A solid read, I enjoyed exploring the myths and politics of the novel. The only thing I did not care for was the last 2-3 chapters where Elena suddenly became 'I Burning Queen, I invincible so therefore I will make rash decisions' when she always read like a level headed character to me .

the idea of this book was one that appealed to me very much but i wasn’t the biggest fan of its execution. from page one, i was hooked on the writing style and authors ability to portray the setting in such a beautiful and concise way but as i read on, i found myself having to push through the book. i didn’t feel much of a connection towards any of the characters and the romantic relationships in them felt sort of dull and rushed to me. i think for a debut novel it was really good but i wish the characters had been more fleshed out and that more time had been put into developing the relationships. the world-building was probably the saving grace for this book, in my opinion. it felt so developed and i loved reading about it. overall, i think this is a book for those who don’t care much about connecting with the characters and more so care about world-building and plot.

The themes of THE BOY WITH FIRE were very interesting, from what it means to love a country or a land (Elena's attachment to the desert) to the hunt for power (Leo's obsession with finding the Prophet), I also liked how desperation manifested in each character and played such an important role in the story. However, the writing fell a bit flat for me. I found myself constantly wanting more depth, more everything. The themes could have been explored more, or more could have happened, because the pacing was really slow and I feel like the story never peaked.

This was a great fantasy read! I loved the worldbuilding and the characters in it! The comp to The Poppy Wars is what drew me in and I absolutely loved it for that reason! This was a great first installment and I cannot wait to read more!

<b> ↠ 4.0 </b> ★★★★☆

"What else could two broken people do, other than use their broken parts to mend their wounds?"

A fantastic fantasy debut. What I liked the most was the plot twists, holy shit, they are another level, I loved how it guides us to one way for later change everything, is that all the plot were so interesting and the character subplots too, all the characters were reals, I loved their dubious moral but in fact they did what they thought was correct, but Yassen was the one who surprise me the most, O M G.

The book shows us a new world, and though I liked it how the politics, religion and culture are introduced, I think that in the next books it could be expanse a little bit all the different places. At the beginning it surprised me that the world had technology, is something that doesn’t see frequently in high fantasy, but I liked a lot how it was incorporated, definitely I want to know more and I would be thrilled if the palace training arena existed really. The book has a slow pace that is something that generally don’t bother me, but near the 50% it was a little tedious, is good that after the middle of the book the plot progress and the action start, I have to say that I would have liked to see more fights, more attacks toward Elena, because the main point of the deal was protecting her from the attacks, but there is only one in all the book.

Though the end was amazing for the next book, I really didn’t like the final chapters, they felt anticlimactic, for me the book should have ended at the coronation, or maybe one chapter later plus the prologue that was intense. But in general it was a good book, that surprise me a lot and that let me with a the curiosity to the skies about the second book.

Pst: Where is my synopsis of the second book?

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC.

The Boy With Fire is the first book of The Ravence Trilogy. It is heavily influenced by Asian mythology, specifically Indian mythology. However, it's not a retelling; and it's a plus.

Varna's characters are morally ambiguous; They're trying to balance moral integrity with the desire for revenge. But when a prophecy threatens the world they know, they fight back against gods?

The Boy With Fire has some lighter moments, but, overall, it's rather dark. Each of the three POV characters, must make tough choices and pay the price. We get genocide, terrorism, vengeful gods, and humans fighting against fate.

All told, I liked it!

An excellent debut fantasy novel! I loved the multiple POV aspect. Aparna expertly builds the world for her readers, and draws them in with vivid imagery. I loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter that tell pieces of Ravence history, and their religion and help the story unfold as you read.

Slow burn enemies to lovers with a redemption arc. I loved Yassen’s complicated and heartbreaking backstory, and Elena’s journey towards coming into her own power and not just following blindly in her fathers footsteps.

Characters you’ll love to hate (Leo), characters you question constantly (Sampson), and characters you just love to love (Ferma, Elena, Yassen).

You won’t want to put this book down! Definitely looking forward to the next book!

