Thank you to NetGalley and New Degree Press for providing me with a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So my review should be tempered by the fact that within the first 10 pages, I discovered the book was not for me.

I was instantly intrigued at the premise of a fantasy novel inspired by Indian mythology, revolving around 3 different points of view (Elena the crown princess, Yassen, an ex-assassin and Leo, Elena's father). However, I found it very difficult to maintain my attention in view of many new terminology and unexplained worldbuilding that left me very confused even when I had reached the half-way mark of the book. I did find a glossary at the end of a book, but it was a little too late at that point.

I mean, I enjoy Sci-fi novels and television and I can live with a little terminology. Some of my favourite authors like George RR Martin, R. Lee Smith use a ton of it. But unfortunately as the book progressed, I ended up getting more and more confused and less interested in the progress of the story.

I also found characters very poorly developed and inconsistent, and I really didn't feel I knew their motivations beyond what was on a very surface level.

I nearly DNFed this multiple times (as the book very successfully lulled me to sleep, in the process leading me to hit myself in the face with my Kobo), but I pushed through as I wanted to see if I would better understand it or like it as it went on.

That being said, the mythology was interesting and I wish I could have loved it more, and I do feel that the author's ability to craft and write a story was well-done.

I would review this at 2.5 stars out of 5, but then your mileage might vary.

4 stars

“Sometimes, the moments that define us are the moments in which we spare ourselves. They force us to examine who we truly are, and what we stand for.”

rep // south asian MC

cw // fire, murder, death, suicide, abuse

the boy with fire is an incredible debut novel by Aparna Verma, and it captured me in a way that refused to let me go. Following the views of Yassan, a disgrace assassin for the Arohassin, on the run & Elena, who is about to ascend the throne from her father for Ravance, a kingdom that worships fire, which she cannot hold. A shame she keeps buried to herself deeply. Lastly, Leo, current king of Ravance, holds many dark secrets to himself, including one of why his daughter cannot hold the fire. However, the longer that one hold the fire, the more they lose of themself, Leo's mind and humanity are long gone, leading him on the path of the next mad king.

Enter, Samson, leader of a rebel army that wishes to provide Ravance the manpower they need against both the Arohassin secret agents and their ongoing war with their neighbors. In return he asks for Elena's hand in marriage, which she accepts. However, a prophecy of the Phoenix, a legend that will burn the world to the ground for their sins is starting to play out. And with his daughter at risk, Leo will do anything to find and kill the prophet before they come to rise. As Elena continues to search for answers, it leads her down a path that might destroy them all, if Yassen doesn't first.

While I loved EVERYTHING about the cast and setting of this story (who doesn't love a mad king and a killer assassin turned good?), I found the pacing to be very lopsided. During the first 70% it was incredibly slow building, leading to a sheer explosion afterwards. I also was not a huge fan of the romance that was on their especially near the ending. I felt that it was rather forced and unrealistics between Yassen and Elena, as I didn't pick up on any tender moments beforehand. However, I'm hoping more of that can happen in book 2, because the ending of this nearly broke me. This book did an entire 180 from the start and left me in a whirlwind state of heartbreak.

The rep in this book was incredible as well, as the Yumi were inspired by the female warriors the Hindu goddess Kali created (called the chandikas) after her epic battle against the demon Mahishasura. While Yassen is biracial, the rest of the cast firmly falls in the South Asian equivalent category and it was so nice to see that representation.

Overall I found this to be an incredibly rich and intense adult fantasy, with morally grey characters I fully fell in love with. Cannot wait for book 2.

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The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“The Prophet raised her eyes to the heavens and said today justice would burn the land and cleanse it of its sins. But she does not know what it means to burn. The pain of it. The sorrow of it."

