I loved this book! The world building is absolutely beautiful! I can picture myself among the dunes, desert, and palace with everyone.
I love all the different characters and different personalities! This book definitely isn’t like one I’ve read before. I find the religious aspect to be so interesting as well as the politics. I’m so excited for the next book!

I am very conflicted about this book. It is the epitome of “great idea, poor execution.” This book was so slow. While I usually don’t mind slower paced books if they set up the story well and there are interesting characters, this book failed to do that. All 3 POV characters were 1 dimensional and I felt like I didn’t get to know any of them. Additionally, Yassen’s and Elena’s romance was not believable. We kept being told about their deep connection, but we didn’t really witness any buildup to that comsidering they barely interacted within the first 70% of the book. Nothing interesting happens in this book until then. One other gripe I had was the reveal of a certain POV characters secret motivations 60% into the book. I didn’t see the need to hide this information from the audience for so long. I think it would’ve been more interesting to know this information from the start.

I also hated the world building. The author tried to incorporate modern/sci-fi elements (news reporters, holopods, hover crafts, pulse guns) into the world along with more ancient elements we typically see in epic fantasy. These sci-fi elements felt shoehorned into the world and aside from those few things, we don’t see much evidence of a technologically advanced society.

Overall, I thought this was a boring, repetitive read with some interesting elements mixed in.

A princess who can't control the fire she needs to be accepted as queen, a king who uses fire to remain in control, an assassin who wants to leave his past behind but can't seem to escape it, and a prophecy that involves them all.

5⭐
I absolutely loved The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma! It was my best read in a long time and, yes, I bought a copy. One of my favorite aspects of this book was definitely the characters. This book has without question some of the best morally gray characters I've ever seen - the characters have so much complexity. They're flawed and they make countless mistakes and questionable decisions, but they love deeply and strive to protect those they care about (this has love between friends and family, not just romance!). I also loved the presence and importance of so many female characters. The romance was far from being the focus and was believable to me, how it built up slowly and didn't move too quickly - this was such a relief, especially given that lately romance has been rubbing me the wrong way (although that has more to do with me than the actual book).

These aren't negatives, but just a few minor things that I noticed (they didn't affect my rating). Initially I was lost because of all the location names but my confusion lessened as I continued reading, and the published version will include a map so that shouldn't be an issue. The last few chapters also felt long and drawn out to me, with some details that I personally think might not have been needed but I do see why the author included them.
Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the arc!

3.5 stars

Thank you Net Galley for the arc in axchange for an honest review!

This book was a fun debut! For the tropes we have:
• enemies to lovers
• slowburn
• morally grey

Elena is a princess and will be ascending the throne soon, there's just one problem. She cannot wield fire, the thing that defines her family.

I felt like Elena and Yassen were rather one dimensional. I love a good slow burn but this was almost so slow that I missed the chemistry between them. Leo was a fully fleshed out character and his motivations were clear throughout the entire story.
This is marketed as an adult book but at times the writing felt more young adult even though the themes in the book are darker. I had issues with pacing and kept checking out for about the first half of the book because I felt that it was so slow. I enjoyed reading Leo's perspective but everything else took me some time to get into.

I thought the world building was solid and easy to understand which was a nice surprise because I feel like that can be challenging in a debut novel. The religion and politics bring the story to life and the fire element just made it so fun and unique. I'm excited to see where book two goes and hope the pacing and character development for everyone is improved.

So I actually discovered this book because of a Tiktok comparing it to Avatar the Last Airbender, which was one of my favorite shows growing up. While I can see where the comparison comes from, I actually felt it more closely related to Dune: warring nations, plotting royals, and religious fanatics waiting for “the prophet” to come save them.

The introduction was slow and a lot of info dump to slog through. I made it nine chapters in and was still bored out of my mind from the complicated world building. Also the blending of fantasy magic and science fiction laser weapons and hoverpods kept putting me off. Not to mention the alien woman who could form needles out of her hair to kill people.

The plot is extremely slow to advance as well. I made it over two thirds of the way through the book before it even picked up enough to interest me. And this was after putting it down for months and forcing myself to pick it up again.

I felt that Leo was the most interesting POV character even though I think the story would’ve been better without him. Elena came off as whiney and childish even though she is supposed to be in her mid-twenties (throwing tantrums every time her father shoots her down. Are you gonna be Queen or not girl?!). Yassen was interesting at first but I felt ultimately that his chapters became more of a way to introduce Samson and to advance the warring states plotline.