Thank you Netgalley for proving me with this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you so much netgalley for an early review.

What a DEBUT! I was nervous going in because the poppy war is my favourite book of all time, and I was scared it wouldn't live up to its hype but it does. This indie small published book reads like a big budget new adult fantasy novel. The world-building was beautiful, and I absolutely loved that it isn't eurocentric at all.

Although the world-building and the pacing can run a bit slow sometimes, I think it is a perfect set up for the rest of the trilogy, and Aparna's beautiful writing style definitely makes up for it.

Can't wait for the rest of the series!

the book is inspired by Indian mythologies, with sci-fi aspects and the quotes in the begging which gived you little insights about the world are just perfect

This book was a roller coaster and if needed i am ready to sit through it again!!
The world building-perfect
The amount of morally grey characters - just right
The desi rep - slaps
Elena and Ferma - I would die for

okay so initially it was little hard getting into reading because of the world building but once I got settled down I absolutely loved it, the south asian based world and the sci-fi aspect with it was perfect it felt real and absolutely magical and ethereal, I loved the characters and I somehow felt the things they were going through, Elena by the soon to be queen who is yet to balance fire, Yassen a ex assassin who is torn between the two worlds , Leo who just wants to protect his kingdom and daughter and will go to any extreme.
and the ending was just-
I need the second book please

the only part I didn't enjoyed was the romance in the last part, it kinda felt forced and rushed, but i do wanna see more of them!!

in total if you loved fantasy and sci-fi genres, don"t think twice and pick this book up

‘The boy with Fire’ is an Indian inspired adult Scifi-fantasy story which follows some morally grey characters and revolves around the themes of love, betrayal, fear, grief, sacrifice and greed.

Now, being a desi I crave for Indian inspired SFF novels ALL THE TIME. The world seriously needs more of them and I mean seriously! So, when read the blurb of ‘The boy with fire’ and found out that its Indian inspired, I immediately reached out to the author and requested for an ARC. And, thankfully I received it via NetGalley.

Now coming to how I felt about this one, it really wasn’t what I expected it to be but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was bad.

Aparna Verma really knows how to build a lush and vivid world which is incredibly unique and so much her own but yet somehow familiar (in a good way).

The characters we follow are also pretty interesting. But my favorite parts of the book was definitely the dynamics between father and daughter i.e. Elena and Leo. I loved seeing how Leo wanted to do best for his daughter and yet how different they both were from each other.

And then there were some characters whom I definitely wanted more from. I am not going to name them because of spoilers. But if you’ve read it then you will know whom I mean.

There were part that felt a little bland though and I kind of skimmed through them ? But Aparna has definitely stood out to me as a debut author with her writing skills and twists definitely threw me off, specially the one in the Epilogue !

This was overall an enjoyable read and I recommend this if you are looking for a unique blend of Sci-fi and Fantasy with an Indian inspired setting and morally grey protagonists.

<i>The Boy with Fire</i> is a great fantasy debut and was a joy to read! The writing flowed very nicely, and the concept had me intrigued from the beginning. The Indian-inspired setting with subtle sci-fi influences felt very unique and made for a fascinating story background. The world-building was intricate and beautiful, full of lore and mythology. I liked learning about the magic system and could definitely see the inspiration taken from ATLA.

The morally grey characters felt complex and you could feel them struggle with their decisions. It was interesting to see how far they were willing to go to achieve their goals. There's a fine line between ambition and obsession, and some walked that line better than others. At first, I wasn't sure about Leo's POV, but having his perspective actually added a lot to the story. I also loved a certain warrior side character, she was amazing and I wouldn't have minded seeing more from her ^^

This book features a slow-burn enemies to lovers romance (my fave trope), but unfortunately it felt a little underdeveloped. There wasn't really anything happening throughout the book that made me think there might be a spark between Elena and Yassen, so it didn't feel very convincing in the end. I wish the romance had been fleshed out a bit more, but I'm curious to see where it goes next.

Overall, a great book with an interesting setting, strong characters, and unexpected plot twists. I am very much anticipating the next book, especially after how this one ended!!

