Okay, I'm just going to call it with this one--I have picked it up at least half a dozen times and just haven't been able to stick with it, so at about a third of the way through I'm going to put it aside. However, I think it must be a "it's not you it's me" problem, because I can't put my finger on what's not hooking me--and there's actually a lot of really cool stuff about this book.

This reads like a science fantasy, with a secondary world where tech and magic intertwine. The cast of characters is great, and the stakes are high. If you like a diverse world with a desert setting, a heavy dash of politics, and what seems to be shaping up to be a love triangle, I'm hoping to come back to this one because I really do like it and would definitely recommend it--I guess I'm just not in the right mood!

"Oh my god, that was so good!" was the first thing I said upon finishing this book. What an exciting and original debut!

"The Phoenix King" by Aparna Verma features three different points of view: Elena's, Leo's, and Yassen's. Elena is the heir to the kingdom of Ravence, a kingdom divided among itself and on the brink of war. However, to inherit the throne on her 25th birthday, she must be able to hold fire, a feat that each reigning royal needs to accomplish. Her father, Leo, seems neither inclined to listen to her nor teach her to hold fire, denying her of her birthright to rule. However, Elena is determined to learn, no matter the cost.

Leo, the current Phoenix King, will do anything to preserve his kingdom and protect Elena. As Ravence teeters on the brink of war with Jantar, he must rule with a heavy and ruthless hand. However, as he tries to balance his duty to his kingdom with his duty as a father, his secrets begin to pile up, threatening everything he holds dear.

Yassen, an assassin on the run, finds refuge in Ravence, working as Elena's bodyguard. Injured in his last mission, he was declared useless as an assassin, and a kill order was placed on him. As an orphan of a Jantari father and a Ravi mother, he has nowhere he belongs and nowhere he can be free. Still, he tries to make a new life for himself as he protects Elena from Jantar and the assassin network he hides from, attempting to outrun the ghosts of his past. But can he be trusted?

This is a richly woven story with an intriguing and well-executed exploration of how far we are willing to go to protect and fight for our beliefs and what we love. Verma delves headfirst into her examination of the meaning of sacrifice, the dynamics of family, and the desire for power. She explores themes of identity, resilience, love, dedication, and violence. There is a wealth of diversity, including disability representation. The world-building is politically rich, yet I rarely felt lost in it, and the story was easy to follow. The pacing is fantastic, and the characters are complex, displaying a depth rarely found in debut works. There were twists and betrayals I didn't see coming, making for an addictive story. I cannot recommend "The Phoenix King" highly enough. It was a phenomenal read, and I can't wait to continue the series.

This review will be posted to retail sites closer to the release date.

<i>Received for free as an EARC from the publishers.</i>

The Phoenix King is a book about the heir to a kingdom who is unable to wield the fire that should show her legitimacy, her father — the king — who wishes to protect her at any cost, and an assassin who wants to find stability in his life.

To begin with, I wanted to love this book. I initially heard of it from the author, and as someone who loves complex political fantasy books with godly machinations and women committing war crimes (remember, support women’s wrongs!) this seemed up my alley. However I found myself more disappointed than anything else. While still a fantastic book, what I expected, and what I got, didn’t align in the least.

To get the most egregious of the sins out of the way, a) yes, there’s a 3rd POV not mentioned in the description, I too was surprised, and b) the characters are almost entirely passive in their own story. Even if they had done nothing, the book likely would’ve ended the same. I was promised morally grey characters who make hard choices, and in reality I got one morally grey character, and two who didn’t do enough to be considered morally <i>anything</i>.

Like if you ask me to name any actions that the king — Leo — or the princess — Elena — did, I would only be able to name three actual things they did. Two for Elena and one for Leo. For the assassin — Yassen — while he <i>apparently</i> does some very important things to the plot, in reality none of this is depicted or even truly hinted at in his own POV. Instead we’re simply told he did these things at the end of the book. Presumably while we weren’t looking.

