“To be forgiven, one must be burned”

The Boy with Fire includes:
-Enemies to Lovers
-Dune x Poppy War
-Indian Mythology
-Adult Fantasy
-Morallly grey MCs
-Slow burn romance

Elena is a princess who is the heir to the Ravenance Throne and is preparing to ascend it. Leo however is not ready to give up the crown just yet. Yassen is an ex-assassin and he is on the run. He seeks refuge with Samson, his childhood friend and is offered an irresistible deal, defend the heir of Ravence to earn freedom.

Since we are in Week 2 of South Asian Heritage Month: South Asian Literature, I wanted to talk about a recent favourite read of mine.

I first discovered this book on TikTok after seeing fan art posted by Aparna herself. I was obsessed with it and a couple days later an arc was available to request on NetGalley and I was lucky to get approved for it. This book is an amazing debut novel and I can't wait to read the next book in the trilogy after that ending. It is written in 3 distinct character POVs: Elena, Yassen and Leo(the dilf). I thought I wouldn't be as interested in Leo’s pov, but it was very interesting to follow him. I was a bit worried as it is Adult Fantasy and I usually get lost during the world building however, the world-building was written so beautifully and I was able to follow it. The most important thing I enjoyed were the morally grey characters and villain protagonists since it kept me on my toes. As I was nearing the end of the book I was reading so fast and was on the edge of my seat. I've been discovering so many books by South Asians this year and I'm delighted to add Aparna Verma as one my favourites.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Even though this is categorised as Adult Fantasy I would definitely encourage YA Fantasy readers to check this book out as well. It comes out on August 31st this year so be sure to pre-order as Aparna recently announced pre-orders for paperback are available now.

Thank you to @netgally and @newdegreepress for an e-arc.

I've seen a lot of hype for the book over on Twitter which is why I got curious and once I heard what the book is about I was immediately intrigued.
Since this is the debut of the author, I didn't have too high expectations, because I didn't want to ruin the book by having too high expectations and I have to say, that this was the right things to do.

Getting into the novel wasn't too difficult and I was quickly able to orientate myself within the world. I have to say, that worldbuilding is definitely a strength of the author! I also quickly found a liking to the autthor's writing style. It was simple, but still quite beautiful and it flowed very nicely.

I have to say, that the first half of the story was pretty much of a 3-star read for me. The pacing was a little too slow for my taste with not a lot happening. But the first half set up the world and the characters nicely. Usually, I tend to mix up characters, especially when there are a lot of them, but this was not the case with this novel. The characters were all very distinct from each other.
Once I got to the second half of the novel, the pacing picked up a lot and the second half managed to keep my attention a lot more than the first half. It was exciting and I just didn't want to stop reading because I had to know what happens next. And I truly did not expect some of the revelations. Especially the last one. That absolutely blew my mind and I cannot wait for the sequel.

Unfortunately, the character's relationships fell a little flat for me and their developments. I wish we had gotten some more and deeper develpments, especially between Yassen and Elena. I did not really feel the chemistry between them but I hope that in the sequel, this will change and that all of the characters (or at least those that are still alive) will get some more development.

Overall, this is a very solid debut and I'm excited to see what Aparna Verma has to offer in future books!

Now I was really looking forward to reading this book after hearing it's an Indian inspired fantasy dealing with morally ambiguous characters but I was mildly disappointed.

It is definitely a solid debut with Aparna's lucid writing and gripping lore, however, I found the pacing to be quite slow and for more than half of the book, a lot of things felt repetitive. The characters and the dynamics between them, too, felt underdeveloped (especially Ferma, she had a lot of potential and i think we were robbed of her.)

Yet I would like to add I actually never saw that ending coming so I'm definitely intrigued to see how this trilogy would go.

The Boy with Fire is a pretty solid debut. It has a lot of flaws, but overall it's enjoyable, if not somewhat tedious. My biggest problem was the pacing; the first 60% of the book felt too slow, as if nothing was happening. I can appreciate slow paced stories, but in that case the story needs well fleshed out characters, and I didn't see that as much in this novel. I enjoyed Leo the most in the cast of characters, and he seemed the most layered and interesting of them all. Yassen and Elene seemed nice at first, but as the story progressed they lost their intriguing aspects and what we got were standard character archetypes that aren't exactly exciting to read about, especially given such a slow pace in the first half of the book.
A separate compliment goes to the worldbuilding; the various aspects of the cultures, the desi-inspired elements added a nice flare to the story and helped with immersion. I really liked the fire magic!
The prose was also quite nice; I especially enjoyed the dance sequence and the action sequences.
Overall, I think this series will only improve as time goes on and I hope to see more from this author!
Thanks to Netgalley for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holy smokes, this was excellent! What a vibrant world. Pacing was great with very few slow parts. Nice twist at the end, I thought I had figured it out but was pleasantly surprised by the twist. Wonderfully written characters with good development and the fight scenes were beautiful. Written so well it was like watching a movie.

