Honestly, relationships shape this story. Specifically, the ones that define us all. Those children have with their parents, those parents have with their children, because they are not the same. And then those that siblings have between each other, especially sisters. Expanding from those core bonds, and usually based on them, are the relationships individuals have with cousins, lovers, and most important of all, themselves.
This is the book form of stepping onto a spaceship and having your molecules torpedoed across the galaxy not only onto a new timeline, but to a universe far away that is still somehow adjacent to ours. And this alternative universe⌠it makes your head spin like a top, as it tries to absorb all the sights and sounds your consciousness is suddenly downloaded into.
Kamilah Cole constructed a world with all the home-grown ideals and morals that are drilled into Caribbean-ites from birth. She then smoothly threaded in fantastical elements of gods and dragons, which all built the story into an all-consuming fantasy you cannot put down until you know exactly what happens next.
The author took her time to build not simply a world, but ancient history, old feudal lines, and layers of myths and monsters from long forgotten lands. World building feels like too tiny a term to capture what has been described in intricate detail within these pages.
I picked the book up and did not put it down until I finished. The book ravished me. No other way to describe how I felt after. It was feisty, smart, unpredictable, and absorbing in a way I know I will never forget. This author is now one whose work I will follow closely, because she has without a doubt fully captured my attention. To Shape a Dragonâs Breath, the First Book of Nampeshiweisit, is for me, a must read.
This book felt like eating warm cookies with ponche de crème (the yummier, Caribbean version of eggnog) on a chilly day, cozy, under a soft, fuzzy blanket. It also had that âLove Actuallyâ quality to it. The will they, wonât they? The should they? And the awww yes as it all comes together. Frankly, Hallmark, Harlequin, Netflix, and Lifetime should all be trying to outbid one another for the rights to make this into a seasonal movie.Â
Another plus to her writing is the way she allows us to see and understand the actions of all the characters and the reasons they are how they are. Even the main villain. Also, I cannot say it enough. Whitneyâs world building is fantastic! You might think including so many factions might be overwhelming, but it truly is not. She makes it all work, and work in a way that pushes you to dive headfirst into each book.
Small question, uhm, has a book ever taunted you? I know they can stalk us. Algorithms and such making them pop up everywhere. But I mean taunt. As in you see the book and you see people talking about the book and you feel like a little invisible tug on your soul that whispers, âYou should read me.â Just randomly, when you are looking over your TBR list and looking at the cover, you hear, âYou should read me.â
Author Nisha J Tuli had a video of hers go viral this last week (Over 3 million views viral), because she âincluded a highlighted and annotated look at the first line of the Trial of the Sun Queenâ. Nisha was laughing because so many of those views were from people freaking out that she dared to write in her own book. I mean, people going nuts because the author of the book wrote in one of her many copies of the book she wrote, is a sign that people are wound wayyyyy too tightly. We love our books, but as Nisha herself puts it, âYes. Stories are certainly precious. The actual books? Not as much!â
It is gut boiling. And to her credit, I felt it. That is the potency of Rebecca Yarros and her words. Because a good book, for me, is one that disrupts me. It takes me out of my lane, steals my focus, and commands my attention. Yes, I was upset while reading, but she had me. And in hindsight, Iron Flame is the perfectly laid conduit to transition readers away from Basgiath War College into the deeply engulfing world of The Empyrean.