This book was fire. Taken on a journey through the deserts, through the flames, we meet royalty, mercenaries, and assassins all burning. Told in multi-POVs, this story was told to us through the eyes of three characters who are fighting for their truths, for their purpose, for their cause. Elena, the strong-willed Princess, who is ready to take the crown and bring her people together, to fight for equality and unity. Leo, her father, the King bound by his zealous truth, his righteousness flame, burning through the ones to take what he believes is his people right, his people land. Yassen, an orphan of two countries, grown and shaped into a killer, a warrior whose purpose has shifted, an assassin for one country, now turned mercenary for the other, he must fight to prove himself worthy to the people he has grown to hate and who want to see him burn.

Aparna Verma is a magnificent author, painting a world and a story so fantastical, so beautiful, so fire that you will realize you have reached the end and need more. Bravo for such a stunning piece. I cannot wait for the next book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. This review was completely mine and written in my words based on my opinion.

I hated this book so so much. Horrible pacing, one dimensional characters, the writing was just okay but it didn't pull me in and I ended up skimming most of the book with a very abrupt ending that made no sense at all.

I think the desi reps good tho? But I didn't really notice much of it and the names were American and didn't make any sense and just felt like they were trying to appease a white audience.

this book is really awesome!!! i truly loved everything, since the writing style, the characters, the plots, the suspense... EVERYTHING! It's a pretty amazing debut novel and the worldbuilding got me sobbing tbh, it's a masterpiece and i totally loved it!

4.5 stars, rounded up.

I love everything about this book. From the writing style to the characters to the south asian culture that seeps into the book to the easy world-building to the political intrigue.

TBWF seamlessly blends together aspects of traditional Fantasy and SciFi to create one of the best SFF books I have read in awhile. Verma also keeps you on your toes throughout the entirety of the book with plot twists that you honestly could not have guessed. So many times I thought I knew where the story was going and it turned out I was dead wrong.

While I love a good slowburn enemies to lovers in fantasy books, Yassen and Elena's arc developed so slowly that I didn't pick up on <i>any</i> lovers moments between them until literally the end of the books. Which was confusing to me because I'd seen people taking about Yassen and Elena and I thought it was just a headcanon for a while to be honest.

All in all, I would still 1000000% recommend that you read this book!

Apart Verma shatters all expectations with this magical epic fantasy debut! I went into it unsure how I would like it and hesitant about the Indian history and mythology, but I had no need to worry because the world building was beautifully done! I adored every character, even the ones who didn’t have the prettiest shades because Verma’s writing is simply so poetic and she writes them so intricately. You learn to love not only the story, but also the characters.

Rating: 4.5/5

Oh, the absolute breakdown this book gave me. The Boy With Fire might be my favorite fantasy book of the year. The summary was not for me, but I gave it a chance anyway because it was popular on Twitter and despite my wariness of Book Twitter, it did not disappoint. I was not prepared for the absolutely immersive experience that was this story.

The Boy With Fire follows three characters – former assassin Yassen Knight, who seeks his freedom, Elena Ravence, the crown princess of Ravence who wants to control fire and rule her kingdom, and Leo Ravence, the king of Ravence who will do anything to secure the kingdom against an ancient prophecy. With plenty of court intrigue, morally gray characters, dark moments, and amazing action, this was unlike anything I’ve read in a while.

The greatest strength of the book definitely lies in its worldbuilding. From the geography and political conflicts and cultures to even the smallest details of the quotations from the Sayon histories or texts and materials used in building, there was clearly a lot of thought behind it and I absolutely bought into all of it. And of course, I loved the Indian influence and Hindu mythology. I’ve seen the comparison to Dune and The Poppy War, and while I’m not familiar with either of those, it did have a vague Star Wars-vibe in how it combined the technical elements and the religious, fantasy aspects, and I loved it.

Additionally, the individual character arcs and the overall plot tied together really seamlessly. The development throughout was really strong, especially with the relationships. I loved how subtle it was, and the slow burn aspect of the romance was everything. The characters are layered, but like much else in the book, it isn’t blatant, and you have to work for it. Admittedly, I absolutely fell in love with Yassen, and Elena and Leo’s chapters felt drier in comparison, but they also definitely had their moments. Elena’s character and arc especially fell flat in the middle for me, but as the plot progresses, she becomes the driving force of the story.

