Thank you to netgalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. This was a great fantasy read. Loved the writing style.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Sarah Mughal Rana for the chance to read this ARC. What a great epic fantasy book! I can't believe all the exciting things that happened in this less than 500 pages. I was hooked on the story from start to finish!

This book may look a bit intimidating with its huge worldbuilding and all the different places and characters. I, myself had a bit of trouble at first since english is not my first language and some description's meaning scaped me. But once I got past that, I really got to apreciate the amazing flow of the narration. There was not one dull moment on sight. And those rich descriptions made the story so much vibrant and real in a wonderful way.

The world of Dawn of the Firebird has really captivated me with it's history, political conflicts, magic system, diffetent views of religion and a very well rounded main character with her virtues and flaws... I only would have liked to see a bit more of development in some of the main character's relationships. To really get to know a bit better those who we are supposed to care about.

I really enjoyed this read. And after that crazy ending, I'm really exited to see where the story goes next in the following book.

I wish i didn't have to write a review like this but as a reviewer, i need to be honest. This book just wasn't for me. It sounded promising from the synopsis and what i saw on social media but it fell flat. I felt like i was reading some sort of textbook at times and because i couldn't get into it at the beginning, the rest just didn't grip me. I wanted to dnf at times but i told myself to give it a chance. It was ok in certain areas (hence the 2 stars) but nothing more and i had to skim read just to get myself to finish the book. I thought it may be because i'm not in the right headspace right now but i think, even if i were to re-read it when i'm better, my thoughts will still be the same.

I felt like the author was trying to do a lot so nothing was explained well and there wasn't much development with characters. I felt no connection to any of them. I didn't even like them so when things were meant to be emotional, i just didn't care. This book could've delivered really well if the writing and worldbuilding had been better. It's a shame that i couldn't connect with it.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for allowing me to read and e-arc for an honest review. I truly appreciate it.

This turned out to be a great read that kept me turning pages late into the night. The story is full of action and great world building that felt full of potential.

It did take me a little while to find my footing. There’s a lot of information and names thrown at you early on, and the pacing doesn’t give you much time to catch your breath. But once I got into the flow of it I was fully invested.

The plot moves fast, but it kept me engaged the whole way through. I really enjoyed the twists, and the fresh take on familiar fantasy elements. Overall a really enjoyable read, and I’m really excited to see where the story goes next.

4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

A rich, lyrical fantasy set in a war-torn world once blessed by celestial birds, Dawn of the Firebird
follows Khamilla Zahr-zad, an outcast princess turned magical weapon. After awakening the rare power of nur, Khamilla is thrust into a world of court politics, brutal training, and shadowed vengeance.

The author crafts an immersive tale blending nomadic culture, jinn lore, and empire-spanning intrigue.

While the pacing slows in parts, especially during Khamilla’s academy arc, the emotional stakes remain high.

Her inner conflict — torn between revenge and freedom — adds depth to a vivid, morally complex world.

Verdict: A beautifully written, compelling fantasy with a fierce heroine and a world steeped in myth and war.

A great epic fantasy debut!

Born to an emperor who refuses to acknowledge her and prophesied to inherit nūr (cold Heavenly light), Khamilla is viewed as cursed by her tribe. When their village is attacked, she’s taken to live with the emperor’s clan, where her power is trained
and where she endeavours to earn her dada’s recognition. Yet when another rebellion strikes, Khamilla is forced to forge another path, infiltrating the army school of her enemy (the Sajamistani tribe) where she works to cultivate her power and gain valuable intel. There, she starts to realise that the tribes’ conflicts are not as simple as she first presumed.

There was a lot I really enjoyed about this book. My favourite section was definitely her time spent in the army school. Her interactions with her trifecta were intriguing, I loved her relationship with the pazktab children, and there were some really dramatic and captivating fight scenes that had me gripped from start to finish.

I can see why, in marketing, it’s been likened to the poppy war trilogy because there are definitely aspects of Khamilla’s personality that remind me of Rin - she might not be the strongest, or the most powerful, but she is dogged in her determination and driven by her need for revenge. There were also elements that reminded me of The Sword of Kaigen, particularly in the way her beliefs started to be challenged.

While I really enjoyed my reading experience , there were just a couple of things that stopped it from being a higher rating. Predominately, the pacing. For example, one of the things I found slightly jarring in the first quarter was the big time jumps we would sometimes get - where we’d move on a couple of years and just be told that she’d been, for example, training during that time. While I understand the author might not have wanted to make this book even longer, with Khamilla being so young at the start of the book, I would’ve liked to see some of that development. I felt the same with some of the pacing towards the end of the book. Secondly, I love an epic fantasy work great world building and action; however, I’m also a very character driven reader. The relationships she started to build (both good and bad) at the army school made for some of the most interesting moments (same with Eliyas at the start); however, I thought we lost some of that towards the latter part of the book. Overall, still a great read and I’m really excited to see what the rest of the trilogy brings!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this. The world was interesting and you really feel for the main character. From the very start I was gripped.
My only issue is that it was very confusing which kept taking me out of the story. There was a lot of focus on world building which created a very expansive and rich setting, but I feel that focus left the characters feeling a bit underdeveloped in comparison. So if you love rich world building in your fantasies then this book is for you. If you are more character driven then potentially not.
Overall a very solid epic fantasy.

I did not really know what to expect with this book, but it felt like reading an epic fantasy. The reader goes on a huge journey with the main character as she embarks upon a very pain filled, grief fuelled life surrounded by war. The first half of the story I found it quite hard to understand what was happening and why. The second half of the story flowed a lot better and I found myself immersed into the world. If you haven’t read a lot of fantasy I would recommend reading some easier fantasy books before starting this book as it has a lot of heavy themes and harder to follow. I felt moments of joy, sadness, grief and anger while reading this. You go on an emotional journey - so be prepared!

