This is a fantastic story of friendship, discovery and of course dragons.
After the revolution Annie and Lee find themselves in an orphanage and eventually competing to become Dragon Riders.
With another w at on the horizon, political intrigue and prejudice the duo must outwit the opposition.
This fantasy series should be enjoyed by a wider audience, and not just targeted at young adult.s.
Cannot wait for the next instalment!

Originally published in 2019, Fireborne is finally making its way to UK readers—and I’m so glad it is. This is a bold and layered YA fantasy that surprised me with its complexity and depth.

Set in the aftermath of a revolution, the story follows two dragonriders, Annie and Lee, as they navigate political tensions, class divides, and the weight of their own shared past. I was immediately struck by how much world-building and political intrigue Munda packs into this story—there’s a rich history, a complex cast of characters, and a unique terminology that you’re kind of just thrown into. It’s a bit overwhelming at first (especially for YA), but it pays off if you stick with it.

What really shines is the exploration of friendship, loyalty, and power—especially as Annie and Lee’s relationship is tested by their diverging paths and hidden truths. The class commentary is also strong, weaving in questions of privilege, justice, and identity without feeling heavy-handed.

While the pacing starts a bit slow due to the amount of setup, I found myself increasingly drawn in as the emotional stakes grew. It’s smart, ambitious, and offers a refreshingly mature take on YA fantasy.

Free courtesy of Netgalley

This is the first book I have read of Rosaria Mundane and I absolutely loved it. It felt like a grown up version of how to train your dragon a little bit.

Annie and Lee have been brought up in an orphanage, after the Dragon lords have been overthrown and slain. Both were affected by Palace day where this event took place, but the new regime tries to make things fairer, and anyone can try out to be at the choosing, where if chosen by a dragon they get to train to be a rider to protect the kingdom. Before this it was only the upper echelons of society were invited.

All these teenagers will soon have to step up and put their training into practice, when the members of the dragon lord families, who managed to escape, threaten to take the kingdom back.

In this first book, is the new regime better than the old one ? What secrets are Annie and Lee keeping?
The chapters are told from their points of view and you learn more about them and their friends and family as it goes along.

I can't wait for the next installment, and I would recommend this book to anyone who loves books about Dragons.

Sadly this was a dnf for me. The synopsis sounded great but I could it very confusing with lots of characters introduced closely together and I found it hard to keep track.
I’m sure others will like it just not for me this time.

I’ didn’t re-read this because it turns out I’ve already read the first two books of this series sometime ago and it’s not a new release?

But they are amazing and I would highly recommend to anyone, still need to get round to reading Furysong.

Read it if you of course love dragons, but this book does revolution and political war so well too.

I loved this book so much and would highly recommend it. I don’t want to give any of the story away. Go and get it perfect book to read in the sun x

This book immediately gave me strong Fourth Wing/Hunger Games vibes with the dragons and tournament trials. A lot of characters are introduced immediately and it’s a little confusing tracking who is who though Munda does a good job of injecting personalities into them. There is a lot of world building at the start that felt too info dumping so it was a bit off putting.

It is a political YA book, it reminded me of the Roman Empire. I’m not sure what Munda based it off. I found the political themes a bit too heavy for my liking.

Overall it’s a fast-paced read and I can see why there are many fans, especially now it’s released in the UK. I believe it was originally released in the US in 2019.

I give this 3.5 stars, rounded up.

A solid YA fantasy novel. Fireborne contains a variety of standard elements you’d want in a YA fantasy story, with politics, rebellion, trials, friendship, budding romance, and likeable main characters. I grew especially attached to Annie throughout, as was intended for one of the two protagonists.

Equally, while I enjoyed this book, it didn’t blow me away. It felt a bit too slow in the first half, and I felt that some characters and elements of worldbuilding were lacking, or maybe a more accurate description would be flickering—so much was focussed around our two protagonists that a lot of possibilities and opportunities to flesh out the rest of the story were snuffed out.

Overall; a good book, would recommend if you’re interested by the synopsis, but not anything groundbreaking.

Thank you to DK and NetGalley for this ARC!

3.5🌟 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘒 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊.

With the proliferation of dragon-academy books in recent years, it's nice to return to a novel published at the beginning of that curve - that took its inspiration from classic texts rather than from the romantasy books lining that one aisle in Big Tesco.

