This is a very simple and somewhat typical YA fantasy but I give it serious points for actually showing how bad the ruler who usurped the throne is and what bad things she’s doing and thusly why it matters that the main character saves people from her. My issue with a lot of YA fantasy (and even sometimes adult fantasy) that centers around taking back a kingdom is that they rarely show why it matters that the usurper gets overthrown.
This book also makes some good points about performative activism, and also the love interest is someone the main character was already friends with instead of some swoonworthy guy she just met.

I really liked this book! It has great world building and amazing characters! The cover is so gorgeous! I know that this one will be a winner with my older students.
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book but it took me longer to get through than anticipated. I loved the detailed world building and the magic in the book. THis has many of the tropes that you'd expect from a YA fantasy novel: childhood friends to lovers, light vs. dark and a magic mentor. Most of this was enjoyable but this very much felt like a first book. Simplistic writing, a tad too YA at points and more telling than showing in the storytelling. I still think this was a solid first novel and I would be interested to see what else this author puts out!

Ignite the Sun didn't quite land for me, but will surely appeal to many fantasy readers! It has: complex world-building and a delightful magical system; lost royalty and chosen one tropes- beloved in the genre!; and a supportive wizard mentor a la Merlin and powerful witches; and an intriguing world without sun!

Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard
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Siria Nightingale is about to attend the Choosing ball at Queen Iyzabel’s court. But when she arrives at the palace things go very wrong. Now Siria is on a quest to bring back the Sun and bring down a tyrant.
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I thought this was an interesting premise. A kingdom where a tyrant banished the sun. A young girl who is able to bring light back to the kingdom.
I wanted to like this story but I felt like the story was three colors when it could have been a full rainbow.
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3⭐️⭐️⭐️

Health issues aside. It took me a while to finish this one.
I had to stop and start so many times due to my health.
But I really did enjoy this one exile I was reading it.

A fascinating and remarkable story with interesting characters that you want to root for. I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written, captivating read!

Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard is a solid option in the crowded fantasy genre. The author engages in some great world-building with an interesting magic system. This was a stand-alone as far as I know, but I hope to see more from this author, perhaps set in this same world.

First of all, big thank you to netgalley, the author and the publishers for sending me a copy of this to read and review.

I thought that this book was incredibly unique, and I loved learning about Siria and her powers along with her. I have been craving a fantasy just like this for a while and I am so glad that I picked it up. I loved the relationship between Siria and Landon as well as Yarrow. To be honest I love reading all the interactions between the main group of characters in this book. I also loved the journey and the magic that gets uncovered along the way. This book was a pleasure to read, and I absolutely flew through it.

Gosh, I need to re-read this book. I’m fairly certain I read it before it released last August, so my recollection of specific details is extremely hazy. I realize that might make it sound like the book isn’t that good since it’s not very memorable, but I do remember that I enjoyed reading it. But I also read 250 books last year, and I’ve read like 61 this year so far, meaning that’s a lot of specific book information to remember, and sometimes it doesn’t happen. I also have my mind very filled with D&D information, and that takes up a lot of space and processing power.

Anyway, I did find this to be a rather interesting fantasy story. I enjoyed the stories of The Light and The Darkness. It was an interesting set-up for the world-building and the magic and such.

We meet our leading lady Siria Nightingale first as a child, if I remember correctly, and she’s still a bit wild and free, fascinated by stories and spending time with her best friend who is basically the groundskeeper’s kid at her family estate. Fast forward years later and Siria is at a school for the more well-to-do children of rich and/or powerful people, and she has to be more poised and refined and all that.

So sounds like so many other fantasy YA protagonists out there. Some of the reveals and plot points are predictable, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t good, necessarily, or that they aren’t well executed for this story. It just means that authors (and readers) take elements they/we enjoy from various books and toss them together to make another story, calling it exciting and unique, when really most stories have a lot of similarities. But we sometimes really enjoy that. It’s nice to have an idea of what to expect…so you have a teenage girl who wants to be one way, but is forced to act another way because of family/society/whatever, and then that girl discovers something–usually some magic ability/family secret/etc–and it sets her off on an adventure or on a quest. Typically this involves meeting up with a ragtag group of other individuals, and more often than not they take on the government or kingdom or whatever to try and make things better.

There’s nothing wrong with these kind of stories. They are still good. And obviously I’m talking about reading this one again, because I do recall enjoying it. I just don’t remember a lot of the specifics. Oh, I will also say that the cover is lovely. It is definitely an eye-catcher.

