A Shadow Bright and Burning

4.5 Stars!
A Shadow Bright and Burning was an interesting novel filled with magic and monsters.
The plot was intriguing and had a world full of magic like Harry Potter but in Victorian London. And the monsters were really unique.
There were many interesting characters and I'm looking forward to reading more of the Kingdom on Fire trilogy.

If you go into this thinking it's another "chosen one" prophecy trope, it's actually much more than that! I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

In a fantastical Victorian England, "Ancients" terrorize the country, magicians are evil, and sorcerers are honored.

16-year-old Henrietta Howell is found to have special fire powers, and after hiding it for years, is urged to train as a sorcerer, a high honor. Instead of following a straight plotline of "training montages" in order to become a great sorcerer, (and then fight the evil villains), the prophecies and truths are flipped up, down and sideways. Her path may not be the one you imagine. I really enjoyed the twists and turns. She's also told she isn't the only special one, and that she isn't completely unique, despite what is said about her by some others.

I think while some may not have liked her training within a society of males, I think it reflects the day and age, where women couldn't even vote and had to do a lot to be taken seriously. I find Henrietta (also nicknamed Nettie by her dear friend Rook) spunky and ready to take on the predominantly male environment.

I wasn't bored at any point. I wanted to keep reading. This may just be my kinda fantasy!

I withheld a star for a few reasons. First, I felt Henrietta and the apprentices sounded too old for 16, when they talked to each other. I felt like they were at least 20. (I'm in my mid 30s)
Also, sometimes an abundance of possible love interests can be a turn off. Some lovely women I know can't even find one completely suitable partner, yet women in books sometimes have to choose between many!

This was one of my highly anticipated Fall books so I was really excited to receive an ARC of it. My expectations were high with the cover being so pretty, fantasy books this year being so good, and the concept peaking my interest right away. It made me all that much happier to find that my expectations were being met and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Henrietta was a character where I really enjoyed being in her POV. She was funny, protective of the girls she was responsible for, and had a fierce determination to prove everyone who doubted her wrong. Her loyalty to her best friend, a boy the world looked at as wrong, was amazing and made me love her even more. I liked that nothing came easily, she worked at her powers, she trained hard, and she earned the respect of the group.

The boys she trained with and befriends were all so different and were able to each add something to the story. Some were more involved than others but each of them was distinct and I never got confused between them. I really enjoyed the friendships that were developing between her and the boys, the ones we saw between the boys, and Henrietta’s fatherly relationship with their teacher. I’m always big on interesting character dynamics and this book delivered.

I thought the plot was equal parts fun, action-packed, and tension-filled. There was more attention paid to the characters and their relationships and developments than there was to world-building but I’m hopeful that the next book will have more explanations about the Ancients and how the world came to be as it was. We did get some world-building through Henrietta’s lessons and it was enough to form a picture but I’m always up for more information.