Review Detail

IT ENDS IN FIRE is an immensely readable book by Andrew Shvarts. Alka Chelrazi is another compelling character sent to shake up the political landscape of an unjust world. She was born with magic to a family on the run. She fled with her sister when her parents were found and killed by the ruling wizards. Now at 17 after being raised by rebels and everyone she ever loved dead she is ready to bring down the Wizard Senate from the inside. Impersonating a minor noble wizard, she infiltrates the esteemed Blackwater Academy and sets the stage to make it all burn.
From the title and cover, we know this will be a book of rage and destruction and it delivers exactly that. It was hard to put down as Alka had to outwit her fellow students to win even though her magical skills are subpar compared to everyone else. The relationships were a bit lacking in the book but that felt authentic considering Alka was an enemy agent meant to spy and break the system. She is not capable of being herself and in denying that, no deep relationships can form. The love interests were engaging and both were fine although in a different book with a different objective, I would have wanted more out of the Talyn and Alka relationship. I kept waiting for her to reveal her identity to him but she only could do that with Marlena.
This book ticked all the right boxes for an engaging story. It was raw and more dangerous than Harry Potter but ran parallel to a lot of the plot points that happened in that series. If you mashed up the Triwizard Cup with the Deathly Hollows into one book then you know what you are getting into with this story. This book does great as a standalone but I could see it being the opening salvo into a much bigger series if we were to follow Alka through the civil war she has started. Overall, it’s an enjoyably smooth read for fans of magical fantasy.