Loved the book, filled with magic, mythology, I need a part 2! I am officially a new fan of Nisha J Tuli. Did not see the twist coming at all! Thank you NetGalley and author for giving me a chance to read this wonderful
Book!

This wasn't a winner for me.

I really wanted to love this. I love getting to read more about Indian culture but the words that were thrown into this without context felt lost to me. Like the words Agni and Aazheri. You really need to know your Hindu terminology or mythology. I was constantly having to google a lot of terms to understand what the characters were talking about.

I found the writing style to be overly descriptive which came across as long-winded. There were a lot of words spent describing the clothing, the food, their actions, or the location. Not really much in the terms of development of the plot.

I felt like the whole plot of the story didn't really happen until well into the book. I didn't enjoy it because it felt like it took a while for the story to get actually interesting.

The romance was not what I was expecting in this one. The main character Zarya felt juvenile and didn't feel like her age. So if there was romance, I didn't really connect with it.

Overall, I have to admit, this isn't the book for me.

I am genuinely shocked at the difference between this novel and Nisha’s other series. Personally, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. However, there was great dialogue and world building. I wish romance took a bigger role and characters were explained more in depth and differently. I also wish the plot was more evident rather than to be thrown for a loop after 80% of the book. I want to know what happens next to our heroine and the predicament she’s currently in with the 2 brothers and mother. Overall I would still recommend!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

You say the words "enemies to lovers", "slow burn" and "fantasy" and I.AM.YOUR.GIRL. I'm going to pick that up and devour it, and devour this I did. This was a great intro to a four book series. It did a great job of introducing the characters and setting up the story. The tension was incredible. Cannot wait for the next book.

I love Nisha's writing so much, I was so grateful to have this opportunity to review her newest series. To start with Nisha kicked off the story strong with great character development for Zarya, this was a great hook into the storyline. There was enough mystery around Zarya to keep the story intriguing until the very end. About 15% in the story slows down as Nisha spends time world building and continuing other character's development. Her writing style is captivating, keeping me going right until the very end. It was full of everything anyone could ever want, found family, strong FMC, drop dead gorgeous love interests and all embedded into a beautiful Indian setting.

Wow. Just wow. This was one of the most beautifully descriptive stories I have ever read. The setting was so lush and vibrant, but at the same time full of demons and danger. Zarya was such a strong lead, not taking any BS from anyone and being an absolute delight while doing it. I LOVED the friendship between Zarya and Yasen, strong characters need strong supporters. I have so much praise to say for this book, but alas I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m going to leave it at this……. Dragon.

This is a no for me. I do really enjoy the Indian mythology side of this. But I feel we don’t get enough of that and I was excited to dive into this.

I feel like all we’re getting is repetition of this book. A lot of reminders of why Zarya is angry and that she hates being stuck at the cottage.

It also feels like the author is throwing in swear words randomly so we know this isn’t Ya. But it FEELS Ya to me.

I’m also not someone who can sit down and read something where everything conveniently happens. That’s how this feels. Things are happening just to move the story but it has no real purpose.

I saw someone say the characters feel like fanfiction characters. As it’s like we should already know them and I totally agree. Everyone is too comfortable when they all meet.

Anyway, I’m DNFing at 13% because I can’t keep forcing myself to read. Perhaps others will like this but it’s definitely not for me.

This book was amazing! The secrets, plot twists and the the slow burn romance was what kept me hooked ☺️ I highly recommend!

I need the next book now! This is a captivating story where there is a lot to learn about magic, monsters and the world in general. This story is about Zarya who has lived her whole life in a gilded cage and at the beginning of this book she can finally escape.

I love the found family, the mysteries about her magic and Row (her caretaker in the aforementioned gilded cage, who disappeared), the twists and turns, the romance and cool fighting scenes. It warms my heart to see her develop a relationship with an 'enemy' to best friends. Their conversations were heartwarming and hilarious, definitely the best part of the book.

I look forward to the next book where I expect we will learn more about her family by blood and the slow burn romance.