The only other thing that really didn’t work for me was Samson. He was charming and suave, but had little else going on in terms of personality beyond his motivations, and even that was kept under wraps for so long that by the time it was revealed, I was kind of annoyed with him. I was bored during all his interactions with the other characters, although by the end, we do end up seeing all of those scenes in a new way. Ultimately, I guess I’m not totally displeased with where his character goes, and it wasn’t completely unexpected, but I was hoping for something else.

However, those issues were relatively minor in the face of the story, which was absolutely brilliant, and I could not put it down. There were times where I thought the story would take a predictable turn, or that I knew where it was going, but every single time I was taken by surprise in the best of ways. It really just built, and the last quarter of the book felt like punch after punch. It was painful, and I loved every second of it. The ending absolutely had me tearing up in frustration because I could not believe that cliffhanger. It was done so well, and I don’t know how to function right now or if this hole in me will be fixed until I get the next book.

Overall, the entirety of this book thrives on subtlety. Everything from the worldbuilding and conflict to the characterization and relationships has a slow build and so many layers and nuances, and the story really makes you work for it. I can’t believe this is a debut, and I’m absolutely obsessed with the story that Aparna Verma has started, and I can’t wait to see what follows.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I'm not okay!!! rtc!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book for this honest review!

I found The Boy With Fire to be a promising start to this debut author’s new series, but ultimately underwhelming. Where the premise and initial worldbuiling drew me right in, the story and character development fell a bit short.

Which isn’t to say that there isn’t plenty to like. I was immediately drawn to this book’s pitch as a fantasy inspired by Indian mythology. Ravence is a fascinating place with much to appreciate – from their worship of their apocalyptic god, the Phoenix, and the precarious tensions with their rival nation Jantar. The seamless blend of certain sci-fi elements and advanced technologies also made for an intriguing setting.

Even the characters at first glance were interesting archetypes. There is Yassen Knight, an assassin fleeing his service to a terrorist organization by returning to a homeland and people that he knows do not want him. There is Elena Ravence, the headstrong princess preparing for her coronation and balking at Yassen’s presence as her new guard. And finally, there is Leo Ravence, the aging king determined to keep his kingdom safe from an ancient prophecy at any cost.

But here is my problem: I couldn’t connect with them in any meaningful way. Their character development seemed surface-level, and sometimes inconstant. Certain facets of their personalities would be told to the reader but with little demonstration on page. There were also some character dynamics that were unconvincing for similar reasons. A character who despised another character would suddenly form a more favourable impression of them between chapters with only a sentence or two to explain the shift. This gave me an impression of being ‘told’ rather than ‘shown’ a lot of these pivotal character moments, and so I struggled a bit with it. When any moment of real revelation or action did occur, it was never really built up in a way that made me feel triumph or despair for them.

Leo was probably the most well-formed character of them all, but in his case his chapters suffered from being a tad too repetitive. Which is probably due to the pacing of the book in general, which could be quite slow. I had no issue with the story being told as it was certainly interesting, but the progression of the storytelling itself is a bit drawn out and kept me wanting.

Still, I’m not going to give up on this series. I still think the foundation here is very promising, and it’s always nice to see new South Asian-inspired works in the genre. Plus, that the epilogue has left me extremely curious to see what will happen next!

Thank you to NetGalley and New Degree Press for providing the eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A great and fast read that keeps you up all morning as thrilling cliffhangers come at no end. The characters, especially Yassen have reserved a pocket of love from my heart. And sounds of betrayal and love are high and clear in every page.

"To be forgiven, one must be burned."

This is an Indian myth inspired new adult fantasy book full of political intrigue, vengeful gods, sci-fi elements, warrior women, assassins, morally grey characters, and gorgeous imagery of the deserts and mountains depicted within its pages. The book centers three POVs: the current king Leo, his daughter and heir Elena, and an ex-assassin Yassen Knight as they all struggle with their country on the brink of war.

I loved this book from start to finish. Just like any fantasy, you get thrown into the plot and learn as you go, but I think the author does a great job of explaining things and the descriptions of each area are so VIVID! I fell in love with these ideas of cities and places made to reflect light and be so bright as to look like fire.

