**Thank you Delacorte/PRH, Dana Swift, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review an advanced copy of Cast In Firelight (Wickery, #1). You can find my podcast interview with the author on YouTube or wherever you stream your podcasts under Write Away with Nat & PJ.**

Fast-paced, romantic, and memorable.

Adraa and Jatin have been arranged to be married since childhood—which is the last time they saw each other. Now, after years of correspondence and intense rivalry, Jatin is returning from school. As you can imagine, neither is stoked (yes this is meant to be a pun about Adraa’s fire magic) to reunite. Luckily, when they do, they don’t recognize each other. Which makes things really fun for us, dear reader.

There is a lot to love about this book, from the action-packed pacing that kept the pages flying by, to the colorful magic system that bleeds into every aspect of the worldbuilding, and of course the romance between two brave, flawed, and fully realized main characters. As I read, I found myself falling more and more in love with these people.

This story is told in both Adraa and Jatin’s points of view. Typically, I don’t love hopping between heads in a book, but Swift does such a great job of making their voices distinct, and it’s so fun to watch them piece things together from beginning to end. It had such a natural and satisfying progression in both the mystery and romance.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel!

BUY THIS BOOK if you love unique magic systems, mistaken identities, and reading things that make you swoon.

***eArc provided by Delacorte Press & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

I'm a little biased. I met Dana Swift at a NaNoWriMo event in Los Angeles in 2019, by chance. The only seat open was next to her and we chatted a little bit between the rounds of sprinting. She was editing the second book in the series and was talking through a bit of this one, in terms of pitching it to our table. It sounded great and she was so incredibly nice and lovely, that I knew I needed to pick this book up as soon as I possibly could.

And here we are, over a year later, and this book was just as lovely and wonderful as Dana. I think she does an excellent job building the characters, their motivations, and their relationships with each other. The switching chapters POVs really works because, while it's something I deeply associate with the Romance genre, this book IS romance. There's intense, and super interesting, political stuff going on, sure. But at its core, it's a really well built romance with strong tropes of the genre. Not to mention that the magic system is BEYOND cool.

Obviously, the world building and magic takes a lot from South Asian and, specifically, Indian culture. I'd be remiss to not mention that this series is not #OwnVoices, but I think Dana's reason for why she wanted to write this story as she did (as stated in her Author's Note) makes sense. However, I'm of no authority to tell you to NOT take issue with it, if you do.

All that being said, I'm excited to read the sequel and learn what's next for Adraa and Jatin!

Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Heirs to their respective kingdoms, Adraa Belwar and Jatin Naupure meet as children, and their parents plan for them to be married when they are older. Needless to say, that first meeting does not go well, and after years of intense rivalry from afar, it is time for them to come face-to-face once more, something neither of them are looking forward to. Adraa is now a powerful witch, weeks away from going through the royal ceremony test to prove her mastery over the nine colours of magic and officially being declared the heir. Jatin, no less competitive, has already been through his ceremony and is returning home after years of studying abroad. Through an interesting sequence of events, neither recognizes the other when their paths cross, and when criminal activity surfaces in Belwar, the two agree to team up, both going by secret identities in order to reveal the source of the corruption and the real threats to their homes.

To start with, the cover of this book is gorgeous and what drew me to it in the first place. The author has created an intricate and unique magic system that was so fascinating. Though a large part of the story involves magic in some form, I feel like this first book has only scratched the surface of possibilities and I’m looking forward to seeing how this is expanded upon going forward. The writing style was pretty good and flowed well, which made this a rather fast read.

Adraa and Jatin were great characters and their meeting as kids was hilarious. The secret identities trope never gets old and it’s so much fun, especially when you see both characters’ perspectives as in this book, and it allowed them to get to know each other outside of royal titles and duties. Their banter was quite amusing, and while there was perhaps a touch of insta-love perhaps, it wasn’t too bad. The storyline about the stolen firelight and drug running in Belwar was all right, but a side plot at best.