I am curious about the author's other books.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher Second Sky for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 40%

I tried, but I’m so bored.

I actually really enjoyed the first 10-15% of this - I feel like it had loads of promise and, whilst the characters were lacking development, there was time for them to improve. But now I’m almost halfway through and these characters have no personality.

I don’t understand where this attraction has come from between Vikram and Zarya - it’s very underdeveloped. Also, Zarya is so immature. I find the way she’ll just randomly be like ooooh I really wanna have sex so weird. Like it comes out of nowhere and, I get that it’s because there’s gonna be some smut in the future, but it’s very out of place at the moment.

The writing style is a bit jarring - we seem to jump around a lot in the plot in a way that is completely nonsensical. Also, it’s just really boring.

I love the idea of the world and the descriptions of food, but the promise of a better second half isn’t enough to keep me going.

I’m going to start by saying I hate when a book or author is advertised by comparing themselves to successful authors such as JLA, SJM or Carissa Broadbent. It never lives up to the hype.

I promise I can tell you about this book in 5 minutes and you’ll understand how pointless it is. Plot? You wouldn’t fucking know until 90%? Slow burn? Barely. You find out at like 80ish% he is to be the new queens steward and they cannot be together. It was not even spicy. They made out and she had dirty thoughts.
The twist that’s barely a twist. It’s annoying because you know nothing about him besides he disappeared for years, but the FMC saw him in her dreams like a handful of times and talked with him.
I understand words building but this entire book was absolute fluff for you to just find out she’s a princess and has magic. Like I could have told you that, I didn’t need to read 40 chapters to figure that out.

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk.
Oh yeah, I got this from netgalley for my honest review so here ya go 😬

4.5 stars

Look, I am always on the hunt for more South Asian fantasy books and I am so glad that I stumbled upon this one. Heart of Night and Fire had me hooked from the first line. The worldbuilding was simply incredible and felt very immersive. As someone who's Indian, I loved recognizing all the references (and trust me there are a lot). Nisha J. Tuli's writing just flows off the page and sucks you into the beginning of what I believe is going to be a very magnificent story.

In terms of the characters, I liked Zarya the most. She's fierce and determined, and also unexpectedly funny. Because the story focuses on Zarya, her character development is visible the most. But it's done really well and you really see her grow. Though, I would have liked the same for the other characters as well; I'm hoping the next book in the series does that. One thing that I did like was how Yasen slowly grew into a friend and a grumpy older brother figure for Zarya and I'm excited to see more of their dynamic.

In terms of the pacing, I do think it might feel slow for some people at the start, but it picks up pretty quickly and the story moves on fast as Zarya learns more about herself and her powers and the mysterious figure that haunts her mind.

Heart of Night and Fire is the start of a lush, captivating fantasy series set in a world inspired by South Asian myths and legends. Like I said, this book was extremely immersive and establishes a great start for what I think is going to be an utterly magnificent series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Second Sky for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

more of a 2.5 stars / Heart of Night and Fire follows Zarya who has been trapped in a gilded prison—her home—for as long as she can remember by her keeper who is adamant that her powers are not to be revealed to the outside world. One day, she is able to leave her home and arrives in the city of Dharati, where she finds that dark creatures are besieging the city and growing stronger.

Heart of Night and Fire is described as "Packed with enemies-to-lovers tension, heart-pounding action and devastating twists, The Nightfire Quartet is an epic fantasy romance that begins with a slow burn and builds in intensity.". Though, in this first book there is practically none of that. I will note that book one might still be a build-up to what is to come in the rest of the series.

What I did like was the Indian-inspired mythology aspect of the book, and I feel like the global plot has a lot of promise. Though the execution was quite lackluster in my opinion, especially the first half of the story. With its messy execution plot-wise, it was a major letdown in comparison to the second half of the novel. Without spoiling what happens, I don't think the series of events that led Zarya to Dharati had a good reason for them, and the story seemed to have various inconsistencies.

