Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

First of all the reason I chose this book, was because it was a comp for fans of S.A. Chakraborty. And I feel that that is an accurate comparison. I enjoyed this book, and the writing style is right up my alley with the rotating narratives. This book is slightly slower paced as it’s building a world and setting the scene for future events. I wouldn’t say I was bored, but there were times that I caught my mind wandering occasionally and had to rewind to catch what I missed when I drifted off. That didn’t happen all the time, mainly in the beginning of the book.

I enjoyed this story set in the dessert kingdom, Ravence and is circling around Indian mythology. The eternal fire is where the ruler gets their power by a prophecy. Leo is the current king, preparing his daughter for taking over and Elena has to prove to her father, herself, and her people who she is. War is coming and she cannot hold the flames like her father can, and he’s keeping the secret for how to do so to protect you. Will Ravence stand strong and survive, or crumble if she cannot unite her people?

Elena is the heir to the thrown and a mighty warrior. I do feel that her character development fell very flat and I connected more with Leo, the King and Yassen, an assassin arm twisted into royal guard.

Leo has struggle and turmoil between protecting his daughter and his people and being honorable. He’s been King too long and he’s described as ruthless many times and you can see him warring between these decisions that he makes. He isn’t exactly a liked character for me, but he was a well built, well developed character with complexity,

Yassen I absolutely loved when it was his chapters. He’s messy, raw, and has been trained to be emotionless though you discover he is not at all. He has a very fascinating backstory that compels you towards him more and more.

So the fact that Elena is kind of supposed to be the moral compass of the story, I didn’t find that to be accurate, and I didn’t find her to be interesting. Her chapters were usually the ones I drifted off on in the beginning and she just didn’t feel like a real character to me.

Overall I enjoyed this story.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

The Phoenix King is so interesting and different than every other fantasy/romantasy I've read this year. So many fantasy worlds blend together in my brain, but I won't have that problem with this book. This book checked off so many things that I love-- Enemies to lovers? Bodyguard? Stabby FMC? Magic? Really interesting and complete worldbuilding? Surprising twists? All checks.

The worldbuilding felt really strong in this book. It was so interesting, and included Indian and Hindu mythology, but also had sci-fi elements (!!!). I think this was probably my favorite thing, and I really loved reading about the technology in tandem with the magic that also exists in this world.

I loved all of our POVs, and I thought that it was really interesting to include Leo's POV. I loved Elena and how strong/badass she was, but I didn't necessarily love the romance in this book. It felt a little flat, and I wish there had been more tension and buildup to the romance.

The narrators were all so great, and I loved that we had 3 different ones for the 3 POVs we were given! It was so easy to distinguish each character, and really added depth and emotion to the story and I'm so glad I got the chance to listen to this one as an audiobook. I think the production quality of the audio was also notably good! It irks me when you can tell that it's a different take from one sentence to the next or obvious volume changes, and I didn't have that at all in this audiobook.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be continuing this series!

Thank you to Hachette Audio and Orbit for this ALC!

cw/tws: war, self-immolation, blood/gore, murder, death of a child, sex (fade to black) [taken from the author's website]

Thank you for the audiobook!

I had previously read THE PHOENIX KING and wanted to experience it again in audio form. With an engaging, immersive storytelling style, the narrators quickly drew me back into this exciting fantasy world. I love revolving casts for narrators where each POV gets its own voice as it helps distinguish between chapters and adds an extra layer of personality to the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book was definitely not what I expected. We follow three main characters throughout -- Yassen, Elena, and Leo. From the very beginning we see how their stories intertwine, how our villain believes he is committing terrible acts for the greater good, how our soon to be queen is almost blinded by power, and how our assassin-turned-guard just wants to be left alone. There's romance, there's action, there's twists and turns I didn't see coming. But there were also a lot of slow moments in between.

The writing itself is beautiful. The weaving of mythology and magic was fascinating. I think what really threw me off was the sci-fi aspect, with the crazy technology. But, to be fair, I've never been a fan of the blending of future tech with magic, so that's on me.

The romance: it felt very YA for the majority of the book, until the end where it becomes more NA. It's not spicy, but there is a scene that's definitely not PG. And I loved it. I was shipping them for sure.

