Author : Sherry Thomas
Genre : Fantasy
Published Date : September 17th 2013
Publisher : Balzer + Bray
Pages : 464
Pages : 464
Source : Publisher, in exchange for a fair and honest review
From Goodreads :
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.
Review
Now, first, let me just be honest and tell you that The Burning Sky is the first High Fantasy book I've read. Ever. Nope, I haven't read those hyped Shadow & Bone yet (Though I've tried and understand nothing) and nope, neither Narnia or well, you name it.
I actually kinda scared about trying this book, since I find it really hard to concentrate on High Fantasy because they are well, frankly confusing. But this book totally changed my view, and make me think that the high fantasy book are probably not THAT hard to be read.
"Let me tell you this : I live for you, and you alone."
—Titus
The Burning Sky told us about Iolanthe Seabourne, the elemental mage prophesied to save her world from the tyrannical leader. But when Iolanthe accidentally called forth a lightning—the elemental power only heard on myth—she bring both ally and enemy close too her. But when they proved to be way too close and way too endangering, what will she ultimately choose to sacrifice?
Number one pet peeves on my list : Prophecy. I always automatically stay away from book that had the P-word on it. But this book totally had way too many good things that even the P-word can't make me stay away from it.
Usually, when I read a book, it was because one or two thing caught my interest. But with The Burning Sky, it seemed like almost everything sounds right up my alley; from the pretty cover, the blurb, and even the first few sentences already had me hooked.
Sherry Thomas also managed to did the world building in just the right way, making it so beautiful and magical, yet didn't feel exaggerated. The pacing also always moving forward, with something always at stake, and it really keeps readers entertained until the end.
And combining a badass elemental mage and heart-melting prince, and going undercover at an all-boys school?
It just fels like *drumrolls* :
Our main character Iolanthe Seabourne—or Archer Fairfax when she went undercover and pretends to be a boy—was totally someone I would love to be friend with. Hell, BFF or whatever. She was such a strong, logical, dependable girl, and you all know just how much we love that.
Also the fact that she still hate the handsome bastard—however uber-handsome he might be—and not turning into a pathetic puddle of feels, just make me love her even more. Really, if she was real, I would totally hug her like now.
But Prince Titus, on the other hand, was kinda lacking of bad traits. Sure, he had this little obsession with Iolanthe that he even changed the Sleeping Beauty's face with her face, and that he is quite a trickster that managed to fool Iolanthe into unwillingly work with him, but after a while, I get the feel that he was just a noble prince that make us all swoon and turn into a gooey puddle of hopeless fangirl, but with one or two negative traits, he would be even more believable. Love it, thought, that he still had that completely logical fear of dying, since YA characters this days seemed to be all too overly heroic and death feels like nothing.
But despite Titus's lack of bad traits, the romance between them was still very great. Their chemistry—thank God—was strong and, more importantly, exist. It was not at all an insta-love, and that was really a HUGE plus point.
However, another miss of this book was when the problem first started and all those fantasy elements come to play, it just really confuses me because many terms were just being thrown around without really being explained. Or is it just me, because I seemingly never read any other high fantasy books before this one? Because when I read the sentence that "he vaulted", I just think that "What the hell is a vault? Like, in bank vault?"
Noted : after putting this and that together, I figured out that vaulting was pretty much some kind of teleporting or sort.
Overall, with its strong and pretty lovable protagonists, solid romance, tight-knitted plot, and a beautiful world building, The Burning Sky looks like a promising starts for The Elemental Trilogy. Whether you're already a high fantasy readers, or a first-timer like me, this book is a must-read.
Cheers, x
NK