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!</i>

The Boy With Fire, an Indian inspired fantasy pitched as *Dune* meets *The Poppy War*, without a doubt was an ambitious debut that promised a myriad of tropes many of us in the bookish community crave, as well as an #OwnVoices perspective more of us gravitate towards.

Alas, it disappointed.

It follows Elena, a young ruler ready to ascend to the throne, Yassen, an assassin on the run after an accident, as well as Leo, the current emperor of Ravence.

Perhaps it was thanks to my surreal expectations with it being compared to my favourite fantasy series of all time: the Poppy War, or perhaps it was because I read it in a few sittings and skimmed through it... whatever it was, I hardly remember anything and 50% in was resisting the temptation of a DNF.

"The stars would come and go. Fire was eternal."

Perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh so let me start off with what I appreciated: The world-building at first seemed a little stagnant, with your typical rival nations, social class difference in each and traditions, however it soon burned brightly (pun not intended) thanks to the prophecies and mythology interwoven into the plot such that the religious aspect played a big part. The phoenix, vengeful gods, raring fire were such a force to be dealt with and truly played a huge role in heightening the tension.

"As he stared at the heap of bodies, Leo felt something integral leave him... but as he slowly rose to his feet, he knew it wasn't his fear or his remorse, but his humanity."

However, what good is brilliant world-building when you have stale and inconsistent characters? Those that you can barely remember the names of a few days later, or those that didn't even manage to reign in any bit of your heart after hundreds of pages with them? The characterisation was poor, I quickly recognised typical tropes of the royal, the terrible deed character with tragic past so on and so forth... I was expecting some life to be breathed into these tropes, but throughout the book, these characters remain rather stale, and even worse, their character suddenly shifting dramatically to suit the situation which I found rather unbelievable. With instances of death and atrocities that should have visibly change the characters, only repetitiveness and insincerity was offered.

Furthermore, the pacing of this story was terrible. I understood that fantasy books tend to take a while to set up and carefully shape the world, but come on who likes a story devoid of any true game-changing action until the 70% mark? I was bored and skimmed through the book, only to come out confused when things finally started to pick up.

"...the power of myth. Give the people something to believe in. Make it strong enough, fearsome enough, and they would all bow."

However, my greatest disappointment in The Boy With Fire would be the lack of themes. Perhaps this is just my expectation for the book, but I felt that this adult fantasy had great potential to examine certain themes such as power, fate and equality. The world-building as well as the religious aspect, not to mention the character dilemmas set this book up beautifully for the exploration of these themes, but all The Boy With Fire did was skim surface level on them. Perhaps I'm being too harsh on a debut the first of the series, but I sorely felt that these themes of power when dealing with the gods as well as the ruling of the kingdom through constructs, fate in the different characters' trajectories as well as equality ingrained into the very model of the world, could have greatly enriched the story, giving it more meaning and purpose.

"Someone once told me that ghosts are memories that haunt us before we can let them go."

Overall, The Boy With Fire was a terrible disappointment for me that I felt had so much more to offer. Despite the brilliant world-building, the stale characters, lack of pacing and most of all the absence of any true depth underneath the typical fantasy plotline, caused it to be an aching let-down for me.

👍 Desi inspired fantasy
👍 Multi pov
👍 Enemies to lovers
👍 Slow burn
👍 Morally grey characters
👍 Wrathful women
👍Sad bois

What a fantastic debut. This is an indie/small pub that reads like a big-budget new adult and it's a thrilling story of redemption. One of my favourite aspects is when each chapter has a quote at the beginning. The world of Sayon is so captivating and beautiful. I want to run in the dunes of Ravence and take the holotrains through the brass cities of Jantar. Also, the cloud cookies! I want one! I volunteered to read and review an early copy of this.