One of my favorite parts of the book was that each chapter starts with a "historical" quote from some kind of text within the world. These gave a lot of backstory but also added to the intrigue of what was going on in the current time period.

I loved these characters and this world and I can't wait for the next book in the series!

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fantasy like Dune (but easier to read..), political intrigue, countries at war, morally grey EVERYBODY, and enemies to lovers romance sub-plots.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy!

3.5 stars! Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

I read this book about a month ago but today is release day which means it's review time! I appreciated the storyline and the plot within this, I was drawn into the world and intrigued (especially by Leo). I think the pitch is accurate and it will definitely appeal to fans of RF Kuang and other fantasy lovers.

I wish the pacing had been a bit faster in the beginning and the romance a bit more prominent, but those are both more personal preferences so as a debut I think it's a delightful read!

I really liked this book. When I saw that it was inspired by The Poppy War I was really intrigued and then I ended up on liking so I'm really happy to have read it. The concept was so well written, I liked how every plot twist was unpredictable and had me on the edge of my seat. The plot was really well developed and I loved all the characters (Yassen and Elena are definitely my favourites).
Even though the ending was good, I felt like it was missing something so it became a little anticlimactic.
Overall this was a great fantasy debut and I will definitely continue with this series.

The boy with fire was an enjoyable, strong debut which was beautifully written and had great fantastical world building. However, going into this book I think my expectations were too high and I didn’t end up liking it as much as I thought I would. My main problem was how slow the first half was, and if not for the changing POVs every chapter to keep my interest I probably wouldn’t have finished it. I don’t think I will be reading the sequel, but I’d still recommend giving this book a try, as I am sure many others will love it !!

The Boy with Fire, while its premise of Dune meets The Poppy War was intriguing enough, it fell to meet its grandiose promises. I have many many thoughts on this book on what worked for me and what didn't. I was captivated by the world building with Ravani's setting Indian inspirations and descriptions of Jantar sounding straight out of an epic sci-fi fantasy film. But the storyline itself was slow unmoving for at least sixty to seventy percent of the entire book, and only started picking up pace with the last 30 percent with the run away ventures being an engaging finale. The characters, particularly Elena and Yassen were great choices to give them perspectives with their contrasting upbringings of Elena's being of royal blood in line to be queen while Yassen was orphaned with red on his ledger when he went on to be an assassin. I found the perspective of Leo, Elena's father, to be inessential though I understand how his provides backstory of fire wielding power and its devastating effects on those who come to have it. His whole storyline was made up of expelling out the prophesied myth of the Prophet of the Phoenix who is destined to raze Raveni into ashes, but Leo's determination to find the one went to extreme measures of taking out anyone he suspected no matter how much blood he got on his hands. This perspective of watching him go through all this I found redundant because I feel like readers themselves could definitely figure out who the Prophet is while we have to see Leo go in circles and be deceived by the priests leading him on wild goose chases. Samson would definitely been the better choice to be give a perspective but now that I've finished I see why he wasn't given one and perhaps looking forward to his in the next book if I choose to continue this series.
One other thing I enjoyed was the lore and magical system of fire, with the different ways it could be wielded and seeing Elena's grow and learn with dances with her unwavering determination to hold fire in order to become the worthy queen she believed she needed to be. Though there could've been more depth added to the lore of the fire which stemmed from a vengeful Phoenix god with potential that could've been used in Leo's pov or a flashback from Elena's mother at the least. Then the romance, just fell completely flat and undeveloped. I was expecting at least a slow burn build up that could've grown into the second installment or even the final book, but was taken aback with the unexpected romantic occurrences that happened in the last quarter of the novel. That being said, going back to my first statement of the final 30 percent of the story picking up in pacing, it was a thrilling good chunk, except for the out of place romance, especially seeing Elena and Yassen fall into equal emotional footing understanding and only having one another to rely on at that point. As said, the last quarter and unmistakably the cliffhanger of the epilogue, saved the entire book in my honest opinion and was strong enough that readers are fascinated enough to see where the story goes in the next installments.

