This book was actually amazing. It offers a fresh new perspective on the "Chosen One" trope and a taste of life after the big battle was over. The characters in this book are real in the way that I feel their struggles, pride, and love. My favorite was Elara and I was always excited to read her chapters. Even as the plot follows a nation attempting to not enter another war, a majority of this story was built on love and it was done beautifully. Elara and Faron's sisterhood was so strong and so potent that you couldn't help but feel it deep in your soul. The romantic relationships as well were fleshed out and carefully developed, something I enjoy to see. The worldbuilding was rich and new, with carefully placed tidbits of information where it didn't feel info-dumpy, making it wonderful to pick up this book. Hands down, this is a top 10 book of 2024 for me.

This is a tough review for me. I really wanted to love this one. However it just kinda fell flat. The pacing was off and I think that's what I had the hardest time with. Some parts were interesting and some were a little boring. Kinda reads like an adult fantasy but the character ages make this ya.

So Let Them Burn is a deeply thought-provoking YA read. If it weren’t for the characters age, I would say it reads as an adult fantasy book. There is a lot of information in this book but not a lot of “grab you” moments. It also reads similar to Priory of the Orange Tree with dragons, gods, and one who is in stasis or “sleeping” until awakened.

I didn’t hate the book but I also didn’t love it either. It was a middle of the road text for me.

I would have loved more suspense, intrigue, or heartbreak.

As per usual – all you have to tell me is there’s dragons in a book and I’m there. This was a good amount of dragons, they felt like proper characters and not just plot devices or there for the sake of saying “hey there’s dragons in here”. I do prefer it when the dragons are able to talk to the humans – like they do in here.

I always like it (and I mention it often) when a book is atmospheric – in its writing and description and that was the case here so I was glad to see that. I want to read a book and not want to stop reading because I’m so invested in the story. I want to feel like I’m in the story myself – experiencing the plot alongside the characters. This is Cole’s debut so we’ll see how she fares either in this sequel or another book she puts out. I am definitely interested in seeing them both (as she has both scheduled).

It’s a dual pov as the book follows 2 sisters as they end up in different places facing different issues. That way we got to experience separate locations and get to know them separately. I think I liked Elara (she bonded with a dragon) more at the start and then Faron more at the end so I definitely want to see how that changes, and how they change, in the sequel. They’re both strong and independent characters but they remain close to each other but physically apart. They felt like they were sisters and not just written to be sisters, something I’m always happy to see, as I’ve said it multiple times.

Faron and Elara use different kinds of magic and they’re both explored and explained in their respective chapters. I do think the magic system could have been explained a bit more/better but seeing as it’s the first in a duology, plus Cole’s debut, I’m fine with being a bit confused. But I am hoping I’ll understand more in the second book (and hoping it gets explained more/better).

The plot was full and rich and thankfully didn’t fall apart when moving from one sister’s chapter to the other. I think it helped that most of their plot points linked to each other so that made it easier to understand the plot. I suppose that made it okay for the magic system to be confusing if I understood the characters and plot (does that makes sense? Only for me, I think). The plot’s also very linked to the sisters’ magic – how it works, how they used their magic to further the plot.

Overall, this was a strong debut YA fantasy novel. I enjoyed two sister's relationship, although the book alternated between their two POVs and they weren't in the same place for most of the book. You could still feel the love their though. Elara was definitely my favorite of the two sisters, since Faron definitely made some questionable choices at times. I also liked the slow-burn romance plots of both the sisters and am looking forward to exploring those relationship more. This book was mostly fast-paced, particularly that ending! I will definitely be continuing on with series and am interested to see where it goes.

Okay so this was one of my most anticipated reads as it sounds like exactly my type of book and it has dragons! While i did enjoy the book I still feel a little let down. I have some mixed feelings as I enjoyed some parts but other parts felt bored. I think the main issue for me was pacing. Everything seemed to happen at once then long periods where nothing really happened and made me lose interest. I did like how the story ended so i am interested to know what will happen next.

SO LET THEM BURN is a captivating debut, hooking in readers with themes of sisterhood, anti-imperialism, and the consequences of conflict. It delves into the depths of loyalty and the lengths one is willing to go to safeguard their loved ones. This enchanting novel is a solid addition to the fantasy genre.

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole is a Jamaican-inspired YA fantasy. I would like to thank the publisher Little, Brown Young Readers for sending the Lesbrary a review copy. I enjoyed this book a lot, and think it’s a great addition to the genre.

There’s a whole unseen YA novel that happens before So Let Them Burn even starts. The island of San Irie is fighting the Langley Empire for it’s freedom, a chance prayer makes a child the Chosen One of the gods, and there’s a quest to restore the rightful queen – raised in the countryside unknowing of her real identity – to the throne. So Let Them Burn starts after the war is over and San Irie has won independence, and it looks at what happens afterwards, when you have an overpowered teenaged hero and a young queen and no more war to focus on.