However, what didn’t work in this book in my opinion, was the world-building. The characters are quite diverse and I could identify the cultural influences, but they issue is that it wasn’t uniform across all characters we meet and not as well blended as it could have been. It’s a jarring effect similar to what modern vernacular in a historical novel would sound like. It’s important to note though, that this is not a #OwnVoices book, and I found this representation to be pretty good from that aspect. The plot of this book might have taken place anywhere as I never got a specific feel of any of the places mentioned. There was little to no detail given about the surroundings, landscape, or even any idea of how far apart these places are, since apparently you can fly from one kingdom to another in little over an hour? Basically, the world-building, apart from the magical aspects fell flat for me, which is a big disappointment in any fantasy novel.

That ending, although not exactly a cliffhanger, did leave me really curious to know what happens next and I can’t wait to read the next book! Overall, this was a solid read and an intriguing start to a new fantasy series. I would definitely recommend this book for fantasy fans.

I enjoyed this book so much! I loved the magic system, the two main characters were great as well. The plot wasn't wholly my thing, hence 4 stars.

I was so excited for this book, and so frustrated to see my hopes dashed.

Cast In Firelight's simplistic writing style borders on juvenile with zero nuance whatsoever; everything is spelled out so obviously to the point that it is frustrating to the reader. It very much reads like a debut novel, but geared towards a much younger audience than the young adult themes would suggest, which is disappointing. We aren’t allowed to discover anything on our own or draw our own conclusions. The book is one note. One of my favorite pieces of romance writing criticism that I’ve ever heard is that characters shouldn’t have to kiss or outright say that they are in love for the audience to know they are. This book doesn’t follow that advice at all.

The book also has a difficult time finding a proper balance between fantasy and romance. We are meant to care about the magical warfare and fantastical plot, but our protagonists spend so much time dwelling on the fact that their fingertips touched for a fraction of a second that they distract from the real reason why they’re working together. Like two young lovebirds so entranced with each other that they’re disregarding the world around them, only what’s going on around them is much more interesting and you just wish they would focus on anything but each other for a little while.

The slang terms invented for this universe seem especially juvenile and every instance of them took me out of the reading experience entirely. “Blood” is now a swear word in a world where the actual body substance is often present which is confusing (a section of the book where Adraa mentions details about being on her period to Jatin made me question this choice even more). And “rainbows” are a type of training/battle technique using the color-coded magical powers of this universe, but it sounds more like a children’s game or a codeword for something, which wouldn’t be far fetched in a fantasy universe that has fantastical magic-enhancing drugs.

It feels more like the romance is a game of: “How many cliches can we throw into one pairing? Anti-meet-cute? Check. Arranged marriage? Check. Mistaken identity? Check? Patching each other up after a fight? Check.” That last one particularly bothers me considering the protagonists have nearly equal strength magical healing powers, rendering this trope absolutely useless narratively and only serves to be a shipping moment that is unrewarding, but I digress. The mistaken identity shenanigans remind me of a certain beloved cartoon, only this book’s use of the trope is even more frustrating because there’s no real reason for them to be hiding information from each other other than the stubbornness of the protagonists to grow up and move on from an event that happened when they were children. We are supposed to believe these two are emotionally mature enough to become rulers of their lands and take down corrupt seedy underground criminals, but not get over an awkward situation from when they were nine years old?

I’ll be honest, I skimmed most of the action and fight scenes. I missed out on exactly zero plot by doing so, since the aftermath of each fight is so blatantly spelled out for the reader. The spoiler-filled chapter titles and final chapter, which reads like a plot synopsis you'd see on SparkNotes, tells you all you need to know anyway.

The thing that bothers me the most: There is a huge emphasis on the South Asian inspired culture, but the book is written by a white author, and this is clear in the clunky misguided inclusion of issues like colorism. Particularly, Adraa’s insistence that she is darker than every other woman she knows aside from her mother, yet is constantly seen as the most desirable and attractive person to every male character in the book comes off as a forced “Look, dark skinned girls can be pretty too!” narrative. As a dark-skinned girl, this message coming from a white author is preachy and performative at best, and downright harmful at worst (having the dark-skinned girl be sexually harassed, constantly ogled and objectified, and pursued by men old enough to be her father could come off as downright fetishization of dark skin tones. Not cool). The marketing of this book is also trying to draw in POC readers like myself, and I feel lied to. We aren’t a trend to slap on your book covers to get us to read. Diversify your books, yes, but do not use our skin tone as your only selling point.