Zarya's portrayal in the first half lacked depth and was characterized by immaturity and an excessive innocence that was incongruous for a twenty-year-old. It felt more like reading a YA-contemporary romance at times, which is strange considering she is 20 years old at this point. Her constant desire for 'romance' at all times also significantly reduced my interest in the overall plot. Even though her character did improve in the second half, it was hard for me to identify or relate to her.

The main character Zarya is not the only character that was lacking in this story. The 'side-characters' also seem to be missing any complexity or even meaningful relationships with our MC. Whereas Nisha spent a lot of time describing how handsome Vikram and Yassen were from Zarya's POV, she skipped giving them unique personalities. However, I have to say that Rabin and the events that happened between him and Zarya kept my interest piqued in the second half of the novel.

Overall, Heart of Night and Fire didn't have much of what I look for in an "enemies-to-lovers new adult fantasy". Although the first half was rather disappointing, the second half was able to make up for some of those flaws. However, I don't think I will be picking up the sequel because this book couldn't keep me engaged enough with the story as it is now.

This book was SO. GOOD.

I was a little worried that I wouldn’t like it at first, some of the vocab made my head spin and I felt myself having to read & then read things again to make sure I understood.

But, LET ME TELL YOU. It got better. The world building, the character development, the mystery (like who the heck is Zarya’s actual love interest), the unpredictable PLOT TWIST & how it all came together at the end. Chefs kiss.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series. I need more of Zarya & Rabin immediately.

Overall I really enjoyed Heart of Night and Fire and devoured the book within a day. The world building was a bit clunky but I think it was primarily due to all the different terminology for the types of people/creatures/beings on top of the Indian culture that was mingled throughout and which I am personally not familiar with. That being said, the world building was enjoyable to explore, and the writing made everything fun to visualize.

My biggest complaint and the reason for not giving 5 stars is that I felt that the secondary characters could have used a lot more development. I feel like I didn’t have a strong connection to any of the secondary characters, the exception being Rabin, and that was only because the sense of mystery surrounding him for most of the book was so strong.

I can’t wait to hear about when the next book is coming out and am looking forward to reading more about the world and it’s characters!

I freaking loved this book so much! I needed a good fantasy! And this book blew my mind. I loved all the characters! It moved pretty fast paced and the plot twists were...WOW

Thank you Netgalley, Second Sky publishing and Nisha J. Tuli for letting me read the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed myself during the first part and the last part of the book, but I felt it was a little slow half way into it. You really can picture all the aesthetic, the world building that the author has created which I like. The slow burn romance is good, but I feel like there were not much growing when it comes to the characters...they felt pretty same throughout beside the romance who grew.

But even if I missed something I think it's overall a good fantasy that is worth your time and to read.

My rating is 3,5 ⭐

3 ⭐️ overall but I’d say the last quarter of the book was worth a bit more.

Zarya’s story intrigued me from the get go, being secluded away with no real understanding of who she is, where she’s from and why she’s there. The author does constantly remind us that she’s 20/21, which I see more as the character needing to reaffirm it to herself. Her thoughts and actions very much feel in line with her given age including the need to prove herself, the thought that she might know better than everyone around her, the need to remind everyone she’s so “grown up” and her impulsive and sometimes insecure behavior. However, on the flip side we see some lovely moments of maturity and self reflection, of acceptance of herself and others and accountability for her past thoughts, feelings and actions.

The relationships and emotions of the characters definitely took on a more “told vs shown” quality to them and I wasn’t passionately attached to anyone throughout the majority of the story to be honest. I absolutely wouldn’t consider this anywhere in the realm of “enemies to lovers” that I’ve seen a couple of other reviews mention. There is a bit of tame romance splashed here or there but wasn’t the main focus even though it did help move the plot and character development forward. The slow burn here is probably some of the slowest smoldering of embers I’ve read recently but you can tell that the burn is coming. When the (predictable but not in a bad way) relationship reveals come into play in the last half of the story it leaves a lot more room to explore those interesting past/present/future dynamics in the next books.