Faron Vincent is overpowered, short-tempered, and, most of all, bored. She’s back at home with her family and back in school because no one wants to give a child, even a gods-touched one, a position in the government. And they shouldn’t, because she’s still a child, with a child’s self-centered outlook. During the war, when there was short term goals and fighting to focus on, Faron excelled and was needed as the only weapon against the Langley Empire’s dragon riders. But now, with no battles left to fight, she’s too impatient to learn diplomacy but she’s seen too much to slot back into her old life.

When the Queen decides to hold a diplomatic conference to show their neighbors how well things are going and rub the Langley Empire’s nose in its defeat, she summons Faron and her sister to the capital as part of a show of strength. I found Faron to be not very likeable but still hugely interesting. She’s a character out of place, as her powers, temper, and arrogance probably served her well during a war time situation but now lead to her crashing about like a bull in a china shop. She doesn’t understand any political subtleties and feels that her presence at the conference is like being a show pony doing tricks, but she’s also the type of person to summon her god power to help her win a school yard race. She’s truly a girl who grew up during a war and has the trauma and combat experience to go with it, but she has literally no other life experience to balance that out, leaving her off balance and out of place in this new world she helped create. It was extremely interesting to me to see this take on a “Chosen One” experience after the fact; I thought it was clever and very well done.

Meanwhile, the diplomatic conference goes sideways as Faron’s sister Elara inadvertently bonds with a Langlish dragon and is forced to return to Langley for training. Stuck in Langlish Dragon School, Elara is surrounded by people who hate her and what she represents. She is also walking a tightrope between learning useful intelligence to send back to San Irie and figuring out why exactly Dragon Rider command seemed to especially want her there. She’s also learning to be a dragon rider until her sister back home can figure out how to break the bond. Langlish dragons have two riders, and as time goes on, Elara and her other rider Signey have to figure out how to deal with their growing feelings for each other.

I found Elara’s chapters the most interesting part of the story, because she goes to the school determined to hate everyone, and there’s a lot of people that hate and look down on her, but she slowly finds other people she can sympathize with, because San Irie wasn’t the only country that the Langlish had colonized. Signey also opens up about her own family history, and the two girls slowly realize they have more in common than they think. Signey slowly changes from the enemy to a friend and maybe more. Just as Faron turns the Chosen One trope into a new angle, Elara’s dragon school training takes a common YA conceit and looks at it from a different, and queerer, viewpoint.

In conclusion, So Let Them Burn is a YA fantasy novel with a lot to offer. Not only does it start at a different point in the story than a more typical novel might have started, it takes several YA tropes and gives them a fresh viewpoint. If you’re looking for queer YA fantasy with something new to say, this is a good book to put on your list.

If it has dragons, I can basically assume I'm going to read it. I love what Cole did with the addition of mechanical dragons. The snapshot of a world post war was also something that I really loved reading about because it's not something often featured.

Thanks to Little Brown Young Readers for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions below are my own.

Looking for more dragon fantasy that is not Fourth Wing? Look no further. Faron and Elara are sisters living on a Jamaican inspired island recently freed from colonizers. One sister dreams of being a dragon rider and the other is a conduit to the gods. They have the power to save to world, but it will cost them dearly.

This one has it all: dragons, strong female characters, political intrigue, battles with the gods and even romance (including queer). (No spice though, pass this one over if you need that.)

Be aware though… there is not a strong conclusion it’s not a cliffhanger but more a nudge of where book 2 will go.

So Let Them Burn is everything I look for in a fantasy novel; complex characters, stunning world building, slow-burn romance, and dragons. Lots and lots of dragons.

I loved every page of this book. Following alternating points of view between sisters Elara and Faron, the story dives into the aftermath of a war they both fought in at very young ages. Faron, playing to the Chosen One trope as the Childe Empyrean, continues her life post-war with the ability to channel the gods. Meanwhile, Elara desires to step out of her sister’s shadow to help people in her own way. But when a summons from their queen leads to Elara being bound to a dragon and rider from their war enemy, chaos ensues.

This story, in many ways, was a true coming of age for Elara. She has my whole heart. Seeing her change and grow throughout the book had me cheering and crying. She was a truly refreshing character, while Faron was frustratingly arrogant (and maybe a little too relatable lol).

And the dragons!? I had so much fun reading the chapters where the riders and dragons interacted with each other. It was so cool to see the bonds between the dragons and riders.

I cannot say enough good things about the magic system and world building inspired by Jamaican culture either. It’s so good. The author’s talent really shines in the details of the pages in between major plot points. Every paragraph felt carefully crafted, progressing the story, but also planting seeds to grow the understanding of identity and motives of the people within the pages.

I cannot wait to read more by this author. Meanwhile, I’ll be recommending this book to everyone I know.