The final twist had me saying "oh sh!t" out loud. I didn't see that coming. I feel like I was purposely distracted with everything else and felt blindsided when it was revealed. It was definitely well done.

All in all, it was a beautiful book, if a bit slow at times. I recommend if you're a fan of mythology based fantasy.

3.75 stars rounded up.

If your looking for a fantasy book that has different and uniquely worldbuilding with a diverse cast you should read this. I listened to the audiobook and I really loved the dual narrators, they elevated the story and were exactly how I thought the characters in the book should find. Even during parts I felt the book was slow the narrations helped keep me going.

So this book draws inspiration from the Hindu goddess Kali and the world was so interesting I had to do some research on Kali. This told in 3 different povs, the fmc princess Elena, the mmc Yassin who's an assassin and the king. As the books switches between the 3 povs we get the history behind these characters, Indian and Hindu mythology, traditions, religious practices and fire magic. There's a prophecy, missing prophets and princess Elena who is struggling to firebend and provide for their people. I liked most of the charters especially the mains, they were complex and strong. I didn't like the kings pov though and though it gave us background and context it was confusing to me. I really liked the worldbuilding, twists, customs and traditions.

This is not a romance driven book, yes it has a romance subplot but its a fantasy first. The romance is a slow burn and at first I was neutral about it but towards the end I grew to appreciate it and I like Elena and Yassin. Overall this was a good fantasy book it was slow at some part and I had to concentrate a lot to understand some stuff but I liked it and will be reading the next book. Thank you Orbit for the ALC for an honest review.

Read if you like:
- Hindu and Indian inspired mythology
- Fantasy
- Romance subplot
- Bodyguard/assassin
- Firebending
- Bipoc characters

This book includes:
- the world’s slowest burn
- supernatural fire powers
- jaw dropping plot twists
- hot bodyguard to the badass queen
- assassins and spies
- political subterfuge
- familial strife and betrayal and forgiveness
- two cliff hangers (bc one wasn’t enough so we have to throw in a second one in the epilogue)
- one bed trope
- multiple POVs (audiobook has different voice actors for each pov and it’s MAGIC)
- forced proximity
- some distrusting allies to more
- South Asian/desert setting

Whew. This book was full of twist and turns. “The Phoenix King” follows three points of view throughout the story, each of them giving us a very different perspective into the tumultuous political environment in the desert kingdom called Ravence.

Elena is our first protagonist. She is the Ravani princess and preparing for her ascension to the throne where she will succeed her father. Her family is blessed by the gods with a fire magic that anoints their monarchy yet as her coronation approaches, Elena struggles to harness her powers. Her father, Leo, is the aging king and our second protagonist. We follow him as he attempts to navigate his duty to his kingdom, his fears for his daughter, and his ever growing paranoia over a prophecy that is threatening to ruin everything.

Finally, Yassen Knight is our third protagonist. Orphaned at a young age, Yassen is an elite member of an extremism cult hell bent on sowing chaos across the desert. While he was never a true believer of the cult doctrine, Yassen grew up with nothing, and was even abandoned by his one and only friend, a boy named Samson who escaped the cult and promised to come back to rescue Yassen but never did. Now, after years stuck as an assassin, Yassen fails at his final attempt at freedom and is forced into hiding. He goes looking for his long lost friend Samson who has been able to position himself as the leader of a mercenary power and is engaged to Elena. Reunited as men, Samson offers Yassen the opportunity to become Elena’s bodyguard in exchange for clemency. With Ravence on the brink of war, all three of our leading characters must come to terms with their role in the conflicts both in their hearts and at their borders.

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I really enjoyed “the Phoenix King.” It’s an action packed political drama with fantasy elements and even a dash of forbidden romance. Both Leo and Yassen are incredibly complex characters who live at the brink of morality, and that made their POVs so fascinating. Elena is not a damsel in distress and she has a strong head on her shoulders, even in the face of despair. I also really enjoyed Samson’s character, despite not being one of our POVs. He is so complex and becomes more complicated as we learn more about him. I hope we get his POV in the next book.

