The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

Release Date: September 17, 2013

Series: The Elemental Trilogy (bk. 1)

Genera: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/Historical fiction

Subjects: supernatural, magic, mages, elemental abilities

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: ARC page count: 449 pgs. Hardcover: 464 (?)

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer + Bray

Summary/ product description: “It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.”

My Review: When I found out that this book was partially set in England in 1883, I didn’t want to read it. I’m not a fan of historical fiction. I hate historical dialogue and words. British words confuse and annoy me. And I don’t really like books written in 3^rd person. But when I received this book as an ARC, and when I heard good things about it on TeaTime with EpicReads, I had to read it. This book may have not been the most exciting book I’ve ever read, but for a hist-fic fantasy, it’s not bad. It took me more than 4 days to get through it, but I wasn’t bored or skimming.

I loved the magic in this book. I though it was going to be copying Harry Potter, because the wand and Latin spells, and the boarding school, but it was very different. (For one, the boarding school was not for wizards. It was just a regular boys boarding school). I really love stories in which the main characters can control elements. Like the House of Night series, Vampire Academy, or the show Avatar: The Last Airbender. Iolanthe, an elemental mage, could control Fire, Water and Earth, but not Air. And somehow she could make a lightning bolt come down from the sky.

There was also something called subtle magic. It’s spells and wand that can do thing like change you shoes and clothes, or make you see things far away. It’s for useful things. There’s also vaulting, which it teleportation. Titus is a master at it.

There’s also different realms. Mage realms. I’m not sure if the mage realms are a parallel world, or something like a hidden world or country similar to in the Mortal Instruments series. Maybe they’re cloaked islands? It mention Atlantis a lot, so maybe an island. There are a lot of magical creatures. Dragons, wyverns, and so many more. There’s just so much that I became confused. The world building could use a little work.

I felt like the main characters were a little flat. Iolanthe and Titus reminded me of Rachel and Logan from Defiance, but without the 1^st person narration, they don’t have much personality. I did love the humorous dialogue. Especially when Iolanthe was pretending to be a boy, Archer Fairfax. She was able to pull off a cocky boy attitude perfectly. There was a little romance between Iolanthe and Titus. Nothing too in depth. Some kissing and flirting. I’m hoping book 2 will have more. My favorite parts of this book were when Iolanthe pretended to be Archer Fairfax, or when she was turned into a canary. Also some of the scenes where they’re in that fairytale world.

This book is similar to other fantasy books, but I think it’s unique. I haven’t read many historical set fantasy, so I don’t have many to compare them too. I’d say this is kind of Harry Potter with a girl main character. But if you liked Definace by C.J. Redwine, Incarnate by Jodi Meadows, or Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, then you might enjoy this. Or even books like the Unicorn Chronicles series by Bruce Colville. This book is mostly fantasy with some very late 1800s British speech.

Cover Art Review: My ARC has a different cover than the hardcover. I like both versions. The hardcover has a beautiful fiery dragon/phoenix/wyvern on the front. I love the colors, and feathers. The castle is cool on the ARC. It’s upside-down. I feel like there should have been more lightning on the hardcover. Fire may be the main element that the character likes to use, but controlling lightning and air is the struggle. 

Blazing the Trail by Deborah Cooke

 

Publisher: Penguin

Series: The Dragon Diaries (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance

Subjects: Dragons, shape-shifters, magic, mages, supernatural

Length: 300 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

Summary/ product description: “It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and Zoë Sorensson’s love life is heating up. Cute, loyal, and understanding, wolf shifter Derek is pretty much the perfect guy. He likes Zoë, and he knows what it’s like to have to keep a secret. Yet, Zoë can’t help but wish it was rebel rocker Jared asking her to the Valentine’s dance instead. But Jared’s too busy playing hot and cold with her heart, calling Zoë his dragon girl one minute and then taking special interest in her best friend the next.
Zoë is just about ready to breathe fire, especially once she uncovers a new threat that targets her friends. Although Zoë thought the Mages were defeated, they’re back and have invoked an old spell to give them new power—they plan to eliminate all shape shifters on the night of the big dance. Now, Zoë must lead an alliance of young shifters to battle the Mages and figure out exactly what—and who—she wants, before it all goes up in smoke…”

My Rating: êêê1/2

My Review: Note that this book series is set in 2025 because it is a spin-off series of the author other dragon series (the one about the Wyvern that was before Zoe).

This book was better than the 1^st two. I like the humor and some of the characters, but sometimes I found myself confused with all the dragon stuff. Zoe’s a strong character, but the others aren’t as much. I want to like this series, because it’s in Chicago and I really love the Firelight series, but there’s just too much confusion, and the narration can get annoying, even if it is funny and snarky. I feel like the author’s trying too hard to be snarky. They didn’t portray Chicago in 2025 any different from what it is now. Messengers instead of cell-phones is like nothing. There needs to be more technology advancements!

I still did enjoy the book. I loved learning about all the other shifter species. Especially the cat-shifters and their Egyptian ancestors. I would love to hear Jessica’s story as a Bastian.

Overall, I recommend this series to people who like reading about shape-shifters or dragons.

Cover Art Review: I like the dragon art on this book’s cover. The smoke and swirls, but everything else is kind of boring and generic.

~Haley G

Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke

Title: Flying Blind

Author: Deborah Cooke (aka Claire Delacroix)

Series: The Dragon Diaries

Genera: Fantasy/supernatural/paranormal romance

Subjects: Dragons, psychics, destiny, shape shifters, magic, mages

Length: 309 pgs. Paperback

Rating: êêê

Zoë is supposed to be the Wyvern of the dragon shape shifters called the Pyr. The Wyvern is the only female Pyr. There is only ever one at a time. She is supposed to have special abilities, and Zoë, whose 15 and a half, has been waiting for her powers to appear. When her friend, Meagan, gets bullied after gym, Zoë steps into defend her, accidentally almost shifting partially. Her talons and eyes only, but still, she has broken the covenant to keep shifters secret. Her Dad sends her to boot camp so she can learn to gain control of her now appearing powers.

This book looked really interesting. I just was confused when reading it. I read Firelight by Sophie Jordan last year and though the whole dragon shape shifter thing sounded cool so I checked this book out. I did think that it was cool that Zoë lived in Chicago (Because I live near it) and that she has a great sense of humor. I also liked the lists in the book. “5 things” list that gave interesting info about Pyr and Mages. There was also the four elements: water, fire, earth and air. I’ve read many book where characters have affinities for elements. The descriptions in this book were good. Dragon scales were gem and metal colored.

This book felt like it was lacking a few things. Either the guys didn’t feel hot enough, or they just didn’t seem to play a big role. There just wasn’t much romance. I can’t even remember Nick or Jared hair color, only that Jared had the greenest eyes. I guess I couldn’t get into the book because the whole dragon thing was a bit confusing. And what is a messenger? A cell phone or mp3 player? I was confused.

Art Review: I like the cover, but I think it could used a bigger dragon on it. I almost thought it was an angel book when I saw Flying Blind, but then saw The Dragon Diaries in the top corner. So, I guess Zoë probably has green eyes and dark hair based off the cover. The blue stuff around her is light that surrounds Pyr when they shift. The cover works. Nice texture too.

~Haley G