The plot for the first half of the book felt a bit meandering, and I wasn’t quite sure exactly what the overall arc was going to be or where the author was hoping to lead us and leave us. I loved the rich cultural imagery and often found myself researching the food and clothing names I wasn’t familiar with. The world of Rahajhan is exciting and full of a diverse range of magic wielders and countless demonic creatures and I’m excited to see where the adventures and politics take this series in the future. The first half of this book felt more prequel-like than I had originally anticipated but the stakes, the tension and the character’s relationships really came to play for the last quarter of the book. The higher stakes and the revelations at the end will have me coming back for book 2.

I breezed through Heart of Night and Fire, a testament towards how interesting I found the world and characters that Nisha J. Tuli created.

I adored the characters in Heart of Night and Fire. I found Zarya to be very relatable and smart. All of the choices that she made are things that I could see myself doing (if I were maybe braver and more socially adept). Her relationships with Yasen and Vikram were lovely and left me wanting more with every chapter. The spicy chapters were just enough where it didn't feel too rushed, left me vaguely satisfied and yet also wanting more. Perfect for those that enjoy the slow burn and hate insta love but also need a little bit of something. I'm not sure when the next book in the Nightfire Quartet will come out, but I cannot wait to read more about these characters (especially a certain new character ;) ).

I found Heart of Night and Fire to be a breath of fresh air after reading NA fantasy books that were all different shades of the same thing. I loved how Tuli incorporated Indian culture and mythology into every paragraph. I feel like I learned so much while also having a lot of fun.

The only eh thing (and the reason for one missing star) is that the magic system was nothing new. It felt very much like something I have read in at least 5 other fantasy novels within the last 3 years. That being said, the creatures and mythology kind of made up for the lack of originality with the magic system, so I'm not too mad.

I am very much looking forward to the next installment in this series. I recommend to readers who like a bit of spice but also solid and original storytelling with a relatable and enjoyable main character. 4/5 stars.

Thank you Nisha J. Tuli and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Second Sky publishing for sending me an e-ARC for my honest review!

This book held so much promise; hidden magic, far away cities, and demonic monsters? All things I usually love in books. But with “Heart of Night and Fire,” the execution simply wasn’t there. The story starts off well enough: readers follow Zarya, a bitter and resentful girl who’s been locked away her whole life, looking to finally break free from the chains that bind her to her cottage in the woods. When her guardians disappear and she ventures out on her own for the first time, she discovers far more than she expected in secretive strangers and new sights.

For all my misgivings, the story is not without its merits. The plotline hook is wildly compelling, Zarya is easy to empathize with at first. The world-building has a solid foundation in Indian culture and mythos, invoking images of a bright, rich culture full of a wide cast of characters. Honestly, I think fans that liked the Shadow & Bone series but found the white-savior complex and cringey love triangle off putting would very much like this series.

But there were too many things that didn’t work for me that leaves me reluctant to continue the series. The story structure and character development is immensely juvenile; there is no struggle, there is no building of suspense, there is no character growth...there are simply black and white characterizations of “going from point A to point B.” The overly saturated usage of similes and metaphors is grating and heavily overloads the text with useless descriptors. The political structure and magic system of the world is pretty vague and ramshackle, none of it seems very well thought out. The combat scenes have jarring plot holes and injuries that are forgotten within the turn of a page.

Not to mention Zarya, who feels like a fully self actualized and static character with absolutely zero room for growth. Wow, she knows how to fight and can learn everything by reading? Where are her flaws? How can this character grow over the course of FOUR books? Her plot armor is so thick there’s no stakes whenever she’s in danger; why should she feel bad for lying to everyone who’s keeping her safe? Why should she hesitate before leaping headfirst into danger? She’ll never be in any real danger!

For the first book in fantasy series to contain such large plot holes and distinctly flawed characterization, leaves me ample room to place some serious doubts as to the execution of the rest of the books, and I highly doubt I’ll be picking up the sequel.