I listened to this book on audio which I think made me struggle with the pacing a bit in the middle HOWEVER the audio production was phenomenal. Yassen’s narrator had the most gorgeous, buttery voice I’ve ever heard and each of the voice actors put so much passion into their performances. Leo’s moral dilemmas and general hopelessness was so palpable through his narrator’s voice and Elena’s journey and grief really came to life as well. To all audiobook lovers (and snobs), this is the audiobook for you.

I would recommend this book to lovers of the Blood Mercy series and even fans of more complex epic fantasy series like Wheel of Time. If you’re a fantasy reader who doesn’t look for romance in your books, you’ll still really enjoy this one. I’ve already bought the paperback version of this one to keep on my shelf and reread.

I receive this audiobook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Aparna Verma for the opportunity.

The Phoenix King was a science fantasy political story that I really enjoyed. There are three POVs, Elena, the heir to the kingdom of Ravance, Yassen, the ex assassin tasked with guarding her, and Elena's father, Leo. I really liked how the author handled morally gray characters, each character handles their decisions in different ways and each makes decisions that end up hurting someone. There was a really lovely blend of sci fi and fantasy elements in the story, which definitely leans more fantasy. My only real complaint about the text is that it for sure the first book in a trilogy and while the story stands on it's own, there is a cliff hanger and no real resolution to the first book. I got an ARC of the audiobook and thought that it was a pleasant experience, I loved that there are three different narrators for the three POVs, it is always nice to have that in a multi POV book.

Alright, folks. I've got a lot of thoughts on this one, and it ultimately shakes out to be a 3.5/5 stars for me. Lets get right into it:

This was a conflicting book for me. There is a lot to love, but also a lot that dragged it down. Lets start with the good:

The world: this fantasy world is very rich and unique, and while the methods of world building sometimes didn't work for me (more on that later), I still found myself feeling completely intrigued and endeared to it. The way the history and lore of the world intermingles with religion, deception, and sometimes fanaticism was absolutely riveting and so, so cool. The politics were also really interesting, and lent a lot of intrigue as well as a sinister feeling to the story.

The writing: Verma's writing style and prose are absolutely STUNNING. There are so many lines and moments between characters where I just had to sit with the emotions that came up for me as a result of what was happening and what sentiments the overall story was trying to convey. The inspiration she takes from Indian and South Asian mythology is incredibly potent and intricately handled, and I will absolutely be doing more research into this side of the story on my own time. On top of that, the emotional undercurrents of injustice, betrayal, complex familial love, and unbridled rage are so impactful. I will say up front: I am planning to continue this series most importantly because I loved Verma's style so, so much.

The mixed feelings:
Characters and relationships: My first sentiment on this is that the characters and their relationships to one another overall really could have been fleshed out further. Despite that, I found myself *really* liking Elena & Yassen, and rooting for them on every page. Neither character is perfect, both are flawed, hypocritical and impulsive in their own right. I also found them to be incredibly realistic. What I wanted to understand more was what exactly motivated them, what they cared about, and how this brought certain relationships together.

The things that didn't work for me:
This is more of an overall sentiment: this was an ambitious debut, and It felt like at the end of the day it was.. doing too much. The politics and world had so much potential, but there was also so much going on that it felt lie entire storylines would disappear or drop off for a short time, and in some cases just never resurface. Similar to this was the relationship development. I didn't;t always understand why or how these characters were brought together, or what their opinions of one another were in moments of conflict and when they were facing difficult choices that ended up charged by some gray morals. This translates similarly when it comes to the history of the world: It had an air of being enthralling, epic and complex, but didn't actually reach that status while reading.

All of this said, I think a lot of the things that fell short for me in this novel have 100% potential to get cleaned up as the series continues. I can see some readers absolutely loving this, and at the end of the day will still recommend it, just with some caveats if any of these points really get under your skin. I look forward to reading the next book and seeing what Apart Verma blooms into as a writer because there was so, so much to love despite what didn't quite sync for me.

Thank you so much to Orbit, NetGalley and the author for this eArc!