Fireborne is firmly positioned as a YA offering, and follows friends (and rivals) Lee and Annie as they vie for Firstrider status amongst their airborne legion of fellow dragon riders. Both orphans of a revolution that saw the old dragonmasters (lords that formed a triarchy of privilege and dominion) slain, their rule overhauled in favour of a regime that could see individuals rise up from poverty if given the opportunity to do so. It's a pretty astute critique on class systems, class struggles, and the compromises and sacrifices that stand in the way of a truly utopian society. I particularly liked the use of metal-classes to divide people up into those capable of unskilled labour, skilled labour, military and cerebral pursuits (iron, bronze, silver and gold). Someone's worth is still very much defined by what they can offer, even if they're being paid to perform that role.

It never gets bogged down in excessive description or flowery language, and seems to know when to quit a scene. The heart of the story is definitely the relationship between Lee and Annie, with all its complexities and shared history. Though perhaps a tad predictable, there's a very clear arc that sees them evolve from childhood friends to workplace rivals to something more. The side characters lack some of the depth that would make them truly leap off the page, but in a dual-POV YA book there's only so much breathing room for them anyways.

The threat of the old regime returning is the big bad, though it doesn't shy away from questioning the recent changes and how the revolution was dealt with. Is it enough to be a lesser evil? Or do they need to be striving for something more? As a children's book, it offers a good introduction into class politics, though I think adult readers would naturally seek more nuance and further development/world-building. Fireborne isn't interested in finding that depth (which, for a YA novel, is perfectly fair!).

Overall, this felt reassuringly competent, if ultimately unsurprising. I'd have liked a greater focus on the dragons and magic system surrounding their bonds with their riders, but perhaps that will come in later books!

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me.

I was excited by the description and premise but sadly i wasn’t gripped by the plot early on and didn’t feel a strong sense of storyline or character.

There was a lot of assuming the reader could keep up with a lot of characters being introduced alongside backstory, familial connections and world building. This was all within the first 10%.

While i love being gripped from the start and a fast paced plot, i do think there needs to be a slower introduction to some parts if you are going for a big fantasy political plot with multiple pov’s.

After my last disappointing arc I really hoped Fireborne would spark a desire in me and boy, did it.

I was hooked from page one and in one day I had surpassed the page I DNF'd on my last read, which was around 120 pages, something that took me 4 days to achieve with the last book. When a book has me gripped me like that I know I'm going to love it.

I loved the battle system they had and the bond with their dragons. Even though the dragons couldn't communicate verbally they did so through emotion. They felt what their riders felt be it happiness, anger or grief.

Annie and Lee were annoying at times especially with their feelings for each other. It was painfully obvious that they lobed each other but they still pursued other people while giving each other doe eyes and holding hands where no one else could see. I felt like screaming at them to stop leading their friends on and to just get together.

Lee's backstory was great. I loved how we saw the turmoil and conflict he has when Julia appears on the scene and Annie's backstory was painful. Reading about what happened to her family left me feeling heartbroken for her.

I don't like Atreus, even before finding out more about him I just didn't trust him. I didn't understand how he never realised who Lee was, but it all makes sense towards the end.

I can't wait to read the next one.

DNF @ 25%
While Fireborne has an interesting concept, it doesn’t seem to be holding my attention, so sadly it’s a DNF.

The prologue definitely piqued my interest, and from what I’ve read I can tell the author took care to make the world building rich and intricate.

There are two alternating POVs, Lee and Annie, which are written in first person. While I don’t mind alternating POVs, I do think it would’ve been stronger to have the chapters dedicated to one character’s voice at a time. I think the sudden switch between POVs mid chapters jarring, and that I wasn’t connecting with either character.

Although it doesn’t seem to be clicking for me, I can see Fireborne’s potential. I think readers who enjoy dragons and political intrigue may enjoy what this book has to offer.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc.

A gripping YA book that was easy to read but was a thrilling tale. The twists and turns had me wanting more I could barely put it down. It had me feeling hope, love, pain and sorrow for the characters. Dragons are so popular at the moment and this book truly did not disappoint. I'm so excited and can't wait to find out what happens with Lee and Annie in the next book. Thanks for the opportunity ity to read this I loved it.

I've seen this book being likened to Fourth Wing, and that does it a disservice. If anything, it's more House of the Dragon. Hugely classic inspired, with hints to Plato, this is a fantastic YA story about politics, classism and war (but with dragons).