My biggest complaint was the lack of chemistry between the leads. Yes they do start out enemies to lovers but Elena never really connected with either Yassen or Samson. I felt she was closest and most tender to her bodyguard Ferma, with whom she had the best chemistry.

Ultimately I think the book had a lot of potential but the majority of it read as an intro to a larger series rather than a stand alone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Orbit Publishing, and Aparna Verma letting me read this ARC.

The imagery in this book was beautiful. I could picture the dunes, and desert, and palace in my head. I think the thought behind this book was brilliant.

I liked all of the characters in their own ways and their backstories. I normally don't like multiple povs but this book needed it. Seeing into everyone's minds really helped with the story progression.

There were unexpected twists and turns and the epilogue left me speechless. This book sets up the series nicely and I can not wait to see what happens next!

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this book, in return of my honest review of this book.

Multi POVs (check)
Court Politics (check)
World Building (check)

I am very impressed with this debut book, it has three POV's and I found all of them engaging. The well written prose and world building was very well written. The first portion of the story was a bit slow and rest assured the last 3rd of the book was very fast.

Elena is set to inherit the kingdom, but must learn to control the flame, and her father Leo is not ready to give up his power as king. Leo's POV was excellent and very well done in my opinion.

Yassen is our assassin and is the "love" interest for Elena, their POVs were a bit lacking but hopefully the author has plans to go into more depth in future installments for this series.

This book definitely reads more YA then Adult, and I get the multiple references to Dune meets Poppy Wars, but to be honest, I don't think it does this book any favors in making that marketing reference.

It was a very good / solid story and I will be continuing with the series as I'm very intrigue to where the author will take this story.

The Phoenix King is an ambitious, adventurous, and action-packed debut with complex world-building and character development.

This science fantasy epic is dark and twisty (and perhaps not for the faint of heart).

The story is set in a futuristic desert kingdom born of a prophecy and ruled by those with the power to control fire. There is unrest in the land and the fate of the kingdom rests in the hands of a princess desperate for power and an assassin with a dark secret. As the threat of war looms, the choices these two make could burn down the world.

Thank you to Orbit Books and NetGalley and for providing me with an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Very good read that I really enjoyed. It half my attention and I really wanted more. This was a new author for me and the story didn’t disappoint

The Phoenix King is the first instalment of a new sci-fi fantasy trilogy loosely inspired by Indian mythology.

Elena Aadya Ravence will soon inherit the crown, but she first needs to learn how to control the Eternal Flame. Her father, Leo Ravence is not ready to step down; there are still things he needs to do to protect his daughter and maintain stability for the kingdom. And he will do whatever he deems necessary to achieve it, no matter how heinous. And then there’s Yassen Knight who wants to shed his assassin past.

This book was originally independently published but has since been picked up by Orbit.

It is slowly paced and lays the groundwork for future books. The world-building is richly detailed, from the futuristic sci-fi elements to court intrigue to the religious landscape.

While the world-building was great, the character development was a bit lacking. Leo was the most complex; his motivations, no matter how horrible, were clear. Elena and Yassen were slightly one-dimensional, their budding romance flat. And although this is targeted at adult readers for its dark and brutal content, the writing style felt YA at times.

However, the last quarter was when things really took off, and now I’m intrigued to see where the rest of the trilogy goes.

3.5 rounded down.

Thank you to Orbit for the digital and physical arc copies.

https://booksandwheels.com

Thank you so much Orbit Books Publishing for sending me an eARC of "The Phoenix King" by Aparna Verma to read and give an honest review for.

"She was the Burning Queen. The heir of a land of blood and prophecy. May they all bow to her fury."

*This book was originally published as "The Boy with Fire"*

*1.5 stars*

Honestly, I have VERY mixed feelings about this book. I absolutely loved the worldbuilding (especially the politics), but I hated the pacing, and the characters were inconsistent. Overall though, I was deeply disappointed, especially considering this was one of my top releases for the year.

The good stuff: the worldbuilding was AMAZING. The differences in the cultures of the world, the food, the clothing, the religion(s), and even the discrimination towards Yassen's race made this world very real to me. Also, the complex politics between the countries/rulers were a sophisticated touch. I was completely immersed. The other things I liked were the two major twists that happen very near the end of the book.