When I first heard about The Boy with Fire I was immediately intrigued. The book is described as Dune meets The Poppy War which are two books that I enjoyed immensely. Therefore I had high expectations for this novel, and Aparna Verma managed to exceed every one of them.
The Boy with Fire is, by far, one of the most entertaining books I've read this year, and a breath of fresh air. The author from the first page sets you right in the mood for the book, with the writing, the aesthetic. If you love or want a story inspired by Indian mythology with science fiction, romance, a good cast of characters with desi representation, badass women, who are morally grey then you should definitely pick this book up!
I am very very excited to read the sequel!

It was so good , I couldn't put it down . The indian representation won over my heart , everyone needs to give it a try

Wow, this book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The story itself was beautifully written with STUNNING detail that painted the world of Sayon in glorious colours. I loved getting to see the points of view of Elena, Yassen and Leo as it allowed you to see the full spectrum of events happening within the book, I looked forward to every viewpoint! The plot twist at the end had me gasping in utter shock. Despite having had ever changing theories, the answer to my questions left me speechless. There was so much that was perfect in this book: the diversity, the powerful females, the character flaws, and I need to make a special mention to the INCREDIBLE clothing descriptions which blew me away. I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone I know, and I can't wait until the rest of the series comes out!!

I feel like The Boy with Fire had great potential to be a solid debut especially since the writing was really good-- it was simple but also beautifully worded and there were a lot of memorable quotes throughout the book, and the world and the lore were both very interesting. However, this book had too many misses. Firstly, the pacing was... not good at all. Reading through the first half felt like a slog even though it wasn't even that long. There really wasn't anything significant that was happening and there were even times when it felt a little too repetitive. The pacing definitely got better when I reached the 70% mark, which was the reason why I decided not to dnf and just push through til the end of the book. But it took too long and the payoff, unfortunately, wasn't really worth it in my opinion. Now usually I can excuse bad pacing if I find myself engrossed by the characters, but for this book that wasn't the case. I'm a character-driven story kind of reader so this was probably the biggest issue to me. The characters felt flat-- I formed no emotional attachment towards them and I couldn't care less about their motivations or backstories. Furthermore, the characters were just so underdeveloped to the point where their relationships with one another just felt forced and awkward. The author has potential for sure but there's still more room for improvement.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with a free earc in exchange of a honest review.

Rating: 4.5

Aparna Verma’s debut novel follows Elena Ravence as she prepares for her coronation and tries to figure out how to wield fire - an ability required of her as the heir to the kingdom; Leo, Elena’s father, who’s planning a battle against The Phoenix and is not interested in losing; and Yassen, who embarks in a journey with his oldest friend Samson and ends up being thrusted into the hearted Ravence.

There are a lot of things that I enjoyed in this book:

The worldbuilding and lore of Sayon, which Verma managed to blend aspect from India and SEA countries as well as futuristic technologies, the religion based around The Phoenix, the fire wielding, the yumis!!, how each kingdom presented to us had an affinity to something: Ravence with fire and Jantar with metal.

The characters, it’s fair to say that 50% of the book is spent on getting to know the POV characters, how Elena, Leo and Yassen think and rationalize their actions, it’s especially interesting to see how the events of the book actually have an effect on them.

The epilogue - does this count? Oh my god I was left speechless I need the sequel NOW

My only problem was the pacing, it took half of the book for the events leading up to the climax to happen, the action really takes off at 70% of the book and then it fizzles out up until the last 3 chapters and the epilogue.

Overall the boy with fire was a great quick read for fans of fantasy, new adult or those who want to be introduced to the genre.

Slow burn enemies to lovers? Yes.
Morally grey characters? Yes.
Desi fantasy (inspired)? Yes.
WOMEN WITH GUNS? YES.
Hotel? Trivago.

This book had it ALL. I was in love with the story and I am 100% excited for the rest of the series. The world-building, the characters, EVERYTHING!!


DON'T BE SHY APARNA VERMA DROP THE REST OF THE BOOKS ;))

I'm sure it is no surprise the wonders of reading a great fantasy story can do to my mood after seeing this book is loved by so many bloggers that I follow I was delighted when I got approved for an ARC and immediately jumped into it even though I had 10 others waiting on the shelf I have no regrets the book follows the story of this girl names Alina reason the princess of a Kingdom who is about ascended the throne but she has to learn to hold fire as her magic, or she might never be able to be Queen.

On the other hand, Leo Ravence, Elena's father and the King, is not ready to give up the kingdom yet. He is obsessed with finding and killing the Prophet, a prophecized hero who is supposedly not burnt by fire and can be a danger to the throne of Ravence.

Then there is our other main character (also my favorite) Yassen Knight, who was the best Assassin of the notorious guild of assassins, the Arohassin.
But after a terrible accident, he is on the run from them, until he gets the chance to save himself by becoming the personal guard of Elena, the Ravence heir.

The story is very fast-paced, full of explosive high-stakes action, (literally and figuratively) with shocking plot twists and a lot of backstabbing. I was honestly second-guessing myself at every turn because I couldn't predict which character would turn out to be the traitor next.

The atmosphere is very intense and things go wrong at the speed of light. If that sounds like your cup of tea, or if you just merely trust my reading tastes, do not miss this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and give my honest review of this arc.