This was such a surprise! I enjoyed this so much more than I was expecting to! I loved our main characters and I thought the pacing was on par! Everything just came together so nicely and I found myself unable to put this book down! Amazing read!

If you'd like to see my coverage for Frolic, you can check the link here: https://frolic.media/perfect-pairings-books-and-sam-smith-songs/

Thank you!

This is the kind of YA fantasy story I can get behind.

Cast in Firelight is a fun fantasy novel. The magic system is epic and the underground "casting" fight is awesome . I love how much depth there is to the characters and the world and how everything ties back to the magic system. There are layers that also give it a serious edge that makes the whole story that much more impactful.

In addition, the romance, while a little insta-y, is well balanced. There is good reason why Adraa and Jatin hide their identities and keep the truth hidden for so long. Not many books can pull that off, and Dana Swift does this in a fresh way. I'm definitely a sucker for a good rivals to lovers story, and this nails it.

Overall, I highly recommend this for fans of YA fantasy, especially those looking for a romance side plot.

I loved this book! It was such a colorful, sassy fantasy with an awesome magic system and two main characters each pretending to be someone they're not - which is always bound to blow up! I loved the South Asian influences, and the magic system was rainbow-themed and extremely well thought out. I especially liked the female main character, Aadra - she's plucky and smart and her adventures are just as epic as the cover suggests!! Highly recommend to all readers of fantasy. (Sidenote for librarians: for anyone who's keeping Sarah Maas books for older teens, this one is definitely safe for those just moving up from MG to YA!)

Cast in Firelight is an absolutely mesmerizing debut that has colorful magic, vigilante justice , and a really fun twist on the enemies to lovers trope. Adraa has been engaged to Jatin since she was a child, destined to become Rani of the Wickery. But the relationship between the two future spouses has been more about competition in mastering their magic than anything else, and she dreads the day that Jatin returns to Naupaure and she must win her royal ceremony test to become his wife. When the day comes, the two future rulers are reunited in the most unexpected way, with each unaware of the true identity of the other. When criminals harness a magical invention of Adraa's for their own gain, the two must infiltrate the criminal underground of the Wickery, and in doing so they uncover a plot to take control of the fate of their homeland, and must put their trust in each other before their enemies--and their secrets--catch up to them.
I really enjoyed Cast in Firelight. The world is colorful and inventive, a story brought to live with vivid descriptions and lush imagery that made me absolutely enraptured with it. I love the character of Adraa, especially how fiesty she is and her determination to not be diminished by her sex or by her unusual magical prowess. I liked the twist with how Swift plays with the enemies to lovers and secret identity tropes. The tension between their secrets and perceptions of each other were really rewarding, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to realize the truth of their relationship and of how they feel about each other. Pacing was pretty good as well . I never felt like the plot was lagging in any way. Magical cage fighting, infiltration of a criminal underground, and court intrigue all come together to create a wonderfully crafted story about believing in one's inherent worthiness in a world that values autonomy and shuns what is different, and about not rushing to judgement when it comes to who other people really are.

Adraa and Jatin have been engaged since they were children, but luckily, they also haven’t had to see each other since then. Their only form of communication since their disastrous meeting has been letters, in which they try to outdo each other’s accomplishments by showing just how far they’ve come in their magic studies.

Adraa consistently feels like she’s falling behind in these bragging letters, though. Her right arm never showed a hint of magical talent, not like her left arm did, and with both her marriage and her royal presentation looming in the future, she’s worried her arm might hold her back.

Jatin has only now returned from school to a country in which he hasn’t lived since he was a child. Can he catch up with what has happened in his absence? And can he calm his nerves over once more meeting his bride-to-be?