*Huge thanks to Kamilah Cole, Little, Brown Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the ebook So Let Them Burn for review.*

I really enjoyed So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole! The magic system and its ties to the characters ancestors was compelling. There were a few twists throughout the story that were a bit surprising. I really liked Faron and Reeve's relationship and appreciated the aspec representation (and the queer rep in general). It was nice that Reeve was also Elara's friend, as I think a lot of stories focus too much on romantic relationships as opposed to other forms of love. The layering of conflict was well done and many fantastical elements of the story felt plausible. The only thing I didn't like was that the pacing was pretty slow for a good portion of the book. Regardless, I think it's definitely worth reading, and I'll be anxiously awaiting the sequel!

“So Let Them Burn,” is a great addition to the dragon riding canon. It starts a little slow, but once Elara bonds with an enemy dragon, the story really gets moving along. Her sister Faron can channel the magic of the gods and she is searching desperately for a way to break that bond. Elara finds out information about the Langley Empire and both face difficult choices. Great debut to a new fantasy series.

I really enjoyed this! An intense fantasy with dragons and a strong sister relationship?? I was there for all of it. Literally my only criticism is that I needed a little fleshing out of the conflict and end! But honestly such a great debut!

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for this ARC!

So Let Them Burn is about these sisters, Faron and Elara. Faron is the "chosen one" or "Childe Empyrean" and she was crucial to her country to help win the war against their colonizers, meanwhile she was 12 years old. Elara, her older sister, fought in the war but 5 years later is now unsure of what she wants todo. At a peace summit something happens to Elara that changes her future and Faron must use her chosen one status to help her.

This book completely shocked me with how amazing it is. From the world building, which was pretty extensive but done in a gradual way that didn't info dump the reader. All of the characters are complex and developed that I was stressing for and loved them all. I enjoyed getting both Faron and Elara's POVs, considering they weren't always together. The romances for both sisters was very slow burn but not super obvious.
I honestly don't have any critiques other than we were left with a cliffhanger UGH! Now onto waiting for the next book to come out.

The genre is very much so Young Adult but if you want dragons, magic and just funny banter this is for you!

Really excellent. You know a real downside of reading NetGalley/ARC books is that when you find an amazing one, and it’s the first in a series, now you have to wait EVEN LONGER to discover the rest of the story. I am going to have to wait to find out how the love stories develop between our two sisters and their…loves? I may have to wait a year or longer to know if this is a tragedy or an epic redemption arc for a tragic hero/heroine. What does it mean when two people with the same souls fall in love? What’s gonna happen to global politics????

Let’s be honest, it’s gonna be awesome. I LOVED the beautiful and lyrical way Kamilah Cole described the food, the villages, the sweltering heat and the ice pops of San Irie. The dull waters, roasted nuts, and grey castles of (what I can only assume to be) Europe and Langley (England? Jamaica was an English colony…). She is a fabulous writer and this is quite a clean book! I was worried the very young ages of the main characters would make it too immature for a woman like me in her mid-thirties to enjoy, but it wasn’t true at all. I recommend it to anyone who loves a little fantasy wrapped in with a lot of culture and history all woven into a fantastic story! Enjoy! And maybe actually wait for the sequels to come out.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Young Readers for an advanced copy in exchange for an unbiased review!

This is one of the best fantasy novels I've read in the last year and one of the best debuts I've ever read. Kamilah Cole has written a story unlike anything else on the market; I say that as the highest of compliments. I haven't stopped thinking about this book and cannot wait to see what comes next.

I really wanted to like this, but it just can’t catch my attention. I’ve put it down & picked it up and tried again a few times, but I just can’t make myself care about the story. So, sadly I couldn’t finish. I was almost 40 pages into the book and nothing had happened. No character development, no plot development, nothing. I was hoping that after we got all the background information and history of the world out of the way it would pick up, but I can’t keep reading.

Thank you Little Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

ARC Review

Well this book is my entire personality now and I’m in desperate need of the next book.
All of the relationships in this book were so well done (blood family, found family, romantic, All. Of. Them).
The ‘build as you go’ world building is my personal fave and I loved the folklore of the world. Easy to follow, fun, engaging, and the best kind of dramatic.

This was absolutely amazing. I loved the dual POV of the two sisters' perspectives. The sister connection was really special and I loved how their relationship was portrayed as supportive when it could've easily been competitive and hurtful.

The world-building was the best-paced world-building I've read in a long time. No info dumping. Information was given when it was needed but it didn't feel like it was just added to be convenient. The map contained the perfect amount of information to be useful but not overwhelming.

The characters were sooo easy to root for! I love Faron and Elara and I want the world for them. It was super intriguing to read from the perspective of a "chosen one" character after they've saved the world. What happens to them? What do they do with their fame and fortune? I just loved the whole premise.

Book 2 cannot come soon enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.