A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire, #1)

by Jessica Cluess

[Kait ✨]

I had such high hopes, but I HATED this book. I read a review by Gillian that was so happy and positive I think it skyrocketed my expectations a little too high.

The writing is just SO juvenile — I feel like Cluess has just started writing creatively (which I believe is true, actually?). It all feels so stilted, she does so much TELLING it makes me crazy, the pacing feels very uneven, and the characters do things for reasons I can’t discern. The premise is cool but literally everything else was unbearable — I read this book two to four slow pages at a time. I cannot in good conscience recommend this.

The one thing I enjoyed was that I felt like the relationship with Henrietta and Her Majesty’s sorcerers was reminiscent of Rory and the boys of The Life and Death Brigade (which was fun!). Only problem was, the writing is so bad that relationship was wholly unbelievable to me.