Adraa and Jatin soon find themselves thrown together when a network of drugs and one of Adraa’s stolen inventions is moving through their countries, infecting their people. When identities get confused, a nearby country looms threateningly, and nothing is as it seems, will Adraa and Jatin eventually learn to like each other?

I received an advanced reading copy of Cast in Firelight in exchange for an honest review.

Cast in Firelight is a young adult fantasy novel by Dana Swift. It’s also the first of a duology called Wickery.

Before I get into the review, I want to make one thing clear: this is not an #OwnVoices novel. If you see the cover, you’ll notice that there is an Indian inspiration to their clothes, and it’s an influence that’s apparent in the story as well. But, the author is white. She has explained that her husband and his family are Indian, and her children are biracial because. She wanted to write a story that her children could read and see themselves in. I did want to make sure you were aware of it, though, before picking it up.

Anyway, onto the review!

As I mentioned, there was a lot of Indian influence in the novel, and I was hoping to read about their great palaces, their lands, their worlds, their politics. And, while I feel like I did get some worldbuilding, I definitely did not get enough. Sure, we get to find out a bit of the politics of the land, although mostly we find out who rules the neighboring kingdoms. I almost never found a description of a palace in here, or of any rooms, or even of most streets. It felt rather… barren. Sure, my imagination was able to supply a setting for the characters to live their lives, but I still found it lacking. In fact, the first few chapters had me so hopelessly flailing about for a hint of setting that for a moment I thought maybe the world was much more modern than I’d thought. (It wasn’t, but I was confused for a while.) It didn’t help that the language occasionally felt so modern that it was almost out of place. Like I said, in that first chapter, for a brief second I thought it was an average modern (albeit magical) family sitting down for a nice breakfast. I could almost see the father reading his paper as he asked someone to pass the butter. And then we got a glimpse of servants, and I had to restructure my whole imagined scene. I don’t know. I think for an author trying her best to steep a world with her husband’s heritage, I’d have liked to have a better look at it, and a better understanding of it in general.

On the bright side, one thing that was very well explained was the magic system. I loved that it was formed by all sorts of colors, each associated with different gods and abilities. Red for fire, for example, white for cold, pink for healing… you get the point. I was actually proud that at some point I even began to recognize the types of magic cast by the characters, which was really fun for me, especially since there’s so many! Nine types of magic to keep track of! And yet I succeeded (it helped that some were fairly obvious).

The magic is a huge part of this story, not just of the characters, but the plot. The plot was so much fun! It combined so many pretty great tropes that I’m very familiar with and yet love to see all the same: arranged marriages, princes and princesses (or future Maharajas and Maharanis), rivals to lovers, mistaken identities, hidden identities, people being basically superheroes at night to preserve their identity, etc. So much in this book! The plot was certainly exciting, and kept me reading. I needed to know when the characters would figure out who the other were, and honestly, that sort of outshone the rest of the plot. Sure, there’s the huge conspiracy going on in the criminal underbelly of these countries, but it wasn’t as compelling as what was happening between Adraa and Jatin. The plot worked more to force them together, and it worked.

I think now might be a good time to discuss characters too, since I’ve touched on the romance. You guys know I often really dislike it. But the reason I often dislike it is because characters go from 0 to 100 in like five minutes flat. In this case, we have characters who dislike each other, and then meet each other without knowing they’ve met each other, and slowly and steadily develop, first a partnership, then a friendship, and eventually a romance. OK, so I need to say Jatin fell really quickly (and his story wasn’t as compelling as Adraa’s), but it still felt much more real. As for Adraa wrestling with her developing feelings, coming to enjoy Jatin’s presence, and just generally, she was much more fun. She was inventive and creative and so stubborn and powerful. A great combo for a main character.

I do wish we’d learned more about her relationship with her family, though. We get hints here and there, but never something more substantial. In fact, I completely forgot she had a little sister for about 50% of the book, which is hardly ideal, especially when she comes back in the end to perform some more important tasks. (I can’t even remember her name at this point.) Other characters also show up here, especially in the beginning, and their friendships with the main characters are clear, but then as Adraa and Jatin begin to fall for each other, they sort of fall to the wayside.

