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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
This story has great bones. It starts out strong and I enjoyed the protagonist and her journey.
(Spoilers below!!)
What I didn't like was the end. She doesn't actually win the duel. Abheron throws it, after he beats her. I know it was a redemption of sorts for him, but I feel that Zahira needed to win honestly. Not this way. It just petered out for me and made the victory bland. Meh.
(Spoilers below!!)
What I didn't like was the end. She doesn't actually win the duel. Abheron throws it, after he beats her. I know it was a redemption of sorts for him, but I feel that Zahira needed to win honestly. Not this way. It just petered out for me and made the victory bland. Meh.
Daughter of Flames is the story of Zira/Zahira, a princess of Rua who was raised as a commoner with no memory of her true past.
When the current, foriegn king (of Sedborne) who has taken over Rua, sends men to destroy the House of God where she lives, a series of events in set into motion forcing Zira/Zahira to retrieve her memories and start an unlikely alliance with a Sedborne Lord.
This book is a case of "I think I would have totally liked this if I were 16." As I am not...er...16, I didn't find very much in this book that hasn't been done before. It was all done well, and the characters believable and sympathetic, but it didn't have that thread of uniqueness or sense of a twist on an old theme I would look for in fantasy worlds.
There are cool fighting/training scenes for Zira, a believable, tasteful romance with the Sedborne Lord, moral quandries, and startling revelations.
The single thread of interest/newness that I wish had been developed further was when Zira/Zahira was trying to integrate her old memories of her life before her family was destroyed with the sense of herself as she was raised. I liked how she had to struggle with running her own feelings through two filters, and as this part was interesting to me, I wished there had been more of that, and less a "deus ex machina" moment where in the book she suddenly feels a sense of completeness with the help of her goddess.
Despite what I said above, the book was good and Zira/Zahira totally a strong heroine many would enjoy identifying with.
This book's food designation: plain Madeleines (the cookies) for the story being well-done and the heroine sweet, but just a tad too ordinary for my taste.
When the current, foriegn king (of Sedborne) who has taken over Rua, sends men to destroy the House of God where she lives, a series of events in set into motion forcing Zira/Zahira to retrieve her memories and start an unlikely alliance with a Sedborne Lord.
This book is a case of "I think I would have totally liked this if I were 16." As I am not...er...16, I didn't find very much in this book that hasn't been done before. It was all done well, and the characters believable and sympathetic, but it didn't have that thread of uniqueness or sense of a twist on an old theme I would look for in fantasy worlds.
There are cool fighting/training scenes for Zira, a believable, tasteful romance with the Sedborne Lord, moral quandries, and startling revelations.
The single thread of interest/newness that I wish had been developed further was when Zira/Zahira was trying to integrate her old memories of her life before her family was destroyed with the sense of herself as she was raised. I liked how she had to struggle with running her own feelings through two filters, and as this part was interesting to me, I wished there had been more of that, and less a "deus ex machina" moment where in the book she suddenly feels a sense of completeness with the help of her goddess.
Despite what I said above, the book was good and Zira/Zahira totally a strong heroine many would enjoy identifying with.
This book's food designation: plain Madeleines (the cookies) for the story being well-done and the heroine sweet, but just a tad too ordinary for my taste.
Compelling heroine and mythology - not as clean of storytelling as Mariott's newest, Shadows on the Moon. This was her first book, and it's always nice to see how an author grows over time. Still totally worth a read.
I really wanted to like this book, the plot was enjoyable, pretty standard but the king surprised me throughput - but it was just so rushed. It bounced from plot point to plot point quickly, but was written in a fluid, super easy to read way - I finished it in a day quite happily. It suffered from something that annoys me often in YA - their ages. With her being 16, 15 at the start, I would have liked to have known his - just saying. I almost stopped reading when the pick up line happened as I was so immediately grossed out. Her being a novice at this age is completely believable, but his role? With no talk of how he got there so young? I had assumed he was in his thirties, and going after a 16yr old girl. 8 years still freaked me out but not as much, I guess.
I'm so bored. I could be reading something better right now.
Daughter of the Flames is a supertasticawesome book. I really liked it. Zahira Elfenesh is such a great character. She learns her true identity and fights the powers that come against her. Zahira looses, but she also gains. Sorin Mesgao is another great character. He barely knows Zahira, and yet he cares for her in more ways than one. I really liked this book. It was awesome!
Daughter of Flames is a stand alone, which seems to be harder and harder to find in YA nowadays. It does have a companion novel which has other characters in it, but it isn't necessary to read that one to enjoy this one. While I liked that about it, it was also a drawback because I felt the story was a little rushed at times. This book could have gotten five stars from me if it had progressed at a slower pace through certain parts. For example, I wanted to experience how Zahira and Sorin got closer and I felt like we were mostly just told that they did. Other than that I have no complaints. The book was hard to put down and I loved the characters.
There's something extremely captivating about Zoë Marriott's writing. This one lured me in even more!
Review to come.
Review to come.
Reading DAUGHTER OF THE FLAMES is like watching a high-action, “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”-like movie. In other words, it’s fantastic and utterly enthralling. Zoe Marriott has a wonderful way of vividly describing details, so that I could see every aspect of what was going on at any time in my mind.
The characters also were interesting and memorable. Zira/Zahira is an awesome female protagonist, kicking butt both literally—in suspenseful fight scenes reminiscent of Asian martial arts movies—and metaphorically—holding her own verbally in mental warfare. Zahira is a young girl who is mercilessly thrust into a position of high power and responsibility, and both her doubts and determination are highly believable.
King Abheron is a perfectly twisted antagonist with a surprisingly touching background, who occasionally does things that are so bizarre, so complex, and so inexplicable that I can definitely, without being able to explain it, see why he would want to do such things. Sorin is less well developed but still likable. I would have liked to see more of his loyalty and love for Zahira throughout the book, but I am still happy with what I got from him.
Upon finishing the book I let out a frustrated cry, so disappointed I was that the book had to end. Zoe Marriott is truly skilled at writing engrossing fantasies, and I definitely want to read more books by her in the future.
The characters also were interesting and memorable. Zira/Zahira is an awesome female protagonist, kicking butt both literally—in suspenseful fight scenes reminiscent of Asian martial arts movies—and metaphorically—holding her own verbally in mental warfare. Zahira is a young girl who is mercilessly thrust into a position of high power and responsibility, and both her doubts and determination are highly believable.
King Abheron is a perfectly twisted antagonist with a surprisingly touching background, who occasionally does things that are so bizarre, so complex, and so inexplicable that I can definitely, without being able to explain it, see why he would want to do such things. Sorin is less well developed but still likable. I would have liked to see more of his loyalty and love for Zahira throughout the book, but I am still happy with what I got from him.
Upon finishing the book I let out a frustrated cry, so disappointed I was that the book had to end. Zoe Marriott is truly skilled at writing engrossing fantasies, and I definitely want to read more books by her in the future.