This book was pages upon pages of addictive writing and gripping story.
I loved every page of it from start to finish

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

I really enjoyed this book!
"I am Renata Convida. I have lived a hundred stolen lives. Now I live my own".

Perfect YA fantasy which switches from the present to Renatas stolen memories. I loved all the plot twists and how fierce Renata is. I need to get my hands on the next book!

Three times I tried to read Incendiary.
Each time I got a little further, but it just isn't for me, a definite DNF.
The characters are annoying and the world building doesn't keep pace well enough to stave off total confusion. It seems like I'm supposed to immediately care about the fate of undeveloped characters. I needed to understand the stakes a little better before they were thrust upon me and see enough personality to invest in the characters.

I will not be reviewing this title, as significant time has elapsed since I received the ARC and/or I was unable to finish it.

Incendiary was an action-packed fantasy set in a world inspired by 15th century Spain, reimagining the Inquisition. While it had many of the tropes that are common in YA fantasy such as a main character with rare/ special powers it didn't feel boring or unoriginal to me and managed to make those common tropes exciting.

One of my favourite aspects of the book was the magic system. It was heavily based on the senses and the mind which is not something I see often (most magic systems I've seen are more physical or elemental). In the book, the kingdom of Puerto Leones conquered neighbouring Memoria and sought to wipe out its magically gifted people, the Moria.

It was explained very well and the rest of the story was very well done in terms of pace and sense of action. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to dive into the second book!

I loved the world of this book and the magic system and the characters and the story. An inquisition Spain inspired fantasy! It was amazing!

I realised I have an unhealthy relationship with book series. It doesn't help this is the culture book sellers perpetuate. They WANT you salivating for the next book, to latch onto any teaser and snippet, to talk, post, create and argue about it online, because all these things are exposure for the author and potential book sales. FOMO is not a social phenomenon, it is a marketing strategy.

So, I decided to try something new and declared to myself .... "No more reading a series until it is finished" . Sure, I might miss out on the latest update. I won't be one of the first to read the book. It is highly likely the internet will be rife with unavoidable spoilers. But that anxiety, desperation and despair of "when is the next book coming out!!" is no more. It's back to basics, where books bring me joy and happiness.

Do I regret this, absolutely not. Has my mettle been tested? Absolutely. There are series that seem destined to NEVER be finished (am looking at you Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch). But also, what happens when you read the first book in a series, don't like it, but have been given an ARC to the second? Yes, this is the series that tested that hypothesis.

(view spoiler)
Oh yeah, so the review... Not my cup of tea. The story was dull, the characters were boring and it had a nonsensical name (especially since the name of the second book kinda implies it is related to their powers and not a one-off nickname of the MC from a D-grade throwaway character. Possibly more marketing shenanigans). Good prologue, but ultimately forgettable.

So... onto book two! (grimaces)

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the reading copy.

DNF @ 26%

I liked what I read of this book--I enjoyed reading a story inspired by the Spanish Inquisition, because it gave this world a distinctly Hispanic feel in a genre that's crowded with medieval Britain-esque fantasies--but I haven't picked it up in ages and I've reached the conclusion that I simply don't care, which is a real shame. This isn't this book's fault, all age groups deserve variety, but when I reach for YA fantasy I'm looking for something fast-paced that's going to keep moving and hold my attention. This story is much slower and I've ultimately read a quarter of it and not really felt anything except a little bored. This is a story inspired by the Spanish Inquisition, I shouldn't be waiting so long for something to happen.

Maybe I'll return to this one some day, but for now I'm putting it aside.

Took me a while to get to this but I'm so glad I finally did.

This is an epic fantasy with a fascinating magic system. Everything about this world was so dark and I loved that.

I loved Renata and Castian's relationship. There weren't many scenes of them but the ones that were there were great. I found Renata a little annoying at times but it wasn't too bad.

Amazing book and so looking forward to book 2.

You know, I've been having a lot of trouble with YA fantasy lately. A lot of it has started to feel the same, and so I'm having to really pace myself with it. I picked up Incendiary as it's the Space Sirens book club pick for October, and I'm so glad I finally gave it a chance because I ended up really enjoying it!

Firstly, the plot isn't all that original. But that's ok! The main character Ren was taken from her family at a young age, and has powers that could come in useful in the palace of the evil king. She heads over there to kill the prince for killing her lover (boyfriend?) and along the way she uncovers a few more things. It sounds like your generic YA fantasy, but I think the author pulled it off really well and overall I was very impressed.