I’m now realizing that I might have given you guys spoilers as to the romance, but did you expect any differently? This is the way these sort of books go, and from the very beginning, I should hope you’d know where it’s going. Like I said, it’s a familiar plot structure. If I did ruin anything for you, though, I apologize! I’ll try to be better in my other reviews!

Cast in Firelight was a fun read. It felt very light and quick, and it’s the romance that really shines through. Fantasy romance lovers should enjoy this especially!

Cast in Firelight will be released on January 19. You can preorder it from Delacorte Press here.

“My world is cast in firelight. The sky is one large glob of darkness painted in bleeding red”

How would you write a fantasy story set in South Asia? Would it involve politics, stereotypes and propaganda? Or would you take it as it is; as a young adult novel? This story is definitely a proud member of the latter category.

‘Cast in Firelight’ is a fantasy story based on kingdoms, their rivalries, differences, and most importantly, magic. It revolves around Jatin and Adraa, two teenagers from different kingdoms, arranged to be married since they were kids, but they obviously turn out to become enemies and then into lovers. Coincidence? Definitely. A classic enemies to lovers trope.

One concept I really liked about the book was the representation. We would usually expect #ownvoices authors for #ownvoices books, what with stereotypes and issues of racism coming into the picture, but Dana Swift did complete justice to the community. Being an Indian, I can definitely say that the story and writing didn’t involve a single offensive line, which is rare, and I’m thankful to the author for that.

Hidden feminism, sisterhood and young love are what make this book worth a read. I did get lost a bit in the middle, and the characters are hard to track, but otherwise it’s a commendable book.

Adraa, Princess of Belwar, is not thrilled about her position as the future maharani of Naupure, especially since it means entering into an arranged marriage with Jatin. As the heir to the title of maharaja of Naupure, Jatin is insufferable, constantly ratcheting up the competition between himself and Adraa that began when they first met at the age of nine. Now as Adraa’s eighteenth birthday nears, Belwar’s streets are flooded with the drug Bloodlurst and the criminal organization the Vencrin seems to have deeper designs. Adraa’s invention of firelight, a power source designed to help Belwar citizens live a better life and be sold at a cheap and fair price, is disappearing and the cost has risen so high that almost no one can afford it. Adraa adopts a secret identity to try and get to the bottom of the Vencrin’s operation, but in the process, runs into Jatin. Neither of them know the other, but Jatin decides to help Adraa in her quest. But as Adraa’s birthday creeps closer, a time when she will have to showcase her talents and prove that she has mastery over all nine types of magic, the plot thickens, secrets arise, and it becomes more difficult to tell friend from foe.

Dana Swift’s Cast in Firelight was a light and delightful tromp. Though combining a few young adult tropes, such as enemies to lovers and secret identities, these were offered to the reader in fun ways. Though not reinventing the genre, Cast in Firelight could generally be considered a young adult romance with a fantasy background. In terms of the fantasy elements, the magic system was interesting, though a bit complex. It was difficult to keep track of all nine colors and what magic was imbued in each. The gods associated with each were impossible to remember. It was also a bit unclear how individuals were blessed with various powers. The explanation provided to the reader was that some are touched by the gods and thus get their powers, particularly their Fortes, the color that is strongest in that individual. However, some are Untouched and it was unclear how this choosing occurred. As a reader, I did appreciate that Swift worked to create a magic system that was unique.

The two central characters were also well drawn. Both Adraa and Jatin were likeable and their motives were clear throughout the entire story. Additionally, the fact that they began to respect each other over time led credence to their eventual declarations of love. However, the characters around Adraa and Jatin were tougher to determine since they were a bit one dimensional. The eventual villain is a bit of a cardboard cutout and I’m hoping that that sequel will rectify this.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It was a quick, light read and the final few chapters offered a great deal that I hope will be explored in the future. I also appreciated Swift’s address to the reader noting that she was not trying to appropriate other cultures but instead create characters that look like her children.

