A Tribute of Fire was an interesting read. While the story is captivating, I honestly did struggle with it, too.

Lia is a princess in a land cursed by a goddess. Every year, 2 maidens from her land are sacrificed as tributes to a bloodthirsty rite because of this curse. Desperate to save her land, she ensures that she will be one of the chosen picked in the upcoming rite.

I did enjoy the premise of this story. The first 25% of the story had me captivated. It lost me a little bit in the middle, and the last 25% or so was also very engaging.

I found that many of the plot elements were just a little bit too convenient for me, sometimes verging on unbelievable. The insta-lust between the MMC and (virgin) FMC felt very forced and I never found myself warming up to the MMC. Lia, our FMC, is frustratingly stubborn, and the emotional connection between characters feels shallow (it's more tell than show). I also felt like the story reads a lot like YA for being marketed as adult fantasy. There is quite a bit of material that feels like filler, especially in the dialogue, and the writing is just a bit choppy at times. I'm also feeling confused a bit about the mapping of the world and of the (country?) of Ilion. It feels kind of scattered, and I think a visual map would've helped me a lot as a reader. This first book ends on a pretty significant cliffhanger.

All of that said, I still generally enjoyed it. There are some great swoon-worthy moments and a tantalizing forbidden love element. There were some completely unanticipated twists and turns (but I'm a little bit frustrated as to how/why). The sisterhood aspect was wonderful, and I love the found family element to this story. I'm very curious about some of the unanswered questions, so for this reason, I'm interested in picking up the sequel despite my perceived flaws with the story.

It is a solid three-star read for me. While the plot and worldbuilding have issues - in my opinion - the overall vibe of the story makes it very enjoyable all the same.

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓸 𝓝𝓮𝓽𝓰𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪𝓷 𝓐𝓡𝓒 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓲𝓷 𝓮𝔁𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀.

I need the rest of this series like yesterday!
✔️ found family
✔️ slow angsty burn
✔️secrets
This debut romantasy is everything I didn't know I needed, and I'm here for it! The tension is on point, the world building is great, and the cliffhanger is insane. Highly recommend!

💭 My Thoughts: Throughout the entirety of this audiobook, I was completely captivated! I am a mood reader at heart but no other book had my attention during this audiobook. The narrator Thérèse Plummer @plummertherese did an amazing job! Usually I get a little bothered during different character’s dialogue but I barely noticed this time. I thoroughly enjoyed her performance.
The female empowerment and rage was so expressive in this book, I felt every emotion of the fmc Lia. She fought so hard and cared for everyone so deeply. It was a constant battle of trust and physical determination. Not many would have worked as hard as Lia, but she was doing this for the good of her family and her people. I tried so hard to predict what was going to happen and the plot twist and the ending had me flabbergasted! Wow. Not what I was expecting but an amazing turn of events. If you enjoy lots of action, goddesses, mythical creatures, female empowerment and a crazy good cliff hanging ending, I definitely recommend this book!

Tribute of Fire was such a fantastic read! It blends Greek mythology, a slow-burn romance with steamy moments, a Hunger Games-style trial, prophecies, found family, and the classic “chosen one” trope.

The story follows Euthalia (Lia), princess of a cursed and barren land after losing favor with their goddess.

Side note: What stood out to me the most is that we know so little about this goddess—she’s only ever referred to as the goddess. No name, just power. As the story progresses, we learn more, but I liked how we were kept in the unknown alongside Lia.

As punishment for an ancestral wrong, Lia’s people must send two female tributes to an enemy land to race to the goddess’s temple and serve her… yet none have survived.

This story kept me on the edge of my seat! It’s heart-wrenching and painful yet incredibly empowering. I could never get an idea of what was going to happen, and I loved that!

I especially loved the relationship she builds with her fellow “sisters.” I’ll leave it at that to keep things spoiler-free-ish. 😅

Lia’s journey is one of my favorite character stories this year—she’s been kept in the dark (not maliciously), but as she learns more about her world or what her land should look like, she uses that knowledge to express her feelings, which was beautiful to read.

And Jason?! Ugh, what a man. Infuriating, sexy, and impossible to hate no matter how hard I tried!

I won’t spoil anything, but that cliffhanger? Not okay. 😂 I need book two right now!

Sariah is one of my favorite authors. This is her first romantic fantasy book and I loved it. I'm generally not a fantasy reader, but I gave it a chance since it was written by Sariah. You won't regret reading this one!