I think what I liked most about Incendiary was the setting, which is well developed and Spanish-inspired. I would love to learn a bit more about the world in which this is set in the sequel, but I think the author did a really good job of introducing the history and the conflict in this one.

Additionally, the plot is super fast paced! My copy of the book is quite long (at almost 500 pages), but I flew through it with no trouble at all, and I think it might have also reignited my love for fantasy a bit.

As for the ships, I'm not entirely certain on where I stand, but I do know that I can't ship the one that reminds me of Celaena and Chaol. It's just so dull. Give me the Zutara in the sequel, PLEASE.

I've never read anything by this author before, but after reading Incendiary I'm very keen to check out her backlist. Go and check out Incendiary if you're looking for a fast paced action plot, because you're in for quite the ride. I do think the characters were a bit generic and flat, but I've read a LOT of YA fantasy at this point and it's getting harder and harder for them to stand out to me.

Trope heavy but wow this was a good read! If you’re looking for some YA Fantasy to lose yourself in, this will certainly tick all the boxes.

A fantastic story that was brilliantly written and I would recommend to fans of the genre. Great writing and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Beautifully written and the characters are completely loveable.

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars

I will be honest and say I wanted to love this book.
I wanted to love this wonderful intricate world full of latinx inspiration and rebellion and magic.
And yet somehow it seemed to fall flat for me.

The premise of a girl who has lived a thousand lives through her magic, who cannot let go of the people who used her, and her anger at herself for it, hit me so hard, and I wanted to go on a adventure with her.
I wanted to see her spread her wings. I wanted her to surpass my expectations.

However, I feel like the plot was rather disjointed, and the use of certain tropes left me feeling overall disappointed. I didnt feel like there was enough at stake for our main character, and I feel like much of what could have been hard hitting came as a soft blow instead of a gut punch,

The setting of the world, and the politics were what kept me afloat, and the promise of revenge - which in the very end was cast aside, leaving me both confused and shrugging my shoulders.

Over all, the book started off strong, however its repetition and lack of innovation just didnt fit with me.
However I am aware that I am not the target audience, and know that I may have been more critical of this book then I should have been.

I wish I could be here writing a shinning and positive review but honestly this book was a little lackluster for me.

I really wanted to love it and the concept sounded really good. I started off really enjoying it but the further into the storyline I got the more I found myself disengaging from the characters and events. Perhaps it was the predictability or perhaps it was just the lack of solid connection I felt towards the characters, but whatever the reason I really struggle to get through this book and at multiple points considered not finishing it at all - which is very sad as I really had hoped I would enjoy it.

Reading is subjective and sadly this time it didn't work out for me. I would still definitely try this author again in the future.

I’ll say it: Spanish history and folklore is so interesting, and so underserved in fiction. This goes a long way to correcting that: it’s a reimagining of the Spanish Inquisition that puts the power in the hands of Renata, a girl who was kidnapped for her power when she was a child and has now joined the rebellion against the crown.

The magical world that Córdova has created is rich in detail and fascinatingly intricate. This is only the first book in a series, but there’s so much exposition packed in there that I was sure I was reading a sequel (whoops!). From the start, Renata appears as a fully developed character who has already been through a lot- and is already struggling with being an outsider in both the court and the Whispers, the rebel group.

This story absolutely races along. Córdova isn’t afraid to pull her punches: almost at the start, important characters start dying and keep dying, which made me goggle at the page. Lady, I salute you! The end result was that you genuinely did feel that people were in danger as a result of their actions, which can be hard to do in any book, let alone a YA one.

This was a brilliant fantasy with some memorable characters with rich descriptions and world building. I think the last 1/3 was the strongest and really brought everything together! Can’t wait to read the next book.

2.5 stars

Renata Convida is a Robari - she has the ability to take people's memories. This power means that she is feared by everyone, even the other magical Moria.
When she was a child, Renata was stolen from her parents and taken to the royal palace. The King's Justice used Renata to take memories from the king's enemies in the war against the Moria.
Then Renata was rescued from the palace by the Whispers, who are a group of Moria working against the king.
Except for Dez, the commander of Renata's unit, most of the Whispers don't trust her. When Dez is captured by the prince, Renata tries to save him, but fails. Vowing to complete Dez's mission and protect the Moria, Renata finds herself back in the palace in the grasp of the Justice.
Can Renata complete her mission without anyone uncovering the real reason for being at the palace?
Can Renata save the Moria?