Multi-POVs✅
Assassins ✅
Badass female characters✅
Slow burn enemies to lovers✅
Diverse characters✅
Magic system✅
Character driven✅

This is a south Asian inspired fantasy that is told from multi-povs. There is Yassen, a notorious assassin who has suffered a grave injury. There is Elena, the badass Princess about to ascend the throne. And the last POV we have is Leo, who I’m referring to as the mad king and no one can change my mind. Those are the 3 point of views but we also have characters like Ferma who is part of a race with hair so sharp it can cut a mans throat. And also Samson who is a long time friend of Yassen.

This book was very character driven and full of character development which I love in books. The world building was done so effortlessly. I had no problem getting fully immersed into this world. The descriptions were amazing. The romance definitely takes a backseat to the rest of the story. I actually really enjoyed getting to know the characters and the story without having much romance. There were times when I was screaming and felt like I couldn’t read fast enough.

This was a debut novel from this author and in my opinion one of the best books I’ve read this year. If the author continues to write stories like this I have no doubt she will be one of the best fantasy writers of our generation. I cannot wait for the sequel and this book isn’t even released yet. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The premise and concept of this book was very promising. A fiery novel inspired by Indian mythology, enemies to lovers and morally grey characters? It was everything I looked for in a book so naturally, when I heard of it, I was so down to fall in love instantly.

I'm honestly quite disappointed that I have to say that was not the case. I do believe that this is a strong debut, with the first quarter of the book was still encouraging and I was slowly but steadily getting wrapped up in this beautiful world, which I will not deny had a gorgeous setting with a fire system that was definitely intriguing to read about, not to mention the descriptions were out of this world.

However, I felt like as a whole, the book was very underdeveloped with the characters arcs being only surfaced brushed which in this very character driven story, just slowed the whole story down (with the exception of the very end which sadly, just didn't really do anything for me) and made the read somewhat less enjoyable. I had to put this book on hold several times before convincing myself to pick it back up and power through it - which I'm sure you understand ruined the experience for me.
The romance was sub-par at best, building on the previous point of underdeveloped characters, this made this 'enemies to lovers' feel forced and rushed, meaning I didn't feel there was a chance to really connect to the characters.

I just have to say that this is all me and the author has created a beautiful and intricate world which I'm sure many will love and enjoy, but sadly, as much as I wanted to love this, I just couldn't.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.
When I heard this book was Dune meets The Poppy War I knew I had to read it. The Boy With Fire is an incredibly engaging story and I really liked it. Elena was one of my favorite characters, she was so brave and nothing like princesses you tend to read about. She was good at fighting and overall just a badass!!
Can’t wait for everyone to read when this comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley and New Degree Press for the e-ARC of The Boy with Fire in exchange for an honest review.

This was recommended to me by a fellow bookish friend and I really wanted to love it. There are things that it does really well. It's always refreshing to get some diversity into my reading schedule. The Indian-inspired, futuristic fantasy world was unexpected and refreshing, especially when readers see fantasy, the immediate association is old, historical, medieval, etc. The writing was also gorgeous (if possibly trying too hard in some places?) but overall it was a nice break from the popular new trend of putting more modern and colloquial phrasing into fantasy books (think Sarah J Maas). The foundation of the book is promising.

As for things that the book could do better, I would really have loved to see more character development and plot. While I understand that setting up the world takes time, sometimes the pacing suffered and so did the characters. I had heard that there was slow-burn romance but I would describe it more as sputtering embers and though I don't *need* romance in a book for it to be enjoyable, it is something I look for when it's marketed to me. I hope in future books these elements are stronger and, now that the world is established, the plot can become the center or the story.

Overall a 3-star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and New Degree Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Rating: 2/5 stars

Based on all the 5* reviews, it seems I'm in the minority, but I personally just really didn't enjoy this book, despite my expectations. Let's break it down.

The Plot:
I really don't have much to say about the plot, because I really don't feel like there was much of one. Everything I liked story-wise, I'll discuss further below.

