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The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond
Well I'm finally back - I'm going to try to post more regularly soon - but this is the most recent book I just finished, and have so many others I need to blab about from the last book I posted about.
Anyway - at about 168 pages before acknowledgements, holy shit this was quite the book.
Gifted to me as a 23rd birthday gift by my brother's girlfriend, (who I talked to extremely vaguely while reading it since I want her to read it too) this book sat on a shelf for a handful of months. And now it sits at a rather comfortable 4 star rating (with potential in either direction depending on how the sequel is).
This novella was shockingly fun and quick read, though I'll admit, I like apparently many, wasn't exactly expecting any plot twists in an under 200 page book. Until I was in the car the other day (in the passenger seat, not driving) and had the book with the cover face down and started looking at all those little reviews from other authors.
Most of them mentioned something about a plot twist. In fact there was. One I could not have seen coming ever, one that had my jaw dropping at work.
I will also take this opportunity to warn fellow sapphics out there, yes there is some hints of an extreme slow burn but it looks like nothing super physical or even official is going to be happening until The Bloodless Princes in October.
For such a short book, I found the world more believable and enjoyable than many two or three times its size - really proving that a high epic fantasy does not need to be 800 pages. In fact I would love more novella series like these, I would eat them up.
The only difference I wish had been explored was to use different ways to portray the stories when switching out of our main character's point of view - I've seen footnotes be used, and having an image of a scroll on the page with the story typed up - and I really think this would have been even better utilizing one or both - as I just really wanted more of Maddileh and her potential love interest and their moments together.
While I know this is simply meant to be a duology, I can easily see Charlotte Bond writing more and more in this world, it has so much potential and can only grow from here.













