Fireblood

*****

5 Stars/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Spencer Hill Press for giving me this book to review.

The land has been destroyed and is filled with monsters, and Karm is the only safe place as it is protected by a barrier, and the king has ruled that it should be inspired on the medieval world of Camelot. Zara Dane has been hiding the fact that her father has The Virus, an illness which kills everyone in Karm, when she is chosen by Prince Sebastian to be his bride. Her father is sent away and she is forced to stay in the castle, under the watchful eye of the first knight, Sir Devlan, but all Zara wants to do is run away and find her father before it is too late. As Zara gets to know the people in the castle, she is drawn into the rebellion against the King, but should she trust their plan or the spark of good she sees in Sebastian?

Fireblood is a brilliant book as it is a dystopia but reads and feels like a fantasy which is really unusual. The plot is fast paced and engaging, and has the right mixture of betrayals, romance and action.

All the characters are really complex, but especially Zara as she strong-willed and determined to protect those she cares about, and while her judgement may not always be right, her decisions are made with a good heart. The romance in Fireblood is good as it developed at a steady pace, however, it was a bit predictable as it was obvious which person Zara would fall for, but it was much better than the love triangle it seemed like it was going to be. Sebastian was an interesting character as at some points I hated him, but at others I sympathised and understood him. Devlan is a strong, kind and loyal person, and I would have loved to have some chapters from his perspective to see what he was thinking.  

I loved this book and I hope there is more stories from this world, although the way it ended it does not need another to wrap up any loose ends. I will be reading more books by Wolfe and I would recommend Fireblood to fans of The Selection series, The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy and Throne of Glass.