And if you’re looking to this book for the supposed romance between Yassen and Elena, since apparently this book has one, don’t read it. There is a romance, but it lasts for about 5 pages, feels like it comes out of nowhere, and then ends. There is no real chemistry between them at all. There are comments made by Elena that Yassen is attractive and she enjoys looking at him, and that’s it.

Yassen is also useless as a character. I can’t actually think of anything he thought of in his POV’s, which were all incredibly boring. Because Yassen as a character is incredibly boring, while he’s apparently one of the best assassins, he only does a small bit of fighting, he’s give no real defining besides being happy to be back in his homeland.

What I’m saying is that Yassen has been lampshaded. Which, honestly, I’m impressed about, because normally women get lampshaded, so yay for progress, now men can be lampshades too! /s

But in all honesty, it’s not great when one of your main POV, in the description of the book characters is so unremarkable and does so little, that he’s outpaced by a number of side characters who didn’t even <i>get</i> a POV. Because he was, often and frequently.

The book’s pacing is also just weird. While the beginning is incredibly interesting with the worldbuilding and set up, and the end of the book has so much going on that it keeps you reading, there’s an entire middle section of machinations that occur that could’ve and really should’ve been condensed. We spent so much of the book on a number of goals that proved to be irrelevant in the end. And while showing who the characters are and what they believe in is important, it’s incredibly misleading to give us things that seem important and then just shrug your shoulders at the end and go ‘eh, it’s all irrelevant anyways.’ Like I invested time and thought into those plots, and now they don’t matter? Why? I honestly had to go read another book at the 50% mark because I was so bored, and that’s really not a good thing.

That being said, the parts of this novel I liked, I did <i>really</i> like. For one the worldbuilding and religions are confusing, but fascinating. I wish we’d gotten more about them, but for a first book it makes sense to not show the whole hand. The gods of the world are fascinating and threatening, and the prophecy which looms casting it shadow really makes you question what you’re being told at every point. Verma truly knows how to make the world ever present in your mind as you read, even when she isn’t explaining it. Everyone in the world felt like they were truly living in that world, and I really enjoyed that.

While the other kingdoms felt lackluster due to not having enough information, Ravence was lively, and I really enjoyed the setting and how it felt lived in. I can’t wait to see more of the world in the next book.

Likewise, the characters for whom their personality was given, were incredibly written. From Elena’s stubbornness, to Leo’s clear love for his daughter, to Elena’s Spear’s obvious guilt over her mother’s death, to even the fucking fruit seller. The characters were awesome. I really enjoyed them and think Verma did a fantastic job of making them apart of the world and distinctive in your mind.

Verma’s style is also lovely. She has a way of writing that really does attract attention when she isn’t wasting it, and I loved the parts of the book where things happened. The syntax isn’t overcomplicated in that way some people think they need to craft beautiful sentences. Verma understands how to write beautifully and to communicate the information she wants to well and in a way that’ll make you marvel at her description.

In all, while a fun read, The Phoenix King was ultimately boring

2.5, rounded down

rtc, but the long and short of it is: criminally slow paced, which made for a boring as hell read. by the time stuff kicked into gear, I didn't care an iota. forced romance between pair with zero romantic chemistry (i can and will talk about the exact moment author flipped switch and showed her hand to guide the "romance"). major abuse of 'as if' comparisons, i'm surprised an editor didn't catch it. huge disappointment, but give me book two for one of the only characters i cared about.

✨𝔸ℝℂ ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨✨

📕 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓟𝓱𝓸𝓮𝓷𝓲𝔁 𝓚𝓲𝓷𝓰
✍️ 𝓑𝔂 𝓐𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓪 𝓥𝓮𝓻𝓶𝓪

🔥 Yassen Knight is a trained assassin trying to find freedom from his past. Elena Aadya is the Ravani princess seeking to hone the ability to command the Eternal Fire and prove herself worthy of the crown. Their fates are irreversibly entwined when Yassen takes the role of Elena’s personal guard. As Elena’s coronation approaches, she and Yassen are caught in a web of political uprising, betrayal, and war that threaten to overthrow the kingdom of Ravence in this character driven epic fantasy.

