This book will make your heart bleed and burn, and want you to have it done all over again. A must-read.

Talk about an EPIC fantasy debut. The world of Sayon is so captivating and beautiful. I want to run in the dunes of Ravence and take the holotrains through the brass cities of Jantar. Also, the cloud cookies! I want one!

The book is written in 3 distinct, character POVs: Yassen Knight, Elena Ravence, and Leo Ravence. Yassen breaks your heart, Elena inspires you to burn your enemies, and Leo just scares you. I have to say that my favorite is (surprisingly) Leo. He's such a dynamic character. You know that what he's doing is WRONG (like hello!!), but you understand WHY he goes batshit crazy.

The author said on her Twitter that her book deals with themes of historical trauma and Indian mythology and damn, it REALLY does. The book can be dark and violent at times, but so is history. Every character is drowning in a sea of grief and unbridled rage. Sometimes, I just want to give them a hug, but I'm afraid I'll get burned.

All in all, I LOVED this book. I can't wait for the rest of the trilogy. I'm going to call it now - Aparna Verma will be one of the best fantasy writers of our generation.

Disclaimer: As a a beta reader, I've read an early copy of the book. I was not asked to write a review. This is my honest opinion.

Hi everyone!

Since this is my book, I'm a bit biased towards the 5-star review, but I wanted to take this chance to talk more about THE BOY WITH FIRE.

I started writing this book back in 2017. It was just a spark of an idea that didn't grow into a fire until the pandemic of 2020. The world was crumbling around me. People were dying. I was stuck at home, despairing about how our leaders had failed us. And then something inside me said, the world needs your novel now. Write it.

THE BOY WITH FIRE is, at its heart, a story about madness. It shows a world teetering on the edge of war, and the people who push it over. The book gets DARK. It's written in 3 character POVs, and each character must make brutally cruel decisions that put other lives at stake. There's genocide, terrorism, vengeful gods, and man's battle against fate. For the book politics, I was largely inspired by the geopolitical tensions in India, as well as the rise of nationalistic leaders in both America and India.

In short, the book is not for the faint of heart.

But, there are lighter moments! think: a subtle romance subplot. There are also badass female warriors inspired by the Hindu goddess Kali, a BIPOC cast, and, my favorite, cloud cookies. If you're a baker and you're reading this, please make cloud cookies an actual thing!

When writing, I drew inspiration from my own heritage. I was born in India, in the desert of Rajasthan. My mom raised me on the epic tales of the Mahabharat and the Ramayana. While THE BOY WITH FIRE is not an adaptation or retelling of Hindu myths, these stories certainly influenced my world-building.

I was also inspired by so many amazing books, so THE BOY WITH FIRE is a magical conglomeration of Dune, The Poppy War, Game of Thrones, and ATLA. If you love these comps, hopefully you'll enjoy THE BOY WITH FIRE.

Thank you for reading this. I really, really hope you fall in love with THE BOY WITH FIRE as much as I have. The characters have taken my heart. Hopefully, they'll take yours too. <3