Real Rating: Hovering somewhere between 3.5 and 4 🖤

This book picks up immediately after the carnage of book 1 and I really appreciated the cohesive timeline. One of the things I loved about So Let Them Burn was the dynamic between Faron and Elara, and I was thankful to see that, even though they were apart for most of the story, that bond still held true. Furthermore, I loved seeing the relationships with other characters continue to develop and blossom, despite the struggles both sisters were facing.

I did have some concerns with some of the pacing, as the first part of the book felt extremely slow and the ending felt kind of rushed. However, I thought the final battle was well done and ultimately appreciate how everything was wrapped up.

Overall, this was a really satisfying end to the story and I’ll continue to read books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This Ends in Embers is the conclusion of Kamilah Cole's debut duology, The Divine Traitors. And oh boy, I was ready for it.

Book 2 continues the journey of the two sisters, Faron and Elara Vincent as they try to save the lives of their people, their loved ones, and their own lives. The first book ended as Faron shedding her responsibilities of the saint of San Irie and abandoning her people by pursuing the person she thinks she loves. Elara is now facing the world as the new saint and the liaison between Iya and San Irie. Faron and Elara.

This Ends in Embers continues to expand the world Kamilah started building in book 1. I really enjoyed the political dynamics and intrigue, and probably would have loved more of the magic building involving the dragons. Call me a sucker for a good book that involves lore about dragons! But I do love the magic system that involves the calling of their ancestors.

Though the ending felt a bit rushed, it was a great ending to a wonderful story. If you enjoy dragons, world building, political intrigue, dual POVs, and enemies to lovers/lovers to enemies, this is definitely the book and series for you.

Thank you Netgalley, Hachette Audio | Little, Brown Young Readers and the author for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

I will be posting to socials.

Two sisters each on the other side of the pending war.

Faron is bonded with Iya and she is forced to do unthinkable things to help him become stronger and more powerful. While her sister Elara is trying to save her, her friends and her country.

She has to make an unthinkable choice to help save her fell and free the dragons. And her girlfriend has the decline power to break dragon bonds and free them and to cripple Iya.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration was good. When I got this book I didn't realize it was the conclusion to a duology and I have not read the first book. So it is possible if I had read the first book I might feel differently. This book follows Faron and Elara, two sisters forced to grow up too soon and survive far too many traumas, as they do their best to manage the immense responsibilities placed on them while still remaining true to each other and themselves. This book's attempts to grapple with the ways in which their decisions have impacted the rest of the world and to hold them at least somewhat accountable for all the death destruction left in their wake. It certainly captures the ways in which colonialism and war deal damage to everyone involved. All in all, an emotional and heartfelt story.
Thank you to NetGalley for the audioARC preview.

I thoroughly enjoyed both books in this duology. The Caribbean historical terms and dragon fantasy is brought together fantastically. It was a thrilling ride and a bittersweet ending. The portrayal of how terrible war is despite those who strive toward it rings of how war is portrayed in "Hunger Games."
The heroine isn't perfect, but she does the best she can given her challenges. I do wish there had a been a prequel series as much as their previous adventures were mentioned throughout both books. I foresee this story occurring in the future (?).

I found this book difficult to concentrate to. The book was detailed, having lots of wonderfully described another-worldly items, powers and characters, dragons, empyrons, etc. I was engulfed by the story at one moment and distracted at another. I should have read the first book first, I truly believe that my distance to this one has been caused by my ignorance on what happened in the first book. I wish I had read them in order.
Now, that I plan to read the first book and then re-read this first one, I am a bit more comfortable with my review, as I will come back one again to revisit it once I am done with both books.
on the other hand, this book had action, siblings affection, interesting creatures and a very well settled new world, which triggers your imagination. I love those kind of books, so I am disappointed with myself as I did not give the book the attention it really requires.
See you once again, Iya, Faron, let me first read how this adventure has started.

What a finale! I loved So let them burn and its sequel did not disappoint.
I appreciated the depiction of the moral dilemmas the characters were facing. Who can you trust, who´s loyal to you, what are you owed after sacrificing everything? Is everything black or white or is there a grey area?
The relationships in the novel carry the plot, but there is plenty of action to go around.
I highly recommend this series and cannot wait to see what the author has in store for us next.