I was quite pleasantly surprised by The Phoenix King. I had read that this was the author's first published novel and it was loosely based on Asian myths, a segment of YA that has had quite an upsurge of late, so I prepared myself for the possibility of a boilerplate trope checklist, however, this book distinguished itself from the heard. There was a nice mix of action and adventure added into impressive world building. The story, especially the romantic aspect, builds slowly, but that is to be expected since this seems to be the first volume in a series. The multi-POV narration works well to provide different perspectives of the main characters into the events of the story. Though, I would have liked to have also seen Samson's and Ferma's perspectives added in the mix, I do understand how that may have created some spoilers. For a debut effort, this story is quite nicely developed.
I "read" this book as an audiobook and the actors were quite good. The choice to have different actors for each POV was something that I like. I know that some voice actors can change multiple "voices", but the distinctly different actors made it much clearer especially when one POV is talking about another character or having a dialog with someone else. I liked the fact that the actors also had slight accents, they were very understandable in clear English, but the accent hinted at the idea of a far off place and even different places since some of the characters were from different lands. Overall, the audiobook was well executed.
I received advanced access to this audiobook thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Hachette Audio, Orbit) in exchange for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I really, really enjoyed this one! Aparna Verma has a strong voice and creates an interesting world, captivating lore, and realistic characters in this stunning debut fantasy novel. I love the multi-POV design of the story and how each gives such a unique perspective on the same situation.

Elena is my favorite kind of main character - she's flawed but intelligent and driven and strong. The fact that she isn't perfect but strives to make the best choices she can, for her people above all else, is what makes her realistic in a setting with unbelievable magic and powers. She's a badass - a frustrating badass that I want to strangle sometimes, but an inspiring, complicated, well-written badass that you'll cheer for all the same.

Yassen is the perfect morally-grey, conflicted main character that you never really know if you can trust. His motivations are rarely clear, but I loved getting inside his head along the way.

Leo is just....god I wanted to hate him but I loved him for how interesting and different he was. He wasn't the young hero, he is the aging and grieving king just doing his best to protect his daughter and his nation using his experiences. His experience was hard won, with very little guidance, so while his choices are suspect at best, I really enjoyed his POV.

The epilogue POV....I really hope we get to keep that in the sequel! I need more information for sure and I think it would be a really great voice to hear more from.

Overall, this was a fantastic addition to the fantasy genre. I haven't read much Indian-inspired fantasy but this one had me hooked - Verma is an excellent writer and while it wasn't perfect, it was a very enjoyable read and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The pacing was good, the writing was strong, and the elements were all there to create a brilliant series.

Highly recommend and can't wait for more!

This book really didn’t grip me like I wanted. It has a ton of potential but a lot of the characters felt a little flat. And the slow burn was more of a no burn.
I also think the narration was off for me the first male narrator was pretty flat which made that pov less enjoyable

Again this book is literal life!!!!! Thank you so much for this opportunity! The added depth the narrators gave to the story made it feel like a bard’s tale. There was no lag or wonky audio just full on immersive storytelling at its best!

This is one of the most creative fantasy novels I have ever heard! I read this book, but I also wanted to experience this book in audio form. The dynamic of the characters and the storyline is something I will forever recommend.

As someone who went to high school with Aparna and was good friends with her during those years, I couldn’t be more proud of her!! She’s changing the game and becoming the writer she always dreamed of. I wish her well one her next endeavors and I cannot wait to read the next one!!

The Phoenix King is a multi-POV book following Elena, who is the princess of Ravence about to take the throne, Leo, her father and the current king, and Yassen, a former-assassin trying to prove his loyalty to Ravence.

This book was very fun, and I give it a solid 3.5 stars, rounded up. I found it interesting that Verma chose to include Elena's father as a POV, and we got to see their conflicting views on how to rule a country. Elena was very naive, but idealistic, whereas Leo was more concerned in maintaining power and keeping those he loves safe. Yassen's POVs did not seem to follow the same narrative, but he brought an outsider point of view that I very much enjoyed.

This book is a blend of stereotypical sci fi and fantasy, and I enjoyed it. It felt like a great change of pace in a world of many books that follow particular genre tropes. It was very refreshing.

And let me just say - that epilogue? I was BAMBOOZLED.

Thank you to Hachette Audio and Netgalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.