This book and I just didn’t click. It wasn’t that the premise turned me off, it actually sounded really promising, but I quickly found myself buried under layers of detailed lore and political intricacies. While some readers thrive on that level of depth, I personally needed a stronger emotional hook to stay invested, and I couldn’t find that here at least right now. The worldbuilding was a bit heavy and there was too much unnecessary information that made it hard for me to stay interested.

In another mood or mindset, I might’ve had the patience for it. For now, though, it was simply a bit too much, and I had to step away. If you're into expansive, deeply built worlds, this could very well be your thing. It just wasn’t mine, at least not right now.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish this book. Not because I thought the story wasn't for me, but simply because I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of world building and information. I didn't feel any connection to the characters at all. I felt like too much was made of the world's politics and not enough of the actual characters. I found it impossible to follow along easily and in the end I gave up.

If you are looking for something more in depth and realised this book may be great for you! Sadly for me at this time it proved too intense.

The book was okay. It had his momentan where the worldbuilding was a bit confusing but in rest the plot was interesting and in liked how the author created the characters. I can't say i have a favorite, maybe because i read it with many pauses, having long days at work.

I found it hard to keep up with the world building when I first started reading this book. It’s quite a lot but I stuck in there with it. Overall I enjoyed the characters and the storylines. I did enjoy the book and felt it did have my interest enough to keep going with it and I’m glad I did.

Thank you to Sarah Mughal Rana, Bloomsbury, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Dawn of the Firebird had an interesting premise but it wasn’t executed perfectly. There was a lot of info-dumping and the sentence structure could be jarring at times. I was also surprised to find out that this book wasn’t being marketed for YA (I wouldn’t have picked it up if it was). A re-edit to make it suitable for YA may have worked better.

The author is obviously very intelligent and creative, but this one just didn’t work for me. I think if you’re stepping into fantasy and don’t have many other books to compare it to, you might quite like it. If you have, you’ll understand that quite a few ideas have been magpied and not executed quite as well. The author / author’s family has also been acting unprofessionally toward reviewers / readers, which is disappointing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book. The plot was great , the storytelling was vivid and really helped you imagine throughout. Really enjoyed the characters and following their story. . Really good.

Dawn of the Firebird by Sarah Mughal Rana is such a good story. I rated it 5 stars. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.

READING IS SUBJECTIVE!

Had to start by saying that since this book just wasn’t for me. This is definitely a high fantasy with very intense world building. I definitely enjoy high fantasies but this for me was too much world building I felt like I couldn’t get into the plot of it. Every time I felt like I was getting somewhere, there was just so much information to take in I couldn’t keep up with it. It’s definitely very heavy on the politics and culture aspects aswell so again a lot to take in and remember as you’re going along.

I did really enjoy the magic system it was very unique, definitely haven’t read another book with anything like this. I’m pretty sure I was pronouncing over half the people/places incorrectly but that’s just my own incompetence 🤭

The story line was very interesting and I think a lot of people will definitely love this. Unfortunately for me it was too much from the start to understand what was going on and follow along. But please give this a go as not every book is for everyone so please try it before you walk past it 💖

I found the worldbuilding in this book a bit too heavy, with far too much detail given to the magic system and politics and not enough to character relationships. The main character was difficult to like as she was constantly changing identities and forgetting parts of her past. I also found the ending quite disappointing.

Dawn of the Firebird is most definitely a high revenge fantasy novel and is being compared to the likes of Sword of Kaigen & The Will of Many.

My first impressions of the book were great. You follow Khamilla our FMC who is brought up amongst a tribe and taught magic and stories about the Jinn folk you get a real introduction to the beginning of her own story and her character. Tragedy hits and she is forced to run with her Uma to Azadniabad where the emperor is actually her father. In an attempt to be accepted by her father, her siblings and her kingdoms people, she abandons her tribal heritage and succumbs to the wills and ways of this new kingdom which are incredibly harsher than those she has been brought up in. Tragedy hits AGAIN and she succumbs to even stranger/harsher conditions to infiltrate the enemy military to exact revenge on them. But all is always not as it seems as we learn throughout Khamilla’s journey.

I loved learning about all the different places that Khamilla experiences although a lot of the words and names of things were a bit lost on me. You can tell that the author Sarah is an academic and incredibly smart. I found myself looking up the names of objects, pronunciations and for this reason I feel like this took me a longer time to read and digest the story. It was a big learning opportunity for me and I didn’t dislike that.

I thought the authors writing was descriptive and felt immersive. I absolutely loved that it has very Middle Eastern vibes and you definitely could tell the author is passionate and knowledgeable about the culture. It’s so refreshing to read about a different culture in the fantasy genre. I felt like I could almost taste the food that was described and visibly imagine the clothes and colours.

I liked the main character Khamilla and enjoyed her interactions with other characters but I did feel it was sometimes hard to connect on a deeper level although I’m not sure 100% why.
I enjoyed the twist with ‘No Name’ and do feel the ending of the book leaves it open nicely for a sequel.

I think it would be really helpful to add a map to the book as I would have loved to refer to the different areas mentioned in the book and help imagine it all.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend this book if you like high fantasy, martial arts and revenge!

Thank you for the opportunity of reading this ARC Bloomsbury!

4⭐

Dawn on the Firebird by Sarah Mughal Rana is for fans of The Poppy War, She Who Became the Sun and The Will of the Many, a breathtaking fantasy novel about the daughter of an overthrown emperor.

This was a unique take on fantasy and this story was fresh from an own voice author. It kept me hooked to the narrative the entire time and while I did enjoy it, my only problem was that there was more telling than show. This is not exactly my cup of tea, especially with the some of the lines but I think others would enjoy it!