The Fox and the Flame is such a a beautifully crafted YA novel steeped in politics, love, and deceit. The world of KingsGarden seems so magical but, of course, underneath is a dark secret that will tear the foundations apart. The FMC is strong, driven, and independent but also soft and caring, and is very likable. The pace of the story starts somewhat slow for me but picks up and is a whirlwind of twists and turns that our MC faces.

Uuuuugh this was so good!!
First of all I think the cover is so beautiful!
The plot is so much more than I was expecting and the characters are so well written and lovely. The relationships between Ari and her brothers is so refreshing and sweet. Despite the story being steeped in anger and injustice it’s somehow so gentle and feels like a hug.
I’m genuinely so excited for this book to hit the shelves!

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley & Kassandra Flamouri for providing an eARC!

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Release Date: 28 June 2024
Themes:
-misogyny misogy misogyny
-slavery
-magic

The Fox And The Flame follows the Rose Princess of Kingsgarden, Arismendi, as she works towards implementing an education system for girls. Women in Kingsgarden have a certain place, and that place is well beneath men. Even as princess, Ari truly has no rights of her own. In order to bring education to girls, Ari makes a marriage deal with a man she despises. This only puts her further beneath since at least the king, her brother, respected her.

This world is so interesting, and I wish we got to see more of it here. Maybe there is more of it in The Chalice and The Crown? I do plan on reading this companion, because the things happening in the background of The Fox And The Flame were so dark and really aligned with the struggles Ari was facing in the main storyline.

Is this book a work of literary art? No, there is a lot of repetition and the world is not expanded upon nearly as much as I would want. But it IS really unique and I think that makes it extremely special, especially for anyone that feels trapped in their life.

This book was okay. I definitely would not recommend to everyone. But the writing was pretty good. And the romance was not my favorite

DNF at 34%. I really wasn’t vibing with this book at all. I’m not exactly sure why, but I had a hard time finding motivation to pick this up and read it.

I really didn’t like the casual sexism in this book. I know that it’s mentioned in the description, and I’m sure that the fmc will overcome it by the end of the story, but I just had such a hard time reading it. I’m not sure if this was cause of the writing style, or if I just couldn’t connect with the characters enough to get over the sexism.

There’s a lot of potential in this book, and I can see why people would like it, but it’s just not for me.

Struggled to connect to anything in the first few chapters, might be good for some, was not for me. Characters and concept were thin and could not draw me in.

I haven’t gotten to finish this yet, but I love it and can’t wait to finish it. Thank you for allowing me early access 💗

Thank you for the e-ARC!

I'm not usually read sapphic romance but, surprisingly the story is great! I love the story, it's enjoyable too. I LOVE ITTTTT

The Fox and the Flame was a fun, light read.

Things I loved:
Characters- well written and developed good
Book Length- perfect book length for the story. Didn't drag on but also was long enough for a fulfilling read.
Writing Style- easy to read
Brain power- 2/5 which is great because it doesn't take a lot of focus to comprehend what's going on in the book world

Things that lacked for me:
Vibes/Enjoyment- I just didn't enjoy it to the fullest. It was still enjoyable, but I just didn't connect very well
Immersion- I didn't lose myself in this book and although I liked the story, I just didn't feel immersed in the world.
Recommendation ability- I would only recommend to a certain group of people. It's definitely for a certain target audience, and even then, I wouldn't necessarily run around telling that group that they have to read it

Overall, great story and well written. Just not my cup of tea in the end.

This story takes place in the same universe as the Chalice and Crown — which I haven’t read, and isn’t necessary to have read in order to enjoy this book — and has trigger warnings for slavery, rape, and misogyny. This review may contain some spoilers, but I’ll try to not give too much away (though if you’ve read Chalice and Crown, you’ll already know the twist.)

For the first two thirds, this is the story of a plucky princess who just wants to start a school so that young girls — like Jessa, the girl she teaches history, science and mathematics — have a choice other than wife and mother. Too accomplish this, she’ll do whatever it takes, which means agreeing to marry a man she loathes in exchange for the money to build her school, hire teachers, and run the school for ten years. Almost instantly her betrothed acts like she’s already his, and his proprietary grabbing, yanking, gloating and highhanded treatment of her are horrid, but it’s the future she agreed to, so she bites her tongue and endures.

When Princess Ari is encouraged to buy a thrall — a magical golem that looks like a person — she buys the most beautiful one to keep her from being bought by a lord who would make the obvious use of her. For that she hates having a thrall attend her, seeing it as too human, too real, she does her best to treat “Sparrow” with kindness. And when she finds her betrothed raping her thrall, she hands the girl over to a friend to get the thrall away from him.

And that’s when everything starts to go to hell, in a grim and tidy little handbasket. The last third of this book is fast paced as everyone’s machinations start taking shape. Her brother, the king; the king’s council; the men against having girls educated; the men who make thralls; the royal guard; Ari’s betrothed and his plans … it’s a lot, but it all fits together. Nothing was too ridiculous, and everything was given, I think, enough attention to point out the truly awful things that were going on without dwelling on them.

And that’s not even going into Ari’s relationships with her brothers — who loved her, and who she loved in return — the girl who she gave her first kiss to, her betrothed’s sister who was Ari’s best friend, the girls she was teaching or her relationship with Norrin, her betrothed’s father who Ari loved as an uncle. Then there’s the magic system, hinted at but never the focus of the story, and the city of Kingsgarden which is a lovely backdrop, but only that, leaving Ari to be the star of the show.

And she is. Ari is compassionate, headstrong, spoiled and entitled … but she cares. When she finds a wrong, she wants to right it then and there, and will throw all the weight of her rank and even her brother, the king, manipulating him (though he doesn’t need much manipulation) to do what she can to help who she can. The king, too, has his own story going on behind the scenes and around the corners of Ari’s story, and you get get just enough glimpses of it to explain and support the events that happen in the grand climax without taking time away from Ari’s story.

Ari is a great character, and I enjoyed reading from her point of view. The writing is good, nice and clean and the pace is fairly fast, with months brushed away because nothing really happened in them. I enjoyed this book so much I’m now off to read the Chalice and the Crown for more of Kingsgarden!

I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher for granting me access to an advanced reader copy.

In all honesty, I was convinced for the first 60% of this book that it was going to be a 3 star book. The last 40% seemed to be an entirely different book. That is when all of the different storylines started coming together and secrets were revealed.

I’m still giving it 4 stars because the start was slow, but if you push through it is worth it. Does it have the most beautiful writing? No…but it was entertaining and gripping in the end. Not to mention, the main character’s development was phenomenal.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc. I definitely enjoyed it.

First off, this cover is gorgeous and whoever designed that deserves a raise. This was a wonderful book and I loved seeing Arismendi blossom and fighting to create and start that school for girls. I loved reading it and seeing how she continued the fight to get the school and help those who needed/wanted an education.

The Fox and the Flame is such a a beautifully crafted YA novel stepped in politics, love, family, and deceit. The world of KingGarden seems so magical and lovely but underneath is a dark secret that will tear the foundations apart. The FMC is strong, driven, and independent but also soft and caring, a perfect mix of both, and is very likable. The pace of the story starts somewhat slow for me but picks up and is a whirlwind of twists and turns that our MC faces. I believe that Kassandra Flamouri has written a fabulous YA fantasy that will be loved by many.

Thank you NetGalley and Willow Root Books for providing the eARC.

I LOVED THIS BOOK WITH ALL MY HEART! I GAVE IT 5 STARS. I LOVED EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF IT. SO SO SO GOOD.