Reviews tagging 'Murder'

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

12 reviews

oxfordcommas91's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was such a creative take on the trope of "young woman chosen by Gods gets powers and saves her kingdom." I loved how this picked up years after the big fight with our two female main characters who are grappling with their identity, future, and place in the kingdom after everything that's happened. This unique plot had lots of action and was a unique twist on many of the typical fantasy plots that get a bit stale after so many books. It kept me on my toes the whole time and even though it's a YA, it's complex and satisfying enough for an adult audience. I appreciated the genuine/authentic representation for young women of color and queer folks and think the author did a beautiful job creating a unique world that was also steeped in Jamaican history and culture. Absolutely obsessed with this book (and the characters). The only downside was that I realized too close to the end that this was a series and not just a one-off ... I am definitely counting down the days until the sequel is released in early 2025! 
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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall I had a fun time with this book but when I sat down to review it, all I could think of was that if someone asked me for an anti-colonialist fantasy novel with dragons, I would give them To Shape A Dragon's Breath instead. This was both a more action-y and a more romance-heavy book than I was expecting; depending on the ending of the duology I'd be comfortable handing it to any fantasy romance fan. What really kept me going was some interesting and unique aspects of how magic works in this world and what a "dragon" actually is. I think Kamilah Cole has a bright future as a writer and I will be checking out her next books.

When it comes to aspec representation, I think it's really important to say upfront that Faron is a demisexual character being written by a demisexual author. I think if I had just heard "aspec protag" without that context, the book would have deeply hurt me because without it, it's very easy to see Faron's character arc as "a young woman thought she was aro ace but just needed to meet the right man to fix her." This is #ownvoices so it's not the case, and as an asexual (not demi) person I can't criticize it. I wish being demi and experiencing attraction for the first time, and what that means to her/how she feels about it, was given more attention in the novel. Especially because the dual romances took up so much page count, so it's not like the romance was a small side plot.
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themdash's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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clovetra's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

i remember discovering this book after the debacle that was c*** c****** review-bombing fellow authors. i was super excited to read this, but i think for me it fell flat in some places. 
first tho lemme say what a GREATTT character elara is. god i loved her, her chapters, and what her plot followed. she seemed cool yet down to earth, and as a fellow lesbian ofc im gonna root for my homegirl! i also really liked the characters who followed elara’s story, as they all felt fleshed out with believable personalities and character developments.
however, i didn’t like faron at ALLL, and i think that’s the main issue of this book. the book felt like it was flip flopping between her or elara being the MC…. except i really didn’t care about faron. and it’s not even like “oh i didn’t like her”. i know her character is meant to be unlikeable to some degree. i just felt nothing for her. emotionless. i did not care about her plot line, her character development, her highs and lows, none of it. ok maybe her progression with reeve but that’s because dude seems cool. shout out reeve ur not getting ur own paragraph but youre in my top 3 of characters from this book. anyways back to the topic of faron — girl irritated the hell out of me. and not in a quirky way. like i adore protagonists who are unlikeable and evil and shitheads. man i just came off the poppy war in love with rin. i just couldn’t find energy to CARE about her when all this cool interesting shit is happening with elara! especially when faron’s plot is very predictable whereas elara’s had a twinge of mystery the entire way. 
and then there’s the issue i have with the plot…. everyone’s motivations feel fucking stupid. aside from reeve, elara & signey, nobody’s goals long term make any sense. i felt like when reading this i was in crazy town. like why are yall literally going scorched earth over something so inconsequential. and the “plot twists” were foreshadowed well, ill give this book that. except the plot twists themselves felt…. Lacking in emotional investment. like i know i was supposed to be going “😧” at every reveal but i was just like “…..😦…..😐”. i really didn’t care long term. idk maybe the plot points needed more time to cook? but in the same vein it felt like faron’s story was flopping around for like 60% of the book where elara was the only one getting shit done until faron’s story goes from 0-100. idk the pacing of the plot as well as the moving parts of the plot felt….. Odd! i can’t really put my finger on what issue i’m having dont sue me im on a new antidepressant my brain is full of rocks. 
i defo will be tuning in for the other book because i love my girl elara!!! i need to know what happens to my homegirl!!! and reeve!!!! my boy!!!! but if it weren’t for them sorry i wouldn’t be picking up the next book. anyways im gonna go drool at some signey and elara fan art.
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zombiezami's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

It took a little effort to get into this, but the story started to flow about 25 percent of the way in. I liked the characters quite a bit, especially Ilora. I think the book could have started stronger if it hadn't yada yada-ed the whole war that took place before the book. There was a lot of exposition that could have been more engaging in a show, not tell model. 
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glass_carousel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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kaynova's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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natraf_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

WOW. A debut novel from Cole and an exceptional one at that! 
I loved the sister relationship between Elara and Faron. These sisters have had to face SO much so young. 
The trauma from war has greatly affected these girls as they fought to save their country as actual children!! 
Still incredibly young, our sisters now find themselves at the forefront of the nations newest disaster. I loved watching Elara grow and become more confident in a world way different from her own. I loved seeing Faron forced to grow up and acknowledge that she has been selfish her whole life, and that being the empyrean is a much bigger commitment than just the title.
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sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

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informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

💬:“Being forced to learn the language of your oppressors is an oppression of the mind. They rewrite your history when you’re too young to know what you’re giving away, and before you know it, it’s too late to reclaim what you’ve lost, she said.”

Cole, Kamilah. So Let Them Burn (The Divine Traitors Book 1) (p. 82). Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fiction, fantasy,  young adult, dragons, LGBT, queer, mythology

📚Page Count: 392

🎧Audiobook Length: 11hrs 24mins

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2.75/5

TW -
blood, child abuse, colonization, cursing, death, fire/fire injury, injury/injury detail, murder, racism, violence, war


So Let Them Burn is a Jamaican inspired fantasy about two sisters who get separated from each other against their will, it's book one in the Divine Traitors series. Elara and her younger sister Faron live in a country that was just at war, although the countries are currently vying for peace, there's still conflict behind the scenes. 

The setting and backstory are really fleshed out and I liked the dragons and I enjoyed the fighting and action scenes. The end of the book was really exciting. 

The author created a sense of urgency within the premise of the book and then the entire first and second half of the book fell flat because nothing happened. 40% of the way through Faron asks
the gods
for help and they say no, then 60% of the way through she goes back and asks them for help again. Like the first time, they decline to help. At this point 20% of the book has gone by and almost nothing has happened. 

I really didn't enjoy most of this book, the pacing was too off. Most of the beginning and middle of the book was just exposition, and it was frustration. The author would tell you something, not show you and that's not quite as exciting as it could be. It also felt like the author was writing in mundane scenes (even though she created that sense of urgency) just to fill the space so she can make the end of the story lead up to a sequel. 

Here are a few other things I didn't like about the book. The character relationships had little development but
both Faron and Elara find love with their respective companions that they each used to hate.
The action scenes were really entertaining, it's unfortunate that they weren't spread out more. Most of the action scenes were at the end of the book. The end of the book was very info dumpy with "surprises" she revealed. 

I didn't enjoy this book for the most part, I only enjoyed the ending. Due to that I'm going to give this 2.75 out of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️ - 2.75/5

I listened to this audiobook on [Spotify.com]
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