I went into this book with fairly low expectations - elemental magic isn't exactly new, and the promise of romance is, if anything, a deterrent to me (I'm picky about my YA romance, ok?). I also feel like that last few years of YA fantasy have been full of hackneyed books that all read the same way. Ultimately, though, I raced through this! It was a super fast read, and the take on the elemental magic was cool enough that it didn't feel trite. Was it tropey? For sure! But I loved the tropes - I love an elemental magic system done well (and it was, here), the mistaken-identity-romance trope AND the princess is a street-fighter at night trope and they are combined quite well in this book. Whenever I thought we were going to veer headlong into some angsty romance problem that is completely solvable with the teensiest bit of talking, the characters would use communication to head off those issues at the pass! Basically, the author could've been lazy to create tension and whenever it looked like she was headed down that road, she would pretty quickly have the characters reach a solution themselves. Speaking of the characters, they were great! The book alternates between the perspectives of our main characters, and I really enjoyed both perspectives. Adraa, our female lead, is capable, fierce, and smart with a touch of very relatable insecurity and a strong moral compass. Jatin, the male lead, is capable, fierce and smart with a ton of empathy - he's going to make folks who like men swoon. The book arguably had a few too many things going on, but nonetheless, it's an amazing debut, and I for one will be eagerly awaiting the next installment.

5 stars - I'll be recommending it to anyone who reads YA fantasy.

This book!!!! I was captivated from page one and absolutely addicted through the rest. This book was entertaining, insightful, and oh so romantic. I could recommend this book to you a million times and it wouldn't be enough.

First, the humor in this book was top tier. Adraa, one of the main characters, was so hilarious. That's what made me like her right off the bat. But she continued to impress me with her courage and fortitude. She was willing to do whatever it took to protect those she loved, including those in her kingdom, despite the weaknesses she had. Speaking of weaknesses, it was great to see her work through those throughout the book. One of the great weaknesses I loved watching her overcome was her perception of herself. Some of our greatest weaknesses can include the way we see ourselves and I love the way Swift wrote about this.

Now, onto our other main character, Jatin. *sigh* He was...wonderful. Amazing. Kind. Humble. So incredibly sweet. And 100% swoony. I loved that we got his POV throughout the book and not just Adraa's. He also had such a strength to himself and I think that's what originally drew me to him. He had many obvious strengths, like his ability to weld the 9 magics, but it was also his ability to admit when he was losing, to follow instead of lead all the time, to listen to others with an open mind. I just loved getting to know him and loved seeing him with Adraa even more. He's a new favorite book boyfriend of mine.

The last character I want to briefly mention is Jatin's dad. He's just so cool! I really hope I don't have to end up hating him in the next book because I loved getting to know him during this one. It will be interesting to see how his character is used in the coming book.

This world that was described was also so fun to get to know. I loved that things felt modern, but fantastical at the same time. I also love that it didn't take forever for me to learn it. Some fantasy books have lavish and complex worlds that take me so long to learn that I just get bored and stop reading. This world was just familiar enough new enough to challenge me but familiar enough to encourage me to learn it all. I also felt like things were explained well and the world-building was done well enough that I could truly see things as I was reading. Phenomenal!

Lastly (and maybe most importantly) was the romance. This glorious slow-burn was heartachingly beautiful and had me wanting to yell, more than once, at the characters to just tell each other who they really were. Of course, this frustration is what I love the most about romances because it builds up the tension and makes their love confessions that much sweeter. I'm obsessed with Adraa and Jatin's relationship and can't wait to see how things progress in the next book.

Overall, this book had my heart-pounding from the action, made me a little teary-eyed from the romance, and shocked me more than once with the plot. I wish I could read this book again for the first time!!

Excellent fantasy adventure romance. At first this reminded me of several other books I've read: heroine forced into an arranged marriage then accidentally falls in love with the fiancee. However, the twists and turns in the story along with the magic and world building was original and refreshing. The author did a great job building a unique world that made me invested in exploring it throughout the novel. Well worth the read.

