Fanatastical! – The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

Posted 11 September, 2013 by Danny in Blog, Danny, Danny's Book Review / 11 Comments

Fanatastical! – The Burning Sky by Sherry ThomasThe Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
Series: The Elemental Trilogy #1
Published by Balzer + Bray, Harper Collins on September 17th 2013
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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5 Stars

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.

High Fantasy is always a risk for me – I can fall irrevocably in love with it or I end up being bored.  Burning Sky though thankfully belongs to the first category and most definitely rocked my bookish world!

Magic  – Dragons – Danger

The story starts off rather slow and introduced us to Iolanthe who is supposed to be a very powerful mage, yet she sees herself only as average and not out of the ordinary. Still, we are introduced into the basics of the world and slowly begin to understand that even though magic is somehow normal in the realm Iolanthe is living it, powerful mage are very very very rare!

The magic realm exists besides our normal human world , even though it’s of course hidden from us. But there is not just magic but also fantastical creatures like dragons and other dangerous creatures! Yes, we get the full package of fantasy awesomeness here!

Then, there is the Prince Titus, sole survivor from his royal line, but he’s just a prince for appearance because  the magic realm is ruled by ear from Atlantis who also tries to control the prince!

And here the story begins with the Titus desperate wish to free his people from the cruel domination from Atlantis and he thinks Iolanthe is the key to achieve this.

 

Little Girl – Powerful Mage?? – or still  just a girl?

Iolanthe was a great and amazing girl who didn’t have an easy upbringing but unbelievable magically gifted, yet she only sees herself as a normal girl. I love her, mainly because she felt so real and genuine despite her being so powerful. She was all but just a girl, but inside she was immensely strong and I think even she didn’t realize her own inner strength. Even though she’s alone and scared she doesn’t let the fear rule her and I loved that about her. Following the story and everything what was thrown at her, Iolanthe grew and developed an even deeper and more profound strengths!

 

Princeling – Arrogant, … really? … or just for show?

The character I loved most because he wasn’t so easy to understand was Titus – Prince of the magic realm. First I thought he was just an arrogant jerk and there was nothing really deeper about him, but slowly with getting more into the story we more and more begin to understand this boy  with his contradictory behavior and character. I loved figuring him out and slowly, while doing just that I feel deeply in love with him! There is something incredibly vulnerable inside of him, something he tries hard not to let anyone know and then there is something amazingly loyal and goodness about him.

I adored the way  Sherry Thomas developed his character and made us understand him even though he might confuse us a few times during the story.

 

Romance and Snarky Retorts!

But of all I loved the snarky and sarcastic banter between Titus and Iolanthe! They were just awesome together and slowly when they got to know each other and begun to trust each other it was just amazing to follow!

A few final romantic words! The romance was sweet and very subtle but it worked!!! In the beginning I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t stronger and wasn’t faster developing but.. in the end it suited and stayed true to the characters and their circumstances.

I feel like I didn’t do this book justice because seriously, I loved this book to pieces! It was full of magic moments that made me gasps and brought me back to the first time I visited Hogwarts!!! I LOVED the magic and all they could do with this. But I especially loved the characters, their deepness and their careful development and subtle but super sweet romance!

 

Bewitched Rating

Bottom Line

Fans of high Fantasy, Harry Potter and amazingly memorable characters entangled into a sweet romance will love Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas!! 

 

   

Additional Info

The Blog Tour for Burning Sky just kicked off Monday and I had Sherry over for a Guest Post, which is basically epic my friends!! As I loved Titus so much I wanted a post with him, so I made some suggestions and look what she said on twitter! This made me blush and giggle and just made my day!
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Titus wrote a letter to himself and in this letter you can already see why I love him so so so much! So head over and read this letter if you need any more convincing about the awesomeness that is this book! Ah yes and you can win stuff …
burning-sky
Danny_Signature_muchloveI
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11 Responses to “Fanatastical! – The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas”

  1. Lovely review, Danny!
    I loved this so much too. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it because it was written in the 3rd person POV, but it was wonderfully done.
    I had the same first thoughts about Titus too, but I loved how the author helped us unravel his character throughout the book. Iolanthe was also a relatable character like you said.
    I too adored the witty banter between Titus and Iolanthe. It was so much fun! I can’t wait for more.
    I’m so glad you enjoyed this, Danny!

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  2. Silly me! I thought you’d already reviewed this, but that was the amazing letter Titus wrote to his younger self. Sorry I’m just getting around to this, but my copy hasn’t come yet and I’m sure it will languish in a pile for awhile until I have a chance to read it. I’m very excited about it and glad to know about the slow beginning. Twice now I’ve read that so I’m prepared! I cannot wait! I love fantasy! You just mentioning Hogwarts has me salivating for this one and remembering I have Crown of Midnight to read!

    Heather

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