This is a fantasy romantasy that has a strong empowering heroine and a great concept - cursed nation, deception, surviving trials to the death with gods, a desert world. I liked the bonds and relationships between the female characters.

Be still, my Reylo heart. I loved this from beginning to end - and I can't wait to see how the story continues! I need it, like yesterday!!! I couldn't put it down after I got past 70%... and I enjoyed every bit of the world building, mystery, and romance it brought. I am such a huge fan of how Rey and Kylo can communicate with each other and I loved how that was used here (I wish I could say more but you'll have to read it to understand!). I especially liked how there were twists and turns that I suspected that didn't pan out, then some that did. It kept me on my toes and I need to learn the bigger picture... I just know the scope of this is huge. I wonder if we get some of his perspective? I can't wait for whatever is revealed in book 2. Bravo, Sariah Wilson! If you are a fan of fantasy, Ancient Greece, and romance, please pick this up!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6832030808

This was sold to me as a greek inspired Reylo-esque fantasy with dragons, and if you know anything about me, you know that Reylo became my entire identity after the force awakens was released 😂 so you bet I ATE 👏 THIS 👏 UP

Lia, the princess of a dying nation - cursed by a godess centuries ago thanks to the act of men to sacrifice two maidens every year - has trained in secret to end the ritual for good and restore her country to its former glory by volunteering as tribute. It doesn't all go to plan however, as the second sacrifice is none other than Lia's sister Quynh, who is untrained, unprepared, and most certainly not going to survive. 😬

I dont normally like to compare my reviews to other books, but this the trial's you love from the hunger games, the tension from Reylo

“A warrior who sweats more in training bleeds less in war.”

This was easily one of my favourite reads of the year, and is a story of female rage and empowerment, sacrifice and betrayal, and I can't wait to get my hands on A Vow of Embers.
Thank you Sariah Wilson for the review copy!

Rating: 3.5⭐️
Spice: 🌶️

A few days late on this one 🫣
But I enjoyed it!!

The beginning is very fast paced, and it definitely hooked me immediately! Things slowed up in the middle… and honestly I had a hard time connecting to the FMC. I found her inner dialogue a bit…wearisome? I also struggled believing the chemistry between the FMC and MMC.
That being said… there were still a lot of things that I loved about this story:

I LOVED the sisterhood between the adelphia and the relationships that Lia develops there.

Kunguru ♥️🫶🏻

It was also a nice treat to see my name in a book! And even spelled “correctly!” First time that has ever happened for me, and I got excited lol

The ending definitely went direction I didn’t expect, so I’m curious to see how this will play out!

(However… the dragon part was way too short! I’m hoping they play a bigger part in the coming books!)

4.5 Stars
I ate this up! I love elements of history mixed with magic! Did I kinda predict a couple things? Mayyybe. Do I care? Not really! I immensely enjoyed the ride and am dying at where it left off. I need the sequel yesterday!

I just started this book arc and I love it
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the copy my arc.
Full review to follow

Thank you to NetGalley, Montlake, and Sariah Wilson for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was honestly excited to read this cos I'm a Reylo fan and I love the dedication but unfortunately this book wasn't for me. It was just okay.

My reasons for this is because I felt the writing was elementary and not descriptive in its world building and setting. The writing did a lot of telling and not showing. I did not realize that this book is an inspired Greek mythology retelling without reading other people's reviews. I could not even figure out what setting this book was trying to be in. At the same time it felt like it was too info-dumpy and was trying to fit a lot of romantasy tropes without any background descriptions or lore. Despite all the information, the pacing was slow and I felt the book was too long for what it was. I could not really relate to the characters and their actions besides Lia (FMC) wanting to protect her adoptive sister, Quynh. I did enjoy the interactions between Lia and Jason lol

Hopefully the second book gets better.

What to expect in A Tribute of Fire:
—Greek Mythology
—Dragons
—Enemies-to-Lovers
—Found Family

Filled with twists, turns, and swoony romance, *A Tribute of Fire* follows a woman forced into her kingdom’s deadly games to appease a curse, satisfy the goddess, and ensure her nation’s survival.

There's no better feeling thanbeing utterly obsessed with a book. The world-building was incredibly well done, and the suspense and tension as Lia navigated the games kept me hooked.

The romance between Lia and Jason was beautiful and swoon worthy.

I’m a big sucker for books inspired by Greek mythology, so this book truly captivated me from the very first moment.