** Some more mature content for readers, I would advise 8th grade and up.
#CastinFirelight #NetGalley

I was very excited to read this book and I was not disappointed at all. The story is fresh and new, I liked it very much as the author captured the setting in the book, its magic system is and is not known, if it is like it has no explanation, but by reading the book you will realize what I mean.
Is it one of those stories that circumstances happen and you wonder all the time how this story will end? Well, I'm telling you that I'm left with many doubts, and I can't wait for the second part.
I really enjoyed the romance of Adraa and Jacinta and how their relationship was developing throughout history. Actually, that's what wouldn't let me even have a moment to read the book. I can't help but reverse that for me a perfect book is that it contains romance and fantasy, lol love drama.
I keep wondering what's going to happen? What's going to happen. Haha, I need answers. Thank you PRH international for the e-book.

Adraa is the royal heir of Belwar, a talented witch on the cusp of taking her royal ceremony test, and a girl who just wants to prove her worth to her people.
Jatin is the royal heir to Naupure, a competitive wizard who's mastered all nine colors of magic, and a boy anxious to return home for the first time since he was a child.
Together, their arranged marriage will unite two of Wickery's most powerful kingdoms. But after years of rivalry from afar, Adraa and Jatin only agree on one thing: their reunion will be anything but sweet.

Only, destiny has other plans and with the criminal underbelly of Belwar suddenly making a move for control, their paths cross...and neither realizes who the other is, adopting separate secret identities instead.
Between dodging deathly spells and keeping their true selves hidden, the pair must learn to put their trust in the other if either is to uncover the real threat. Now Wickery's fate is in the hands of rivals..? Fiancées..? Partners..? Whatever they are, it's complicated and bound for greatness or destruction.

After the story has started with an easy yet interesting flashback to a few years ago, the story quickly develops with action and adventure. It really doesn’t lack any of this throughout the whole book. The chapters alternate between Aadra and Jatin right from the beginning and as soon as they meet again after so many years, hey both take on other identity’s. As a reader you have a head start knowing this, as for they don’t know who the other person really is. Normally it is the other way around, the author keeps quite some information from you as a reader, to surprise you later. But now this story feels quite original because of it. You might think it makes the story more predictable, but that’s not the case at all. The author knows exactly how to excite the readers and make them wonder about other stuff that’s going on. Both characters go through a lot, mostly together, because they form an undercover duo. They end up in dangerous underworld and have to use their powers to save each other or themselves a few times in a row.

The writingstyle is very pleasant to read. Besides the unknown words that come with the story and the new world itself, it doesn’t contain any difficult or complicated words or language. Also, the chapters are not too long and the changes of perspective keep the story going. The magic in this story is slightly different from other books. The nine different forms of magic are linked to nine different colors. Every person can learn one or more forms, but there are also people who are ‘untouched’. None of the characters that come along are untouched, and it does make you wonder how these people live, since they have a disadvantage. It isn’t discussed a lot in this book though. It’s more about Aadra and Jatin developing their own magic and how exactly they can use it in combat. The visualisations of them using magic are simple but graphic.

Since you already know about the two main characters having a double identity, the question remains, when and how they will find out about each other. Sometimes this creates more exciting and thrilling events, but halfway through the book, it seems to take quite some time before they discover this. When the time finally comes, things go pretty different than you might expect. Therefore the story becomes a little less predictable. Later you discover the author had even more surprises and a few plot twists in store and the story keeps on surprising you.

A delightful YA-Fantasy for readers of Spin the Dawn, A Tiger at Midnight and The Princess Will Save You. With quite a few surprising and magical elements Dana Swift wrote a fantastic book that can easily be added to this YA genre.

Adraa is put in an arrange marriage to Jatin at the age of eight. She ends up slapping him and then they don’t see each other for another nine years. When they do run into one another they don’t even know who is who. They end up giving each other fake names and partner up together to find out who is stealing and selling Adraa’s firelight. Will they fall for one another? Who is behind the firelight? What dangers lurk?
Cast in Firelight is a delicious read. It has romance, mystery, and a lot of action. I loved that Jatin and Adraa both didn’t know who each other is and show their true selves to one another, which they would have never done if they knew who each other were from the start. The world building was great. I really want to see more of the world and its inventions. You won’t regret this read.

