This are an interesting plotline. I found that the author was able to enter, leave a lot of lore and magical past systems into the story. I enjoyed how the main male character and the main female character, were our ends for a bit of the story, and also how they develop evolved thro. The way that the author created all of the conflict between characters in magical systems keep me entertained as I read this book.

I loved this book. It’s an Indian inspired fantasy which is right up my ally. This a dual pov about a Princess and an assassin. The assassin is hired to be the Princesses bodyguard which is how their romance kicks off. It’s almost friends to lovers but in a good way, since I don’t normally like that trope. It’s an incredible and immersive fantasy!

three stars for the portion of the book that I read. Currently putting this down, hoping to come back to it later

This was a bit underwhelming. I have a lot of trouble with books that are adult books but read like young adult lit, or the other way around. I feel like the book is not clear what audience it caters to. The pacing and world read like that in adult fantasy, but the dialogue is very "young", if that makes sense. It is well-written, but this style is not for me, unfortunately.

3.75

I had this on my TBR when it was self-published as The Boy with Fire so I was excited when I saw it got picked up for traditional publishing by Orbit. Overall, I thought it was a really solid debut!

The Phoenix King is a tense political fantasy that follows 3 character POVs as they try to navigate a world on the brink of war. In the author's review, Aparna Verma says that she was inspired by the geopolitical tensions in India and the rise of nationalistic leaders in both America and India and it absolutely shows. Each of these characters make choices that show how hard it is to rule and the consequences of making decisions "for the greater good". On top of that, there is an interesting magic system that involves dance, prophecy and commentary on religious zeal, fantasy technology, and so much more.

I found the pacing dragged a little in the middle, but for the most part I was consistently compelled to keep reading and I never found myself hating being in any of the character perspectives. The romantic subplot did cumulate into a minor spicy scene at the end that to me, kind of came out of nowhere. But maybe that's because I didn't really care nor buy into the romantic subplot especially compared to the political machinations.

All that to say, I had a pretty good time with this and I would be very interested in continuing this series with [book:The Burning Queen|218022666]!

I found this book quite challenging to get through. Despite its intriguing premise, I struggled to engage with the story. Even after multiple attempts, I couldn't connect with the world-building and characters. The more I read, the more confused I felt. Additionally, the slow pacing made it hard to stay interested, leaving me feeling bored. It seems this book just wasn't a good fit for me at this time. Maybe I'll give it another try in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This debut blends sci-fi and high fantasy with fire-bending, political intrigue, and a slow-burn romance. Set in a desert kingdom ruled by the Ravence, the story follows Princess Elena, who grapples with the arrival of her new royal guard, Yassen, amidst looming war.

While the writing is engaging and the book keeps you turning pages, the world-building is confusing with too many names and groups. Elena is a compelling warrior but lacks emotional depth, making her character feel one-dimensional. Yassen, however, is well-developed with an intriguing backstory.

The romance, marketed heavily, is more of a subplot and feels underwhelming. Despite these issues, the ending is promising and leaves me eager for the next book. Overall, a solid debut with potential but not mind-blowing.

I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was a pretty strong series opener, and I'm excited to see where the author goes with this story :)

The Phoenix King offers a lot to readers. Verma builds an exciting fantasy world filled with great characters that readers will love escaping into. Sympathy for Yassen and Elena’s plights is well-balanced with thrilling battles and intense character interactions. This keeps the book from being stifled with sadness while offering more depth than a simple adrenaline rush.

The Phoenix King is only the first of a promised trilogy so readers should be prepared for a cliffhanger at the end but the story is so captivating enough that it’s worth having to wait for the next installment. This is Aparna Verma’s first novel, but if it’s any indication of her future work, readers should be excited to discover what she has to offer.

Okay, I’m going to be real: this one took me a while to get into. It had a really slow start but that could’ve been due to it being the first in a brand new world on top of the slump I’d seemed to be sliding toward when I first picked the book up. I am glad I gave it some time before picking it back up to try again rather than simply not finishing the book from the get-go as there were some interesting aspects in the middle of the book. Unfortunately, just not enough to keep me reading through the end.

