Seeing Night Reviews: {Blog Tour: Review} of The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

Seeing Night Reviews is the next stop in The Burning Sky tour for Sherry Thomas with ROCKSTAR BOOK TOURS.

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

GENRE: YA Fantasy
THEME: Magic, Romance, Historical
RECEIVED: Edelweiss

BLURB:

It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.

REVIEW:

This was an exciting epic fantasy for all ages, filled with magic, adventure, and lots of world building. I was immediately drawn in from the beginning was the detailed settings, that were brought to life by the authors beautifully done writing. Thomas defiantly takes the readers on a whirlwind of storytelling.

The Burning Sky follows Iolanthe who is supposedly meant to be the greatest mage in a long time. One day her life changes, she is able to summon a bolt of lighting, which has only been told in books. Now it seems its her destiny to stop the great Bane, who is the leader of Atlantis. Still having a lot to learn and needing to stay hidden, she disguises herself as a boy and finds herself in England where she meet Prince Titus of Elberon. Iolanthe is a prophecy come true for him and he needs to convince her to work together and fight the evil in Atlantis.

Iolanthe is a strong and very smart protagonist, she is someone readers will connect to and root for from beginning to end. She has a lot put on her shoulders, but even in tough situations she holds her own. She has the ability to control the elements, water, fire, and earth. Most of the time my favorite kind of heroine is one who is a kick butt girl, which Iolanthe is, but she also has a lot of weaknesses and is weary of what she is being dealt with. It made her more realistic and shows her age as a teen, someone who is still learning and growing up. In the end the best scenes I felt were all the banter and animated interactions between Titus and her. The relationship is paced perfectly; the readers will definitely enjoy watching the trust built and a possible romance form. The chemistry is there and sometimes it’s better to watch growth, since insta-love is so over rated. I felt Thomas hit the mark on this part.

Titus is a guy that will have to grow on the reader, it took a bit for me to connect to his character but in the end he showed a lot of growth. He has an agenda and he knows what he wants to do, all the while he has to rule and go to school. He is set on revenge for his family and determined to take down Bane. I felt at times he was a little much when it came to his treatment towards Iolanthe and wish he would just give in and say what he wants to say to her. He is a guy who pushes people away not knowing its better to have someone there for him. I do have to mention I adored the Epilogue scene, which had this cute excited thought from him about Iolanthe that added some bonus points for him.

Overall I thought this was a fantastic start to this series, there is so much more I want to learn about this world, the magic, the history, and of course more about Bane. What is also interesting about the world building is the magical and non-magical sides, the readers get a mix of both, I’m crossing my fingers to get more tidbits focused on this in the next book. The villain is awesome, he wants Iolanthe powers and we get some insight on him, but I want more. For some reason I always love the villains, if they are well written they make the story that much more awesome.

My only issues were the changing of the POVs, I’m kind of picky when it comes to it, I like when it’s from one characters POV and not switching. Again this is just a preference. Also the pace for me at the beginning was a bit slow and it wasn’t until about 40 pages in until it picked up. Oh and I still have no idea how to pronounce Iolanthe, it was hard for me to catch on with her name frustrating me. Nonetheless I cant wait to see where Iolanthe and Titus are taken to next, the challenges, the chemistry, and not forgetting the magic, I can already tell it’s going to be exciting. I also now want to try Thomas’ adult novels after enjoying this one so much. Oh can I just say I love that there was no cliffhanger!

RECOMMENDATION:

This is a young adult novel that will take you to a magical world of adventure and excitement. Fans of Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series and C.J. R edwines’ Defiance series will want to get their read on with The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas.

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PURCHASE: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

AUTHOR BIO:
Sherry Thomas is one of the most acclaimed romance authors working today. Her books regularly receive starred reviews from trade publications and are frequently found on best-of-the-year lists. She is also a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA® Award.
English is Sherry's second language—she has come a long way from the days when she made her laborious way through Rosemary Roger's Sweet Savage Love with an English-Chinese dictionary. She enjoys digging down to the emotional core of stories. And when she is not writing, she thinks about the zen and zaniness of her profession, plays computer games with her sons, and reads as many fabulous books as she can find.

Sherry’s next book, THE BURNING SKY, volume one of her young adult fantasy trilogy, will be available fall 2013.

Author photo by the lovely and talented Jennifer Sparks Harriman at Sparks Studio.

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