First, let me say that the writing was first-rate and the world building was admirable, however, despite how much I wanted to love this book, I didn’t. The first two thirds of the book were largely character driven and frankly, repetitive and boring. For example, the reader is repeatedly reminded of Elena’s inability to manipulate fire and taken through the steps of the fire dance. The lengthy passages about the angst over the secrets that the characters are keeping is entirely unnecessary. The description of the characters’ emotional responses to trauma is excessive. Readers get it, we don’t need something drilled into our heads ad nauseam. If this had not been an ARC, I likely would have DNFed.

The final third of the book, however, is action packed, intriguing, and captivating. I found myself pulled into how Elena and Yassen were going to handle their predicament and survive until their objectives had been accomplished. The cliffhanger conclusion and stunning final reveal almost make me want to read the second book, but not quite.

Ultimately, better editing could have saved this book for me. Removing some of the pedantic fluff from the first two thirds of the novel would have made it easier to delve into the world that Verma built and want to stay there. I am giving the book a slightly higher rating that I might have otherwise based on the third act alone. I’m sure this is the exact type of introspective fantasy someone is looking for, just not myself. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 @netgalley 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣.

The Phoenix King
By Aparna Verma

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Reasons why I believe everyone should read give this book a try:

⚔️ debut book
🔥 desi-inspired fantasy / Indian-inspired mythology
⚔️ enemies-to-lovers
🔥 female rage
⚔️ morally gray characters
🔥 multi pov
⚔️ slowburn
🔥 high stakes
⚔️ court politics / political drama
🔥 awesome world-building
⚔️ brilliant magic system
🔥 it is DUNE meets THE POPPY WAR meets ATLA — reason enough to pick it up 🫶🏻

The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma was a wonderful read! From the moment I opened the book, I was captivated by Verma's vivid imagination and skillful storytelling. This epic fantasy adventure takes readers on a breathtaking journey through a world brimming with magic, danger, and unforgettable characters. The characters each have their own voice and arc, they are so complex and evolve as you progress with the story. They are all enthralling and well-developed, I loved them so much.

Verma's writing style is enchanting, seamlessly weaving together intricate details, rich descriptions, and compelling dialogue. Her ability to create a fully immersive world is remarkable. The plot is meticulously crafted, with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire journey. I appreciated that the romance was woven into the story but wasn’t the main plot of it; this is more fantasy with romance subplot. Its focus is primarily on the characters, politics, and magic of this world. I’m very excited for the remainder of the series to see where it goes from here!!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of the book for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Thank you to Aparna Verma and Netgalley for providing me with the ARC of “The Phoenix King.” I’ve been following Verma for some time now and I’m very excited for her, and to finally get my hands on the story and to finally read some more South Asian representation in fantasy books!
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Right off the bat, the writing and description of color made me think of Sabaa Tahir’s “All My Rage” which is a beautifully written book. The world in “The Phoenix King” was a mixture of sci-fi/dystopia with the inclusion of hoverboards and technology like Apple watches and I was not expecting that. It was cool to see a world that was similar to a traditional epic fantasy with modernized tech. I will share that I was confused at times with the various types of people as there were different references to ethnicities and cultures. I think that’s the struggle with digital reading as you can’t flip back and forth to a map. I’m glad we had a glossary thought I do wish that as placed at the front of the book. Overall, I could not put my iPad down - I had to keep reading because this book was EVERYTHING!
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I’m going to hold off on disclosing some details as I don’t want to reveal any spoilers but I do want to share some parts that were just *chef’s kiss*. First of all, this is a great set-up for an enemies to lovers situation though I may be projecting a bit here 😂. Yassen is assigned to be Elena’s guard and I honestly squealed reading that. The next layer that got me was when Yassen stepped in to dance with Elena during her dance practice while Samson wasn’t there and boy…was I fangirling! The icing on the cake was when Elena’s dupatta got caught in his sleeve button and my emotions simply could not handle this scene. I quite literally squealed and kicked my feet reading this as I pictured a full-on Bollywood montage in my head.
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If anyone else has read “The Phoenix King,” would love to chat with you to discuss some of that content 😉. Overall, I’m just not eagerly counting down to the day that I can get my hands on my pre-ordered copy of the physical book!

