CHAOS AND FLAME is an interesting YA fantasy. The book begins with the perspective of the heir of the House of the Dragon who has a gift from Chaos before switching into alternating points-of-view of Talon and Darling, belonging to opposing houses at war. They interact early on as Darling is on a mission and runs into Talon, and their interaction goes pretty poorly but starts them on a path of prophecy and destiny.
The prologue of the book absolutely had me hooked right away, and I was captivated by the story. Then, the book switches to Talon (the brother of the boy in the prologue) and Darling. The plot throws in a lot of characters that fill the pages and takes a long time for much to happen. I found myself a bit lost in the beginning of the actual story and had a hard time getting invested in the characters. Darling felt a bit one-dimensional, as someone with an ax to grind who is set on destruction, and the number of side characters was hard to keep track of and follow. These did get better over time, and the ending really picked things up, as a lot begins to happen.
While I overall liked the premise of the story and the warring houses, CHAOS AND FLAME ended up being a little slow and confusing for me to really get into, but I think it will definitely appeal to others who like an intriguing YA fantasy with a slow start and a large cast of characters. Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.
The prologue of the book absolutely had me hooked right away, and I was captivated by the story. Then, the book switches to Talon (the brother of the boy in the prologue) and Darling. The plot throws in a lot of characters that fill the pages and takes a long time for much to happen. I found myself a bit lost in the beginning of the actual story and had a hard time getting invested in the characters. Darling felt a bit one-dimensional, as someone with an ax to grind who is set on destruction, and the number of side characters was hard to keep track of and follow. These did get better over time, and the ending really picked things up, as a lot begins to happen.
While I overall liked the premise of the story and the warring houses, CHAOS AND FLAME ended up being a little slow and confusing for me to really get into, but I think it will definitely appeal to others who like an intriguing YA fantasy with a slow start and a large cast of characters. Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.