Things I did enjoy:
The world did have a super unique setup. Kind of advanced futuristic fantasy, in a way. It felt like a mix of science fiction with the ray guns and holo pods mixed with the fantasy elements of a kingdom setting and the royal’s fire magic. So like literal Science Fiction Fantasy genre. Like the more I thought about it, the more I was getting almost Star Wars vibes (and I do love me some Star Wars).

I also enjoyed how the antagonist was given a POV in the story. His perspective added a lot to the story and I actually found it to be the most fascinating. Seeing how his brain worked in justifying his actions was as horrifying as it was intriguing. The other two perspectives were also interesting but I found following the antagonist’s more enjoyable.

The world building is super unique and I wanted to be into reading the story since I was so excited for it, but it was difficult to work through chapters. I had to pause my reading for a few months because my head was just not into connecting with the story. I think this one just suffered from the expectations I’d built in my head from the hype prior to release versus how it was actually delivered.

Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me the chance to read an early copy.

I am incredibly saddened to say that I am DNF'ing this book at 28%. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I was so in love with everything I saw about the book on Instagram.
I am also so thankful to Net Galley, who provided me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Normally, a DNF is an instant one-star for me, but that has always been for books that are written by established authors and are established books. I don't want to take away any readers that Aparna Verma will most certainly get once this book releases. Just because I didn't enjoy it doesn't mean others won't.
While an intriguing premise, this book had very little forward momentum. At the point in which I just was not enjoying reading this book, the tensions were low due to the overly-wordy descriptions. And my favorite character was not even one of the two main characters; it was Leo, who is the FMC's father. He was the most interesting to me out of the three and had the clearest stakes and goals for the story.
As someone who also struggles with slowing down the tension with an overabundance of descriptions, I think this book would highly benefit from another round of line editing to really hone in on the story being told.
Yassen's POV chapters were some of my least favorites. The sentence structure was often repetitive, and I am still unsure of the point of the Brass City scene seeing as there was no plot development or character building at that time.
Elena was my least favorite character. I really don't feel like I could root for her or have fun rooting against her. The political scheming she immersed herself in was okay, but I am not sure what her end goal was.
I was drawn to this story because of the promise of an enemies-to-lovers romance between Yassen and Elena, and their initial scenes are just devoid of chemistry in any sense. There was no burning hatred or an underlying desire that makes them sick. Their interactions were stale and bland.
I think the idea for this story is there, but it really just needs some more time in the editing stage to pick up the pace of the plot, add tension, and more chemistry between the characters.
I hope for the best of successes for Aparna Verma as she continues her writing career, and while this one is not for me, I will be sure to keep an eye out for future books as she grows in her skill as a writer.

Sadly I just couldn't find myself engaged with this. I felt the writing seemed a bit clunky and the plot elements didn't mesh well. It was hard to stay focused on the story and I found myself wanting to put this down and forgetting the plot each time.

This book seemed like something that would be right up my alley, but for some reason I just couldn't get into it and it took a very long time to finish, The premise is great though!

Elena loves her thriving desert kingdom but longs to feel worthy of her Phoenix God. And though she knows the desert better than she knows herself, the secrets of the Eternal Flame stubbornly evade her, something she must show some control over to become Queen. And time is running out before the coronation and demonstration before her people.
Leo is not ready to pass his crown to his daughter Elena. He believes he has more work to ensure his family's safety and their legacy intact. Power always has a price though, even when he's willing to do everything to avoid paying it.
For Yassen, Sayon symbolizes redemption at this stage in life. He's looking to put to rest his past as one of the city's deadliest assassins and those he lost. And he's willing to work for the family he once swore to eliminate to find it.
But the Phoenix sees all, fire has a will of its own, and soon it will come for all three and the city itself. They must find a way to survive the blaze or burn to ash.

Struggling with reading fantasy books when I started this, I have decided to DNF-till-later for now. But this book has been on my mind lately so it may get its second chance soon. I keep thinking about the characters and how well-developed the world-building is. Like, I was really blown away by the world-building. And I'm excited to try reading this again in the right headspace.