More than anything else, the pacing is what ruined this book for me. When it took me days to even get a third of the way in, I was told that the book picked up in the second half. For me, though, waiting for over HALF of a book for something to happen is too long for me. And it ended up being more than halfway, too: The first really interesting event happens at 58%, and then it plateaus again, then picks up around 70%, then plateaus....you get the picture. Even in the rare moments where something was actually happening, I found myself skimming. I never skim. I think the plot had a lot of potential, but it simply fell short on the execution. It was as if she changed her mind about where she was going with the book several times throughout it; certain facts and events were built up as major plot points that then went nowhere.

I will give it this: I did not expect that epilogue at all. It might be the only time I really felt something in the entire book.

The Characters:
I think what infuriated me the most was that the author clearly can write complex and interesting characters. Leo's POV was by far my favorite, because you see so clearly why he makes the decisions he does, how he thinks, how he rationalizes some of the terrible things he does. He is an incredibly well-written character, with deep flaws that are made almost understandable. Although most of the characters are called morally grey, he's really the only one who fits that bill--and I love a morally grey character. Beyond that, the secondary characters were fascinating! I wanted to know more about Ferma and Samson! Even from the secondhand view of them that we get through the other characters, I found myself intrigued and invested.

As far as the other two POV characters, Yassen was fine. I think if we'd gotten a deeper look at him, I would have genuinely liked him. An ex-assassin recovering from a debilitating injury, trying to buy his freedom? I love that character concept! But despite his POVs we don't really see too much about the way he thinks, why he is the way he is; while I definitely didn't dislike him, I just wish we'd learned more.

Elena, on the other hand. Elena I found absolutely insufferable. It seems like other people really liked her, so again, this is a matter of personal taste and opinion, but every time I considered DNFing this book, it was during an Elena chapter. When she is first introduced, I expected to really enjoy her character, but by the end of her chapter I was just annoyed. She is spoiled and selfish and clearly someone used to getting her way. Throughout the book, sometimes it seems as if she learns and grows, but she really doesn't. There's this inconsistency with her too, where every now and then she'll acknowledge that the world caters to her--people agree with everything she says because she's the princess, not because she's always right; she wins every fight not because she's the best fighter, but because anyone who beats the princess will be punished. She acknowledges this, and then in the next breath will forget all about it. Everyone tells her what she wants to hear, with the occasional exception of Ferma, and she believes it; I'm not sure if it's naivete or a lack of self-awareness. Similarly, the main conflict at the end of the book literally exists because Elena had to be correct, even when told otherwise. She puts both her and Yassen's lives in danger, gets several people killed, and still thinks she knows best. And here's the thing--a lot of these are traits I tend to find interesting in characters; I love a flawed character, but all of these traits put together? When I wasn't dragging myself through the book, I was actively ready to fight her.

Now, I didn't read this book for the romance, and I can't say I was expecting much. But for a book that's billed as enemies to lovers, you expect there to be at least some romance. Instead, the romance in this book was contained in a single paragraph, 90% in, with virtually no buildup. I wasn't even sure who the love interest would be until something like 60%. The romance had potential, but besides a few very vague hints throughout the book, there really wasn't anything that led up to it at all, making it feel rushed and leaving little to no impact. I also wouldn't really call it enemies to lovers, frankly.

The World:
Here's where the author really went above and beyond. I didn't expect the futuristic setting, and it did shock me in the beginning, but by the end I actually really liked it. If nothing else, it was a nice change from the standard fantasy setting. Ravence, the main country in the book, is based on Indian culture, mythology, and history, and the author weaves all this into a fantasy world exceptionally well. I found the main religion and belief system fascinating, with fire at its core, and I loved how different characters approached it. Maybe this is just the whole "grew up on ATLA with a crush on Prince Zuko" thing speaking, but I love when fire is a core tenant of a culture. Even beyond Ravence, though, the author has created a diverse world with several distinct, unique, and intriguing cultures. The politics between the countries/kingdoms are fully thought out and explained. The Dune vibes were exciting and fun. In the end, it's always nice to see a fantasy setting that's different from the standard medieval England inspiration. I know many fans of fantasy aren't huge fans of sci-fi, and I feel like this book combined the two well enough that fantasy readers won't be overwhelmed by the sci-fi elements.