DNFed at 38 percent

I was very excited to finally read an Indian inspired fantasy book, but was underwhelmed. This "Indian" fantasy has nothing but a few Hindi words thrown here and there, by characters who have very un-Indian names (Elena, Leo, seriously?). I know I'm judging the book too harsh since I didn't finish it, but I didn't finish it for a reason. I couldn't care at all about the plot or the characters, even though we see 3rd POV of three different characters. The world building is botchy; there are drones spying on people vut paper is a rarity for some reason (yet we see newspapers in plenty). Is it sci-fi or fantasy or both!? This book made me feel frustrated and I decided to quit it as reading it felt like a chore that I had to finish.

☆☆☆¾

You know when you read a book and shit happens and you’re all excited and like what the fuck? and then you get to the end of the book and it’s amplified by tenfold, that was what the end of this book was like, my jaw was on the ground.
Overall I really enjoyed the book, I liked the multiple PoV’s which didn’t end up leaving me feeling like we didn’t get enough of one character or that there were too many points of view, they were balanced well and continued the story without making it feel all over the place and stilted. I really liked the characters and enjoyed reading their PoV’s and then seeing them and their actions through different characters point of views. Another thing I liked was the Fire and how it was written and it’s impact on different characters and how each character viewed it.
I wish we saw more of a certain relationship and saw a little more development in them but other than that I really liked this book and can’t wait for book 2.

I was lucky enough to read this book for a panel for the Virtual Indie Book Fest and talk with the author. This was a new experience for me since normally I get to pick what I read but in this case this was one of 4 works I wanted to read before the panel and I absolutely loved this one. As someone who has been burned by book comparison marketing before I found the comp of Dune meets the Poppy War very fitting. This is a sci-fantasy world with political drama and it has the revengeful God and morally grey protagonist that you get in the Poppy War. I would not have known this was a debut based on the writing, I really loved the style and how it captured scenes but also made me feel connected to characters are their many internal and external struggles. I also really appreciated that one of the main characters has mixed heritage and how that affected his interactions with the world. I need the sequel now and cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book!

I really, really wish I had enjoyed this book more. I was going into it with pretty high expectations, as it had been pitched as "Dune meets The Poppy War" but I think that may have been too ambitious a pitch because the book fell. flat for me.

First, what I enjoyed was the worldbuilding and the prose. The writing was lovely (I had my issues at times but that's just me nitpicking) and the worldbuilding was gorgeous and it's clear a lot of work went into that. That was the parts of this novel that definitely stood out to me. I love books inspired by prophecies, and so that aspect was definitely one of my favorites. I also adore that we're getting more South Asian-inspired fantasies, and that definitely boosted my enjoyment of the book.

What just felt really, really flat to me was the characters. I couldn't find myself wanting to root for them or connecting with them in any way. They're definitely interesting on-page, and they were set up for some pretty great things but I found myself simply not caring for them at all. Yassen and Elena felt somewhat boring to me as protagonists, and I didn't find myself motivated to read about them even more (I was tempted to DNF many times). Samson and Ferma were the characters I was most excited for but even they did not do it for me. I think Leo was probably the most interesting character out of all of them, but even he wasn't enough to keep me thoroughly engaged.

I also couldn't find myself wanting to root for Yassen and Elena's romance. Their chemistry felt a bit off and forced, and during their scenes, when I was supposed to be squealing and excited, I found that I simply could not care less. Their development was meant to be so deep, but it really only felt surface-level. And this surface-level development also extended to the other relationships in the book, which led me to (I'll put it bluntly) not care at all.

Another thing that just felt so, so off to me was the pacing. The first big chunk of the book was just...boring and repetitive to me, and I usually love books with slow pacing. But since the majority of the book was so underwhelming, when the twists came it did not hit the mark. I felt that the action was just simply too little, too late.

I might still recommend this book, especially since it is a South Asian fantasy, and it is the author's debut novel but it just felt so underwhelming compared to what it was marketed as.