That being said, the biggest issue I had with this book sucked the life out of this book. The pacing was absolutely terrible, as the first 70% of the book was all build-up for the final 30%. I mean, absolutely NOTHING of consequence really happened. I probably could've skipped the whole first 70% and completely understood what happened at the end (I was already skimming by the time I hit 50%, to be perfectly honest). I also didn't really like Leo's (Elena's father) POV. I mean, this book felt SO long, it literally took me over a month to read it. I basically had to force myself to read (and I only continued because I was promised action at 70% and the fact that this was an eARC).

The other big issue I had was with the characters. I honestly didn't like any of them, and they often acted out of character (if that makes any sense). For example, Elena would be so tough and serious and then she'd start teasing someone. The most on-point character out of all of them was King Leo, who was believable in his goals and his actions. Also, the romance between Yassen and Elena didn't make any sense to me. As another reviewer said (I was trying to figure out a way to write it), their romance was so slow burn that it felt nonexistent.

Overall, an overly drawn-out, disappointing read.

I’ve had the pleasure of reading this book as both the Boy With Fire and now as the Phoenix King. The part of this book that truly stands out is the gorgeous world-building. The descriptions are rich, but not overly done that it takes away from the rest of the story. I truly enjoyed reading about and learning about the mythology and culture that inspires the world, the magic system, and the characters. There are certain scenes and themes that are so beautifully written yet are also informative on the Indian culture it’s pulling from. It’s the perfect set up for a series of books, and I’m incredibly excited to see where it goes next. On my second read through I did notice that the later part of the book slows down quite a bit, and while the ending reveal is done wonderfully, the lead up is a bit hard to get through. The first portion of the book is so fast-paced and exciting that this sudden change is more noticeable. But otherwise, this book is wonderfully done. I’m fully invested in the characters, their stories, and their motivations. As this series progresses I will absolutely be picking up the next books. Thanks so much to Orbit books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. At their request, this review won’t be posted to other platforms until two weeks before the publication date.

The Phoenix King is a futuristic desert fantasy about Elena, a princess ready to become queen, and Yassen an assassin who is convinced to join her guard and protect her.
I found this book to be quite enjoyable. I enjoyed the romance storylines for Elena and her suitor. I enjoyed the political intrigues in the book because it wasn’t the standard parent who is the king/queen trying to retain their throne and keep their child from ascending.
The futuristic elements of the story were handled well and were not outlandish for the rest of the story. I’m a big fan of desert fantasy books so this was very enjoyable for me and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit books for the opportunity to read and review this book. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

I really wanted to love this book but unfortunately 40% in, I am giving up.

We follow three POVs and only one of them did I find interesting and that’s king Leo. The story starts off great, each character has an entertaining introduction that reels you in but theme things begin to fall flat.

King Leo is the only character that seems to be thought out and given dimension. His character’s goals, actions, and motivations are clear and his story line actually moves along. We know he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his throne. Unfortunately the other tow POVs are quite boring after we first meet them.

Princess Elena is presented as strong, smart, can handle herself in a fight but most of her chapters just feel very much the same. Her father doesn’t want to teach her, she complains, she doesn’t trust. It’s just different vatiations of the same internal dialogue and interactions,

Out assassin Yassen seemed interesting at first but once again after his initial introduction he POVs start to feel all the same. He wants to be free, his home will never welcome him, he’s in pain. That’s just gist.

Overall the pacing is off. There are things happening but it all feel so dragged out and slow.

The world building is nice. I enjoy the sci- fi and fantasy blend of it. When the action happens I was here for it. The writing itself is well done, unfortunately it just isn’t for me,

Maybe at some point I will pick it up again but as of right now I’m bored and can’t continue to push through.

Thank you Netgalley for the change to read the ARC.

I had initially gone into this book hopeful, as the premise seemed interesting enough and I have always loved a good main character with connections to fire. However, I found that I could not quite connect with the characters enough to make this an enjoyable read. Elena did not stick out to me much beyond being the portrait of a typical YA princess: naive and a bit spoiled. While I did like her at first, that like slowly became indifferent, and I found myself wanting to read more of Leo's chapters instead. Leo felt like quite the contrasting and complex character, showing love toward his daughter yet still not ready to relinquish control of his power to her. His chapters, to me, swung by quickly, unlike that of Elena and Yassen, which dragged on a bit.