I received a complimentary copy of this review from the author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

After finding out about The Phoenix King from Tiktok (back when it was The Boy with the Fire), I was intrigued by all of Verma's Tiktok videos where she promised a ferocious, firebending female lead and a slowburn romance for the ages. Verma certainly delivered, and I eagerly await book 2!

The Phoenix King is a slow book, taking care with building its world and developing the main characters. There were cliche moments, certainly, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by how real the characters all felt, being flawed yet understandable. Verma deftly avoided making the "easy" storytelling choices, and instead chose to walk a more nuanced, morally-grey path. I definitely struggled a bit with the first third, though all of that set-up certainly started to pay off after that initial rough start. The main weakness came from the worldbuilding, which felt a little awkward as it wove together the fantastical elements with a faint mention of science fiction. I often forgot that this was sci-fi and fantasy until they whipped out the pulse guns.

Overall, The Phoenix King was a great start to a promising series. When book 2 drops, I'll be picking it up for sure.

I so wanted to love this book. I had it on my TBR for months, followed the author on social media, and even had a chance to meet her at a book signing and tell her how excited I was to start reading it. Unfortunately, after a couple months of picking it up and putting it back down after a handful of pages, I just could not get into it. I loved the concept and ideation behind the story - a Desi fantasy with a badass FMC and a former assassin?? Sign me up. But something about the writing and pace were really dense and academic that I just couldn’t get past 20%. I really hope to revisit this book in the future, maybe when I have a bit more headspace for a richly detailed high fantasy. I want to thank Orbit and NetGalley for sending me a digital ARC of this book.

This was a good read and a solid debut from Verma. The pacing was a bit slow for my taste and I found the romance subplot to be lacking. I did not connect with Elena, she definitely needed some more emotion. Yassen was an interesting character to learn about. I see the potential for where the story can go so I look forward to reading the next one!

This book had great politics and intrigue, but I am just not on board with the miscommunication trope and this story has it in spades and I found it incredibly frustrating.

*** I received this book as an ARC, and all thoughts and opinions are my own ***

I need to preface by saying that while I am South Asian I am not Hindu or Indian. This book was very strongly South-Asian themed, with most of the focus on Hindu or Indian lore, stories and cultures. Therefore, seeing things like Elena wear saris, and her powers being controlled by Indian dances, was incredibly fun to read.

There were a lot of great things and not so great things about this book. I have not read Dune or the Poppy Wars, so I cannot compare, but I thought that the themes of politics and religion (though the line was more often than not blurred) were very interesting. I'm not a good commenter on those themes, so I cannot say how good it was. I can say, however, that the presence of those themes did add a lot of intrigue, complexity, and nuance.

Leo was a very good character, 3D and nuanced and I could see him breaking down into madness very well. I think Yassen and Elena are a little less nuanced, and Yassen gave me huge Tom Cruise/Ethan Hunt vibes, and I can't tell if that's a good thing.

I really liked the fact that the story is a slow burn, but only sometimes, it was SUCH a slow burn I couldn't completely get why they started liking each other. Yassen was more passive mostly, and while we were continuously told he was morally grey, (view spoiler) However, during the slow burn you could tell that they obviously liked each other due to forced proximity, and understanding each other well when nobody else was there for them. Yassen was there for her even when Samson wasn't (view spoiler) and they had moments where they bonded, like the dance scene.

I will say, enemies to lovers is a tough trope to get right because it's hard to tell at what point the enemy deserves redemption. (view spoiler) I think the ending is rushed, and a little questionable, as is the basis of their relationship at the end.

All in all, I really really enjoyed the premise and the slow burn. I hope their relationship goes through more development in the the next book. I also would have wished that Elena would have had a more obvious South Asian-coded fantasy name, just to further the rep.

There are a lot of really interesting pieces of worldbuilding going on in this novel, and I was surprised to discover how heavily this leans toward science fiction when the premise and marketing had me expecting traditional epic fantasy. I also absolutely love the southeast Asian inspired setting. Altogether the execution is a bit clunky at times and the plot is at times over-reliant on tropes, but I am definitely interested to see where the series goes and looking out for the next book in the trilogy!