I have no idea why it has taken me nearly two years after publication date to read this! This book follows our main character as she finds out who she really is deep down. Along the way she finds her true identity and discovers the powers she has been hidden from. During the course of the book, I felt like I was on the edge of my seat to find out what was going to happen next. I really wish this book had a sequel because I need more from this world and to find out what happened next!!

This novel had an intriguing premise. It also had a fantastic world-building. However, I could not care for the characters. Also, there was very little tension in the novel. Still, the author is a very talented writer, and I believe she has the potential to be a great novelist. I recommend this for fans of Lark Rising, Ash Princess, and Shadowfell!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review. This book was okay. I don't know that I would read anything else about this world or characters. The story is about Siria who lives in a Kingdom of Darkness. They were taught that the sun was dangerous and that darkness was safe. Siria ends up falling in the 'chosen one' trope without a lot of background to explain what this even meant or why the citizens should believe that sun was evil and darkness was good. Most of the book is about a journey that also wasn't explained all that clearly. I did enjoy the idea of the world set up. I just don't feel like it or the characters was nearly fleshed out enough.

While somewhat unique in its magic system and worldbuilding, Ignite the Sun, falls into many trope cliches and not all of them pay off. A world with no sun is a very interesting introduction to Siria's world. I also loved the naiad, nymph, and mage magic, but most of the time I thought Siria was too naive and came to understand her power too quickly in the span of the book to overcome the Queen. If I didn't read so much, I may have liked this book more. Not much surprised me and it was only mildly enjoyable because of that.

This book took me about a day or two to read.

It was intriguing, it was different and I did enjoy it! There were some parts I found boring, but necessary to the storyline. The one irritating thing about this book is how everyone is questioned. It's a trope in every YA book, I swear. The child knows more then the adults, but that's fine, she had a reason to question them. That's fine too.

I did enjoy the magic and battle. It was a solid 3 star book and I did enjoy it immensely

Although it took me awhile to finish this book, Ignite the Sun included several elements I rather enjoyed, leading me to give it a solid 3 stars.

My favorite part of this book was by far the worldbuildling. Going into the story, I didn’t know Terra-Volat was inhabited by nymphs, elves, dwarves, naiads, banshees, and more. When these mystical creatures appeared on the page, I was pleasantly surprised and excited to see what roles they would play in Siria’s story. This made for an incredibly interesting cast of characters with different magical abilities that rendered the world unique among so many other YA Fantasies of late.

The magic system is equally as enchanting, from Siria’s sunchild powers to Yarrow’s ingenious Runepiece. There are wood elves capable of controlling plants, naiads who can manipulate water, and an evil queen who weaponizes darkness. The magic system is very soft, with each ability seeming to have a wide range of powers, but it worked well in this case.

No text to copy/paste. I interviewed Hanna on my podcast, AIC Stories back when the book came out! She was amazing to chat with and I absolutely loved the story! Can't wait to read more from her!

I unfortunately had a hard time finishing this particular book.

It took me three tries throughout the years to finish it. now why is that?

I have certain respect for authors with bright ideas trying to do a good job, but unfortunately they just lack execution.
Unrealistic Main Character, how can a mere child develop her skill in two months and be able to defeat the villain of he story by sheer luck. It's rather mind numbing.
Let's not forget how everything happens whether its good or bad was for the sake of Siria's own good. where are the hard trials? the failing that contributes to the strongest character building out there?
just give me something I can hold on to and not be bored by the character's blandness.

The only thing that I remotely enjoyed was the worldbuilding, the mythology and fascinating lore. this book get extra points and for that. I gave this book a 2.75 STARS.

I like it, but not a lot.

Unfortunately I wasn't a fan. The writing was simple, the events had a magical resolution or a non resolution like passing out through the action (okay Victor Frankenstein I see you). So there's no real tension, just a series of events and then a fizzle.

The world building needs a lot of work and there's definitely room for the author to grow. Not a terrible place to start though!

Ignite the Sun was enjoyable and quaint, but nothing serious to write home about. The atmosphere and premise were intriguing and set me up for some Darkling/Alina vibes before reading (anyone? Just me?)

Siria was a fun main character to follow and her development was really good.. But her development seemed to be the only one that occurred. Overall that seems to be the issue throughout the book -- everything is very simple, done in a very straightforward, cut-corners way. There is no magic, no prose, no gorgeous language, descriptions, characters, etc. This caused the book to be predictable and convenient, leading to an unsatisfying ending. I’d love to see what else this author can do in the future.