The pace of the book was quite like how I felt reading Elena and Yassen's chapters—it felt slow-paced up until the last few dozen pages. It was then that the pace picked up a bit, but the characters as a whole did not feel developed enough. While I liked how Elena and Yassen connected and conversed, alone, I found them lacking. Further, I thought that their relationship was a bit too fast for my taste. To me, it seemed that they went from disliking each other to suddenly loving each other or at least having undisclosed feelings for each other. That is not to say that I did not like all aspects of this book. On the contrary, there is one aspect that stuck out to me and did hook my interest throughout the book: the worldbuilding.

Being quite picky about worldbuilding and how the novel is classified as fantasy, I was unsure, going into this book, how this worldbuilding would compare to other novels I have read and enjoyed immensely. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I also enjoyed the worldbuilding of The Phoenix King. The idea of the Phoenix as a somewhat vengeful deity was delightful, and it was interesting to see how each character connected to this deity. It was refreshing to read how Elena struggled in commanding this fire, as so many other main characters seemingly learn how to wield their magic startlingly fast.

Overall, while I did not wholly dislike this book and there were some aspects of it I loved, I do not think I would re-read this book. I am indifferent to this book, if anything, a bit bored from reading it. I was not left shocked at the ending and am not particularly longing to read the rest of the trilogy, but it is also something I would not be completely against, as I did enjoy the worldbuilding. As long as I see a faster pace throughout the book and more complexity regarding some characters, especially Elena, I think I would continue with this story, if only to see how it builds from this first book.

_______________

I received an eARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC! My rating would be more of a 3.5/5 for this book.

I did enjoy this book as I was able to read it in just a few days, but I did have a few complaints. I thought this book had a very good premise, it is about a kingdom where essentially fire is magic and it is connected to the Phoenix which is Ravence’s god. Leo is the king of Ravence and the ruler of Ravence is supposed to be able to control the flames. Elena is the daughter/heir and she is trying to learn the secrets of the flame as she is supposed to inherit the throne when she turns 25. But at the same time there is a war building up between another nation, there are the assassins who are trying to destroy Ravence and Leo does not want to give up control yet, and to top it all off there is going to be a prophet who has foretold the destruction of Ravence but no one knows who the prophet is, only that he/she is in existence at this time. There was a lot going on and the pacing was consistently engaging.

The world building was a little confusing at times. The setting is more a futuristic desert setting. Which was a little confusing at first. The described technology just didn’t seem to fit and honestly I think it would have been better without the technology. For a desert setting I would prefer the swords over a pulse gun and holopods. But it did make the story different from your typical fantasy setting. I just wish maybe the technology was described a little more. I did also find the world to be hard to picture at times, I think having a map would help (with the ARC I didn’t have a map) but I had a hard time picturing the different areas. There were scenes where they would be in desert with sand dunes, but then others where they would be in tunnels with trees. It felt like there wasn’t much description given for the scene changes.

The characters. There are three main multiple point of views including Elena, Leo and Yassen. I enjoyed their point of views and as I mentioned earlier the pacing was engaging and I never felt bored. But I never really felt like I connected with any of the characters. I didn’t feel like the characters matched the choices they made and their motives felt confusing at times. Leo seemed to be the only consistent character. I also never really understood if they want their religion or if they want to fight against it. There is a little bit of a building romance in this book, but it also felt off and inconsistent with the characters. Yassen and Elena really didn’t have a connection in my opinion and their thought processes/motivations felt weak. And since there was never a connection it felt like at the end the author wanted to hook readers by forcing a romance into the story and forced them together when it just wasn’t ready.

While I did enjoy this book as I was reading it, I do feel as though it felt flat in a few important areas but there are elements of a really good premise. The characters and the worldbuilding were the weakest in the book. After reading this book, I feel a little confused about what the goals of the characters are and why they are doing what they are doing. I am not really sure what the end goal is going to be. Will I continue this series? I am not sure at the moment. I do not really feel attached to the story because I never really cared about the characters, but I do think this story could have a lot of potential as I did enjoy it when I was reading it and there are a lot of plot points that if developed further may strengthen the story.