This was truly such an amazing book, and I can’t wait to read mor eof this authors work!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and Sariah Wilson for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Filled with twists, turns, and swoony romance, A TRIBUTE OF FIRE is the story of a woman who’s forced into her kingdom’s series of deadly games in order to appease the curse that plagues their nation, keep the goddess happy, and allow their kingdom to survive. The challenges are dangerous and to make matters worse, Lia’s sister is also competing…and she’s not cut out for any of the games. A liability for certain, though Lia will do anything it takes to ensure her sister survives. Lia’s quest to save herself, her sister, and their nation takes her to some dark places, but along the way she meets a man and sparks eventually fly. ⁣
⁣
I love it when you turn the last page and realize that you’ve just found another book for your favorites shelf, and that’s what happened with this beauty. I expected to like it, certainly, but I didn’t expect to become wholly obsessed with everything about it. the wirldbuodiig was incredible, I loved the suspense and tension as Lia tried to survive the games, and I loved the swoony romance between Lia and Jason. There’s a lot of Greek mythology woven in to this story as well, which was another highlight for me. All told, a fantastic first installment in the Eye of the Goddess series and I’ll definitely be picking up book 2 once it’s available. Add this to your tbr if you enjoy the following: ⁣
⁣
🍂Greek Mythology⁣
🍂Dragons⁣
🍂Incredible world-building⁣
🍂Deadly trials ⁣
🍂Sisterhood ⁣
🍂Enemies-to-lovers ⁣
🍂Found family⁣
🍂Intricate plots⁣
🍂Curses and a nation of the brink of collapse

That cliff hanger, geez I need the next book now. I enjoyed the way the author Wove together Greek mythology, a woman with a mission, romance and female empowerment to make a great Romantasy. The beginning was a bit slow for me but once it picked up I couldn’t put it down. The plot kept me reading, and I enjoyed the found family aspect and the whole can she trust feelings twords basically everyone which was reinforced by the shocker plot twists in the book. If you like a Romantasy with a woman who must save her world, can kick butt and an instant connection romance this book is one to pick up.

I absolutely adored this book and did not want to put it down! A Tribute of Fire was well paced with an immerse setting filled with a varying cast of characters. I’m loving the return of trials within Romantasy books. I’m a huge visual reader and I always have a lot of fun taking time to lay back and mentally visualise the image that is being described. I loved the focus on female friendship and relationships, and there was definitely enough twists and turns that left me shocked and ready for more. I highly recommend this book and I cannot wait for book two!

This book had me constantly at the edge of my seat. This is romantasy with some Greek mythology thrown in the mix. This story centers around Lia, princess of Locris, which is a desert kingdom that has gone through a great famine due to the curse of a godesss. Every year to appease the goddess, Illion, a rival nation comes to Locris’ shores to choose two maidens to be sacrificed to the goddess by making them race to the goddesses’ temple whilst being hunted.

The Lia, the female main character, really grabbed you and you could empathize with her throughout the story. You could only help and cheer Lia through her trials and tribulations to survive and help her homeland. Jason, the male main character was mysterious and very alluring. I absolutely loved the witty banter between these two as well as the incredible world building in this book. All the supporting characters were very well developed and you honestly got attached to them as you read along.

In this book you will find:
- Enemies to lovers
- Found family
- Forbidden romance
- Royal/political intrigue
- Reylo vibes
- Arranged marriage
- Dragons

I will say that the cliffhanger really got to me!! I honestly don’t know what to make of it and I want more! I can’t wait to read the sequel to this page turning novel!!

Thank the author, Sariah Wilson for giving me an digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A goddess cursing the people ….a brave girl becoming a warrior to protect her sister ….such an intriguing read!!

a tribute of fire follows Lia, a princess of a goddess-cursed land who winds up participating in a deadly trial to begin her mission to restore her land back to it's former glory.

this story for the most part was everything you'd want in a romantasy; a strong heroine FMC, a warrior MMC, action-packed and detailed, yet easy to follow, world-building. i really loved the sisterhood between Lia and her adelphia, and the greek mythology especially.

lia and jason's arc was definitely a bumpy ride. insta lust for sure, for the most part, and an attempt at enemies-to-lovers thrown in there too. although i had my theories on where the story was heading, especially with certain *cough* characters, the last few chapters still had me on the edge of my seat and the cliffhanger had me throwing my kindle out of sheer frustration when i'd finished it.

i desperately desperately need book two, like, immediately!

Romantasy meets Greek mythology in this absolutely amazing story! I was intrigued from the very get-go! Sariah Wilson delivers a masterclass in page-turning action, with an FMC that is everything a fantasy book needs. The female rage is impeccable the character development so incredibly well done. I’m going to need book two immediately!