While the world itself is stunning, there were times when I felt the world-building itself was lacking, particularly early on. I definitely neither wanted nor expected some big, arduous info dump, but there was minimal explanation given for anything in the world within the text itself. There was a glossary--which was super helpful, and which I think all fantasy authors should include--but I had to rely on it just to understand the bare bones. On the plus side, though, the author really improved on this as the book went on. By the time the Fire Festival came around, everything to do with the Festival was well and clearly explained. Towards the end of the book, things that had appeared early on were finally given an explanation. While I appreciate how much this improved later in the book, I just wish she'd started the story with the same energy.

The Writing:
Finally, I just want to commend the writing itself. Despite my issues with the plot, the writing itself was beautiful. It flowed well and often had a lyrical quality that I really enjoyed. Especially considering that this is a debut, it's clear that this author is very talented, and I was definitely impressed. There were a few times where lines didn't really make sense (ex: "Was it hope? Remorse? Guilt? And why did it make her feel the same?" she can't identify what he's feeling, but somehow feels the same?) and there were a fair amount of contradictions. Similarly, lines or comparisons were repeated a bit too often--beautiful yet monstrous, beautiful yet terrifying--but honestly, I don't think I would've even noticed these minor issues had I not been so frustrated with the plot.

The Boy With Fire follows three main characters— Yassen Knight, Arohassin’s most notorious assassin who is on the run from the authorities and his former employer after having a terrible accident, Elena Ravence the heir to the throne of Ravence and Leo Ravence, Elena's father and the current emperor.

As the books goes on, these characters' stories weave themselves intricately in a world full of politics, wars and prophecies.

"Grief is like that, my love, but the stars are here, and they will lend us their eyes. So that we may gaze upon each other when we are apart."

Where do I even begin with the praise for this book? Everything was such beautifully written and portrayed that I wanted to cry.

The characters were described to be morally-grey and they were undoubtedly not disappointing. Yassen and Elena were great characters, but the only thing that I felt that was missing was the chemistry between them, but as the romance is said to be slow-burn, I feel that we'll get to see more about their relationship in the next books.

Leo's POV was something I was a bit sceptical to read from, considering that he is a 60-year-old man but I found his POVs to be especially interesting to follow. He was such a dynamic character to read about. The other characters Samson and Ferna were also a delight. They were well developed with great character depths that I always found myself rooting (and simping) for them!

"To be forgiven, one must be burned."

Coming to the world, The Boy With Fire is set in a world heavily inspired by India, specifically Rajasthan. Indian culture was extraordinarily incorporated in this story and it was a pleasure to read about a fictional world inspired by my country and culture.

Another aspect I really liked was the lore. The Fire Magic system was super intriguing and it put forward a huge potential to where the story could lead to.

I get why The Boy With Fire was compared to The Poppy War, one of my all time favourite books, because the politics, the wars, the revelation to India's dark past, everything made it a simply irresistible page-turner. Themes of colonialism, genocide and racism were also impeccably woven into the story.

"Sometimes the moments which define us are the moments in which we spare ourselves."

Aparna Verma's prose was absolutely gorgeous. It was a perfect balance between flowy and fast paced, thrilling scenes. I found myself unable to put it down because I was so eager to find out what happens next, Verma certainly knows how to keep the readers hooked.

Overall, The Boy With Fire is a solid adult fantasy debut full of dark and exhilarating twists and turns which you should surely pick up if you are looking for a book based on Indian mythology.

Representation: Indian-coded characters, disabled biracial mc

Trigger Warnings: War themes, immolation, self-immolation, death of loved ones

// A huge thank you to New Degree Press for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This did not impact my review in any way.
All the quotes are from an advance reader copy and may differ in the final publication

This book ticks all the boxes for me. A fantasy set in a desert, mysterious powers, nations almost at war and characters that have you guessing from one minute to the next on who you can trust!
The world building was superb.
I honestly can't wait to read the rest of the Ravence Trilogy.
Thanks to Netgalley uk and New Degree Press for a digital arc of this book.