I would recommend giving it a try because it was engaging to read and if you do find yourself connecting to the characters, I think you will really enjoy this story.

For a book that's more sci fi than anything else, I have to say I was hooked. I normally read fantasy, almost never touching sci fi, but this book just had a hold on me from the very first chapter.

All of the characters are unique and memorable. Even though this world has unique faiths and various races of people, I still could connect with them and remember their culture. The mythos surrounding the Phoenix and the people of Ravence is at the core of this book. The mysteries embedded in these mythos are unraveled as the book goes on. Come the end of it, you're surprised to discover that some "truths" are still yet to be discovered!

Elena, Yassen, Samson, and Leo are all fascinating characters. All but Samson have their own POVs, so you get to explore the political turmoil through their eyes. Elena wants to wield fire and become a strong (and peaceful) queen. Leo wants to protect his daughter from the dangers of the Eternal Fire and from the political turmoil that is brewing. Meanwhile, Yassen simply wants to be free. Each are highly skilled and very goal-oriented, though they respond to adversity in their own way.

While I did read this book rather slowly (for me), I did so only because I wanted to savor every scene and exchange. There aren't a lot of high action moments until the end and any romance in this book is a slow burn. I'm okay with all of that. A book about fire deserves the chance to increase the intensity of it without you realizing you're burning.

I hope we don't have to wait long for book two! I can picture this as a movie. This is the kind of story that I want to see everywhere. I want everybody to be talking about it! I want special editions and for folks to chuckle at the Star Wars nods. (Yoddha Base. hehe)

For now, I'll gladly preorder the book and wait for it to show up in physical form. The ARC I read wasn't the final version, so there are absolutely things in the physical book that I would love to see. I cannot wait for its release! Thank you Orbit for picking up Aparna Verma, and thank you Aparna for this rich world of political turmoil. Oh, and thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

In their roundup of SFF titles to look forward to in the latter half of 2023, Christina Orlando wrote that The Phoenix King blends sci-fi and fantasy and is here to say that genre is fake, and honestly that is all I needed to know before starting this to know I’d love it. Because on some level, genre is fake and it brings me great joy when an author decides to blend things to their heart’s content.

Anyway.

The Phoenix King opens right as the country of Ravence is on the brink of a power shift, as Elena is poised to take the throne from her father (since the throne is given to the heir when they turn 25). She and Leo have ideological differences on how to rule the country, and it was fascinating to see their dynamic play out as two people who love each other and also fundamentally fail to understand each other. There is also Yassen, who was born an outsider and is a skilled assassin, and Samson, who is the leader of an independent militant group and is set to marry Elena. Also, there’s a prophecy that a Prophet will come along to burn the country to the ground to start anew, which makes sense considering the goddess they worship is called the Phoenix.

I really loved the world building Verma did, especially in regards to religion. It was very interesting to me to see different characters be motivated by vastly different interpretations of belief (and also different levels of belief in general). I also thought that it was really cool to have holopods and hover cars in the same world as ancient gods and magic fire, and I thought that Verma did a good job in selecting who gets a point of view and in making each one unique. I do think Leo’s was the most compelling to me, though that might just be because he is already a middle aged man and has more life experience to work with; I thought that Elena and Yassen were also well done, they just focused more on the experience of preparing to rule instead of being on the throne. Verma also did quite a good job at keeping me on my toes and giving me interesting twists to turn over while reading. I definitely remained surprised throughout the latter half of the book, but these twists felt natural and believable.

There are a couple of things I felt a little more middling on, like the romantic subplot which I felt could have been a smidgen more developed. At times I found Elena to be a little too idealistic, but this is more about personal taste than a real flaw—it makes sense for her to be like that, especially since a lot of her POV deals with right vs wrong vs in a moral gray area. I also thought that it sometimes felt like the book was trying to do a smidgen too much, especially at the beginning. It certainly finds its footing and remains interesting throughout, but I had a couple of “everything happens so much” moments. Regardless of my tiny quibbles, I do eagerly await the next installment and I think Verma really stuck the landing for how she ends her debut.

Overall a lovely debut from an author I’ll be keeping an eye on. This was fun and fresh and I really enjoyed it!

Everything about this book was so good! The world building, the characters, their development! This is definitely a fantasy book I would recommend.

The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma, a good book. A little slow to start off but it was not a predictable storyline and was enjoyable.