarion, a famous gladiator who blackmails her to escape the clutches of slavery. The tone of Phoenix Unbound, as you can imagine, was dark and brutal. The Empire's cruelty and violence were highlighted so brilliantly throughout the book. Clearly, Miss Draven is a sheer talent at world building because she has taken her time to create and flesh-out a setting that was as extensive as the character development here. I was fully immersed in not only the way of life of the Empire but also the other clans, particularly Azarion's one, the Savatar. Much of the plot revolved around Azarion using Gilene in order to escape and take his rightful place among his people. While there were definitely some slower moments, the book remained eventful and entertaining.

I attribute that partly to the phenomenal character development and partly to the luscious prose. Gilene was quite possibly my favorite character. She was brave and fierce and everything I could hope for from a fantasy heroine. Even when she is forced against her will to help Azarion, she remained true to herself and wasn't afraid to constantly call Azarion out for his behavior. She was a genuinely good person who cared greatly about others. She also experienced some growth in Phoenix Unbound as learned more about her super cool but draining abilities. By the end of the book, she was a much powerful version of herself and her growth was an absolute treat to experience. Azarion was also a character that I easily became enamored with. I was miserable reading about the torment that the Empire afflicted on him. It was hard to stomach, to be honest, but Azarion only worked as hard and as cleverly as he could in order to get out of his situation. Obviously, the woman in me was raging as he essentially kidnapped and blackmailed Gilene, but he had absolutely no other choice. Despite his actions, he was a good man who treated Gilene with respect just as long as he met his goals. When he was with his mother and his sister, he showed a much softer persona that I was very attracted to.

The romance in Phoenix Unbound was just the best kind. It was the perfect portrayal of the enemies-to-lovers trope. As Gilene and Azarion navigated their circumstances, they slowly began to trust and care for each other. Theirs was just the most amazing slow-burn romance. The progression of the relationship felt realistic and I delighted in every single scene that brought these two together. You cannot help but root for them and their happiness and Grace Draven delivered with the swoons. I was a hundred percent here for this memorable ship.

Phoenix Unbound was a terrific start to the Fallen Empire series. I've been told that this will be a companion series, so I am looking forward to what Grace Draven has up her sleeves for these characters. If it's going to be anything like Phoenix Unbound, then I am in for another stunning read.