This book was such a wonderful surprise! I won an ARC copy of this from Bookishfirst without knowing too much about it other than that the excerpt was intriguing and...DRAGONS. I mean, that’s typically an instant request for me. But I ended up getting so much more out of this story than I expected!
Fireborne really drew me in and I think in large part that was because the author has created such an intricate governmental system for this world. I ended up being more drawn in by the workings of this world and it’s politics than I was by the dragons originally, which is saying a lot!
Fireborne takes place in a post-revolution, medieval style society, with peasants, patricians and rulers. Prior to the revolution what family you came from determined your class within society: you were either born common, patrician, or Dragonborn (the ruling class). Post revolution citizens are tested into what class they will occupy after a certain age; iron class- unskilled labor, bronze class- skilled labor, silver class- soldiers, and gold class- scholars and the elite, with a select few people tested with the potential to become dragonriders.
I absolutely loved the framework of this story and the detail that the author takes in setting up this revolutionized world! There is even discussion in Annie and Lee’s school about how the empire utilizes propaganda news; using the lower class papers to perpetuate the ideas that the empire wants to instill, with the higher class papers reporting with more journalistic freedom. You can really tell that the author has a love for classical culture and used that knowledge and inspiration to inform her creation of the world in Fireborne.
The story really truly won me over with the world, but it kept me interested and invested with the characters as well. It would be easy in a lush world like this to get sidetracked on character building, but I felt like Annie and Lee truly shined on their own. There are some pretty heavy themes in this YA book. Annie and Lee are both dealing with their own PTSD about events which led them to becoming orphans and we see how each character tries to deal with that throughout the story. I love that the author doesn’t shirk away from letting these teens experience ALL of their feelings and emotional trauma responses.
Overall, I absolutely loved this story and would recommend it to anyone looking for a read with a complex world and complex characters. I can’t wait to see what happens for Annie and Lee next!
Fireborne really drew me in and I think in large part that was because the author has created such an intricate governmental system for this world. I ended up being more drawn in by the workings of this world and it’s politics than I was by the dragons originally, which is saying a lot!
Fireborne takes place in a post-revolution, medieval style society, with peasants, patricians and rulers. Prior to the revolution what family you came from determined your class within society: you were either born common, patrician, or Dragonborn (the ruling class). Post revolution citizens are tested into what class they will occupy after a certain age; iron class- unskilled labor, bronze class- skilled labor, silver class- soldiers, and gold class- scholars and the elite, with a select few people tested with the potential to become dragonriders.
I absolutely loved the framework of this story and the detail that the author takes in setting up this revolutionized world! There is even discussion in Annie and Lee’s school about how the empire utilizes propaganda news; using the lower class papers to perpetuate the ideas that the empire wants to instill, with the higher class papers reporting with more journalistic freedom. You can really tell that the author has a love for classical culture and used that knowledge and inspiration to inform her creation of the world in Fireborne.
The story really truly won me over with the world, but it kept me interested and invested with the characters as well. It would be easy in a lush world like this to get sidetracked on character building, but I felt like Annie and Lee truly shined on their own. There are some pretty heavy themes in this YA book. Annie and Lee are both dealing with their own PTSD about events which led them to becoming orphans and we see how each character tries to deal with that throughout the story. I love that the author doesn’t shirk away from letting these teens experience ALL of their feelings and emotional trauma responses.
Overall, I absolutely loved this story and would recommend it to anyone looking for a read with a complex world and complex characters. I can’t wait to see what happens for Annie and Lee next!