Having heard lots of praise for the author, and being intrigued by the Spanish Inquisition vibes of the book, I was very much looking forward to reading this. However, I ended up being disappointed, unfortunately.
Renata was a good protagonist, and I felt sorry for her at times with how mistrusted she was and how she was taken away from her family. However, I did struggle to connect with Renata at times.
Leo was probably my favourite character and his scenes were enjoyable to read. I liked his relationship with Renata and how she wasn't sure whether or not to trust him.
The setting and concept of the Moria was interesting. I would like to read more about the Moria and their powers.
The plot was mixed for me, but I did like it at the beginning. However, after a while I did find myself losing interest once Renata was at the palace. I wasn't as invested in what happened as I should have been, which may be due to me predicting most of the plot twists, which was very disappointing.
The writing style was easy to follow most of the time, but there were a few occasions where I felt that something was rushed or scenes jumped unexpectedly. However, as I read an eARC version of this book that may have changed in the final version.
I'm really disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more as I feel it had a lot of potential, but this doesn't stand out from other YA fantasy books for me.

Overall, this was a mixed read for me.

This took me a while to get into (completely my fault as I was reading something with a similar magic system), because of that, that is why it's been marked down a star just because I enjoyed the other book a little more (I know I shouldn't compare but they were very very similar) it did take me a while to become invested in this, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I look forward to reading the next book :)

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me I was hugely disappointed by this book. The minute I heard about a fantasy story set in a world inspired by the Spanish Inquisition but sadly I found it way to slow and the characters felt bit under developed. I think if someone likes very slow burn books they might like it but it wasn’t for me.

The first thing I’ve said to anyone who’s spoken to me about Incendiary is how much I loved the different types of Moira magic. In this world if you have magic you’re one of four types, Persuari, Illusionari, Ventari, or a Robari. Where some are more rare or more common magics than others. Persuari can persuade others, Illusionari can create illusions, Ventari can hear others thoughts and Robari can take memories. Each of these also has a connection with different metals, which help amplify their powers.

Our main character, Renata, is a Robari and has the rarest kind of magic. Robari are also highly distrusted, but Renata even more so as she grew up in the palace under Mendez’s control. Throughout the book a lot of her decisions are based on the distrust from everyone else, and her self-hate because of her powers. Her development to overcome these issues was really well written though – I enjoyed her character arc and the possibility in the next book.

This book seems to hint a lot about politics and manipulation, but as our POV is Renata we don’t see enough of this. As she’s not in the know in either faction, the depth of these tensions isn’t brought forward until she steps out of line. Particularly when Alessandro and Nuria come into the book, we see a lot of scheming happening as they try to get themselves or others into higher positions of power.

Dez, Sayida, Margo and Esteban are all part of Renata’s unit and have… varying levels of whether they like her. They’re all Moira too, but have other powers which makes them more liked in the community where Dez is the son of the person in charge. I liked the relationship development throughout the book especially as Renata sometimes doesn’t think. She’ll run off to do a thing, and these people run after her to help or clean up. Each of these relationships also dictates how the story is pushed forward, and how Renata reacts to things which gave a lot of depth to the decisions made.

Incendiary doesn’t have a specific antagonist in the entire book. Mendez, Alessandro and Castien all go up against our main character at different points, but they also conflict with one another so it’s not a singular unit of “bad guys”. Castien especially is a character you can’t quite get to know because Renata has already made up her mind about him. He defintely has information that would help Renata, but her bias removes our ability to get to it. This was frustrating but I’m intrigued to see how this resolves itself in the next book. But all three “villains” defintely had an element of “is this person really important and bad?” and it kept a level of interest to find out more.

Whilst Renata is back into the castle she is helped by Leo to keep an eye on her. I loved Leo as a character, he really was just a good person who wanted to help. There were a few other helpful faces too, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I really enjoyed how certain people were placed throughout the book that helped increase Renata’s ability to trust in others and rely on people besides herself.

Overall, the plotline isn’t unique at all. There’s a magic community that is in hiding/fighting against the monarchy. The monarchy has it’s own magic wielders to help fight, and has a weapon. The main character needs to find and destroy the weapon, by going undercover. But all the little misdirects give it something a little different to what I’ve read before. By the end of the book there’s quite a few surprises which help keep you hooked, and there’s enough hints in hindsight to guess these surprises too.

Positives of Incendiary
Character and relationship development
Moira magic system
Negatives of Incendiary
Common plotline