Review Detail

Bloody and brilliant.

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix is a YA fantasy novel about Ranka, who wants nothing more than to be left alone to live her life in peace. But when her coven sends her off as a treaty bride to the human kingdom of Isolde, they give her the single order of kill him. Which is quite easy, as she has a magic trained on bloodlust. Yet, when she meets the prince, he is nothing like her coven told her. He is quiet and kind, unlike his sister who is the real threat. But when witches start turning up dead from a magical place, Ranka must forge alliances and make a deal with the princess to not only find a cure for the plague but to help reign in her bloodied magic.

I felt like this book had a bunch of potential. (Mostly due to this being the author's debut). And though at times it lived up to the hype, some parts of it did not. But hey, that's just how books are.

What I really liked about this book, is it's world building. I feel like the setting was unique, and the way Mix literally mixed a fantasy setting with some more technological advances created a unique place for this story to take place. Though I do wish some of the technologies were more fleshed out, as they kinda appeared with no explanation. But that's happens with most book anyways. Plus I just really liked how this story dived right into the action without a moment of hesitation. Which showed a lot about Ranka's bloodied characterization.

One thing that did keep throwing me off, was the rush of scenes. I feel like this book was very plot driven. Which was perfect in some sense. But that just made the characters lack the depth needed for me to truly cheer them on. Out of all the characters, Aramis was the most developed. Which I wasn't too sad about, because she was the coolest.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone looking for something bloody and action packed, with just enough heart to make you cry.