Welcome to my tour stop for this new YA fantasy! Read my review and enter the giveaway below...
Ignite
(The Phoenix Flame #1)
By Kara Swanson
YA Fantasy
Audiobook, Hardcover & eBook, 352 Pages
August 20, 2024 by Enclave Escape
Summary
Can Mara survive in a world where the fire in her veins is worth killing for?
In a frozen wasteland suffocating beneath a dying sun, Mara is a young phoenix raised by her father to explode at his command. He’s the only one who can help her control her fire, and Mara desperately follows his orders to protect their phoenix family from relentless human hunters.
Her sheltered existence is shattered when her family mysteriously vanishes, thrusting Mara into a perilous quest to find them. Along the way, she unravels a devastating truth: her people may not be the innocent victims she’s been taught to believe.
When she comes face-to-face with the kindhearted Eli, she begins to wonder if the humans aren’t the monsters she’s always feared. What if the greatest danger doesn’t lie in the icy world outside—but in the truth of who Mara really is?
Fire and ice collide in this thrilling tale of a phoenix girl born with the power of a dying sun.
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My Review
IGNITE is about a world covered in ice where the sun is dying. It's about a girl who lost her family young to the chaos of the world before being taken into a new family. A girl afraid of what she is and the fire she carries who hides away with her found family to survive. It's about lies and manipulation, and also friendship and truth. It's a story of a girl coming into her own, finally seeing clearly who she is and her world and embracing it. Recommended to fans of apocalyptic or cult fantasy with some Christian themes.
This story was intriguing from the first page. I found the world fascinating with these beings with fire and wings. I did struggle with Mara. She definitely grew up under what I'd label as a cult society and was constantly being held back and made to feel small. She constantly doubted herself and was pretty dramatic for most of the story. However, I enjoyed seeing her unfurl and grow into who she was meant to be. I also really loved Eli and Jude as well as some of the other characters. I also loved the relationship between Mara and the seren. I did feel phrases were repeated a lot and unnecessarily so, enough that it felt like the author was trying to make the story longer or something. I felt like she did do well with the emotional drive of this story that climaxed at the end. It helped move the story forward and kept me engaged. It's such an interesting world and plot, and I'm curious what will happen in the next book.
In the end, was it what I wished for? This was an overall complex and interesting fantasy world with an engaging plot. Fans of the genre and author will enjoy this new series.
Content: Some violence.
Source: I received a complimentary copy through Celebrate Lit, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.
About the Author
She is also the cofounder of the Author Conservatory (authorconservatory.com) where she has the honor of teaching young writers to craft sustainable author careers.
You’ll find Kara with her toes in California sand as a SoCal resident, belting Broadway show tunes on weekend drives to Disneyland with her delightfully nerdy husband, or chatting about magic and mayhem on Instagram.
Find the author here.
More from Kara
This story is one that has lived a hundred lives, a little like the phoenix it’s about —dozens of iterations and nearly eight years discovering Mara’s story. In this icy world beneath a dying sun, I was able to craft a story of a young phoenix girl who was more terrified of her own fire than the dangers of the frozen wasteland outside her underground hideaway. Who has been convinced by the father she loves that her flame is only capable of pain and damage — until suddenly, he disappears. And for the first time, she ventures out of her hideaway to discover that the frozen world outside is actually dying for her flame. And that the parts of herself that she has feared and run from…that there may be beauty, even there. That she can choose to rise from the ash of a world that doesn’t understand her, and use the fire in her veins to bring warmth and healing.
I hope you enjoy the adventure!
Tour Schedule
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, September 27
By the Book , September 27
Texas Book-aholic, September 28
Live.Love.Read., September 29
Inspired by Fiction, September 30
The Lofty Pages, September 30
Hannahbandanarama, October 1
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, October 1
Faery Tales Are Real, October 2
Locks, Hooks and Books, October 3
Min Reads and Reviews, October 3
Wishful Endings, October 4
Book Zone Reviews, October 5
Simple Harvest Reads, October 5 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)
Tell Tale Book Reviews, October 6
Where Faith and Books Meet, October 7
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 8
Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, October 8
Book Butterfly in Dreamland, October 9
Blogging With Carol, October 10
Tour-Wide Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Kara is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
Have you read any other books with characters who resemble phoenixes? What do you like about the look or sound of this one?
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