Rating: 4 STARS

Wow. I enjoyed this book so much more than I originally thought I was going to. It surprised me in all the best ways throughout, with character relationships, plot twists, morally grey characters and plot developments. I got this arc after seeing that the author advertised it as being in the "read now" section of Netgalley and was not left disappointed after going in with really no knowledge or expectations of what was going to happen.

The slowburn romance was exactly the right touch on top of an already interesting premise. I really think it was a romance that .. wasn't exactly needed but was overall beautiful and a definite nice touch to the story in deepening certain characters and their motivations. It really changed how certain characters thought about themselves and even how myself as the reader looked at them.

I have to say that the absolute standout point of this book for me was the relationship between Princess Elena and Ferma. Absolutely stunningly written and gut wrenching at the right moments. It has been a long time since there has been a female friendship that has hit me that good.

The foreshadowing/plot twists of this debute was fantastically written and plotted out, to the point that sometimes it went completely over my head until coincidences would occur and suddenly my brain would go "oh my god!! you should have seen this one coming!!".

I loved how each pov character was morally grey. Whether that was something they already had, or something that their character grew into overtime of the events, it was such an interesting read and I thought the 3 povs really worked well together. I'm someone who believes that multiple povs can either be a hit or a miss, and for this book it was a definite hit.

If you're looking for a good read with some morally grey characters, politics, royalty, friendship and family relationships, slight corruption arc, arranged/marriage of convenience, slowburn enemies to lovers, guard and Princess romance? This is a fantastic story.

I'm very excited to see where the rest of the trilogy takes these characters.

Some trigger warnings for this book include: War themes/crimes, self-immolation, grief/loss of loved ones.

Thank you so much for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you read this book you’re sure to get a story rich with culture, character development and excellent worldbuilding. You’ll also get morally ambiguous characters who you’ll love to hate and hate to love.

I have to warn you though this is a fantasy book that will require you to make use of the glossary in the back and the pacing is a bit dodgy at times.

The Boy with Fire is an adult fantasy novel based on Indian mythology and is set in the kingdom of Ravence in which our three protagonists Elena, Leo and Yassen take the lead.

I was a fan of the lore/mythology and the fire magic of this fantasy world, but I was not in love with the pacing. Nonetheless, the writing style was easy to read and is a credit to the author.
I wasn’t overly attached to any of the characters or relationships but of the three POVs, Leo was the most developed and his motivations were the most compelling to read.

For the right person, these characters could be well-loved as they are all morally grey and have their own ambitions.

Wow that was... AMAZING !!
The plot was soooo unexpected it blow my mind away, it was well thought! The energy put in such little details that made the whole plot/world more real is really spectacular. I loved it, I absolutely loved it. The world was really well developed as for the culture of each country it was so interesting reading so many different ways of living.
The characters were so interesting as well. The way they all evolve differently but strongly, you see the changes at the end of the book, how they matured and how they grew into different person. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because I was not attached to any character particularly. Otherwise, I definitely recommend this book.

I was really excited for The Boy with Fire, as it has a lot of things I love, but I struggled to get into it, which I believe is more due to the fact that I'm rarely in the mood for high fantasy these days. I'm sure if I read it again when I'm more in the mood for high fantasy, that I'd find it more enjoyable and would rate it more highly!

I received this book from netgelley to review. This book was at first really hard to get through. The first half of this book was a lot of terms and world building I had to look into to understand more. However, I did enjoy that it was a cross between science fiction and fantasy. The gods and prophesies are prominent in this book which was cool and I enjoyed that it was a Desi inspired book. It definitely gave me a cross between Dune and The Poppy War. I enjoyed the beautiful written descriptions that the author used. However, this book would have been a five star if it wasn’t for such a slow first half of the book. It definitely built up and left on a cliff hanger so I’m excited to see if there is going to be a second book and where the author takes it.

OPRAH GIF

The Boy With Fire is, as the description says, an Indian-inspired epic fantasy. I think it goes beyond just fantasy though, since it has elements of sci-fi to it as well. I saw somewhere that someone mentioned Star Wars, the description mentions Dune, but this manages to break into its own category.

Admittedly, the first part of the book is slow-paced. There is immense world-building done here (and, helpfully, there is a glossary in the back...hopefully the final version of the book will include a map!). The book alternates between Yassen Knight, an assassin who is trying to escape from the criminal organization he has been a part of for years, Elena Ravence, the Princess-soon-to-be-Queen of the kingdom of Ravence who knows she cannot withstand the flame that is her birthright, and Leo Ravence, Elena's father and the King of Ravence, who aims to avoid the apocalypse by scouring the kingdom for the "Prophet" who will burn the kingdom to the ground.

As a result of the focus on world-building in the first half of the book (or so), I feel like we really got to know the characters more deeply in the second portion of the book but once that happened I became so attached. Yassen....my Knight, Elena, the light of my life, Leo...DILF. This story is brutal, and the ending was devastating and I can't believe it ended like that and I don't know what to do now.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

the concept was what made me want to read this book. however, i found the pacing a bit all over the place and i couldn't connect with the characters. the writing was very good and it definitely was what kept me reading. i will wait for the following book in this trilogy to see how it will all develop.