A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Publication Date: September 20, 2016

Series: Kingdom on Fire (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Fantasy/Alternate-history

Subjects: sorcerers, magicians, magic, supernatural, abilities

Setting: London, England in Victorian times

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Henrietta Howel

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 404 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Random House

Summary/ product description: “I am Henrietta Howel.

The first female sorcerer in hundreds of years.

The prophesied one.

Or am I?

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames.

Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she's shocked when instead of being executed, she's invited to train as one of Her Majesty's royal sorcerers.

Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.

But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one.

As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming, what does it mean to not be the one? And how much will she risk to save the city—and the one she loves?

Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess's spellbinding fantasy introduces a powerful, unforgettably heroine, and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal. Hand to fans of Libba Bray, Sarah J. Maas, and Cassandra Clare.”

My Review:  A Shadow Bright and Burning is an alternative-history fantasy set in Victorian London. Henrietta Howel has the ability to light herself on fire. She is a teacher and previous student of an all-girls school. She has a friend who is and Unclean (scarred by an Ancient) named Rook. Over a decade ago the Ancients were summoned and a great war began. The seven Ancients, include R’helm the Skinless Man, Korozoth the Shadow and Fog, On-Tez the Vulture Lady, Nemneris, the Water Spider, Zem the Great Serpent, Molochoron the Pale Destroyer, Callax the Child Eater.

A sorcerer named Cornelius Agrippa comes to the girl school that Henrietta lives at and now teaches at and he believes she might be the prophesized one. He says she’s the first female sorcerer in a long time and that she could be the key to defeating the ancients. He bring her to London to meet the other sorcerer apprentices who are all male. He has to train her by the commendation on Midsummer’s eve, the summer solstice.

The other sorcerers are all males and including the charming and flirty Julian Magnus, the brooding George Blackwood, and Arthur, Clarence, Cellini, Isaac, and Dee. She stays in the room that used to be Agrippa’s daughter Gwendolyn’s room. She’s been dead for the past years. She meets a Hobgoblin doctor named Fenswick. He maid’s named is Lilly. There’s also a magician named Hargrove who recognizes Henrietta somehow. Magicians’ magic is outlawed, but they are allowed to live, unlike the witches who used to be around.

Henrietta’s powers grow with the training, but they aren’t reliable like the other sorceress. They seem to be tied to her emotions. Henrietta may not be what she was told that she was. She feels out of place, but will do anything to be commended by the Queen and help defeat the ancients. With some romance, action and magic, a Shadow Bright and Burning is an exciting tales of dark fantasy.

I recommend this book to fans of Red Queen by Victria Aveyard, the Young Elites by Marie Lu, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Assassin’s Heart by Sarah Aheirs, and The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows.

Cover Art Review: I love the burning rose image, but it reminds me off the book series False Memory. I like the paper used for the cover too.

Death Sworn by Leah Cypress

Series: Death Sworn (bk. 1)

Genera(s): High Fantasy/Romance

Subjects: magic, supernatural, assassins, sorcerers, love

Setting: In a fantasy world

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV, usually limited to Ileni

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 344 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Greenwillow

Summary/ product description: “When Ileni lost her magic, she lost everything: her place in society, her purpose in life, and the man she had expected to spend her life with. So when the Elders sent her to be magic tutor to a secret sect of assassins, she went willingly, even though the last two tutors had died under mysterious circumstances.

But beneath the assassins’ caves, Ileni will discover a new place and a new purpose… and a new and dangerous love. She will struggle to keep her lost magic a secret while teaching it to her deadly students, and to find out what happened to the two tutors who preceded her. But what she discovers will change not only her future, but the future of her people, the assassins… and possibly the entire world.”

My Review:  Death Sworn was pretty unique, as far as fantasy books I’ve read go. I personally have not read a fantasy series about assassins. I know that they are plenty out there, but the main character is a sorceress who training the assassins in magic while finding out who murdered the previous sorcerers. The story has a pretty interesting description, but it just wasn’t that exciting to read. I’m not a big fan of 3^rd person POVs because they lack character voice, so the characters felt pretty flat. I did like Ileni and Sorin dialogue though. Ileni is very feisty and says a lot of funny things.

The story is mostly set in a cave. I love picturing caves and all the stalagmites and stalactites I’ve been to lots of cave in South Dakota, Minnesota and even Ohio and Kentucky. I really enjoyed the setting. There wasn’t that much world building, but I feel like the second book would give you a better perspective on that. I didn’t much care for the plot until around the very end. There was some romance that built up between Ileni and Sorin, but it was pretty light. There was a lot of training and magic and fighting.

I hate when I finish a book and feel like I have no idea what happened. I hate when I end up skimming over thing, but that happened a lot here. In the beginning I read completely and as it went on I got a bit bored with the story. There’s a few burst of really awesome parts. Things that I found interesting, but this is not a perfect story.

This book reminded me of Heather Brewer’s book Soulbound. I felt like there was a bit of Japanese stuff mixed in with the high fantasy. Emperors, assassins and mentions of dark, almond shaped eyes. But there were red heads and brunettes too. It’s just fantasy with some diversity. And chocolate was mentioned. They said it came from the southern continent. I started to wonder if this was some parallel/dystopian world, but it’s clearly fantasy. I recommend this book to fans of Soulbound by Heather Brewer, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass, Graceling and other fantasy series, and shows like Game of Thrones.

Cover Art Review: I like the tower and the color. It looks like it’s a mirror/window. I like the colors. Wish the cover was metallic and embossed.