A fantastic follow up! Cole brings such a propulsive quality to YA fantasy, and this sequel is no exception! The characters, the setting, the emotional conflict... it all hits exactly how it needs to! I can't wait to see what she brings to the genre next!

Much more action packed than So Let Them Burn. The world building continued and my imagination was delighted. The storyline was advanged and much was revealed in these pages while tying up loose ends. Can't help but see parallels in these pages with conflicts occuring around the world today. This realization and what was at stake for their future tapped into my emotions. Truly a YA fantasy for YA. I highly recommend this work of words.

I loved this book so much and I don’t think I can adequately write how much I loved it and what aspects of it I loved in particular, but I will try. The first book was a great predecessor for this wonderful conclusion to this amazing duology. However, this one is so much darker and sadder and more tragic than the first in all the best ways. This was HEAVY. Heavy as hell. Check trigger warnings and such because there is lots of death. Blood. Gore. It’s YA, but still graphic in the sense that there is a war in the midst between these countries and people. I really loved seeing more of the characters that we got introduced to in the first novel. Everyone was so fleshed out and felt like a real person, which made the tragic things that happened in this THAT much more impactful. The dual povs from each sister in this were perfect. I loved that each of the chapters always ended in a way that left you wanting more and yet having to switch to the other sisters POV in tense times. It just made you want to go through the book so fast. It was so well done by the author. These novels are, above all else, fantasy novels and I loved that we got exactly that. Fire powers. Gods. Dragons. All of it was just so fun to read about. I especially loved reading about Faron and her fire powers and how much she grew into her power, both by herself and from training with Gael. Faron is one of my favorite FMCs ever. She is quite literally the burned out anxious little sister who holds the world on her shoulders and she just resonates with me so much. I want to give her a huge hug and tell her that it was never her fault. I believe in women’s wrongs and Farons are at the top of that list. Her relationships with everyone in this novel, whether horrible or good, were so entertaining to read about. I feel bad for enjoying scenes between her and Gael so much when I have so much love in my heart for Reeve, but I just loved their dynamic. They were the same in all the wrong and sometimes right ways and I loved that we SAW THAT EXPLORED!!!!! I sadly am a Gael apologist and see nothing but someone I desperately want to save, so I truly understand Faron in that way. Reeve Warwick, you will always be loved by me if nobody else. He was a hilarious character and even though we didn’t see AS MUCH as him as a lot of people probably wanted, we got enough to be satisfied in my opinion. I loved the romance in this, even if it was not the main plot. Whether it was complicated or messy, it all just felt so raw and good in a way that was very real to read about. And with that, we can segue into Elara, who I also love. Also think she is so strong and respect her so much. I’m so sad about what she had to witness. What they ALL had to witness and go through as literal CHILDREN. It’s just so heartbreaking. Elara is just one of those characters who is seriously unhatable. If that’s not a word, Elara Vincent made it a word because really she’s so messy and trying so hard, you just find yourself rooting for her and cheering her on. I adored her and Signey!!!! Huge win for sapphics!!!!! They were so cute and awkward and just FUN to read about. The love and care they had for each other was just so good!! So well written. Vincent parents are my faves. Any other parent? Yuck. Besides the Soto parent, but the other ones? Yuck. Happy with how things turned out for them! This is just such a wonderful book with diversity and representation that is so desperately needed in YA fantasy. It’s UNIQUE above all else and I love that. The characters are their own!!!!! Just so sad that this duology is over and I will never get to read this for the first time again. 10/10. Will stay with me for ages. So good I cry. (I did in fact cry. Multiple times.)

Now for the audiobook specific portions of this review:
The narrator’s voices definitely fit the characters. While Faron’s was more hard, Elaras was more soft spoken, which I think really speaks to their characters. Both were fierce and I think that was portrayed very well. The voices were distinct enough to tell, even without the chapters having the names of each character. Did their reading style bring the text to life? How did the narration impact your reading experience? The reading experience was so enhanced by the narration. I feel as if I was inside the story with the way the narrators were narrating and telling the story. The pacing was very well, even with it being such a long audiobook, I listen to it on 2x and it went by very quick. I loved that I was still able to comprehend the story and understand what was going on.