Thank you so much, Random House Children's, Delacorte Press and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review of my most anticipated books in 2021!

Adraa is the royal heir of Belwar, she's a talented witch and she will take her royal cerimony test before all the nine Gods to become a rani. She's engaged, since she was a child, to Jatin, the royal heir to Naupure, a competitive wizard, able to use all nine colors of magic.
Their relationship isn't the best. They lived separated, since Jatin was sent abroad to study and Adraa tutored at home, their relationship is made of taunting and competitions and neither of them is enthusiastic to see one other, when, at the start of the book, Jatin comes home.
But while investigating the criminal underground, their paths cross and neither of them realize who the other is, since they are using secret identities. Between magic fights, deadly spells, both Adraa and Jatin keep their real identities secret, but their relationship become more and more intense and important and they will have to trust one other to uncover their truths and a dangerous threat, ready to destroy everything they care for.

Cast in firelight is the first book of a intense and heart-pounding fantasy duology, about two royal heirs betrothed to be married and a ruthless enemy, willing to use and destroy their world.
This book is unbelievably amazing and the worldbuilding is wonderfully crafted. Set in a fantasy world, where people believe in nine gods and some are blessed by their powers, so they can use healing magic, or fighting magic, fire, water, ice and so on. They can cast in nine different colors, each connected to a type of magic and a deity. Jatin can use all kind of magic and Adraa is training to be a worthy leader for her country, by mastering all nine types.
The political situation is pretty complex, since each country has its own beliefs about gods and goddesses, their worth and the people's worth, causing discriminations and problems. In Belwar and Naupure our main characters have to fight against a dangerous drug, lies and subterfuges and more manipulations, too.

The story is told by Adraa's and Jatin's POVs and they are amazing main characters, complex and well written. Adraa is a brilliant young woman, a powerful witch determined to prove her worth to her family and country (and to herself). She's strong-willed and passionate about the things and people she loves and she's anxious about her ceremony and to prove herself.
Jatin is a strong wizard, seen by Adraa as an arrogant and cold young man, the truth is much more complex and he's anxious to return to home after being away for so many years to study, uncertain about his relationship with his own father and confused about that with Adraa. Their relationship is complex, since it was made of taunts and competitions, fighting to surpass one other while they were growing up. Now that they are both adults everything is different and it won't be easy to get past their first assumptions about one other.

I really loved the way they get to know one other, throught their secret identities, investigating the criminal underworld, fighting with deadly spells, risking their own lives, building their trust. The criminal underground is really intriguing, with its complexity, the magic fights, drugs and mysteries. Wonderful. A mystery woven into a romance and a fantasy novel.

Cast in firelight is full of plot twists, well written main and side characters. I absolutely loved Kalyan, Riya and Prisha and Maharaja Naupure, whose relationship with Adraa is build on trust and affection and the plot touches important themes like discrimination, addiction, drugs, war, murder, violence and lies.

It's not a "simple" story about two heir, forced into an arranged marriage, but a story about fighting to discover the truth, protect their countries, prove his and her own worth, trust, family and friendship.
I loved reading Cast in firelight and I devoured it in less than a day! The story is intriguing, the characters' interactions are brilliant and funny and the way they slowly get to know one other is fantastic.

I recommend this book to those who love romance, mystery, wonderfully crafted worldbuilding, new kinds of magic, love, friendship and family.

I was uneasy initially about how much I would like this book because I didn't enjoy the tone. It's definitely YA given its topics, and the creepy hijinks the villain gets up to in the story. The action scenes were good and the romance was nice although the cinderella style narrative choice for the romantic arc was a little unnecessary. I would've preferred something else to carry the romantic conflict, but it was really lovely seeing both main interests wanting to change how they were perceived by each other, their families, and their country - that was a very strong thematic thread that was depicted in a really great way.