The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 464pgs

The Story

It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning . . .

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she's being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.

Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he's also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.

But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.

The Review

I know Sherry Thomas is a well known author to most readers, but this is the very first book that I've read of hers and I have to say I'm pretty impressed. While her newest YA book, THE BURNING SKY, the first in the trilogy, did contain some slower parts in some particular scenes and the first few chapters were a little rocky for me at first until everything else came into place, but for the majority of it I was pretty entertained by everything in this book, especially the last half of the book where scenes became so much more action-packed and exciting.

THE BURNING SKY definitely had a great concept going for it, but aside from the mythology side of things, what I was even more entertained and delighted by was with our two main leads, Iolanthe Seabourne and Prince Titus, who made this book shine so much more. For one, Prince Titus was such a serious guy and a very guarded young man (sometimes a little stubborn too) which I liked about him because his story slowly unfolds throughout the book and I like that sort of development in a character, but out of everyone, I thought Iolanthe's character had totally won me over right from the very beginning and she is what made me want to read more and more of this book. 

Iolanthe is the kind of heroine I wish most heroines were always like: smart, resourceful, witty, has good values and most importantly makes good decisions for others than just thinking about herself all the time. I also like that she wasn't shy in any sense and was confident in her own skin, which is always a bonus for me with heroines. Even her banter with Prince Titus was absolutely hilarious. And speaking of Titus, I loved the way he and Iolanthe interacted in the book. It wasn't insta-love or anything close to that, but rather a friendship that slowly become romantic. It's a subtle romance which is great to see and I seem to have more respect for those as sometimes romances in YA books can be overdone and suffocate the book, you know? So I definitely loved that subtlety of the romance and I'm looking forward to reading more from this new couple in the future books.

Overall, THE BURNING SKY was a pleasant surprise for me and I would definitely recommend to readers who love a good old adventure with plenty of fantasy elements to keep you entertained until the very end of the book!

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars