Fireborne (THE AURELIAN CYCLE) Paperback – December 29, 2020

Excellent read. Nice take on rider-dragon dynamics which differ from fourth wing and the inheritance cycle. Worth your time to read.

Overall I enjoyed the story. The prose was often clunky or labored, but the story was compelling enough. I enjoyed the character development. The story was sad at times, but still good. The premise was solid. The author could do more to create cliff hangers and questions. It also took a long time to get into the story.

Rosaria knows how to write, what to write, and what to remove. The characters, the pacing, the world building, the conflict.All of it was well done. Really well done.I don’t know why there aren’t more reviews showering her with praise. I took a chance on this book based on a review of “dragon recommendations” and I devoured it.I am not sure yet if it will go on my shelf of to be re-read, but even so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, that was pretty good! The story was well thought out, the emotions were captured really well, and tension was raised well throughout the book.However, despite all that, I can't really give this book more than a 3.5 rounded down. I liked the emotions, the tension, and the worldbuilding, but the lack of descriptions and the unlikability of the current regime makes the book not very enjoyable.I'll start with the descriptions, for a book involving dragons they're talking about surprisingly sparingly. Things like their colors are mentioned only once, and the background dragons don't even get that. The differences between the skyfish, aurelians, and stormscourges isn't really ever elaborated on, and their actions aren't well described either. The fight scenes are the best examples of this, where only their actions in the main tournament matches are described. Everywhere else they're not really described, this is especially apparent in the ending fight scene where basically no actions are described at all. You pretty much just get "He saw openings, and then she messed up and let him get a killshot" which gives you almost nothing to work with if you're trying to visualize the scene.Even excluding the dragons, settings are very rarely described. You get the setting of key areas and the general idea of what other areas look like, but everything else is left completely undescribed. Same with basic things like clothing, the cots, the area where meetings were held, and places that are really only visited once like the collection areas. It's very hard to visualize when things are barely described.Another thing I wasn't a fan of was the government the people in the book were trying to uphold. Pretty much the best thing we hear about it is "well it's better than before" which isn't very captivating, and how it was written made it unpleasant to follow. We're told it's good and they should fight to uphold it, and then Annie is immediately ratting out a teacher for speaking out against the bookbans the Ministry of Propaganda put in place. The only thing that makes you root for them is the whole"it's better than it used to be" which is almost nothing. Lee barely speaks out, Annie speaks out even less, and the other characters do basically nothing when plans that would purposely starve people get presented. One person leaves, one is excited by the idea, and the rest don't even express their complaints at all.I do get this book is meant to be focused on internal conflicts the characters have but it puts so much focus into that other parts of the story and world get neglected.

I didn't realize this was YA when I started it. (I have so many books loaded on my Kindle.). While some of it was predictable, some important threads went in directions I didn't expect. Not bad at all.

This is not an angsty teen romance or poorly disguised smut. These characters have bigger things to deal with. Mostly. This is an awesome story, with each and every one of the feels. I cried, I cheered, I got angry, I cried some more. Nothing is black and white in this story and I love it. No “good guys” are perfect and no “bad guys” are all bad, which is so satisfying/frustrating/realistic. Bottom line- I couldn’t put it down. Read it!

3.75⭐️This book started and ended well. There was world building, political turmoil, trials, romantic angst, intrigue... it was good. The middle to me lacked a lot. I think it lagged too long and I was getting bored. Once it picked up though, damn! I'm ready for the second book!

This series had me hooked from page one! The strong female lead is everything I want in a protagonist—fierce, intelligent, and deeply relatable as she navigates challenges with resilience and wit. The world-building is immersive, and the dragons are majestic, terrifying, and beautifully written. But what truly set this series apart for me was the theme of chosen family—watching the characters form unbreakable bonds through hardship and triumph made the story even more compelling. If you love fantasy that balances action, heart, and unforgettable characters, this series is a must-read!