Reviews: Ignite the Sun (7)

I loved the premise and I liked the characters but the story was a little too long. I kind of got the feeling that the author wanted to write a novella but then had to stretch it out. I'm actually surprised to see on Goodreads that it's 352 pages. I thought it probably barely touched 300. No wonder it felt a little thin.

Siria seems to not have had the amount of trials or consequences that a lot of protagonists in her genre/novel-length have had (in my experience). There's deep stuff happening but it kind of gets moved on from or resolved somewhat quickly. There would have been scope for a lot of depth and heartbreak here and it wasn't really explored. It was a little predictable at times and there wasn't a *huge* amount of tension.

The romance was fine but kind of felt like it got in the way, while at the same time also not being fully explored. It felt like Howard didn't know if she wanted to write a fantasy novel or a romance novel so she smushed the two together but didn't have a good amount of guidance as to how to handle that well.

Sometimes you see artists "redraw" their old art five or ten years later to show their improvements. I hope Hanna Howard keeps on writing and then rewrites this novel the way it deserves to be written.

I received this book in exchange for a fair review from NetGalley

Ignite the Sun is a delightful debut novel from Hanna Howard all about the battle between light and the dark. I enjoyed the idea in the plot that the sun had effectively been 'cancelled' by the witch-queen Iyzabel (you can tell I've been spending a little too much time on Twitter recently) and the land of Terra-Volat had been plunged into a darkness reminiscent of those places at the extremes of Earth where some days never see a sunrise or sunset. It also reminded me a little of those grey days in Britain where you know the sun is up there somewhere but it just doesn't make an appearance - I could definitely relate to that!

This concept tied in nicely with the fables and history of Luminor and Terra-Volat. These little nuggets of the past were exciting parts of the story and helped me to understand the wider world-building of the setting and the motivations of many of the characters. It added an original dimension to a storyline which is essentially the main thread of many fantasy stories being the battle of good against evil. Howard's take on how a witch becomes a witch and what attributes/items creatures relied upon to use their magic was really interesting.

I have to admit, I found the main character Siria slightly annoying towards the start of the novel - she came across as very pampered and whiny however it seems this is part of the character journey that she is meant to go through - if that's what the author meant to do then it was certainly a credit to her character writing! Without giving away spoilers, Siria does undergo a fairly hefty transformation and towards the last third of the novel she gains a purpose, determination and resilience which made me warm to her a lot more. What I will say for that first part of Siria's character is: thank god for Merrall! She is the perfect yin to Siria's yang and nicely balances out the more naive and immature parts of Siria's nature!

The 'ragtag group of rebels' and the relationships between them are what truly made this novel shine and is probably my favourite part of the whole story. Comprising of nymphs, naiads, banshees, elves and mages, this cast of characters gave the story classical fantasy/folklore vibes and helped to highlight the mantra that our differences are what make us all special and it is only through coming together that we can truly win against the shadows of darkness.

I always like to see the aftermath of finale events but it seemed that a majority of the novel was spent on the run and the ending came about incredibly rapidly. At times, Ignite the Sun was a little trope-tastic in some places. There was the one bed trope, dead parents trope, disguised as a male trope and on-the-run trope in various guises and forms... due to this, it became slightly predictable in places, but that may be because I read an awful lot of fantasy fiction nowadays. Not all of my predictions came off, or happened in ways I expected, however the overall plot kept me interested and invested in finding out what was going to happen to the characters I was growing to like more and more throughout the story.

Why Should I Read This?
For the brilliant assortment of characters and creatures straight out of a folklore compendium.
For an interesting and inventive plot-line which literally pits light against dark.
For the refreshing yet classical twist that this debut YA fantasy standalone presents.
If you love the more traditional elements of fantasy fiction then you're bound to find something to enjoy and love in Ignite the Sun.

What a fabulous debut from an author I will definitely be following for future books, this was just an amazing read. From the very beginning I was just enthralled and intrigued to see what was going to happen. This is beautifully written, the world building is fantastic, the characters well rounded and with real development, I loved Siria so much, the themes of family toy find for yourself, hope, love and acceptance are always my favourites but particularly well done here. My only criticism is I would have liked more, an epilogue or maybe a bit less here and a second book, but that’s all and I only say that because I really just wanted more of the characters, the story and well everything. Fantastic !


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Ignite the Sun follows a Siria Nightingale a girl who has never seen the sun!

“Once upon a time, there was something called the sun.”

Siria lives in a kingdom that only knows darkness, the Witch Queen keeps the light away to 'protect' her kingdom from the dangers of the sun. But Siria has always been obsessed with story's of the sun, even though they were forbidden.

When Siria travels from her school to the Queens's court she soon discovers she is not who she has been forced to believe she is.
She questions everything about her life, her parents, her friends and everything she's ever been told about the sun.
Now she must discover who she really is and try to control an unwanted power to try bring together a bunch of rebels and bring the light back to her kingdom!

I seriously could not put this book down, I loved the premise of the story the first time I read the blurb and knew I had to get a copy of this. It's been a while since I've read a really good standalone book. I'm very happy I had the chance to read this.

I think my favorite thing about this book was the world building, it was so well done. I loved the fact that we got see a variety of different beings, including Nymphs, Witches and Banshees. The different magical abilities made the world feel really unique and interesting.

I'm usually not a fan of 'Friends to Lovers' troupe, its probably one of my least favorite, but I actually enjoyed it in this story, it felt really genuine and I was routing for them beginning to end.

I liked that Siria eventually came to terms with the fact that she had this rare magic ability, she became this strong independent young woman towards the back end of the book and I'm all here for that!

After loving Hanna C Howard's debut I'm keen to see what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Ignite The Sun
Semi Spoiler free review

A brilliant debut book by Hanna Howard.
I absolutely loved the plot of the book. How dark and mysterious it felt that a kingdom lived in darkness with no sun.

Synopsis
Once upon a time, there was something called the sun ... In a kingdom ruled by a witch, the sun is just part of a legend about Light-filled days of old. But now Siria Nightingale is headed to the heart of the darkness to try and restore the Light--or lose everything trying.

I was so intrigued by this book and I could not put it down!

The characters were fantastic and I absolutely loved the chemistry between two certain characters. As for the world the book is set in. I felt there could have been more and wished we could have seen more creatures and magic. I would have liked to have seen Siria do more training etc.

I also felt that we should have seen just how wicked the queen truly is before the last quarter of the book. She seemed partially absent but then again the book is in first person.

Having said that, I really enjoyed this book and I hope others do too.

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Thank you to Hanna Howard, Blink and Netgalley for my free copy of Ignite The Sun for an honest review.
#ignitethesun #netgalley

Ignite the Sun is a delightful debut novel from Hanna Howard all about the battle between light and the dark. I enjoyed the idea in the plot that the sun had effectively been 'cancelled' by the witch-queen Iyzabel (you can tell I've been spending a little too much time on Twitter recently) and the land of Terra-Volat had been plunged into a darkness reminiscent of those places at the extremes of Earth where some days never see a sunrise or sunset. It also reminded me a little of those grey days in Britain where you know the sun is up there somewhere but it just doesn't make an appearance - I could definitely relate to that!

This concept tied in nicely with the fables and history of Luminor and Terra-Volat. These little nuggets of the past were exciting parts of the story and helped me to understand the wider world-building of the setting and the motivations of many of the characters. It added an original dimension to a storyline which is essentially the main thread of many fantasy stories being the battle of good against evil. Howard's take on how a witch becomes a witch and what attributes/items creatures relied upon to use their magic was really interesting.

The 'ragtag group of rebels' and the relationships between them are what truly made this novel shine and is probably my favourite part of the whole story. Comprising of nymphs, naiads, banshees, elves and mages, this cast of characters gave the story classical fantasy/folklore vibes and helped to highlight the mantra that our differences are what make us all special and it is only through coming together that we can truly win against the shadows of darkness.

I always like to see the aftermath of finale events but it seemed that a majority of the novel was spent on the run and the ending came about incredibly rapidly. Not all of my predictions came off, or happened in ways I expected, however the overall plot kept me interested and invested in finding out what was going to happen to the characters I was growing to like more and more throughout the story.

If you love the more traditional elements of fantasy fiction then you're bound to find something to enjoy and love in Ignite the Sun.

I gave this book a 3.5 stars.

I was very interested in the plot to this book and it didn't disappoint!
Quick and fun read.

Siria Nightingale lives in a world ruled by a Queen who brought darkness to the kingdom. Siria has always been fascinated by the sun she's never seen, but now must forget all that if she wants to do her family proud, to be apart of the Queen's court. But at the choosing ceremony, she discovers the truth, and her life has forever changed.

*MINOR SPOILERS*

I honestly liked this book a lot. It was a little predictable at some parts, and at other parts I was surprised. I found the characters interesting, but I feel like we weren't given enough of them and their abilities. One character I found pretty pointless, that they only brought her into the story to make Siria look like a better character, make her look good.
I loved the friendship turned relationship between Siria and Linden but craved more, which isn't a bad thing. Found myself looking forward to them being together in the story.
I felt like Siria's character growth was extremely fast while reading, but now looking back on it, I understand how it was necessary and understand why the author did it.

I was actually really excited to be reading this, and would find myself excited to be able to continue on with the story.
It was definitely a fun read and I liked it.