a stunning new voice in fantasy comes an Indian-inspired, action-packed debut of fire magic and ancient prophecy, in which the fate of a kingdom rests in the hands of a princess desperate for power and an assassin with a dark secret."A CAPTIVATING ADVENTURE."

This was the PERFECT fantasy book for this summer! The new and improved Phoenix King is amazing! The pacing was so much better than in the original and gives information throughout the book without taking too much away from the flow of the plot and characters. The book builds such an intriguing background for all that happens. I'm so excited to read more from this author!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Phoenix King was such a fantastic read and can I say when this book hits the shelves, everyone will be picking it up! I was immediately hooked when I first came across this book through a TikTok posted by the author. Anything with a strong female lead excites me to read it; I knew this would be no different.

Ready for the review? POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I felt as though this book could be set up in the sense of a before and after. The world-building was interesting but sometimes hard to imagine. The first half of the book was a little harder to get into but after the shooting in the market, it became much more interesting. The writing was easy to read and flowed beautifully.

All of the characters were expertly written and I hope to see more of Leo's point of view in the next book because his chapters were always interesting. He was a morally grey character in my opinion as I didn't see him as much of an evil king. I did feel as though Elena and Yassen's romance lacked and they definitely have the potential to be written with more chemistry which I hope to see in the next book. Most of the marketing I saw for this book included them and when I read the book, I saw how their relationship lacked.

With that being said, this author has so much potential to grow and for a debut novel, it was a pretty great read. I will definitely be picking up the second book which I'm excited about and can't wait to see where the story takes us in the future!

Pacing felt a little off - meandering through a lot of info-dumps as we learn about the world, rather than see it more naturally through our characters eyes (Elena, Yassen). We follow Elena learn to follow in her father's footsteps to claim her title, but the specific sacrifices and steps to get there were laid out for us well in advance, leaving us to wait until Elena completes the function as if ghostwalking.

Wow what a debut novel! I heard first about The Phoenix King through BookTok and the descriptions and the overall vibe of the book sold me! As a Desi gal myself, it was unbelievably cool to see so much cultural representation not only with the main FMC, but also with the setting descriptions!

TLDR: 3.5/5

I really enjoyed the character development through the course of the book. While I’m not a usually a fan of multiple POVs I thought the use of them to tell all different sides of the plot was really well done here. I will say the first portion of the book is very heavy on the world-building (which I understand with it being the first of a trilogy) and so it takes a little bit to full grasp everything. That being said the world-building was incredibly done and I’m particularly interested in seeing how little details play a role in future installments. The pacing of the book was another thing I found to be a little wonky toward the end of the novel — there were parts where so much was happening and then suddenly it would jump to a waiting period. But the plot twists!! Very well done and I was shocked! Overall I really did enjoy this book and would recommend to adult fantasy lovers!

This was a very strong debut novel and a great read. I immediately fell in love with Elena. She is such a strong main character. She is kind, clever, and determined. I admired her so much. I loved her relationship with her kingdom and the desert. And she underwent amazing character development as she prepared for her coronation and her rightful role as ruler. I also enjoyed the other points of view, especially her father's. I wish we got a bit more of Yassen's childhood, but I am sure there is much more to come. My one other critique was while I got a great understanding of all the characters, I never fully grasped the setting. I felt there could have been a lot more world building to explain the technology and politics. I liked the physical setting of the desert kingdom and the mythology, but struggled with the other context of the plot. The plot itself was complex yet clear, with the goals of the characters guiding the story and conflicts. I did not see the final twist coming and cannot wait for the next book to see where the story and characters go.