The story doesn't spell out the actual villain until the last few pages, and the way it does it is superb. I cannot wait to read more.

Don't kid yourself into thinking this is a Romantsy, this is closer to an epic. The romance is not the story, it is barely a thing. There's no yearning, no steam, no spice. It's refreshing actually.

The only small issue I have with this book is the characters age. The things these Dragon Riders are being put through would break people my age, yet these are children. I think that this genre uses trauma to make them grow up too fast, but they are only 16/17.

All in all, an extremely well written novel.

I feel as though the Aurelian Cycle is a perfect introduction to fantasy. The world was easy to understand and the story drew me in from the beginning.
Our main characters were born on opposite sides of the kingdom’s hierarchy and grew up together in the face of a new regime. Chosen by dragons together. Now that new regime is compromised and they have to work together to fix it and the underlying problems they never saw before now.
Tension, rivals, best friends and a threatened revolution come together to create a great fantasy people can use to get into or rediscover their love for the fantasy genre.

Overall an enjoyable read. I liked the story and the characters and in general liked the authors writing style. I do have a few negatives - the pacing was a bit off for me and I NEEDED more dragons. Hopefully this is sorted in the next book of the series.

Fireborne starts off with a compelling foundation and the concept is rich, and the thematic groundwork is undeniably solid.

That said, the pacing didn’t work for me. It was very slow to get into unfortunately, and though the momentum built toward the end, it felt like a long wait to get there so I couldn’t rate higher. The action sequences didn’t always deliver the impact I was hoping for. It has potential and I was intrigued so I may continue the series but this book left me wanting something more.

I like dragon rider stories and I was intrigued by the idea that this was inspired by WWII dogfights over London. I couldn’t help but be reminded a bit of A Language of Dragons in terms of tone, but this was its own story. I loved the premise for this but the execution didn’t entirely work for me. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Overall though I had a good time with this book.

3.5 I’ve had my eye on this book for a long time, so I’m glad it’s finally being published in the UK! This book had a lot; political intrigue, commentary on societal & class restructure, dragons, strong friendships, family ties. Overall, I had a good time reading it.

What I struggled with was the lack of consistent pacing, at times it felt quite slow. I wanted a bit more from the plot and more information about the dragons. I also didn’t like Annie for a lot of the book, I found her quite self-centred, but she was redeemed towards the end. I’d like to carry on with the rest of the series when it comes out too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Inspired by a combination of classics such as Plato and also by dog fights above England during world war 2 the author imagines what it would be like if dragons fought in the air. It’s a crazy combination that works as the story she tells is about the aftermath of a revolution that leaves the victors and indeed the dispossessed struggling in their new utopia but have they truly created a paradise with freedom and prosperity for all or is it an illusion that can come crashing down ?
Our hero is Lee who hides the fact that he is the son of a much reviled and now dead Dragon Lord. He’s fought his way up through the ranks and now his goal of becoming First rider is within sight but first there’s the little matter of actually winning the trials. One of his rivals is Annie who is probably the person he is closest to but even she doesn’t know his secrets.
This story takes these characters and indeed the reader on a moral journey where it’s difficult to categorically state what is black and what is white. The political machinations are muddied with the author showing shockingly that even the heroes of this world have feet of clay . Do not expect a straight forward romance either because even then these characters make decisions that feel uncomfortable.
This is incredibly hard to rate because as much as I applauded the ending at times it did feel a little slow. Plus I know that we are all influenced by something and it’s almost impossible to have a completely new idea but the set up for these characters reminded me of another famous series.
Lee the young hero who is orphaned.
Annie the best friend who is undoubtedly brilliant but looked down upon by elitist snobs .
School/ academy setting.
Vile fellow student who is frequently rude and nasty to Annie.
The old guard determined to bring back dark times.
Yes I know it’s a completely different story but sadly all of the above plus a couple of other things did take me out of the story at times. I think overall given that it’s a book about squadrons of Dragons taking to the skies and fighting what really let this down was a distinct lack of action as even at the end when a much anticipated showdown occurs it just seemed to happen so very quickly. This isn’t a bad book because I did enjoy this story and I hope the sequel allows the Dragons and their riders to really show what they can do !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested and my thoughts and comments are honest