I definitely would recommend this read in audiobook format, but alongside the physical or digital copy! Such a great collaboration between the authors story and the narrators voices/storytelling. 11/10.

At various times in the reading, I was frustrated with these characters and the plot and the book in general. But then I started thinking a little harder and I was frustrated because these are all real things that could happen. So that makes the whole thing pretty genius. The characters make dumb decisions and selfish decisions and selfless decisions that they might not be able to back up. I'm sure I will think back about the book often and grow to appreciate it more and more.
We get to see more of the world and the various groups of people that inhabit the world. But we don't necessarily get more world building and I don't think there is really much Jamaican mythology or folklore added to it either.
This is a great ending to the duology that really explores the humanness of people who are running nations. There are dragons and war and love and gods, but that isn't the focus of the duology. So if you want to read something that really makes you think about what happens after the big war to save your people, this is a great duology.

3.25 stars

Thank you Hachette Audio and Net Galley for the audiobook ALC!

This Ends in Embers is a satisfying enough conclusion to the Divine Traitors duology.

In strengths, I liked the character reflection and growth journeys the characters went through. I think both were indicative of where they were as book began: Faron with Iya reckoning what that means for her values and who she is and Elara as the new Empyrean and the new status and power that gives her. I appreciated more discussion on the impact war has had on them, which was one of my notes of the first book I think. We got to know a bit more about some of the side characters and the surrounding countries. I felt more confident in Elara and Sidney’s relationship as that was the one that actually developed. Farron’s romantic plot line still felt very underdeveloped. Last, having not reread the first book, there were recap sentences throughout the book which did help jog my memory and I was able to understand what was happening without a reread.

What I wanted more of was deeper integration. There was mention and slight development in the involvement of other countries and characters, but I didn’t feel its impact across the story. I think because the recurring cast of characters stays the same across books, it makes the world/cast feel very small. And that’s for both sides of the war. I didn’t realize the dragon population was so minuscule (that could have been because of the previous war and mentioned in the first book, but I can’t recall). For example the involvement of the other countries or the protests are here and there and very quickly wrapped up in the last 10 or so minutes of the book. There were two big moments in the book where I felt less emotionally moved because I don’t think I knew the characters or dragons enough to feel the impact. Sidney’s comments helped a bit, but I still felt less emotionally invested given we only have the sister’s POV and what was or wasn’t given in this book alone (e.i. dragon input aside from Lightbringer). Also, there were several moments where I wish sections were shown more than just told they happened.

Overall, I enjoyed the development from the first book, but I don’t think this series for me. Both books I felt very middle on, but I think it’s a series that others and teens will find enjoyment in. The new cover design direction is beautiful and I think capture the story more.

Audiobook wise, I enjoyed the narration. I liked having the carry over of the two different narrators for the sisters. I was more drawn to Elara’s narrator (Keylor Leigh?) in personal preference. In Faron’s narration, I was really feeling the sentence structure and the slightly flatter inflections. I didn’t change the speed between narrators so that may have been my issue

"So Let Them Burn" was hands down one of my favorite reads last year, so I had extremely high hopes for the sequel (and conclusion) in "This Ends in Embers." Unfortunately, this one just fell a bit flat for me in comparison to the first book. While it is a lovely reflection on the impacts and burdens of war, especially among the young, and the traumas that come after. That was Cole's strength in the first book, and it shines through in this one as well. The bonds between the characters, Elara and Faron, and both sisters and their LIs, and both sisters and the queen, were also top notch again. That's what saved this book from being a complete letdown for me.

On the other hand, the characters that I adored in the first book just felt... stuck. If there was any progression with either of them, plotwise, something happened to immediately knock them back, right up until the finale battle which was over quickly and happened without a moment for any reflection on what was occurring. There is a significant event right during the finale that just... doesn't get more than a brief comment. And then the epilogue skips to months in the future without more than a handwave about the events between. So the book goes from what felt like a snail's pace to too rushed. Bummer.

