Wednesday, December 28, 2016

A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet ~ Review

A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1)Source: Purchased.

A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1) by Amanda Bouchet


Catalia "Cat" Fisa is a powerful clairvoyant known as the Kingmaker. This smart-mouthed soothsayer has no interest in her powers and would much rather fly under the radar, far from the clutches of her homicidal mother. But when an ambitious warlord captures her, she may not have a choice…

Griffin is intent on bringing peace to his newly conquered realm in the magic-deprived south. When he discovers Cat is the Kingmaker, he abducts her. But Cat will do everything in her power to avoid her dangerous destiny and battle her captor at every turn. Although up for the battle, Griffin would prefer for Cat to help his people willingly, and he's ready to do whatever it takes to coax her…even if that means falling in love with her.




I hadn't heard about this book at all until a friend recommended it to me. She'd seen I was in the midst of an ACOMAF-induced book hangover and pushed me to give this book a try. And since I've been in on a huge fantasy kick lately and I heart my friend this time, I gave A Promise of Fire a try. And you know what, I really enjoyed it.

The book and I didn't click right away. I started reading and was confused. Like, THIS is what my friend was so enthusiastic about? It wasn't bad, but I wasn't understanding the hype either. But then as the story progressed, I got more and more sucked in. Before long, I was super into it. That kind of reading experience is always fun--the shift from reading skeptically to becoming immersed in the story.

I loved the characters. Cat is fun and sassy and a total badass. Griffin is protective and strong and can turn on the charm when he wants to. And the rest of the inner circle is a BLAST. Seriously, they were so fun and the first thing that started winning me over to the story when I was still warming up to it. Griffin's family was nice, too, and I especially enjoyed his sisters' budding friendships with Cat.

Speaking of relationships, both the romantic relationship between Cat and Griffin and the whole big friendship between Cat and the guys were so great. Cat and Griffin are one of those couples that bicker all the time, but it's really funny and just WORKS for them. They're both stubborn, but they both also care deeply for one another. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them together in the next book. And as for the big friendship, it made reading this book such a good time. I'm so fond of all of them, and I'm also looking forward to more of them all in the next book.

The writing and the plot were both well done. However, I had one issue that I can't go into a huge amount of detail of because I don't want to spoil something, but I wish a...thing had been revealed in this book. There's a certain secret that is kind of obvious that I kept waiting and waiting to be mentioned--and then the book ended without a single word directly said about it. That kind of thing bothers me. It's so obvious, it should have been revealed in book 1! Or maybe it's just me? I don't know. That said, this didn't make me like the novel any less, it was just more of a REALLY??? THAT'S IT? IT'S OVER? type of reaction when I reached the end of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed A Promise of Fire and look forward to reading book 2! It's a fun romantic fantasy that did a wonderful job of drawing me in. If you're looking for a romance full of magic and snark, I definitely recommend checking this book out!


4 stars - A fun fantasy romance full of magic and snark!


4 comments:

  1. Glad you enjoyed! It was nice to revisit this book through your review. I loved A Promise of Fire. It had many elements I enjoy reading about. Thank you for reviewing.

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  2. OOoh nice! Hearing good things about this one and I STILL need to read it! I have it though, so that's a further step in the right direction! LOL! Glad to hear it was a fun read though! I have high hopes of adoring it myself! LOL! Great review!

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  3. I'm so glad you reviewed this, I just started reading it and I was like.."uhh, where's the hype??" I know now... I just need to hang on. If you loved this, read 'Uprooted' by Naomi Novik. It's the same kind of, love /hate/friendship relationship they have going on, a healthy dose of intrigue and that flair of magical get-by that's intuitive and special.
    Thanks for this review, I'll keep at it.

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  4. I love this review! It sums up exactly what I though of this book. I loved the story and the characters, but felt like the ending was missing Cat revealing her big secret to Griffin.

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