Thank you, NetGalley, for early access to this book.
Political chess, female rage, romance. The Phoenix King had so many things that I love in a fantasy story.
The Phoenix King brings its characters and unique world to life in a way that made me feel like I was in Ravence.
I understood each character's desires. Some of the choices they made to achieve those desires made me want to throw this book, but I always felt they were true to themselves, which can sometimes be lost in storytelling but not in The Phoenix King.
I connected with Elena, who seemed to struggle with who she wanted to be and who she thought she needed to be as the next queen.
While I loved the story and vivid writing, I ultimately gave this book four stars because the beginning felt a little info-dumpy, which made the first few chapters a little difficult for me. But after understanding all of the new names, positions and kingdoms, I sped through this story with a fervor.
This book had so many twists and turns it felt like I was driving down a mountain road at full speed with my mouth wide open in shock. I can't wait to see what happens in the next two books of the trilogy.
This book made me smile, cry and kept me on my toes as I rooted for my favorite characters. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Avatar: The Last Air Bender or who just loves fantasy filled with unique lore and creative world-building.

This book sounded interesting but I was completely let down and had to DNF. It was a very slow read with heavy world building. Please leave something for the reader's imagination. Too much was going on that it could not keep my attention. I understand the author was trying to mix genres together but it just didn't work too well unfortunately. I was not attached to any of the characters

This was honestly everyting I was expecting and more. Absolutely loved the characters and this is going to be a really good start to a series!

I want to start this review off by saying the author must have a degree or something in advertising because she hooked me right away! After seeing a few posts on Instagram I immediately ran to see if I could swipe a copy.

That being said, it took a while to really get into the book and I feel like it can be divided into before and after the shooting at the market. Before was fine, it was a lot of worldbuilding and trying to make sense of how the world works. The main downfall was it felt like you were just constantly waiting for something to happen. After the shooting at the market the book picked up, and finally started acting on all the plans from the first bit. The author does really well at writing action scenes, it's just unfortunate we have to wait about 70% of the book for it.

Some things I liked throughout the book were the different points of view, and how well the author incorporates politics and religion into her writing. While it's nice to have Elena and Yassen's POV I was actually most interested in Leo's. It was interesting to see him justify his actions, and what he tries to hide from Elena. It humanized someone who otherwise would have been easy to write off as just a villain king.

The last thing I will mention about this book is the romance (this was one of the first things I saw on Instagram that got my attention). I left it to the end of my review because there isn't really much to say. Like all the action, the romance felt put off to the end. Elena and Yassen are cute together but they didn't interact for more than half the book.... There's definitely potential for them and we do get some cute scenes near the end, but honestly Elena had better chemistry with Samson for most of the book.

I'm gonna keep my eyes out for the second book, and I have high hopes for the author and her story!

The second Indian fantasy book I've heard of, and I'm quite impressed with the sheer range of voices that fantasy has been producing lately. This book is no exception.

I enjoyed this. I thought that the multiple POVs worked well for this story, and while I enjoyed everyone, I think that it caused the plot to start a bit slowly/late into the book. I think, too, that the book was very world-building-heavy, which isn't always a bad thing but in this instance it was at the expense of the character-building. So, I wish it was a bit more balanced. But overall I enjoyed this, the plot was fun once it got going and the characters, while a bit underdeveloped, still compelled me to finish the story. I think that, since I'm pretty sure this is the first book in a series, all subsequent books will be set up well since so much of the world-building is frontloaded. And I hope that we get to know the characters a lot better in the following books! Pretty solid entry to a new series, though!

“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.

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