The narrators, to be fair, are absolutely wonderful. They bring so much life to the two sisters.

This was a highly anticipated sequel to So Let Them Burn which was a 5 star read for me. This one unfortunately fell a little flat. I still enjoyed it! But it read much more YA than the first one and didn’t match the vibe. I know it is a YA book but the characters felt more immature than last book. There was a lot that could have been handled with communication that felt out of character for our young heroes. The dragons were still top notch and the narrator was quite good.

Thank you NetGalley, Hachette Audio and the author for this ALC in exchange for an honest review



This was a beautiful exploration of sisterhood, sacrifice and the lengths you are will to go to protect those you care about. It was a little underwelming compared to the first installment of the series but  I did enjoy being in this world again. 


The narrators were really good but it did take a good portion of the book to stop confusing the main characters.

I’m gonna be honest with the fact that if it wasn’t for the arc of book two I would’ve DNFd this series. HOWEVER! Book 2 saved it for me.

This book had more action and a little more complexity added to the characters.

I enjoy when characters are struggling with their actions not aligning with their morals.

I did not care for Faron until about 30%-40% into this book.

I love Elara and Sydney 🫶🏾 the depiction of their relationship in this book felt very realistic and relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for providing an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Elara had to face the consequences of Faron's action in their hometown at the end of So Let Them Burn, while Faron got bonded with a megalomaniac ancient dragon and wanted to save the boy she cares about. Basically they both tried to fix the mess they made from different side of the battlefield and had no way to communicate with each other.

honestly i still think that this duology is Fourth Wing, but better. even though personally i think it's just okay overall. nothing bad but nothing special either.

since the narrators are both female and the main characters are also female, i don't know who's narrating who so i will just say that i prefer Elara's narrator overall but Faron's narrator when she's voicing male characters voice is better. both were pleasing to hear!

It's was so nice to be back in this world! Again, I loved the lessons, the family ties, the friendships, and of course, the action was once again amazing. Such a great conclusion to a well written story! I know the book community is dragon obsessed, and this is one series you shouldn't miss!

This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole is book 2 of the Divine Traitors duology. Two weeks ago, I read book one, So Let Them Burn, the first book in the YA political fantasy with dragons! The heart of the story is two sisters, Faron and Elara and their love and belief in one another. Faron is the Childe Empyrean, a title given her by the gods allowing her to summon the gods infinite magic. Faron’s sister, Elara, is a couple years older, a good student, but she desperately wants to become a drake pilot. The sisters are challenged in this story because all is not as it seems. At the start of This Ends in Embers, Elara is now known as the Maiden Empyrean and Faron is considered a traitor to her island of San Irie. But, all is not as it seems and the two sisters still love and have faith in one another. I loved the character work on both Elara and Faron as well as the romantic subplots for each of them. No spice, it is YA. Overall, I enjoyed this book and this series and I give it 4 stars. The narration on this Advance Listening Copy was excellent. It was Narrated by Kamali Minter; Keylor Leigh
Thank you to #NETGALLEY and #HachetteAudio for my ALC.

It was nice to jump back into this world. I ate up the first book and the second one I devoured as well. This ends in Embers starts off where the first ended. That ending had my nerves in a jumble couldn't wait to start book two.

This time Farron is among the dragon riders while Elara is now the chosen one among her people. Elara has to learn to navigate the political field to get people to fight for their cause. This is not something she has ever done before she has always been a fighter. Farron has to watch herself now that she is among the enemy. We watch her grow and change as she finds out who she is without the power of the Gods.

I highly recommend the audiobook for this ends in Embers. Kamali Minter and Keylor Leigh did such a good job with bringing the characters to life. Each voice was nuanced and felt like their own person.

The ending was very satisfing. Did I wish the dragons could stay around? Yes but they were not needed anymore and had to go back just like the Gods. Elara and Farron are back together as they should be. I would like a prequel to this doology that told how the dragons came to be though.

Thank you to Negalley and Hachette Audio for an ARC for This Ends in Embers